Secrets

by Nancy Popovich

  The earpieces sprung to life. “Where are we going?” BB’s voice began.

  “Nowhere that you will like,” the other voice replied. “My superior wish your knowledge of name and place. The van over there, walk to side door and open.”

  They heard a van door slide open. “Entrez!” the voice demanded. Then there was silence. Again.

  At that moment, they heard a gun shot. Both Madame Lalonde and Sonya jumped, while Mike, without an earpiece viewed them with wariness. Finally, Sonya shared her earpiece with him and his eyes opened wide at what they heard. Someone then screamed. Silence again. It was chilling to hear, and terrifying not to know what was happening.

  “That was very close,” Maurice stated dryly. “Closer than I expect.”

  “It was, indeed,” BB agreed. “All stations, the Black Crusader is in hand. Continue according to plan. Priority, the Artistic Crusader.”

  “Galahad and Parisienne, please return to our original location. Thank you for your part in flushing and capturing our enemy.”

  Obviously, Steve and Mimi left. “Maurice, would you mind supervising the security of the transfer and give me a moment, please?” Obviously, Maurice left.

  “I thank you for your invaluable assistance,” BB continued, to someone that wasn’t Maurice.

  “Be velcome! Vas be owe Hunter and Toth, now pay!” Sonya could almost hear the smile in the man’s voice.

  She could hear BB take a deep breath. “Your services, as usual, Igor, have been outstanding. Thank you. If at any time you have need of our services, you will call?”

  “I vill. I be like have Vizard to be owe Igor.”

  Sonya thought she could hear BB chuckling. Then the earpiece went silent.

  Steve and Mimi screeched to a stop, parked the car and at a dead run, headed towards the building where everyone believed that Bryan was being held captive.

  “The detonator has been disarmed,” Steve’s voice came through the earpiece. “Usual precautions.”

  By now, Sonya and Mike were holding their breaths, hoping that Bryan was in that sealed room and that he would be found unharmed.

  “Bring the lights over,” Steve ordered. “We search every square inch, every crate.”

  Silence again. Sonya wasn’t sure that she could hold her breath any longer. Just when she thought that she would disintegrate into tiny little pieces, the earpiece sprang to life again.

  “Easy,” Steve’s voice was soft. “Success! The Artistic Crusader is in hand. Stand by for update.”

  Sonya was unaware that she had exhaled. Madame Lalonde gave her a one-handed hug. “Bien! Très bien!” She smiled, despite the fact that tears still streamed down her cheeks, which Sonya couldn’t understand.

  Out of the now semi-darkness, Steve materialized. “I wondered where you three had disappeared! Bryan is alive, first and foremost,” he assured, giving Sonya a hug. “We are having him checked by a doctor and he will be brought to BB’s place when the doctor allows. I must return. Mimi will be here shortly to drive you back.”

  “Who’s the big guy with the accent?” Sonya was curious.

  “How do you know there was a man with an accent?” Steve demanded, and then took in a sharp breath. “The ear piece!”

  BB’s voice came through on her earpiece. “It is unfortunate that things evolved much too quickly to remove the earpiece before you heard all that happened. I do apologize, Sonya. That was my error. Please give Steven your earpiece.”

  She had no option but to comply. Steve stuffed the earpiece into his pocket and with a wave, disappeared.

  CHAPTER 21

  The little group under the tree waited for what seemed to be hours for Mimi to arrive, when in actuality it was only twenty minutes. She smiled broadly at them, assisted Madame Lalonde into the front seat of the car and then climbed into the car to drive them to BB’s.

  It was a silent trip. Sonya had no room in her thoughts other than that Bryan was obviously alive and possibly harmed, but alive nonetheless.

  Mike’s mind was all over the place. His father (and he had no doubt since he first met BB that this was the case) was an intelligence agent - a spy, and obviously, one with considerable authority. Well hell! It was going to be interesting to get to know him, to say the least.

  Madame Lalonde said not a word all the way to BB’s home. She sat, somewhat stoically in the car, neither looking left nor right, occasionally taking a deep breath and then exhaling, as if she were practicing yoga to control her breathing.

  As they turned into the driveway, the garage door automatically rose and immediately closed behind them. The instant that they began to walk into the hallway, Sylvain ran to meet his grandmother, and with his arm around her waist, he walked step by step with her down the hallway into the living room.

  He assisted her to sit onto the couch and sat beside her. He left momentarily and brought her some water, for which he earned a weak smile and a merci. Mike and Sonya took side by side armchairs and almost the moment that they sat down, a matronly looking woman appeared with what looked like a tea trolley. She handed everyone, including Sylvain a glass of amber liquid and with a smile, left the room.

  Mimi raised her glass. “With thanks for the help this night. We have achieve our mission.” She took a sip of her brandy and swallowed, as did almost everyone in the room. Save Madame Lalonde.

  “After our brandy, we have been request to retire. The Wizard and his Sorcerer have much left to do, and will meet us here at 10:00 in the morning after breakfast.” With a smile, she downed the rest of her brandy and left the room.

  The remainder of the group climbed the stairs to their rooms. After everyone had enough time to get to their rooms and close their doors, Sonya quietly knocked on Madame Lalonde’s door.

  To her complete surprise, the door was opened by Mimi. Madame Lalonde waved her in from her seat on the edge of the bed.

  “Are you all right?” Sonya asked, walking over to stand beside her landlady. For the first time, she viewed Madame Lalonde in full light, not in shadows. She appeared to have aged twenty years over the past few hours. Her swollen face was dead white against the violence of her bruises, and her eyes were rimmed red and puffy from tears.

  Sonya’s glance slid to Mimi, almost in accusation. “Is there anything that I can do to help you?” she asked quietly.

  Madame Lalonde just shook her head. “Rien, Chérie. Merci. There is nothing that anyone can do!”

  “Lucien?” Sonya stated, suddenly realizing that no one had mentioned him, and feeling guilty for her immense relief about Bryan and her selfishness in not having asked about Lucien.

  “Lucien is dead, mort!” Tears began to slide down her face again, and Sonya held her as she sobbed.

  Finally, Mimi patted Sonya on the shoulder. “I can assist Lise,” she said, obviously picking her words carefully. “Go to bed, Sonya, you need to sleep. You will see Bryan in the morning. Bonne nuit. (Good night)” It was almost as if Mimi was kicking her out.

  As Sonya exited the room, she glanced over her shoulder to see Madame Lalonde lean against Mimi and put her head upon her shoulder. Relieved that theirs was not an adversarial relationship, she closed the door. The lock clicked seconds later.

  Tempted to fall into bed, Sonya took the time to take off her clothes, fold them and put them on the chair beside the bathroom. Despite her fatigue, the events of the last few hours kept rewinding in her mind. She kept trying to remember when anyone had mentioned that Lucien was dead, but she was certain that no one had. Perhaps Madame Lalonde had been signalled separately.

  Exhaustion won, and Sonya was able to fall into a fitful sleep. She woke at 8:00, hurriedly hit the shower and dressed. If she was to see Bryan this morning, she would be looking her best. Taking special care with her makeup, blowing her hair dry and leaving it loose the way he liked it, she walked hopefully down the stairs and into the kitchen.

  Mike was already there, sipping on his coffee and being fussed over by the matronly housekee
per, who immediately poured coffee for Sonya. Taking the coffee with thanks, Sonya sat beside her cousin.

  “Some interesting night, wasn’t it?” Mike stated without preamble.

  “Yeah, it was pretty surreal!” Sonya admitted. “I thought stuff like that only happened in movies.”

  “Me too,” Mike admitted. “Now I sort of understand what John and Sara went through when her dad was killed, and that guy held Sara and Ivan captive in their own house. Boy, this makes that seem kind of tame!”

  Sonya reached for a piece of toast and began to butter it with strawberry jam. “It does seem like some sort of a movie – not quite real, but definitely in 3D. I wonder how Bryan is doing? It seems to be taking a long time to be cleared by a doctor. By the way, did you hear anything last night about Lucien?” she asked as casually as she could.

  “Now that you mention it, no I didn’t. Have you heard anything about him?” Mike asked through a mouthful of his own toast.

  Sonya nodded. “Madame Lalonde said last night after we went upstairs that he was dead! I don’t know who told her that, but she was so upset. Mimi was there too.”

  “Oh, I didn’t know! I’m so sorry for her, especially after my happiness that Bryan was found all right,” Mike replied sincerely. “No wonder she was so upset last night. Does Sylvain know?”

  “Oh my God, I am so selfish!” Sonya exclaimed. “All I could think about was how happy and grateful that I was about Bryan, I never gave anyone else a second thought. That poor kid!”

  They both looked up as Steve walked into the kitchen. “You two look somewhat dejected,” he stated as he took his coffee and thanked the housekeeper.

  “Sonya just told me that Lucien was dead. Madame Lalonde told her,” Mike enlightened him. “I feel so bad for her and Sylvain, given that this has a happy ending for us.”

  Steve raised his eyebrows. “Dead, she told you?”

  Sonya nodded, her eyes tearing. “She was so very upset. I don’t know what I can do for her.”

  “Why don’t we wait until we meet with BB? I know he’s home, and it’s only another half an hour,” Steve suggested. “He’ll give you as much background as possible that isn’t classified. Can you wait?” he asked pointedly.

  Both nodded affirmatively.

  Mimi, Madame Lalonde and Sylvain walked into the kitchen. Madame Lalonde seemed to be in better control of her emotions than the previous evening, and she sipped her coffee, smiling at Sylvain’s silly banter.

  Breakfast was over and the group headed to the living room, looking forward to what BB had to say. It surprised them to find the living room had been turned into a meeting room. Chairs had been added, and a screen had been pulled down from the ceiling somewhere.

  Mike and Sonya were directed to seats to the right in the first row, followed by Madame Lalonde, Mimi and Steve. Maurice sat at the far left. Sylvain had been sent to do schoolwork in the library under the watchful eye of the housekeeper.

  People began to file in, ordinary looking people, some young and some old, others everywhere in between. There was no one in black clothing with balaclavas. It could have been an ordinary business meeting. But Sonya knew better. Now.

  BB strode in, very much in charge. “Thank you all for attending. I know how difficult it is sometimes to get away. First, allow me to say mission accomplished, thanks to the brave, hard working men and women in this room! We are all grateful! MI6, MI5 and Interpol have proven that we can work together to achieve a common goal.”

  “For the benefit of our guests, I shall give a brief overview and then ask them to leave while I debrief our team with the classified information. Is that satisfactory?” He raised his eyebrows at Mike and Sonya and received their affirmative nods.

  “Very well then, I shall begin. We had two goals last night. One was to rescue kidnapped citizens and the second, to flush out a traitor in our midst that has eluded us until now. We were successful in both respects. When you leave this meeting, Sonya and Mike, a driver will be at your disposal to take you to the hospital where Bryan is being cared for. Do not panic, my dear, he will be fine. Our operation was successful in rescuing him from his captors."

  "Secondly, we succeeded in flushing out a traitor who has eluded us in the past. He and his second in command, as well as several of their soldiers, also associated with us until now, are incarcerated as we speak. We spent some time last night debriefing them and will continue same after this meeting.”

  BB took a deep breath and his laser like eyes locked upon Madame Lalonde. She met his stare and locked onto it with the same intensity. “C’est nécessaire, (It is necessary)” was all she said.

  “Understood,” BB replied in a quiet voice, his eyes still holding hers. “But, it is my profound sorrow to cut you this deeply. You have been loyal, brave and a wonderful example to those of us in this room for decades. You make me proud to be your associate.”

  Madame Lalonde’s eyes filled with tears and she nodded gracefully, not saying a word.

  BB turned his glance towards the room. “The rogue in our ranks, the traitor that has endangered all of us and the Crusade mission, made his move last night. There is no question, there is absolutely no doubt. That traitor is Lucien Lalonde. And his lieutenant is Grégoire Benoit.”

  CHAPTER 22

  Utter silence pervaded the room. Not a sound was heard save the shocked intake of breath. And then the buzz of whispers began.

  “Please,” BB requested, raising his hand for a second. “We have much information to cover and if there are questions before we leave to continue our interrogation of the traitors, either Maurice or I will answer them. Acceptable?”

  As there were no objections, BB continued and activating a laptop, he brought up a file. A large, contemporary painting sprang to life on the large screen in the front of the meeting.

  “This is one of a series of paintings associated with the Crusade. It was part of the shipment that was intercepted. We knew that someone in our midst had leaked information to the cartel, and the mission was declared a failure.”

  Sonya took in a deep breath. She knew that painting! It was one of the series that had been on the memory card from their computer. Another example of the same series of paintings showed up on the screen. Slowly, her hand went to her mouth.

  BB’s laser gaze noted her reaction. “Sonya,” he began. “Do these paintings mean anything to you?” he asked.

  “May I speak to you privately for a second?” she whispered.

  “Maurice, would you please continue the debriefing?” he requested, walked over to Sonya and holding her elbow, escorted her out of the room and down the hall into what seemed to be an office. He sat her down in a chair and pulled another to sit directly opposite her.

  “What do you know about these paintings?” he asked, hoping not to appear too threatening.

  “Nothing! Other than this,” Sonya replied, pulling out her cell phone from her pocket and popping the memory card. “This was our extra memory card! Bryan put it into my computer in case we ran out of memory on the camera. The painting you showed is on this card. Others too! And people as well. Grégoire was the only one that I recognized.” She said all of this without taking a breath, stopping only because she had no choice but to breathe.

  BB’s eyes literally gleamed like two ice diamonds. “May I?” he asked politely, holding his hand out for the card. Sonya gave it to him without hesitation. While he was loading it into his notebook, he casually spoke again. “What prompted you to put this card into your cell phone?”

  “Well,” Sonya replied honestly, “I had no idea that it existed, but when Bryan was kidnapped, I was looking for any clue where he might be, and opened the card in the computer. The paintings weren’t his usual type, but they were his style. Then I got the text that said to bring the camera. The people at Madame Lalonde's were looking for a memory card. So I thought it was probably what they were after and it could be a bargaining chip.”

  “Ah,” remarked BB impassiv
ely. “Did it ever occur to you to come to Steven or to me?”

  Sonya shook her head. “I didn’t know who I could trust by then, so I trusted me.”

  BB actually threw back his head and laughed. “I find no fault with your logic,” he admitted. “Very interesting,” he remarked, viewing the now opened card. “This will help a great deal with our interviews,” he finished. “Is this the only copy?”

  “No, it’s not,” Sonya admitted. “I made a backup copy on my computer. In case.”

  “In case what?” BB was still smiling.

  “I don’t really know. It just seemed like a good idea at the time, in case the card got lost or damaged,” Sonya was honest.

  “Very valid thinking,” BB replied. “Are you certain that you don’t want to become a spy and save the world?”

  Sonya’s shocked look spoke volumes and BB burst out laughing again. “May we erase the copy on your computer?” he requested. “I shall ask Steven to do it.”

  “Sure,” Sonya replied, “I don’t need or want it. But can we ask Bryan first? It is his work and photos.”

  “Monsieur,” someone interrupted from the doorway. “The car is here.”

  “Thank you. Sonya, I shall send Mike out to join you. Thank you, and give our regards to Bryan.” BB ejected the memory card, slipped it into a plastic sleeve and left to return to his meeting.

  She met Mike as she exited the office. “I need my purse,” Sonya declared, running up the stairs to her room. She was going to see Bryan. He was alive, and hopefully not too badly hurt. And, she was a happy woman.

  In the back of the car on route to the hospital, Sonya thought about all that had happened in the past few days. What had begun as an exciting honeymoon trip to the City of Love had turned into something far different. Mike was quiet as well, seeming to be brooding about something.

  It was with great anticipation that Sonya approached the door to Bryan’s room. A man who appeared to be guarding the room, smiled and nodded as she and Mike stood at the doorway. It was exciting to finally see him again, but not knowing his condition was frightening. BB said he’d be all right. And from what she could tell, he didn’t lie. Much. Unless it was a secret.