Chasing Lies

by Sara Claridge

  At least this way she could get him to write down the translation and the possible alternatives. She looked over to where Didier sat. Though the same height, the guy was much bulkier than Etienne. His suit jacket fitted tight over his arms as he rested his elbows on the table, waiting patiently for her to hand over the page.

  Something sparked in his eyes as he read started to read it. “Hey, is this what I think it is?”

  Etienne shrugged as if to convey his uncertainty.

  “Can I take a copy?”

  Etienne didn’t respond.

  Didier sighed. “Another wrong question.”

  Etienne lifted his lips in a half smile. “See? Now we’re getting somewhere. What we’re interested in is the translation.”

  “I’d need to see the poem in its entirety.”

  “Nice try. Not today.”

  It was Didier’s turn to shrug. “Okay. Well, let’s take a closer look.”

  Using his index finger as a marker, Didier proceeded to go through the section, pointing out where differences might occur. Kate leaned forward and circled certain words, while making notes about Didier’s advice. She kept her gaze focused solely on the piece of paper, worried she’d give away her excitement. It was just as they had thought, but she sensed that Etienne didn’t want Didier to know.

  “Thanks, that’s really helpful. Where did you learn Occitan?”

  “From my grandmother. She was keen to pass on “the old ways”. At the time it seemed a chore, but I did it to keep the old lady sweet. Little did I know how useful it was going to be later on in life.” Didier shook a sugar packet before ripping it open and pouring it into his coffee. “But you need to watch it. There are variants depending on which part of the country you come from. It was spoken as high up as the Limousin and deep into the south. It’s enough to alter the translation.”

  Etienne picked up the piece of paper. “We’ll keep it in mind.” He folded it into his breast pocket.

  Kate held out her hand. “Not this time. It stays with me.”

  “You don’t trust me, chérie?”

  “Not one iota.”

  Etienne sighed and retrieved the paper from his pocket and handed it over.

  She glanced at it to make sure he hadn’t switched it before placing it back in her bag, and Didier laughed.

  “Anytime you get bored of safe cracking and want to work for the French government, give me a call. We could use someone who knows how to go up against the likes of Monsieur Castel.”

  Kate barely contained her gasp of surprise. “You work for the Government?”

  “Bien sur. Etienne provides me with information when it suits him, and I return the favour when I can. Like today.”

  “Like an informant?”

  “You seem surprised. What is you say? Keep your friends close and your enemies closer? That just about sums up Etienne and me. A mutual respect for each other’s strengths and a wary disregard for our weaknesses.”

  “So what are your weaknesses?”

  “Pretty girls, fast cars, and money.”

  “It’s why he normally frequents the Riviera.” Etienne’s sardonic voice chimed in.

  “Aren’t you going to ask me what his are?” Didier nodded his head in Etienne’s direction.

  Kate gave a lopsided grin. “I already know, and his vices are much worse than yours.”

  Etienne stood up. “I’ll pay the bill.

  As he walked away, Didier leant in. “Mind if I give you some friendly advice?”

  “Not at all.”

  “I don’t know who you are or what you’re doing with Etienne, but be careful. No matter how hard we try, he’s always one step ahead. Either he’s that good, or he has friends in very high places. One thing I do know, though. He always works alone.”

  Kate glanced over to where Etienne was paying the bill. He looked over his shoulder and their gazes clashed. She caught the brief flash of heat in his eyes before he turned away and her heart sped up.

  “Don’t worry about me. I know exactly where I stand.” Or at least she had until last night. Now she was beginning to have her doubts.

  Didier pulled out his phone from his jacket pocket. “What’s your number?”

  She paused for a moment but couldn’t see the harm in giving it to him.

  “I’ll send you a text and then you’ll have mine. You never know when you might need a friend.”

  As Etienne returned to their table, Didier pushed back his chair and stood. “I need to go.” He shook Etienne’s hand and leant over to kiss her cheek. “Nice to meet you, Kate, and don’t forget what I said.”

  Etienne waited until Didier was through the door before sitting back down next to her.

  “You and Didier seemed chatty.” It was a statement, but the intonation of his voice turned it into a question.

  Didier was still in her sights as he walked down the street, a mobile phone glued to his ear. “He warned me off you.”

  “What did you tell him?”

  She turned and met Etienne’s cool gaze with one of her own. If he wanted her to be some pawn in a game she didn’t understand with a government official, she wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction of sharing every little detail. “I smiled and told him he didn’t know the half of it.”

  A wry smile crossed his lips. “I think Didier knows a lot more than he ever lets on. He’s an adrenaline junkie, and his life is one big fix.”

  “I don’t suppose the element of danger and adventure swayed you onto the same path?’

  He shrugged. “Maybe at first. My wealth affords me a certain lifestyle. Doors open to me that would be closed to others.”

  “So you are on the good side?” Damn. She hadn’t meant to sound so hopeful.

  “There is no good side, princesse, only shades of darkness.” He rested his forehead on his palms before raising his head to stare at her. “When we get down to Marseilles, if things go wrong, there will be no shining white knight to ride in and rescue you. You know that, don’t you?”

  “I know you don’t think so, but I’ve faced worse before and survived.”

  Scrubbing his hand over his face, Etienne stood and held out his hand to her. “Last chance, Kate. Back out now and no one will think any less of you.”

  She lifted her chin almost imperceptibly and placed her hand in his. Admiration glittered in his eyes as he clasped her fingers and led her out the door and into a waiting taxi.

  THE DOOR HAD barely shut behind Etienne before the car sped away from the kerb throwing her backwards into the seat. Kate reached out and grabbed the armrest as the taxi wove through the Avignon traffic.

  Careless cab drivers in London were common, but this guy took recklessness to a whole new level. Horns honked. A few drivers even shook their fists at him, but their driver continued, blithely ignorant of the pandemonium in his wake.

  Kate placed a hand on the driver’s seat in front of her and leaned forward to get his attention. Movement in the seat next to him startled her. In the chaos of the journey, she hadn’t noticed another passenger. Her mouth went dry as he raised his right hand and rested the barrel of a gun on the back of the seat, pointing the muzzle directly at Etienne.

  “Do what I say and no one will get hurt.”

  A bubble of hysterical laughter rose up in Kate’s throat. Isn’t that what they always said in the movies? Tears formed in her eyes as she fought to quash the panic.

  Etienne placed his hand on her forearm. The tension in his fingers pushing her to sit back was a superfluous gesture. She wasn’t getting any closer to that gun voluntarily.

  As the car sped up, the buildings lining the edge of the road became a blur. She peered through the window next to her at the tarmac below. Jumping out of a moving vehicle didn’t look as easy as it did on TV. Somehow it seemed safer inside, even with a gun pointing at her.

  The cab swerved right and up onto the ring road, jostling the front seat passenger as the car continued at a terrifying pace to weave in and out of
the traffic on the bypass.

  “You might want to tell your friend to slow down.” Etienne’s relaxed, sardonic tone belied the hard line of his jaw. “If his driving doesn’t kill us, you will when that gun accidentally goes off.”

  Blue-green eyes narrowed at Etienne, and the passenger tightened his grip on the gun.

  A wave of annoyance banished the hysteria. Great. Now the guy was going to be so pissed off he’d probably shoot them anyway. Could their luck get any worse?

  She’d never thought of France as a dangerous place until she’d met Etienne, and now she’d been mugged, arrested, and robbed. What were the chances of choosing the only taxi in the city to be a cover for a hold up?

  Kate willed a friendlier tone into her voice. “Ignore my friend. I’m afraid I don’t have much money.” She fumbled around for her purse, not daring to take her gaze off the gunman.

  In her peripheral vision, Etienne’s face swam into view. She couldn’t see clearly, but was that a look of incredulity on his face? Heat rose up into her cheeks. What could he possibly object to? She was trying to save them.

  “He doesn’t want your money.” Etienne’s voice was low with a soft undercurrent of disbelief. Whether it was aimed at her or their predicament, she wasn’t sure.

  The gunman grinned, causing an involuntary shudder to skitter down her spine. She wasn’t sure she wanted to know the answer, but she forced the words out. “What does he want?”

  “Take a wild guess.”

  Okay. That sarcasm was definitely aimed at her.

  “Monsieur Castel, you are so perceptive.”

  She wasn’t sure what alarmed her most the fact he knew Etienne’s name, or the gunman’s Baltic accent. The last job she’d worked on with Carl had been tracking down an antiquity in the region. She might never have left the London office, but she’d seen enough to know you didn’t call their bluff.

  “Now perhaps you will oblige me by handing over the necklace.”

  Etienne leaned back in his seat. “What makes you think I have it?”

  “Because it’s rude to turn up to a party without bringing your guest a present.”

  He regarded the man for a moment as if contemplating the statement. “Something to get me through the front door?”

  “Exactly.”

  Etienne flicked a piece of lint off of his jacket. “Maybe I don’t need to offer an extra incentive.”

  The Baltic tilted his head. “Perhaps I do.”

  Etienne shrugged. “It’s a shame you don’t have anything.”

  “Monsieur Castel, my patience is wearing thin.”

  Etienne was the epitome of casual all the while Kate’s back muscles were screaming with tension and from the struggle of staying upright as they continued to ride through the city at speed.

  “I’m sorry, I can’t help you.”

  “Perhaps you can offer me something else.” His eyes skimmed over her body, and Kate’s stomach roiled as nausea hit her.

  “You like my new assistant?”

  Fear gripped her. He wouldn’t, would he? Etienne might have robbed her and had her arrested, but so far she’d never been in danger, or at least not of his doing.

  A lecherous grin spread across the Baltic’s face. “I can see the attraction.”

  “She’s not part of the deal.” Etienne cut across him. “Good assistants are hard to come by.”

  “So is a place at Mercier’s table.” He leaned forward and quickly reached inside Etienne’s jacket, pulling out the velvet pouch.

  She prayed it was another bluff, but as he pulled the drawstrings apart one handed and shook the necklace into his lap, she could see the pendant’s ruby glistening like a pool of blood.

  Kate gasped. The gunman looked up.

  “Sorry, gorgeous, your boss is going to be in a bad mood for the rest of the day.” His lips twisted into a crooked smile. “Maybe for the rest of the week.” He laughed, amused at his own actions.

  Turning, he spoke quickly to the driver. The foreign words were a jumble of staccato sharply articulated. The car pulled over, and Etienne wasted no time in opening the door and stepping out, dragging her with him. His strong grasp revealed a tension his impassive expression did not.

  At the feel of the solid pavement beneath her feet, Kate drew a deep breath as the car raced off into the traffic.

  ETIENNE LOOKED UP and down the street. The medieval bridge was just visible. They’d been dumped out nearly where they’d picked up the taxi. Merde. He’d been played before and had half expected it to happen this time, but not so soon.

  Was this really a rival gang? Or was Madame Morrier right and there was a leak in the organisation? Trouble was, he wouldn’t put it past her to divulge information in the hope of drawing the person out. It would be typical of her not to tell anyone of the plan. Including him.

  Just as well he didn’t trust her, either. The detour to Meneer Jannsen had paid off. He’d thought at the time it was overkill, but his instinct had been spot on.

  Kate’s hand clutched at his arm. Her fingers dug into his muscles. “What do we do now?”

  He glanced at her pale face. Bordel. Things were only going to get worse from here on in. If she thought that was bad, she’d never survive going up against Mercier.

  “We continue to Marseilles as planned.” He glanced at his watch. “We’ve just enough time to sort everything out before the gallery event.”

  “But the necklace. It’s gone. My poems aren’t going to be enough to set up a meeting.”

  He pulled her out of the way of a passerby. “Don’t worry. The necklace is a fake. The real one is being transported with my painting. We’ll pick it up in Marseilles.”

  “Fake!” Confusion, disbelief, and then fury flashed in her eyes. “Why the hell didn’t you just hand it over?”

  He sighed. Sometimes he forgot that he’d been doing this job so long that lying had become second nature. “If I gave it up too easily, he’d have known something was wrong.”

  She punched him on the arm. Not enough to hurt, but enough to get her point of view across. “You didn’t trust me with the truth? What happened to it’s a two way street?”

  Merde. She wasn’t going to give up. “Would you?”

  Kate paused mid breath. “No.” Her voice was barely a whisper.

  “Sorry. I didn’t hear you.”

  She looked up at him. If her glare was anything to go by, he should have been burned to a cinder on the pavement.

  “I said no. I don’t trust you. It’s nothing personal, but let’s just say I have my reasons. Several of them.”

  “Besides, who says I’m going to bargain with Mercier over the necklace? It’s mine. I’m not giving it up.”

  “We’ll debate who owns what later. If you’re not going to use it as a bargaining chip, why have it at all?”

  “It’s a carrot.”

  “Oh, it’s definitely a carat.” Her tone mocked him. “Twenty-four if the fake setting is anything to go by.”

  Kate smiled and Etienne’s gaze slid to her lips. He’d been wrong in his assumption. The taxi drive hadn’t fazed her at all. Only the possibility of losing the necklace, because she thought it was important to retrieving the painting, had bothered her. Perhaps they were more alike than he’d appreciated.

  He leaned in and placed his lips over hers. A fire lit within him. He reached up to angle her head so he could coax her lips apart and take the kiss deeper. The touch of hair was like silk, and he curled his fingers around the soft strands, pulling her closer, relishing that she returned his kiss with the same fervent ardour.

  The image of her last night as she’d lain naked beneath him flashed across his mind. The sheen on her skin, the sparkle in her eyes, the rise and fall of her breasts as she tried to catch her breath in the afterglow of the most phenomenal sex he’d ever had.

  Placing his other hand on the small of her back, he tried to draw her closer against his hard erection, but she still gripped her bag and it formed a wedge
between them.

  Slowly he released her and his lips rose when he saw the slumberous longing in her dark brown eyes. Too bad they needed to get moving again, and fast. The hotel across the street looked far more appealing.

  “Sorry, princesse, we need to get going. There’s still much to organise.”

  She blinked. Alertness replaced desire as she took in his words. “Do I get to wear the necklace tonight?”

  The back of his neck itched. It was the simplest solution to get the message over to Mercier, but something in his gut warned him against it. “The last person that wore it nearly died.”

  Kate reached up and straightened his collar. “Well, that’s fine, it will complete my day.”

  Etienne gave a perfunctory smile at her weak attempt of a joke. “En y va, chérie. Marseilles awaits.”

  There’d be time enough to dissuade her from the plan.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  KATE’S FINGERS NIMBLY flicked through the rack of trouser suits on display. She’d never been one for traipsing around shops. When she was younger, she hadn’t had the money. Now everything she bought had to be smart but comfortable, not easily creased, and tumble-dry friendly. Since she never went out, except for the occasional work event, there was no need for anything frivolous.

  A dress appeared in front of her, halting her search.

  She turned to Etienne and raised an eyebrow. “It’s hardly practical.”

  “I don’t think it’s meant to be.”

  She wanted to say something cutting to wipe that smirk off his face, but the truth was the dress looked gorgeous.

  “You can’t go to an art gallery event in one of those.” He looked pointedly at the rack of suits she’d been flicking through. “You’re supposed to be my plus one, not security.”

  “I’m sorry I’m not up to your usual fashion model flair, but some of us prefer a more sedate look.”

  “Boring.”

  “Understated elegance, I think is how it’s described.”

  “Boring.”

  She huffed as he lay the dress over the suit she’d already draped over her arm and pressed his lips against hers in a kiss that left her wanting more.