Page 36 of Leo

Lenora agreed to have dinner with her old high school friend once again. It was a nice distraction, and no one else seemed to know who she was.

“So, Dean, what do you do for a living?” she asked, taking a bite of the delicious snails.

“Oh, I work in marketing for one of the gaming companies. It’s not something I ever thought I’d do, but the market is booming, and I needed a good job.”

“Not married?” she asked with a coy smile.

“I was,” he smiled back. “It just didn’t work out for us. We were from two different worlds. You know what I mean. My folks had a place not far from your parents’ home. People who weren’t from where we were didn’t understand the lifestyle.”

“Yes,” she said softly.

“Oh, hey. Sorry, Lenora. I heard what happened to your folks. I’m so sorry for that. It looks like you’ve recovered just fine.”

“Yes,” she smiled. “I’m doing well for myself. Did you inherit your parents’ home?”

“I did,” he said, nodding at her. “It’s a huge damn place to have by myself. In fact, my folks bought about three hundred books that belonged in your library. I’ve been saving them for you just in case we ever saw one another again.”

“Really?” she asked with a shocked expression.

“Really,” he smiled. “I knew it must have been hard for you. You were the girl who liked books. They’re in air-tight containers in the cellar. Ready whenever you come home.”

“Well, I hope to be coming home soon,” she said. “The house is on the market, and I’ve put in an offer.”

“Wow, that’s amazing,” he said, laughing. “This was all good timing.”

“Yes, I guess it was,” she smiled.

They continued to eat, casually talking about Paris and what they’d been doing for the last twenty-five years. Of course, Lenora lied about most of it. She couldn’t tell him why she was really in Paris.

As they left the restaurant, she missed the woman standing on the other side of the street watching her. She missed her following her as well. In fact, she missed it when she walked into her hotel behind her.

For the first time in years, Lenora was feeling hopeful. She’d given the offer for the house, a ridiculous amount, in her opinion, for something that rightfully was hers. But she was willing to do anything to get it back. Anything.

Still waiting for her buyer to make contact, she agreed to meet Dean for breakfast the next morning. But first, there was something she had to take care of.

Leaving the hotel room, she took the elevator and never heard the door to the stairwell open.

Echo placed the small device against the electronic keypad and waited to hear the lock release. Opening the door, she carefully looked inside and then around the suite.

Checking all the closets, drawers, and doors, she didn’t find the backpack, then sat down on the bed. Her heel hitsomething hard, metal, and unyielding. Bending down, she noticed the metal barrier and knew she’d found it.

Pushing the mattress and box spring to the floor, she gripped the handle of the backpack and pulled it toward the door.

“Damn,” she muttered. “How am I going to lift this?”

“You’re not,” said Lenora, standing in the living room, pointing a weapon at her.

“Lenora! I was just going to move it. I think Nahm knows where you are,” she said anxiously.

“Sad, really. I thought you’d be a better liar than you are. Nahm doesn’t know where I’m at. No one does, except you.”

“No. No, that’s not true. Lots of people do. I’m just trying to help you. Tillie. Tillie and those men are looking for you and all kinds of people.”

“No one will stop me, Echo. No one. Not even you.”

“We’re friends,” she said, becoming more agitated. “We’ve worked together before, and we were always fair to one another.”

“Not this time. This time, it’s mine. All mine,” she said, grinning at the younger woman. She pulled the trigger, and Echo stared at her with confusion. There was no loud gun noise, nothing that sounded like a shot or even a silencer. Looking down at her chest, she saw the needle and frowned.

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