“You don’t want to know. Tell me.”
“Can you turn on the tap and run the water?” she said quickly.
The water immediately turned on. “Done. That wasn’t weird, was it?”
“No, it’s the next part that’s weird,” she confessed. “Can you please speak to me in French?”
To her surprise, he didn’t even question her. He simply started to speak in French. She had no idea what he was saying, he could have been reciting all of the ingredients in their dinner tonight.
It did the trick, though. She started to pee.
Oh heck.
What a relief.
She sighed and cleaned up. “I’m done. You can go. Thank you!”
“I’ll be right outside the door.”
Maya waited until she was certain that he was gone to walk out of the stall and wash her hands. She also wet a paper towel and dabbed it over her hot cheeks.
Lord.
She did not want to go out there and face him. But it wasn’t like she had any other choice.
Gathering up her courage, she moved to the door and stepped out. But he didn’t say anything as she walked out. Instead, his hand went to the small of her back as he steered her toward the staff break room.
It was time for lunch and she could feel her stomach rumbling.
As she pulled their sandwiches from the fridge, he sat down with his phone out, sending off messages.
“What’s going on?” she asked as she sat across from him at the table.
“There was another threat to your father,” he explained.
Shit.
“Are you sure?” she asked. “Sorry, that was a stupid question. It’s been over two weeks. I thought that maybe the person threatening him had given up or something. What happened?”
“Another threatening note.” Matthieu frowned. “It seems odd that a note turned up now.”
“Why odd?” she asked.
“Nothing for over two weeks, like you said. And then a note right before he plans to return to work.”
“What would that mean, though?” She couldn’t see the connection. “The person threatening him couldn’t have known that he plans to return to work, right? And why would that matter to them? In fact, wouldn’t it make their job to get at him easier if he did go back to work?”
“You’re right. It all makes no sense.”
But he was still frowning in thought.
“What do you think is going on?” she asked.
“I don’t know.” He shook his head and started eating his sandwich. When he finished a mouthful, he gave her a firm look. “Eat your sandwich.”
“I’m not really hungry anymore.”
“There is nothing that you can do to help your father,” he told her. “He is a grown man. A cop. And he has a lot of people looking after him. So I do not want you to worry.”
