“Bastien,” Thomas interrupted his ranting. “I get it. Despite all outward appearances, you’re not perfect, dude. You screwed up. Get over it.”
Another long, drawn-out sigh slid down the phone line. It was followed by a quiet, “Thomas?”
“Yeah?” he asked with amusement, hearing the annoyance in his voice.
“Never mind,” Bastien muttered and then asked, “Do you have any ideas on how you’re going to find Mother?”
“A few,” he admitted reluctantly. “I thought I’d call the other hotels in London to make sure she hasn’t just booked into another one. If that doesn’t turn up anything, we’ll have to check car rental agencies and trains and flights…”
“That’s a hell of a lot of calls. Even with the two of you working at it, it could take forever. There are hundreds of hotels in London,” Bastien muttered unhappily.
“Yeah,” Thomas agreed quietly, his mind returning to an idea he’d had on the flight over. He hesitated over mentioning it, sure Bastien would think it was stupid, but then sighed and admitted, “I had a thought on the plane.”
“What’s that?” Bastien asked hopefully.
“Well, I read an article a couple months back about tracking cell phones. If I can track Aunt Marguerite’s cell it might be the fastest way to find her.”
“They can track phones?” Bastien asked with interest.
“Yeah. Maybe it’s only when a nine-one-one call is placed from the phone in the states and Canada, though. I’m not sure, but I’m going to check into it and see if it’s possible. I have a techie friend who just moved back to England last year who should be able to help me with that. If it can be done, I’m going to try to track her that way.”
“That’s a good idea,” Bastien said.
Thomas scowled at the surprise in his voice and said dryly, “I do have the occasional worthy idea, Bastien. I know you and Lucern think I’m a loafer and an idiot, but—”
“We don’t,” Bastien interrupted. “We know you’re intelligent and creative and—”
“Yeah, right,” Thomas interrupted with amused disbelief.
“We do. Really, we—” He released a slow breath and then he said, “Look, Thomas. Lucern and I know about your music.”
Thomas stiffened at the bald announcement and then asked warily, “You do?”
“Yes. Vincent mentioned it. He didn’t know it was a secret,” Bastien said, answering the unspoken question.
Thomas grimaced. He’d been composing music for Vincent’s plays for decades. It hadn’t occurred to him that now that Vincent and Bastien were talking again, Vincent might mention it to him.
“Why didn’t you tell us?” Bastien asked quietly. “Why the big secret?”
“It wasn’t a secret,” Thomas said quietly. “Aunt Marguerite and Lissianna have known all along. So does Jeanne Louise and Mirabeau. And Etienne,” he added.#p#分页标题#e#
“So only Lucern and I didn’t know?”
“Well, dude, you never asked what my interests were, or what I do with my time when I’m not at Argeneau Enterprises,” he said simply.
There was silence for a minute, and then Bastien said, “And only Lucern and I get the dude business.”
Thomas grimaced, but didn’t say anything.
“I know you only talk like that to annoy Lucern and me.”
“What makes you think that?” he asked with amusement.
“The first clue was that Lissianna gets this really amused look when you do it, Greg just looks curious, and you slip up all the time and forget to stick in the ‘dudes’ and ‘dudettes.’ I’ve overheard you have whole conversations with her and others that don’t include a single ‘dude,’ which means you only do it with us, and since it does annoy us, I’d guess that’s why.”
“Hmm,” Thomas muttered.
“Look, I know over the centuries, Lucern and I have sometimes acted like we think you’re a snot-nosed kid. But it’s just…” Bastien paused and when he spoke again Thomas could hear the frown in his voice as he tried to explain, “You’re like our younger brother, Thomas. When you were growing up you worshipped Lucern and me and wanted to do everything we were doing.”
“Well, worship is kind of an exaggeration, but I did look up to the two of you,” he admitted wryly.
“Yeah, well, we reacted like typical older brothers, being annoyed and condescending to you.”
Thomas was silent as he realized it was true. They really had treated him like a younger brother, the same way they treated Etienne.