“Rather than letting her identify these seven people…” Bastien continued.
“Which would lead us to Aunt Marguerite,” Thomas finished with a nod. “Or at least put us one step closer.”
A moment of silence passed and then Thomas cast a quick glance to both his cousins. Etienne and Bastien had their eyes on the coffee shop across the street, but they also wore thoughtful expressions and he knew they were probably trying to figure out what it was Inez had sorted out. Scowling to himself, he shook his head and turned back to the coffee shop. It was his opinion that they should have been thinking about this before dropping Inez out as bait. They should have made her talk out the matter of who it could be and not let her out of their sight to ensure the bastard couldn’t get his hands on her again.
Thomas shifted his eyes to a woman with short spiky black hair as she walked past Inez, studiously ignoring her. He followed her with his eyes as she moved to the stairs and went below. It was hard to believe that was Etienne’s redheaded wife, Rachel. The wig and goth clothes she wore made her completely unrecognizable.
He watched her stop at the counter on the main floor and place an order, and then lifted his gaze back to the second floor where Terri in a long blond wig and flowery dress was also at the ready. She too was hard to recognize in the get up.
Rachel returned upstairs with her drink and claimed a different table where she could still watch both Inez and the stairs. The moment she was seated, Terri stood and headed below to fetch herself another drink. Thomas wished they wouldn’t, he’d rather both women not be more than five feet away from Inez, but knew they would be kicked out if they didn’t have something to eat or drink.
Inez would soon have to refresh her cappuccino too, Thomas thought and glanced down at his watch, frowning when he saw that she’d been seated alone for more than half an hour.
“It’s not going to work,” he announced with relief. “If he was going to make a move, he would have done it by now.”
“He’s right, Bastien,” Etienne said, but he sounded disappointed rather than relieved.
Bastien was silent for a minute and then said, “She’s reading a book.”
“As you instructed,” Thomas said. She was reading one of Lucern’s novels. She’d insisted on buying it so she wouldn’t have to admit that she’d never read his work when Lucern and Kate arrived later that day. “You said to get her something to read so she wasn’t sitting there thinking about the trap, unintentionally warning the guy off.”
Bastien nodded silently and then said, “Call her.”
“Why?” Thomas asked warily.
“You have to tell her to try to figure out who the seven people are. If she did work it out and that’s what set him on her before, she might work it out again, and he might make a move,” he explained. “After you call her, Etienne and I will call Rachel and Terri and tell them what’s happening and not to let their guard down in case the long wait makes them think nothing’s likely to happen.”
Thomas peered unhappily down at Inez. He didn’t want the guy to make his move. He wanted to take Inez back to the townhouse and keep her safe, not to mention turn her. When Bastien touched his arm, he turned reluctantly to peer at him.
“Please, Thomas, I promise I won’t let anything happen to her. I’ll jump off this building in full view of everyone, if necessary, to give chase and keep her safe.”
That was a big deal. Bastien was the one constantly berating anyone for doing the least little thing to draw attention to their kind. For him to be willing to openly reveal what he was if it became a necessity to save her…
Sighing, Thomas slid the phone out of his pocket and called Inez.
Inez turned the page of the book in her hands, her eyes eating up the story of how Thomas’s cousin Lissianna and her husband had got together. It was fascinating to read about people she’d met as well as those she would soon meet, and she was glad she’d picked it up. It was actually distracting her from the reason she was there, which was exactly why Bastien had said she should read.
Realizing that her thoughts were heading into an area she was supposed to avoid, Inez forced herself to concentrate on the story once more and reached blindly for her cappuccino, frowning and glancing down at it when she tipped it to her mouth and got nothing.
Her cup was empty she saw and wondered how long she’d been there. She was about to check her wristwatch when her cell phone began to ring. Leaning to the side, Inez picked up her purse and quickly dug out her phone.#p#分页标题#e#