Page 57 of French Escapade

Élodie

Waiting for the men to return, I’m seething with impatience.What the heck are they doing?

I try to calm down. Whatever they’re doing, they’re not wasting time. They know that our chances to find Madison grow smaller by the hour. Knowing Wagner, I wouldn’t be surprised if he took his own sweet time. I hope he won’t hold a grudge against Ken after what happened last night.

When the three giants arrive, I jump up from the couch like a jack in the box and they smile.

“Happy to see us again?” Jimmy teases.

Ted puts a hand on his shoulder. “It’s not you or me she’s happy to see, and you know that.”

The innuendo is not subtle, but Ken doesn’t seem to mind. I act as if I hadn’t heard them. “I have some new intel, a possible lead.”

There’s a new sparkle in Ken’s eyes. He points to the stairs with a movement of his head. “Not here. Let’s go upstairs.”

We make it up to the upper floor and decide to settle in Ken’s room. Jimmy takes the only chair in the room. Ted leans against the wall. Ken motions for me to sit on the bed and then sits next to me. His leg almost touches mine.

I start by telling them what Christophe found.

“So he would have run away to Saint-Tropez, but he didn’t need much time to do so by sea. He arrived there hours ago, so he could have left again,” Jimmy says.

Ted corrects him. “You don’t know the area well, Jimmy. If he wanted to get to an airport or a major road, he wouldn’t have gone to Saint-Tropez.”

I agree.

“There is a small airfield nearby, but I checked the morning flights. There’s nothing suspicious. Ted is right—unless you want to party, Saint Tropez is rather isolated.”

“Does that make it a good place to hide?” Ken asks.

“Possibly. There are many villas and some very protected and secluded estates. Not a bad choice if you want to remain unseen for a while. Also, it’s spring. Most of the houses will be empty at this time of year.”

“Okay, but does Arkady have a place there? If he does, would he be stupid enough to hide in the first place we would look for him?” Jimmy observes.

“Right. I’ve got no clue about where he’s staying,” I confess.

“Fuck, it’s like looking for a needle in a haystack.” Ken sighs and runs a hand over his short hair.

“I thought we could go there. It would be easier to investigate than if we stay here. We could possibly find a way to talk to the crew of the boat. Right now, it’s still docked in the old port. Maybe someone will have seen something.”

“I can’t think of anything better to do,” Ted says. “I have an office there. We mainly look after some private properties. Maybe one of my guys will be able to help or reach out to someone who can.”

Jimmy whistles. “Hey, man, you hadn’t told us you were running an international business.”

Ted seems embarrassed, so I get back to our original topic. “Since we’re talking about reaching out, I called my father.”

Ken raises an eyebrow. He’s probably wondering how my dad fits into this story. The truth is that I hesitated before picking up my phone. Ever since I started working, I’ve never asked for his help. I was surprised how easy it was to get it.

“My father is a gendarme. He’s high up in the hierarchy.”

Noticing that Ken and Jimmy do not get it, Ted explains. “In France, gendarmes are in charge of the police activity in rural areas, as well as around the cities. Technically, they are part of the Army.”

“You’re an Army brat?” Ken seems surprised.

“Yep, raised with Country, Honor and Law values, the Gendarme’s code,” I answer. “Anyway, I spoke to my father, so he could call in a favor to allow us to get help from the local authorities if necessary.”

I smile and add, “You’ve never heard of the gendarmerie de Saint-Tropez?”

But of course they’ve never heard about the French spoof movie with that name.

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