by C. T. Adams
He turned her around and they backtracked a bit, taking in the sights and sounds of the season. She almost wished she had a camera, but who could she show photos to if she didn’t find Rabi? She wouldn’t want to remember this place if she never found him.
Antoine must have scented something of her mood, because he stopped, put a finger under her chin and lifted her eyes to meet his. “We will find him, Tahira. It’s one of the things I’m calling about.” Then he tightened his arm and brushed his lips against hers. The gentleness was almost more intoxicating than the desperate passion had been, and she found her legs a bit unsteady when they started to walk again.
“Café Wien has excellent food,” he said, and steered her toward the entrance. “And it appears there’s a window seat available. That should be perfect to make calls.”
Tahira was surprised when Antoine spoke to the host in German. The language seemed to flow off his tongue as easily as French did. She could tell by their body language and facial expressions—if not from the words—moments before Antoine was helping her off with her jacket and they sat down. She looked out onto a wide, gray flagstone patio. The shade trees edging the area, and the variety of planters and containers that were now piled with snow, were probably lovely in the summer.
“Should I order for you?” he asked when he noticed she was trying to decipher the menu. It was beautifully designed in blues and reds, and she could at least tell which meats were in which dishes by the photos on the page. But the only thing she recognized on the menu was chicken cordon bleu, and it wasn’t her favorite.
“That would be nice,” she replied with a frustrated sound. “Just something simple, like a beef sandwich. I know I should be hungry, but I’m too wound up right now.”
“Sandwiches aren’t common here, but I will ask.” He gathered the menus and when the waiter arrived, started to order. He paused for a moment, “Would you like wine or beer with lunch? They have some excellent choices here. Or, perhaps some cappuccino or hot tea?”
She looked back to him from where she was watching people wander by with packages. “Hot tea would be great.”
The waiter nodded and replied in thickly accented English. “The Chef Klaus has surprised us today with one of his excellent apple strudels. It’s just from the oven—for later if you wish. I will ask about the sandwich.”
Tahira saw Antoine smile at her sudden excitement. “Oh! That would be great. I just love apple strudel. My best friend’s mom used to make it all the time.”
“It’s one of my favorites, as well. Hopefully we’ll have room. They serve generous portions here.” The waiter scribbled on his pad, collected the menus, and left. Antoine picked up the phone and pressed one of the buttons repeatedly, apparently scrolling for a saved number. When he reached it, he nodded almost unconsciously and moved his thumb over to dial.
While she didn’t intend to eavesdrop the conversation, she couldn’t help being curious when a man’s voice answered the phone strangely. “Okay, yeah—it’s here. I’m headed your way.”
Antoine got an odd expression and then replied. “Hello? Raven?”
She heard a mumbled “Shit! Sorry, no. This is Raven’s phone, though. Who’s calling?”
His voice grew suspicious and professional. “This is Antoine Monier. Who are you, and why do you have Raven’s phone? And where is Raven?”
“Oh! Hey, Antoine—this is Tony. Raven’s at the airport, but he forgot his phone at the hotel, so I came back for it. I thought it was him calling, because he said he’d ring it so I could find it.”
“Merde! Where is he going? I need to talk to him right away.”
She heard static and then outdoor sounds from the phone. “Back to Boulder, I think. I didn’t ask. What do you need? I’ll tell him when I give him the phone.”
He let out a frustrated breath. “I’m sorry, Tony. But it’s company business. I need to talk to one of the agents personally. Is Ivan perhaps still there?”
Tahira heard a low chuckle that sounded slightly annoyed. “Nope. But guess what? I’m apparently one of guys to talk to now. I just got drafted—goddamn that Lucas, anyway.”
Antoine’s voice was filled with shock bordering on dread. He lowered his voice to a harsh whisper. “You? An agent? Merde! What could he have been thinking?”
“Thanks a lot, buddy,” he snarled. “Fuck you very much. I thought you had a higher opinion of me. It’s bad enough that I’ve got to play messenger boy and schlep around all these framed photos to give people, but now I’ve got to take insults? Don’t think so. Buh-bye.”
Tahira winced when she heard the connection break as he hung up. Antoine closed his fist around the phone and bared his teeth in the semblance of a smile that most certainly wasn’t a smile. He closed his eyes for a moment and then took a deep, angry breath. She could hear the plastic of the phone protest as he squeezed it in a white-knuckled grip. His scent was as heated as his mood.
The waiter brought their drinks at that moment, and Antoine started to count under his breath as the young man turned over her cup with a nervous smile at him. She nodded her thanks and dipped the tea bag in the hot water repeatedly while trying to find a way to lighten the moment. “I guess he wasn’t too happy to hear from you?”
He took a long draw from his glass of nearly black beer and wiped the foam from his lip. “Tony has a…unique personality that I’m still trying to figure out.”
She shrugged and felt a little embarrassed, but decided to speak her mind, anyway. “Well, frankly, I probably would have reacted the same as him. What you said was pretty insulting.”
He waggled his head and she smelled dusty embarrassment join the anger. “Perhaps. But he’s a fox who has just been placed in charge of guarding the hen house. Putting him in a position of…authority makes me question several things, including the temporary chief’s sanity. Still, he is a new ruhsal, as you call us, and we will have to work together. So, you’re probably right that I should apologize.”
He pressed the redial button and she could hear it ring once, then twice. There was finally a connection on the third ring, but it remained open air with nobody speaking.
“Tony? Are you there?” He sighed when there was no response. “I apologize. I shouldn’t have said that.”
The voice that came back over the line had lowered several notes and had taken on a thick Italian accent. “You’re right You shouldn’t have. You ever even think shit like that again and I hear about it—councilman or no, I’ll take you out. Capisce?”
“You said yourself that it wasn’t a good idea.” He tried to put a light spin on it, as though teasing.
Tahira heard Tony’s voice become a bit mollified, but only a bit. “Yeah, I did. But not because I couldn’t do the job; because I didn’t want the job. So, let’s start over while I’m driving. Where do you want your photo mailed?”
“Photo? What photo?”
There was a pause on the phone, and then sudden laughter that startled Antoine. “You don’t even know? Right—you left before the fallout, didn’t you? You weren’t at the hotel when Lucas and I got back.”
Antoine’s expression changed, showing part admiration, part fear and part…something else. “I don’t know if you’ll believe me, Tony, but for what it’s worth, thank you for your sacrifice. We’re all very grateful that you…took care of that problem. Is that the picture? Of the…of her?”
“Oh, hell no! You wouldn’t want a picture of that! There wasn’t much left after using the whole arsenal to bring her down. But it is what made Lucas decide I was Wolven material. It’s my one shining talent. The hindsight might help close some old cases, or so Raven believes, but if you need something dead, I’m your man. So, for what it’s worth, you’re welcome.”
Tahira started at his words and her scent of surprise attracted Antoine’s attention. He held the phone away from his ear for a moment and narrowed his eyes at her. “I’d forgotten about your hearing. I’ll discuss this with you later, as it might well inv
olve your people, too.”
Tony was continuing to talk. She heard a car door slam over the line, and loud whooshing sounds that drowned out his voice for a moment. “—did you get that? That damn plane was right overhead.”
“No, I didn’t. Say it again.”
“I said that the photos are of the snake representative, Ahmad al-Narmer, plastered against the ceiling of the hotel. Apparently, he pissed off Aspen and she fried one of his boys and then left him and his other goons stranded up there for the better part of a day. The best part was that she did it from the comfort of the airplane on her flight home. You’ve got a damned impressive sis there! But he was being such a bastard to everyone in our pack that Lucas thought he ought to be brought down a notch. Lucas presumed you’d want a framed blow-up, considering your…history.”
Antoine’s jaw dropped, and Tahira could feel cool air on her tongue as well. “Ahmad was…held by Josette—for hours, you say?”
“Josette is Aspen, like Amber used to be Yvette? Then yeah. I wasn’t here for the actual event, mind you. I was busy in the warehouse. But Ivan and Raven both saw everything, so you might chat with them for the details.” He chuckled darkly. “Boy, they were glowing brighter than New Year’s Eve in Times Square trying to get down.” His voice lowered to a threatening rumble that was edged with an animal growl. “Still, considering that Maria won’t be able to walk for another week or two, I can’t say I’m sorry. He deserved it.”
Antoine’s smile was as dark as the one she was hearing over the wire. “Oh, yes. Please do send a copy. Ask Nikoli for my home address in Reno. Are there by any chance digital copies that you could send to me by e-mail? I would dearly love to see one today.”
Tahira couldn’t decide what she thought about the conversation. Was Ahmad truly as bad as Antoine claimed?
If there are enough people who want him humiliated to have multiple pictures framed—wow!
The waiter arrived with their plates. As requested, a thick sandwich made with roast beef, a tangy-scented white cheese, and crusty bread was placed in front of her. Antoine’s plate held a breaded patty of a meat that smelled wonderful, covered in a thick, pungent gravy, along with mashed potatoes and broccoli. The scent made her stomach rumble and her mouth water enough that she was sorry she hadn’t just let him order for them both. But her sandwich looked quite good, so she took a bite while he finished his conversation, thoroughly enjoying the taste of meat on her tongue. It didn’t used to matter as much whether meat was on the menu, but since she’d joined the kabile, vegetables made her a bit nauseous.
As odd as the topic was, she was at least pleased that the conversation had relaxed Antoine a bit. “But on to business. I need you to tell Raven that I need him here in Germany. We’ve got an issue here in Stuttgart that requires—”
“Antoine…? Antoine, it is you!” The jovial baritone from the doorway was thick with an accent that didn’t sound quite like the German she’d been hearing. It made Tahira turn. Antoine did, as well, and looked at the heavy-set white-haired gentleman with confusion. “Tell Raven to call me back as soon as he cancels his flight. I’ve got to go.”
He hung up without another word and tucked the phone into his pocket as the man brushed past the greeter and walked to their table with more speed than she would have given him credit for.
Antoine threw a haughty French accent over his words, covering them like a royal, impenetrable cloak. “Pardonne moi, bot ’ave we met?”
The man laughed as though Antoine had told him a joke. “I have met you, but you have not met me! And yet we are the dearest of friends—pawns in a larger game.” He continued to stare, smiling like a favorite uncle, waiting for a response.
A slow smile came to Antoine’s face after a few moments. “Le? Leland Behr?” When the visitor nodded, he stood up and held out his hand. The accent disappeared as though it had never been. “How wonderful to finally meet you! Whatever are you doing in Stuttgart?”
“Melanie and I are here visiting the Christmas Market. But after seeing one of your troupe here earlier, I hoped I might run into you!”
The words stilled the smile on Antoine’s face, but he quickly covered his surprise. “A member of my troupe was here earlier, you say? I’m surprised they didn’t let me know they saw you. Do you know who it was?”
“No, no. I saw your show while it was in Austria last fall, but I couldn’t get the man at the stage door to let me in to see you, and you had to leave before I could write a note to have taken back. But I remember seeing the man there because I asked him for a pen.”
“Did you say hello to him today?”
He shook his head and pursed his lips. “No, no. He seemed to be in a hurry, and we were traveling in the opposite direction. But I am so very pleased you’re here, because I brought your bottle with me! I received your e-mail and sent the wire. I planned to show it to a friend today, who is also very interested in rare cognacs, so he could keep an eye on the market for any other bottles that might surface.”
Tahira watched Antoine’s face flow from concerned to delighted and back again. Le continued to speak as he struggled with a reply.
“But you haven’t introduced me to your lovely companion.” He turned to Tahira and held out his hand. “Are you a member of the troupe as well?”
Tahira took his hand and shook it briefly. “No. I just met Antoine here in Stuttgart. My name is Tahira, and I’m from…near the border of Iran.”
He raised his brows. “You speak English quite well. Your accent is very American.”
She smiled sweetly. “I have some family there. It’s been helpful to my English.”
“Ahem, yes,” Antoine said. “Tahira and I were also doing some shopping, but decided to stop for lunch first.” He seemed to struggle with what to say next. “Would you like to join us?”
Le reared back a little and waved his hands in front of him. “No, no. Melanie is to meet me here in a few minutes, and your food will be cold. But perhaps we could meet later at the market? I’d like to get the bottle to you safely, for your trip home.” He clapped Antoine on the shoulder. “Perhaps if you’re in town long enough, we can play a game of chess that will take less than a month to complete!”
Antoine laughed heartily, and it was the confident sound of friendship and camaraderie. It was different from the burst of relief in the SUV, and far richer than the chuckles when he was teasing her. The sound made Tahira realize that she didn’t really know much about him, and she suddenly wanted to know more about the human side of him.
“I’d like that. When the storm hit, we couldn’t fly out, so I and a few members of the troupe are staying at a friend’s house nearby. Are you here for more than the day?”
Le sighed heavily, and it moved his whole chest. “I’m afraid not. We have to go back today, but you should both stay in town long enough for the lighting of the display near Marketplatz at sunset. Perhaps that’s where we could meet later?” He moved up the sleeve of his jacket to check a heavy gold wristwatch. “After all, it’s nearly three now. Dark comes early this time of year.”
Antoine likewise checked his watch, and Tahira twitched slightly in surprise when she saw the distinctive Rolex emblem. “You’re quite right. We’ll have to hurry just to finish eating and then get our shopping done.” He glanced at Tahira with raised brows. “Would that be all right with you, Tahira? Would you mind staying in town for a few more hours to see the Christmas display?”
She had just opened her mouth to respond when a chirping from Antoine’s pocket made her look to see if he was going to take the call first. When he ignored the demanding cricket sound and stared at her calmly, she replied, “Actually, I’d like to stay for a bit longer, but then I really do need to get back to my room.” She saw Antoine smile just a bit at the wording and Le nodded.
“Fine. Then we’ll meet in front of the tree near the turret in an hour? Melanie and I were just going to have coffee, so our time isn’t critical. Do you know the tree I mean, Antoine?
”
“Perfectly. I’ve been there many times. But let’s make it an hour and a half, so Tahira has time to shop.” He held out his hand again. “It’s been wonderful to finally meet you, Le. I look forward to putting a face to Melanie’s name as well.”
Le bowed slightly. It was a gesture of warmth and respect. “I will leave you both to your excellent meal and look forward to delivering your prize to you.” He turned and walked back to the host, spoke for a moment, and then was guided farther into the restaurant.
Antoine was already cutting into the breaded meat patty when she looked back at him. “So, you play chess with him, but you’ve never met?”
He nodded while chewing and then answered after he’d swallowed. “On the internet and by e-mail. We met in a chat room and discovered we’re fairly evenly matched on the board. Since we both travel a great deal, we each set up a board and then correspond with our moves. It passes the time when I’m touring.”
“What do you do besides touring? You said you don’t date much, so what do you do?”
It was another bite of food and a swallow of beer before he said, “Mostly, I read—science fiction, thrillers, mysteries—that sort of thing. But I’m also a fanatic for strategy board games, play pool and snooker with friends and, of course, run with the cats.” His mouth twisted and a bit of amused scent rose into the air. “Most people think an entertainer spends all day lolling on yachts and attending parties every night. But for a show like mine, nearly every waking hour is spent caring for the cats, training for the next show, or series of shows, and doing mundane activities such as…well, reading contracts and approving poster art. Without my personal involvement, I’d have to pay someone to handle those functions. I did try that route early on, but I found the quality of the product…lacking. I do have high standards for both the cats and myself. I have several employees, but I do much of the work myself.”
Tahira nodded and took another bite of her sandwich while staring wistfully at Antoine’s plate. After a few moments, she nodded. “Dad says the same thing. Even though business is good, every month is a question of whether people will pay their invoices. I like pool, too, and mysteries. I’ve never played snooker, though. I’ve never even seen a table for it.”