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Authors: Sidney Sheldon
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was just debating whether we should send a contingent up there.”
“All the companies are going,” Ashley said. “Symantec, Microsoft, Apple. Quebec City is putting on a big show for them. A trip like that could be kind of a Christmas bonus.”
Shane Miller smiled at her enthusiasm. “Let me check it out.”
The following morning, Shane Miller called Ashley into his office.
“How would you like to spend Christmas in Quebec City?”
“We’re going? That’s great,” Ashley said, enthusiastically. In the past, she had spent the Christmas holidays with her father, but this year she had dreaded the prospect.
“You’d better take plenty of warm clothes.”
“Don’t worry. I will. I’m really looking forward to this, Shane.”
Toni was in the Internet chat room. “Jean Claude, the company is sending a group of us to Quebec City!”
“Formidable! I am so pleased. When will you arrive?”
“In two weeks. There will be fifteen of us.”
“Merveilleux! I feel as though something very important is going to happen.”
“So do I.” Something very important.
Ashley anxiously watched the news every night, but there were still no new developments in the Dennis Tibbie murder. She began to relax. If the police could not connect her with the case, there was no way they could find a connection to her father. Half a dozen times she steeled herself to ask him about it, but each time she backed off. What if he were innocent? Could he ever forgive her for accusing him of being a murderer? And if he is guilty, I don’t want to know, Ashley thought. I couldn’t bear it. And if he has done those terrible things, in his mind, he would have done them to protect me. At least I won’t have to face him this Christmas.
Ashley telephoned her father in San Francisco. She said, without preamble, “I’m not going to be able to spend Christmas with you this year, Father. My company is sending me to a convention in Canada.”
There was a long silence. “That’s bad timing, Ashley. You and I have always spent Christmas together.”
“I can’t help—”
“You’re all I have, you know.”
“Yes, Father, and…you’re all I have.”
“That’s what’s important.”
Important enough to kill for?
“Where is this convention?”
“In Quebec City. It’s—”
“Ah. Lovely place. I haven’t been there in years. I’ll tell you what I’ll do. I haven’t anything scheduled at the hospital around that time. I’ll fly up, and we’ll have a Christmas dinner together.”
Ashley said quickly, “I don’t think it’s—”
“You just make a reservation for me at whatever hotel you’re staying at. We don’t want to break tradition, do we?”
She hesitated and said slowly, “No, Father.”
How can I face him?
Alette was excited. She said to Toni, “I’ve never been to Quebec City. Do they have museums there?”
“Of course they have museums there,” Toni told her. “They have everything. A lot of winter sports. Skiing, skating…”
Alette shuddered. “I hate cold weather. No sports for me. Even with gloves, my fingers get numb. I will stick to the museums.…”
On the twenty-first of December, the group from Global Computer Graphics arrived at the Jean-Lesage International Airport in Sainte-Foy and were driven to the storied Chateau Frontenac in Quebec City. It was below zero outside, and the streets were blanketed with snow.
Jean Claude had given Toni his home telephone number. She called as soon as she checked into her room. “I hope I’m not calling too late.”
“Mais non! I cannot believe you are here. When may I see you?”
“Well, we’re all going to the convention center tomorrow morning, but I could slip away and have lunch with you.”
“Bon! There is a restaurant, Le Paris-Brest, on the Grande Allée Est. Can you meet me there at one o’clock?”
“I’ll be there.”
The Centre des Congrès de Quebec on Rene Lévesque Boulevard is a four-story, glass-and-steel,
“All the companies are going,” Ashley said. “Symantec, Microsoft, Apple. Quebec City is putting on a big show for them. A trip like that could be kind of a Christmas bonus.”
Shane Miller smiled at her enthusiasm. “Let me check it out.”
The following morning, Shane Miller called Ashley into his office.
“How would you like to spend Christmas in Quebec City?”
“We’re going? That’s great,” Ashley said, enthusiastically. In the past, she had spent the Christmas holidays with her father, but this year she had dreaded the prospect.
“You’d better take plenty of warm clothes.”
“Don’t worry. I will. I’m really looking forward to this, Shane.”
Toni was in the Internet chat room. “Jean Claude, the company is sending a group of us to Quebec City!”
“Formidable! I am so pleased. When will you arrive?”
“In two weeks. There will be fifteen of us.”
“Merveilleux! I feel as though something very important is going to happen.”
“So do I.” Something very important.
Ashley anxiously watched the news every night, but there were still no new developments in the Dennis Tibbie murder. She began to relax. If the police could not connect her with the case, there was no way they could find a connection to her father. Half a dozen times she steeled herself to ask him about it, but each time she backed off. What if he were innocent? Could he ever forgive her for accusing him of being a murderer? And if he is guilty, I don’t want to know, Ashley thought. I couldn’t bear it. And if he has done those terrible things, in his mind, he would have done them to protect me. At least I won’t have to face him this Christmas.
Ashley telephoned her father in San Francisco. She said, without preamble, “I’m not going to be able to spend Christmas with you this year, Father. My company is sending me to a convention in Canada.”
There was a long silence. “That’s bad timing, Ashley. You and I have always spent Christmas together.”
“I can’t help—”
“You’re all I have, you know.”
“Yes, Father, and…you’re all I have.”
“That’s what’s important.”
Important enough to kill for?
“Where is this convention?”
“In Quebec City. It’s—”
“Ah. Lovely place. I haven’t been there in years. I’ll tell you what I’ll do. I haven’t anything scheduled at the hospital around that time. I’ll fly up, and we’ll have a Christmas dinner together.”
Ashley said quickly, “I don’t think it’s—”
“You just make a reservation for me at whatever hotel you’re staying at. We don’t want to break tradition, do we?”
She hesitated and said slowly, “No, Father.”
How can I face him?
Alette was excited. She said to Toni, “I’ve never been to Quebec City. Do they have museums there?”
“Of course they have museums there,” Toni told her. “They have everything. A lot of winter sports. Skiing, skating…”
Alette shuddered. “I hate cold weather. No sports for me. Even with gloves, my fingers get numb. I will stick to the museums.…”
On the twenty-first of December, the group from Global Computer Graphics arrived at the Jean-Lesage International Airport in Sainte-Foy and were driven to the storied Chateau Frontenac in Quebec City. It was below zero outside, and the streets were blanketed with snow.
Jean Claude had given Toni his home telephone number. She called as soon as she checked into her room. “I hope I’m not calling too late.”
“Mais non! I cannot believe you are here. When may I see you?”
“Well, we’re all going to the convention center tomorrow morning, but I could slip away and have lunch with you.”
“Bon! There is a restaurant, Le Paris-Brest, on the Grande Allée Est. Can you meet me there at one o’clock?”
“I’ll be there.”
The Centre des Congrès de Quebec on Rene Lévesque Boulevard is a four-story, glass-and-steel,
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