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Authors: Linda Howard
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rapidly as she could, losing herself in the crowd. The five-inch heels put her close to six feet tall, but there was no way she intended to wear them any longer than necessary. As she neared her departure gate, she ducked into yet another public restroom, and changed out of the eye-grabbing disguise. When she left that bathroom, she had long black hair and wore black jeans and a thick black turtleneck sweater, with the same low-heeled shoes she’d worn on the flight over. She had wiped off the pink lipstick, replaced it with red gloss, and exchanged the pink shades for gray ones. Her papers as Alexandra Wesley were stowed in her tote, and the ticket and passport in her hand stated she was Mariel St. Clair.
Soon she was on a plane headed back across the Channel to Paris, this time in coach. She leaned her head back against the seat and closed her eyes.
So far, so good.
Chapter Five
Rodrigo was furious. He said, carefully, “how, precisely, did you manage to lose her?”
“She was followed from the moment she exited the plane,” replied the British voice on the phone. “She entered the public facilities, and never came out.”
“Did you send someone in to look for her?”
“After some length of time, yes.”
“Exactly what length of time?”
“Perhaps twenty minutes passed before my men became alarmed, sir. Then I had to wait until a female could be brought to the location to enter the facilities and search.”
Rodrigo closed his eyes as he tried to rein in his temper. Bumblers! The men following Denise must have become distracted and not noticed her leaving the facilities. There were no other exits, no windows or trash chutes or anything else. She could only have left the same way she entered, yet these idiots had somehow completely overlooked her.
The matter wasn’t terribly important, but inefficiency annoyed him. Until he got the answers he wanted about Denise’s background, he wanted to know exactly where she was and what she was doing. In fact, he’d expected to have those answers the day before, but the bureaucracy was being as inefficient as usual.
“One thing is puzzling, sir.”
“And that is?”
“When my men lost her, I immediately checked with Customs, but we have no record of her.”
Rodrigo sat upright, a sudden frown drawing his brows together. “What does that mean?”
“It means she disappeared. When I checked the passenger list of the inbound flight, there was no Denise Morel listed. She did get off the plane, but then she somehow disappeared. The only plausible explanation is that she got on another plane, but I have no record of her doing that.”
Alarm bells rang in Rodrigo’s head so loudly they were almost deafening. He went cold, frozen by the sudden horrible suspicion. “Check the records again, Mr. Murray. She must have done.”
“I have already double-checked, sir. There is no record of her entering or leaving London. I was very thorough with my search.”
“Thank you,” Rodrigo said, and hung up the phone. He was so enraged he was dizzy from the force of his emotions. The bitch had played him for a fool!
Just to make certain, he called his contact in the Ministry. “I need that information immediately,“ he barked, not identifying either himself or the information in question. He didn’t need to.
“Yes, of course, but there is a problem.”
“You can’t find where this particular Denise Morel exists?” Rodrigo asked sarcastically.
“How did you know? I’m certain I can-”
“Don’t trouble yourself. You won’t find her.” His suspicions confirmed, Rodrigo hung up again and sat behind the desk trying to contain the sulfuric rage that blasted through him. He had to think clearly, and at the moment that was beyond him.
She was the poisoner. How clever of her, to also poison herself, but with such a small dose that she would be sick for a time but would survive. Or perhaps she hadn’t intended to sip the wine at all, but his father had
Soon she was on a plane headed back across the Channel to Paris, this time in coach. She leaned her head back against the seat and closed her eyes.
So far, so good.
Chapter Five
Rodrigo was furious. He said, carefully, “how, precisely, did you manage to lose her?”
“She was followed from the moment she exited the plane,” replied the British voice on the phone. “She entered the public facilities, and never came out.”
“Did you send someone in to look for her?”
“After some length of time, yes.”
“Exactly what length of time?”
“Perhaps twenty minutes passed before my men became alarmed, sir. Then I had to wait until a female could be brought to the location to enter the facilities and search.”
Rodrigo closed his eyes as he tried to rein in his temper. Bumblers! The men following Denise must have become distracted and not noticed her leaving the facilities. There were no other exits, no windows or trash chutes or anything else. She could only have left the same way she entered, yet these idiots had somehow completely overlooked her.
The matter wasn’t terribly important, but inefficiency annoyed him. Until he got the answers he wanted about Denise’s background, he wanted to know exactly where she was and what she was doing. In fact, he’d expected to have those answers the day before, but the bureaucracy was being as inefficient as usual.
“One thing is puzzling, sir.”
“And that is?”
“When my men lost her, I immediately checked with Customs, but we have no record of her.”
Rodrigo sat upright, a sudden frown drawing his brows together. “What does that mean?”
“It means she disappeared. When I checked the passenger list of the inbound flight, there was no Denise Morel listed. She did get off the plane, but then she somehow disappeared. The only plausible explanation is that she got on another plane, but I have no record of her doing that.”
Alarm bells rang in Rodrigo’s head so loudly they were almost deafening. He went cold, frozen by the sudden horrible suspicion. “Check the records again, Mr. Murray. She must have done.”
“I have already double-checked, sir. There is no record of her entering or leaving London. I was very thorough with my search.”
“Thank you,” Rodrigo said, and hung up the phone. He was so enraged he was dizzy from the force of his emotions. The bitch had played him for a fool!
Just to make certain, he called his contact in the Ministry. “I need that information immediately,“ he barked, not identifying either himself or the information in question. He didn’t need to.
“Yes, of course, but there is a problem.”
“You can’t find where this particular Denise Morel exists?” Rodrigo asked sarcastically.
“How did you know? I’m certain I can-”
“Don’t trouble yourself. You won’t find her.” His suspicions confirmed, Rodrigo hung up again and sat behind the desk trying to contain the sulfuric rage that blasted through him. He had to think clearly, and at the moment that was beyond him.
She was the poisoner. How clever of her, to also poison herself, but with such a small dose that she would be sick for a time but would survive. Or perhaps she hadn’t intended to sip the wine at all, but his father had
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