Three and a Half Weeks(127)

“No, I didn’t know, as a matter of fact. Lucien told me that two men, Lithuanian brothers, saved him and his father rewarded them with lifetime jobs.”

“Yes, well. My father wasn’t always the sharpest knife in the drawer despite his brilliance at making money. My mother always suspected those men were themselves behind the kidnapping. They were never exactly upstanding citizens of the world. My father, however, believed their story lock, stock, and barrel, as they say. He made them out to be heroes.”

“Lucien takes after his father in that way, living in his own little house of cards, Ella. He believes what suits him to believe and dismisses whatever doesn’t fit into his narrative.” There’s a pause on her end. “What exactly did he tell you and why?”

“Just what I’ve told you.”

“Yes, it’s all true… except that he wasn’t held for days but hours. He likes to believe he was emotionally scarred for life but he only remembers what family members have told him. His memories are totally false.” She pauses.

“What I’m not clear on is why he shared the story with you? I thought you were merely colleagues. Has that changed since last I saw you?”

“No,” I hurry to reassure her. “I had a… um… difficult night… with Lucien and he told me why he has those men in his employ. That’s the only reason.”

“Difficult? What happened?”

“I’m not exactly sure… mainly because I was drugged apparently. The drug had an extremely… deleterious effect on me. In short, I don’t know what actually happened and what I imagined to have happened.

“I see. Inasmuch as his story is true, I still would caution you about believing anything Lucien says. He prevaricates just because he can, for no other reason. He can be extremely self-centered and he doesn’t seem to care how his actions affect other people.”

Again, she pauses. For a moment or two, I think the call dropped but then she speaks up again.

“Have you spoken to his former girlfriend, Ella?”

“No, I haven’t.”

“They were together for quite some time. She might shed some light on the situation for you.”

“Was their break-up acrimonious?”

She laughs coldly. “Only if you think your lover cheating on you is acrimonious. Lucien had met another woman and began two-timing the girl… Eliza, I believe her name is. I don’t know what happened with the new one but he was apparently head over heels for her.”

“Do you know what her name was?”

“I can’t remember offhand. It was something exotic, as I recall. Ah, it’s at the fringes of my memory but I can’t pin it down. It will come to me as soon as we disconnect, no doubt.”

I laugh in commiseration. “Yes, that’s usually how it works. Well, thank you so much for the information, Maya. I do so appreciate it.”

“Not at all, Ella. I liked you immediately and I knew my darling half-brother would be bad news for you one way or another. He usually is.”

“Yes, well, live and learn. Take care, Maya.”

“You, too, Ella. Goodbye.”

I hang up the phone, chewing my lip. After speaking with Maya St. Sauveur, I’m left with more questions than I started with and wondering if I should indeed call Eliza. Would Lara have any information about her? I’ll start with her. Scrolling through my address book in my phone, I find Lara’s number and am about to punch in the call when I get a chime alerting me to a text. I switch to the message screen.

It’s from Maya. It reads: I remembered her name! It’s Natasha.





Chapter 37


Abandon All Hope Ye That Enter Here:



He wakes up at two, then three-thirty, and then again at 4:20. He just cannot get any rest; the stress mounts in his bloodstream like a cyanide drip, as the hippocampus in his brain secretes hormones triggering a fight or flight response.

This time it will be fight.

It is his looming four o’clock appointment that is the culprit. He hadn’t cancelled it. Instead, he’d decided to meet with the turncoat bitch and find out for once and for all what the hell it was all about.

Too early to go into the office, he tries to reach Daniel Butler—it’s later in New York. Shortly after first meeting Butler, he began to suspect the man has… unique… abilities, so why not make use of them, since Butler had made the offer? Of course, he could be entirely mistaken. Perhaps the sharp businessman is merely intuitive?

Butler answers on the third ring. “Yes?”

“Ian Blackmon here. Can you spare a minute?”

“I can. What’s going on?”