Page 15 of French Escapade

Maybe there’s still hope. I rush to the bathroom.

It’s huge. The tub is so large it must take an hour to fill it up. There’s a dresser and two sinks. Above those, the entire wall is mirrored.

“On which side are the Q-tips?” I ask.

Jimmy, Élodie and Olivia come closer and look curiously at me.

“On the bathtub side,” Jimmy answers.

I take a big breath and turn on the tub’s hot water faucet. I do the same with one sink, and since nothing is ever fast enough, I do the same with the shower.

Slowly, the room fills with mist. As if she understands what I’m doing, Élodie leads Jimmy and Olivia further into the bathroom and closes the door behind them.

The room quickly turns into a sauna. I’m hoping the fog will reveal a message on the mirror, but no. I was wrong.

“Look up there,” Élodie shouts out. “She must have stood on the sink to write!”

“Smart,” Olivia comments.

Now she’s frowning again. I imagine she’s wondering how high her staff goes when they clean the mirrors, and if it’s because she watched them work that Madison decided to write her message all the way up there.

I step back to read the message my sister has left with her improvised writing tool and some alcohol.

Palm Beach, Monday, 23h.

Once we have checked there is nothing else, I stop the water and Olivia opens the door. The four of us step into the bedroom, which suddenly feels cold.

“Palm Beach? You guys have a Palm Beach around here?”

Olivia and Élodie answer together.

“Of course we do!”

They don’t have the time to explain as the cleaning lady opens the door. She looks at us questioningly until she recognizes Olivia.

“It’s all good, Isabelle,” Olivia says. “The room is yours.”

Isabelle takes a step back to let us out. She remains silent, but it’s clear she’s wondering what the heck we were doing there.

Back in the elevator, Élodie thanks Olivia again. The manager walks us to the door of the hotel and we shake hands vigorously. Olivia and Élodie hug to say goodbye, the French way, a loud peck on each cheek.

I’m chomping at the bit but holding myself back. After all, this young woman was most kind to let us search the room. The least I can do is let Élodie thank her properly. When all this is done, I’ll send her flowers.

When the heavy glass doors close behind the young woman, Élodie turns and answers my question with a smile.

“Palm Beach is at the end of la Croisette, and I think I know why they picked this location as a meeting place. Oushkin has purchased several units in his mother’s name in a building next to that venue. Let me show you.”

Speeding along, Élodie leads us toward our next goal, and, suddenly, I become acutely aware that while I usually want to be in charge of everything, I trust her enough to let her lead.

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