Page 39 of Leo
“I’d hoped to have breakfast with you this morning, but you checked out of the hotel. I meant what I said, Lenora. I’d like to see you again, hopefully in Connecticut, when we’re both back home.
“I know that you find this hard to believe, but I’ve always liked you and would love to start our friendship anew. Below is my e-mail, phone, and, in case you forgot, my home address.
“All my love – Dean.”
She smiled for the first time in years over a man. Dean had been one of the good guys in school, and here he was, in Paris, hoping to see her again. She’d arranged to meet the buyer at a small café near her new hotel. If things went wrong, she’d simply take the backpack or the money, or both, and head to the airport.
Seeing an e-scooter bike rental, she smiled to herself, feeling particularly youthful after Dean’s e-mail. Renting the scooter, she received a three-minute safety lecture, a helmet, and a map to her location.
With tourists flocking to Notre Dame, she made sure that the café was close but not too close. The narrow streets of uneven brick and their traditional Parisian townhomes were so picturesque Lenora almost got lost.
With a quick stop and look to find herself, she spotted the café on the opposite corner. Outside at a table was the very person she was to meet. An older man in a suit, a croissant on the table at the corner, and a café au lait. He was her man.
Parking the scooter, she hooked the helmet to the bars and then walked toward the meeting spot. As she neared, the man stood and stared at her.
“You have the Russian babies?” he asked, smiling.
“I do,” she nodded. “And you have the American dream?”
“I do,” he grinned, handing her the briefcase. They both opened the packs, staring at the treasures handed to them. The man nodded.
“It was a great pleasure doing business with you,” he said. He walked toward a car, and then all hell broke loose. Agents from the U.S., Interpol, and French Police came out from between the narrow houses.
“Shit,” muttered Lenora. She backed up into the café, staring at the people inside. In rapid French, she told her tale.
“Men are chasing me and wish to harm me. Please, help me,” she cried.
The Oscars would have been proud of her performance. The waitress led her out the back and toward another building that would allow her to pass through to a distant street, and from there, she could catch a taxi.
“Merci!” she cried.
Looking both ways, she saw no one on the street and casually walked across the alleyway, where she made her way to another street over. Once near the main street, she hailed a taxi and headed toward the airport.
Whatever happened back there, she needed to leave the city, and fast. But if they knew her, if they knew who she was, she wouldn’t be able to get on an airplane.
Rethinking her scenario, she asked the taxi driver to take her Le Havre, on the Brittany Coast near the English Channel. She could catch a ferry, which would be easier to board.
“It’s two hours, madam.”
“I know,” she said. “Three thousand American dollars if you get me there in less.” He looked at her with surprise and smiled, nodding.
“Done!”
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
“What happened, AJ?” asked Luke, staring at the screens.
“The whole fucking continent moved in on her. We had no idea that the U.S. was working with Interpol, French Police, the FBI, Russian authorities, Laos authorities, everyone and their mother was in on this one, except us.”
“But what happened?” asked Hex in a frustrated tone.
“They got the eggs and the amber, but not Lenora. The eggs are four that had never been seen before and thought missing. From what the antiquities people are saying, they are nothing short of miraculous to see.”
“Damn, I’m glad to hear that,” said Leo. “Those are national treasures that need to be seen. What about the amber?”
“We can’t tell for sure yet, but they believe that they are pieces taken from the amber room in Catherine’s palace outside of St. Petersburg. The pieces are perfectly cut, symmetrical, and of a quality unlike anyone has ever seen before.”
“Have we checked airports, train stations, all the usual for Lenora?” asked Tillie. “I know her, and I know she’s probably headed to the next adventure.”
