Page 9 of Own

Though he’d stopped for food and coffee on the way up, we’d said very little. The whole of the drive, all I’d wondered was when would we hear from them? The farther north we went, the more I worried we weren’t going to hear from them at all.

And I couldn’t focus on that right now. When Bones put the car into park and blew out a breath, I twisted in the seat to look at him. “Is it okay to ask a few questions now?”

He rubbed a hand over his face, then frowned at me. Only instead of looking annoyed, he actually appeared puzzled. “Yes.”

That eased one major concern. “Are we staying in the car or going with you?”

Another brief frown and then he glanced toward Goblin in the backseat before he looked at me again. “With.”

Real relief spilled through me. Staying in the car was definitely not safer. “Second question?”

One corner of his mouth inched higher, but he nodded.

“Where are we going?”

To my shock, he actually chuckled. I didn’t think I’d heard the man laugh before. No, not even a little laugh or hint of humor. He barely smiled. Glower? Glare? Frown disapprovingly? Those he definitely did.

“There’s a small bank just off the plaza back there where we have a safe deposit box. We can pick up some papers, more currency, and keys for a safe house outside of Lyon.” He checked his watch. “We have a little under an hour before it closes.”

“Okay. We can take Goblin inside?”

“Yep,” he said with far more confidence than I felt. “Just need to gear him up.” Gearing him up turned out to be putting him in a work vest. For me, it was just buttoning up the oversized shirt I’d dressed in, rolling up the sleeves and accessorizing it with a chunky belt. I wanted to stay in my sneakers, but he was right, the sandals would draw less attention.

For his part, he was dressed in basic black on black, with a sports coat thrown on. The man looked elegant in what was essentially combat gear. He removed his weapon with care and secured it in the car. Then he held his hand out.

“Taser.”

At my hesitation, he straightened and met my gaze.

“We’re not going into a fight. This is just to get to the safety deposit box and come back out. But we don’t have time to work around the metal detectors.”

That made sense. I passed it to him. I still had my phone. Once he locked up the car, he passed me Goblin’s leash then set his sunglasses in place. I followed suit. When he took my hand in his, I didn’t fight the grip, just fell into step.

The warmth of his palm on mine offered a kind of comfort. It also helped to settle my racing heart. As we followed the road up to the boulevard, I stared across at the huge Place Bellecour—the pedestrian square was huge and old. There was a statue of Louis XIV in the middle.

“They installed a guillotine there during the French Revolution.”

“Well hopefully, not something we need to worry about today.” His dry response almost made me smile.

“Hopefully. It’s not there anymore.”

Bones led the way around the corner, Goblin trotting neatly at my side. “I’d be more concerned if it wasstillthere.”

“Fair,” I admitted, scanning the area and the people making their way. The French language settled over me like a familiar blanket, though I caught snippets of Italian, German, and English from the passersby. “Think it would send a message if they did put one back?”

At the door to the bank, Bones pulled the door open. “Definitely. And it would only be popular in some quarters.”

I couldn’t really disagree with that. It was cooler inside the bank. Light filtered through the glass windows. Some were fashioned in deeper hues and offered an almost golden light to the bank’s interior.

Nudging my sunglasses up, I scanned the area. There were conversation areas along the front wall of windows with comfortable chairs and low tables. Along the other wall, heading toward the back, were a series of offices.

Two guards were readily apparent, one right there in the lobby, where visitors could approach the bank counter. The other was stationed closer to the main doors. We’d passed him on our way in and when my gaze collided with his, I smiled automatically.

Bones gestured to the desk to the left of the bank counters, so I followed him with Goblin firmly at my side. He was such a good boy. Thankfully, no one commented on his presence nor urged us to take him back out.

We had to wait a moment before the concierge was free to speak. Bones approached him to sign in, “Parles-vous anglais?”

“If he doesn’t,” I said softly. “I can translate.”

---