Free Secrets by Nancy Popovich Page A

that Sonya
assisted Madame Lalonde out of the chair and watched as she
gingerly walked across the room, out the door and across the hall
to her room.

CHAPTER 16
    Dinner was very
civilized and under other circumstances, would have been absolutely
divine. The dining table was perfect, the china obviously expensive
and the crystal exquisite.
    “Is this your
house?” Sonya couldn’t resist asking.
    “It is,”
replied BB. “Is it to your liking?” he asked, swirling his wine
casually.
    “Most
definitely!” Sonya replied lifting her wine glass in salute. “It is
absolutely perfect. Thank you for taking us into your home,
especially under these circumstances.”
    BB appeared
surprised by her statement. “The pleasure is mine,” he replied
graciously. “My home is greatly enhanced by her guests.”
    Steve took a
deep breath and began what Sonya believed to be a somewhat
rehearsed speech. “Sonya, I need to ask, as difficult as it might
be, if you can perhaps give us some insight into the people that
you have met since you and Bryan have been in Paris. Of course,
other than Madame Lalonde, Sylvain and Lucien.”
    Sonya thought
for a few minutes. “The only person that immediately comes to mind
is Bryan’s professor while he was studying here, Grégoire. I don’t
even know his last name to be honest.”
    “So where did
you meet Grégoire,” Steve continued.
    “At the
university, just after we arrived in Paris. We met again later that
day, at a bar called Le Cavern . To be brutally honest, in my
opinion Grégoire is a total asshole!” Realizing that she had sworn
unintentionally, Sonya blushed.
    “I apologize
for using rude language, but that guy really, really is a pig! Can
you believe that he hit on me, not only at the university, but
again at the bar? He also made some comment about Crusader and
being a wizard. I dislike him so intensely, and I cannot give you a
reason why. I can’t understand why Bryan even gives him the time of
day!”
    Several
eyebrows at the table rose in surprise at the mention of Crusader
and wizard, but no one remarked.
    “This is the
only person you have met here?” Steve continued.
    Sonya thought
for a second. “There was a woman, Mimi. She was at the bar when we
were there with Grégoire. We saw her again at Montmartre. I
liked her! According to Bryan, she really rang Grégoire’s bell at
some party when he got totally gross with her. Flipped him flat on
his back! I’ll raise a glass to that lady – she is A-okay in my
book!”
    Steve grinned
at her. Obviously, he liked what she said. BB flitted a glance at
Steve and all Maurice did was nod and take a swallow of his
wine.
    “You met no one
else?” BB prompted.
    Sonya shook her
head. “Not that I can remember. We have been playing tourist, we
haven’t met many people other than those two. There were others at
the bar, but they were just students kissing Grégoire’s ass. I
labelled them Grégoire’s Groupies.”
    Maurice choked
a bit on his wine, his hazel eyes sparkling in a face handsome
enough that it could have been in the movies, and then he seemed to
try to hide his rather large grin.
    After dinner,
they retreated to their rooms. Sonya checked her email and her text
messages. Nothing! Damn.
    Hanging her
blazer on the doorknob and placing her shoes beside the bed, she
lay upon the bed fully clothed, pulled the bedspread around her and
closed her eyes, hoping for at least an hour or two of
downtime.
    Sonya woke with
a start. The room was dark, and the clock read 10:30. The cell
buzzed again – a text message! Sonya fumbled to retrieve it, but
she was forced to light the bedside lamp to orient herself. The
message was from Bryan!
     
    “M ok. Need 2 C
U 2nite. 2:30 @ Eiffel Twr. No 1 else. Brng camra. Tak Taxi”
     
    Okay! He was
healthy enough to send a text. But, this wasn’t his usual text, and
he hadn’t signed it with the silly little symbols that he usually
did, so someone else had written it. It was, however,