Free C'est la Vie (Raja Williams Series) by Jack Thompson

Margaret Browning. There is a lot more interest in locating her than I first thought. But, none of it is showing up on official channels.”
    “What do you mean?”
    “I’ve got an RF capture program running through satellite that is keyed to any reference to her. Some of the traffic is between local hoods, some between police officers. All on private lines.”
    “You can hack all that?”
    “Yeah, dude. P-O-C.”
    “So, we have the criminals and the cops looking for Mrs. Browning, but on the sly. Why the low profile? And what is so important about a British woman on holiday in Paris?”
    “I was hoping you could answer that one, Raj.”
    “Okay, Vinny, find out whatever else you can. I’m down at the narcotics division, waiting to see someone. I’ve got a raid to plan. Gotta go.”
    The narcotics division was run by a Captain Rochefort, a famous fixture in the Paris police department. He had been running narcotics for over ten years as the one exception to the policy of frequent assignment changes that was needed to keep the division clean. His integrity was considered beyond reproach. He had initially doubted the information from Raja, but on the recommendation of Inspector Gilliard, he had agreed to meet.
    “ Bonjour , Monsieur Williams,” said a young officer. “Follow me.” The officer led Raja to an open room full of desks. On one side of the room, a raised platform held a commanding view of the entire room. A tough angular-jawed man with salt and pepper hair sat behind a large wooden desk on top of the platform. He looked to be over fifty, but had the physique and presence of a much younger man. It was Captain Rochefort. He preferred a spot in full view of his men rather than a private office out of sight. He had learned from his days in the military that men do not respect a commander they cannot see. He waved for Raja and the officer to approach using a three-step stair on the side.
    “You are the private investigator who brings me the gift of intelligence information on a major drug lab in my city. You are not Greek, are you?” The captain was referring to the Greek gift of the Trojan horse that felled Troy.
    “No, sir.”
    “Good, then let’s hear more. Sit down.”
    Raja outlined the data he had collected so far, including what Vinny had discovered at the Cabaret d’Artois.
    “You are American, are you not?”
    “Yes.”
    “And you have been in Paris how long?”
    “Less than a week.”
    “Impressive. If you don’t mind, I will need time to talk with my officers to get their input and bring them up to speed. If your information fits with what we already know, then we will proceed.”
    “Thank you, Captain.” Raja knew that was as far as he could push it today. One of the difficulties of crashing the party as an outsider was that any detective work you did, especially if it was good, inevitably made someone in the police department look bad. Raja pegged the Captain as a straight shooter, and decided his best play was to give the Captain enough room to make the idea palatable to his men.

Chapter Eleven: Dancing Madly Backwards
    A nother grueling night of the same at Cabaret d’Artois gave Vinny the chance to meet more of the staff. The younger girls were sure they were on their way up in the world, and more than a few of the older ones were on their way down, but they were a decent group for the most part. Corinne Reneau was nowhere to be found. Coco told Vinny that Corinne had been taking time off because of her brother’s death. None of the other girls knew much about Corinne aside from her having a personal relationship with Bruno.
    Halfway through the night Vinny met the little bald man who had been sitting with Bruno when Raja and Vinny first visited the club. He was hanging around the dressing area when Vinny took her break, carrying a black ledger.
    “ Bonsoir ,” he said softly. “You are the new girl, yes?”
    “Yes.” Vinny looked at the strange little man. He seemed like