Page 69 of French Escapade

He nods, and I understand we’ll discuss this later.

We get closer to the house. On the terrace, Arkady is still on the ground, and Andrea’s pointing his weapon at him.

“Jimmy and Ted are inside,” he tells us. “All the other guards are under control.”

Ken rushes into the stone construction. I’m about to follow him when Arkady speaks.

“Mademoiselle Cossa,” he says merrily. “Looks like your colleagues have underestimated you.”

I should ignore him, but I can’t help myself. I turn around and look into his cold blue eyes. Despite the fact that his knee injury is bleeding and he’s pale as a ghost, he still acts proud.

I study him. I can understand how Madison fell for him. If you can’t see how ugly his soul is, he’s handsome enough to be on the cover of a fashion magazine.

“I, too, am guilty of underestimating you,” he adds. “I thought that you would have heard my warning and decided not to put your nose into my business.”

“Shut up, asshole,” Andrea says, kicking his wounded leg.

Arkady grinds his teeth but doesn’t make a sound.

“It’s the end, Arkady. This time, you can’t get away. I will do whatever it takes, but you’ll pay for what you have done. And I don’t care if it means I’ll lose my job in the process.”

“Look at her, so full of herself,” he says with a smile. “I must hand it to you, you have balls. But I have friends in high places, and even daddy dearest won’t be help able to help you this time.”

I’m about to answer him when Ken comes out with Madison in his arms. The poor girl looks like hell. Still, I see relief on her brother’s face.

Ted and Jimmy are right behind us. Jimmy looks worried.

“No trace of Tiffany?” I ask.

He shakes his head.

Arkady snickers. “Oh! Tiffany is not here. By now, she’s got to be on the other side of the planet. Well, if she’s still breathing.”

Jimmy’s nostrils flare and his hands roll into fists. He takes a step towards Arkady, but Ted stops him.

“Don’t,” he whispers. “We’ll need him to find her.”

One of Ted’s employees arrives. “The area is secured, boss. We called for an ambulance, and the gendarmes are on their way.”

“Great.” Ted whispers, “And now, I’ll be at my desk for days to handle the paperwork.”

Ken says, “Thank you so much for all you’ve done.”

“You’ll thank me by keeping an eye on your kid sister.”

“Don’t you worry, I’m going to lock her up and throw away the key,” Ken answers.

“Seriously? Would you men listen to yourselves?” I protest. “What do you think this is? The fifties? You don’t think Madison is adult enough to learn from her mistake?”

The two men look at each other and act contrite.

“Sorry,” Ken apologizes. “I didn’t mean to…”

He looks so ashamed that I can’t help laughing. I sort of understand his reaction. He was so scared and he doesn’t want to have to go through this again. I don’t have any siblings or many people I’m close to, but I suppose that, if I had been in his shoes, I would have been sick with worry.

We’re brought back to the present by Andrea. “And what do we do with him?” He gestures toward Arkady with his gun.

Ted throws handcuffs at him. Andrea catches them and helps Arkady stand. He starts putting the bracelets on but can’t seem to do it with his Glock in his hand. He tucks it in the back of his pants.

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