Scorpios and Sapphires

by L. B. Simon

  "Are you going to arrest me?" Mélisande stared the man straight in the eyes.

  "Not as long as I don’t know where you are." The detective shrugged innocently. "We are searching for you, remember? Your father informed the whole world that you have gone missing."

  "Thank you!" Mélisande relaxed. "That woman, by the way, who let the man into the bank, is the manager; Élodie Dubois." She added and Lachance nodded gratefully. "And thank you all for your help, even if you doubt me. Now, if you will excuse me, I will go. Good night."

  Once in her room, Mélisande picked up a pillow and went to the chair she had placed earlier in front of her window. She sat there, burying her sobs into the over bleached fabric as her heart was torn apart.

  She couldn’t believe what she had seen. The man at the bank… She knew exactly who he was. Tears streamed down her face and she missed her mother bitterly. The hollow in her chest that had engulfed her heart after her mother’s death had re-opened. Mélisande felt friendless and forsaken, and the one person she would have never thought capable of such an act had betrayed her.

  Chapter 32

  Aidan slept fitfully, his conscience gnawing at him. Memories of the beautiful and seductive Gia tormented him along with Mélisande’s pained expression. He was dreaming one moment of Mélisande begging him to believe her, then of Gia laughing and asking him: ‘did you really think someone like me would ever fall for the likes of you?’

  He sat up in his bed, panting and covered in sweat. Gia’s words still echoing in his head: ‘you are nothing! You have no name, no money… You may be better than old men in the sack, but at the end of the day, that’s not worth much, is it? Any other eager kid will do…’

  He got up and hit the shower, trying to forget Gia and the stupefied expression on her face, as Lachance arrested her; telling himself to keep away from Mélisande. She too might be deceiving him.

  Deep inside he trusted Mélisande, but hadn’t he trusted Gia too? Did he not fight to prove that she was a victim, just like he was now fighting for Mélisande? First, he had to clear the heiress of all charges, only then he could consider… Consider what? He was a thief, though now he was a legitimate one, and she… What was she? She broke into her own vault, stole her bracelet. Could she truly be trusted?

  There was a loud banging on his door. Aidan shut off the water, wrapped a towel around his waist and went into the room. The pounding sounded again. Aidan glanced at the clock; it was six in the morning. Too early for Lachance or even Vlad. He peeked out the peephole and saw Samuel. The butler’s features were twisted into an angry grimace, and his clothes were disheveled.

  "I know you are in there! Open up!"

  "Give me a minute." Aidan went to put on some clothes before returning to the door. "What do you want?" He asked coolly as he let the man in.

  "Where is she?" Samuel glanced around the room.

  "Where is who?" Aidan plastered on his poker face.

  "You know where Mélisande is! Tell me! Now!" Samuel peered into the washroom.

  "Excuse me?" Aidan raised his eyebrows.

  "You two were quite cozy before she vanished. She hasn’t contacted any of her friends or relatives. She had to have help; it could only be you." Samuel advanced towards him, his body language menacing.

  "Why would I help a suspect in my own investigation?" Aidan slipped his hands into his jeans pockets.

  "You ask a lot of questions, but not once have you denied knowing where she is!" Samuel stopped, his stare fixed on Aidan. "I will ask you for the last time, where is Mélisande?"

  "You are so smart; you tell me."

  Samuel grabbed Aidan by his unbuttoned black shirt and shoved him against the wall. He moved his forearm against Aidan’s throat and pressed hard.

  "You do not want to play games with me. Tell me or I will force it out of you!" The butler warned.

  "Hey!" Savy burst into the room. "Get your hands off him!" She shouted, oblivious to her state of undress; wearing only a tank top and pajama pants.

  "Where is Mélisande?" Samuel demanded from Savy, pressing on Aidan’s throat harder.

  "Get your hands off my brother or you will regret the day you were born!" Savannah seized a bedside lamp and yanked the cord out of the plug.

  "Sorry chérie, but I already regret it." Samuel sneered.

  Aidan pushed him off, but the butler swung a punch; Aidan ducked, Savy raised the lamp and was about to drop it on Samuel’s head when Mélisande banged the connecting door open.

  "Samuel Janvier! Que fais tu?" Mélisande shouted, wondering what he was doing.

  Samuel’s head shot up at the sound of her voice and he fell to the ground, his knees suddenly giving way under his weight.

  "Méli! Dieu soit loué!" He rose on shaky legs, thanking God, and hastened to her, wrapping her in a bear hug. "I knew you were with this guy. Why didn’t you call me? I was worried sick about you!" He held her at arm's length and shook her.

  "It was not safe, Samuel. But why are you attacking people? What is this madness?" Mélisande held his face in her hands. "These are my friends; they are trying to help me. And you, you are a mess! Are you drunk?" She shoved him away. "God! If Grand-mère could see you now…"

  "Don’t ever scare me like that, Méli! Never ever!"

  "I think you need to apologize!" Mélisande crossed her arms over her chest, tapping her foot, impatiently.

  "Oui, ma sœur!" Samuel grinned sheepishly, leaning his head against the wall.

  "I am not your sister!" Mélisande stated irritably.

  "You sure do act like Adeline, sometimes…" He swiped at a treacherous tear that got caught on his lashes. "My sincerest apologies Monsieur Carver, and Mademoiselle." He took Savannah’s free hand and kissed it. "May I take that?" He pointed at the lamp. "Though feel free to smash it on my head, I was a total ass and I deserve it."

  The fight had fled Savannah and she gawked at Samuel.

  "Is this your uncle?" She asked Mélisande who nodded. "Oh, my God! Y'all are crazy!" She snatched her hand from Samuel, handed him the lamp and left.

  "Sweet kid… I am truly sorry about my appalling behavior." Samuel’s expression turned dark with shame.

  "I guess I would do the same if it was my sister missing," Aidan shrugged. "No hard feelings." The two men shook hands.

  "What in the world happened to you?" Samuel wondered, finally registering Mélisande’s new hair and clothes.

  Chapter 33

  "Have you not heard? I am a fugitive! Why don’t you come to my room and let Aidan finish getting dressed?" Mélisande twirled on her heels and headed back to her room.

  Aidan glanced down at his state of dishabille and shrugged at Samuel, who nodded and followed Mélisande out.

  "Things are bad," Samuel said once they were alone. "Did you hear the press conference?"

  "Oh! That is nothing! Did you hear? The emeralds were found in my safe deposit box at the bank along with the codes for the vault boxes, and the ten thousand euros I left there, have mysteriously vanished!"

  "You got to be kidding me!" Samuel froze. "François told you not to touch those."

  "And I did not! Thank you for believing in my innocence!" She glared at her uncle. "But there is the footage of someone entering the back of the bank and leaving with his pockets full." Mélisande sat down on the couch, motioning Samuel to do the same. "What in the world is going on, Sam?" She frowned at his dirty black jeans and gray t-shirt. "And what in the world are you wearing?"

  "Ah! Mademoiselle is so used to me being the butler that she is shocked to see me dressed casually." He teased, then his smile vanished. "I don’t know what is going on, ma chérie, but whatever it is, it’s not good." He noticed the flip chart sheets covering the wall. "I made the suspect list!" He smirked. "Wow!"

  "I told them it was not you." Mélisande rolled her eyes as the man jumped to his feet.

  "No, it is important to be thorough. And the truth is that I want that bastard ruined! For all, he had done to my sister
, and now, you, with that press conference…" He examined the charts, his fingers hovering over his mother’s name.

  "What has he done to your sister?" Aidan asked, surprising Mélisande, with his sudden appearance.

  "Kill her for one thing. Her car had been at the mechanic’s a week prior to her death, there was nothing wrong with the breaks. He wanted her money, but she wouldn’t let him invest in a shady scheme. He and his best friend were always up to something, even back then," Samuel sighed. "Madame Renaud also died strangely. She overdosed on sleeping pills, but Adeline was sure that she did not do it. They were close friends. Karine had told Adeline that she feared for her life." He faced Aidan.

  "So, you think Belmont killed his wife too?" Aidan raised a questioning eyebrow.

  "Yes, I do!"

  "Oh, my God! This is all unbelievable!!! I am being set-up to take the fall for a robbery that I did not commit, someone is trying to take my inheritance away, my father could be a killer! Is this like a horrible dream, and I am going to wake up soon? What has happened to all the people that I love and trust? Not one person in my life is who I thought them to be…" She buried her face into her palms.

  "Méli," Samuel touched her shoulder, "you still got me! No matter what Monsieur Carver finds out about me, he will not find anything that has ever been done against you or caused you pain!"

  She studied his face but didn’t seem reassured by his words.

  "Time will tell who your friends truly are." The butler straightened, his gaze wounded but accepting the rejection none the less. "Is there anything I can help you with?" He offered Aidan. "I will be fired soon, so take advantage of my position within the house while you can."

  "Papa can not fire you!" Mélisande’s eyes widened. "You are family!"

  "Not to him, I’m not!" Samuel seemed reconciled with this fact.

  "Why do you think that you will be fired?" Aidan watched the other man carefully.

  "Charles can not wait to be rid of me. I am Roma, you see, so I am not reliable. What was that American song? Gypsies, tramps, and thieves? That’s me…" He sneered. "Now he has the perfect excuse; I failed to watch over Méli, and it is my fault that she ran off or got kidnapped. Can’t say I will miss that place; not with you gone!" He stared at Mélisande, trying to convey to her wordlessly just how much she meant to him.

  "I see… Well, we appreciate your offer and will take you up on it, but first thing first, my name is Aidan, none of that Monsieur nonsense anymore, at least not here."

  Samuel nodded, just as the suite door swung open, and Aidan’s team strolled in.

  Chapter 34

  "You have already met Savy, and this is Isa and Phil, my team. Crew, this is Samuel Janvier, our mysterious uncle. Mélisande refused to tell us who you were, and Isa had to shake down all her gossip contacts to get to the bottom of the mystery." Aidan added for the butler’s benefit.

  "That is my Mélisande!" Samuel smiled approvingly at his niece.

  "I am so glad to meet you!" Isa embraced Samuel warmly. "Mélisande is very fond of you."

  Philip shook hands too, but Savy stayed back.

  "May I apologize for my rudest behavior earlier, once again?" Samuel approached her with his hand out.

  Savy, who was now fully dressed, hesitated, then shook his hand briefly and walked away.

  "What happened?" Isa wondered. "There was quite a commotion."

  "I tried to kill Aidan," Samuel admitted. "I knew he was harboring Méli."

  "Oh!" Isa’s eyebrows shot up.

  "Bah, it was nothing!" Aidan waved it off, as he raised his phone to his ear. "Vlad, you are up? Great. Do you have any listening devices on hand? Can you bring up a few? And how about a disposable phone? Thank you, Vlad! Mélisande’s uncle is here. See you in a bit!" Aidan ended the call. "It won’t be long."

  "I too think that Fifi is Belmont’s whore." Samuel pointed to the wall. "I had seen her slipping out of his part of the house several times, early in the morning before the household was up."

  "Anything else you can tell us?" Isa probed.

  "I’m not sure. François is a good kid, stuck between a rock and a hard place. It is possible that he had tipped them off about Méli’s plans, but with the baby on the way, he had little other choice, I am sure. I think when he told Méli not to take anything other than the bracelet, it was a clear warning that something was up. But I doubt it that he was in on his father’s plans. He is too close to Méli; he would have spilled his guts if he knew any details of what his old man was up to," Samuel exhaled heavily.

  "So, you think Renaud is behind all this?" Philip frowned.

  "Absolutely!" Samuel nodded. "I don’t know much about Céline. There had been rivalry between her mother and Adeline, but I don’t see how that has anything to do with this."

  "Have you seen her at the house?" Aidan made some more notes on the flip charts.

  "Never. But Belmont doesn’t bring women there; it is after all not his home."

  "What about Kárpáti, have you ever seen him before?"

  "Kárpáti?" Samuel hesitated for a moment. "No, I don’t believe so."

  "Why do you think they want Mélisande to marry François?" Philip studied the butler.

  "To get their hands on the entire estate. Mélisande would trust François enough to make him a full partner, as they are good friends. Then before she would know it, everything would be tied up in businesses that the two friends run. She would be ruined in no time."

  "Why didn’t they do that with Adeline?" Aidan faced Samuel.

  "Grand-mère didn’t trust Charles. She made sure that Adeline’s money followed the Belmont tradition; iron-clad prenup, and monthly allowances."

  "But couldn’t that be done with Mélisande?" Isa wondered aloud.

  "If there was someone there to protect her, sure, but Grand-mère is gone, and so is Adeline. Mélisande is on her own. They could do anything with Méli!" Samuel balled his fists. "Well, that is until Charles found out Adeline’s little surprise; the money would have been frozen until Méli’s twenty-first birthday if she had been married before then. It was a brilliant coup! Too bad it came at the cost of my sister’s life."

  "Why don’t you hate them?" Savy crossed her arms, leaning against the wall, peering at the butler suspiciously.

  "Hate who?"

  "The Belmonts, everything that was done to your mother and you. You should hate them all. They have everything, while you are nothing more than a butler; a nobody when you should be the heir, not her!" Savy motioned with her chin towards Mélisande.

  "What was done to my mother and me? What do you know about my life, little girl?"

  Savy blushed vividly.

  "What do you know about what the Belmonts, as you put it is so eloquently, have done to me. My mother was a teenager, Grand-mère basically adopted her, taking her away from a place where she would have suffered endless abuse. When my mother killed herself, I was cared for and loved. I never wanted for anything; I had an excellent education, a safe home, and people who loved me, unconditionally. So, forgive me if I don’t fit into your expected little box of hating my family, who gave their all for me." Samuel turned away from her, trying to calm down and suppress the pain that was rising in his heart, threatening to choke him.

  "Savy, enough." Aidan took a step towards the man. "Savy is very testy, that is what makes her so good at what she does. But she sometimes forgets to consider other people’s feelings. I apologize."

  "No, I owe the apology. It is a touchy subject, but I understand what Savannah is doing. I do get my revenge, that is what you are getting at, right? Each year on the old bastard’s birthday, the one who fathered me, I go and spit on his grave. That is enough for me." Samuel held Savy’s gaze until she averted her eyes.

  Vlad arrived at that moment and the two men were introduced.

  "Here is your new phone." Aidan started it and entered a number. "Use it only to call me, if you need to get in touch. Okay, Savy, you are up; show Samuel how to use
the bugs."

  Savy was at the dining table opening the boxes that Vlad had brought up. Samuel went to her.

  "You can plant these bugs in a phone or under and behind furniture. Pick spots that are hard to reach by the cleaning lady. They will transmit to this gadget here." She showed him a small gray box, the size of a remote-control garage door opener with a button and two lights. "This is the transmitter; it connects to a cell tower. There is an extra long-life battery in it, but if you can plug it in, that would be the best. Is there a secluded place in the house or nearby that is seldom used?"

  "The servant’s stairs. There is a plug there, and no one goes in. I will just need to lose the keys before I’m sacked." Samuel examined the bugs, which looked like little sting rays.

  "These are stickers, you peel them off and push them down on the surface. Set up the transmitter first, then place the bugs, this way they can start working as soon as they are in place. This little guy goes into my laptop and will register all conversations." She held up what seemed to be a memory stick.

  "How do I activate the bugs?" Samuel asked.

  "They go live as soon as you detach them from the paper. For the transmitter, you will just need to push this button, that’s it. You can call or text Aidan if you have any problems." She stepped back, done with her tutorial.

  "Thank you."

  "Hum…" Savy muttered noncommittally and left.

  "You will be okay doing this?" Aidan studied Samuel.

  "Of course; I have participated in criminal activities before, as you well know." Samuel winked at Mélisande. "This will be a walk in the park after the break-in."

  "All right. I assume you have an idea where you will plant the bugs?"

  "Yes, there are only three places in the house where anything of interest maybe overheard," Samuel confirmed.

  "Okay! Give me a call if you are canned. I can use extra help around here. And you will be compensated for your troubles." Aidan nodded approvingly.

  "All I want as a compensation is to have Méli’s name cleared. Nothing else. I wish there was more help I could give you." Samuel’s features shadowed with regret.