Page 22 of Forgiving Paris
“So… I don’t want a kid, Albert.” Jean-Claude was seething. “Kids grow up. Ashley Baxter will want money.” He lowered his voice. “I’m not giving away my inheritance. You and Guy… kill her. Throw her body into the Seine.”
The order seemed out of character for the artist. Jean-Claude was with a different paramour every few weeks. But as far as Albert knew, this was the first time he had ordered a hit on one of them. “How are we supposed to pull that off, boss?”
And Jean-Claude had explained.
He would pay Albert and Guy more money than their criminal activity typically earned them in a year. Albert was given the code to a lock box where he would find aloaded gun, gloves, and a deadline. Everything Albert and Guy needed to pull off the job.
They did everything right, Albert and Guy. The pair stalked the American girl morning and night for three days, looking for the perfect opportunity. But the moment never came, and the deadline passed. Albert and Guy had failed. Completely.
In the wake of that, Jean-Claude must have brought in outsiders because twelve hours later, Albert’s friend Guy was dead and Albert was on a flight to London.
Running for his life.
Albert didn’t blame Jean-Claude. The missed hit was his fault. His and Guy’s. It remained Albert’s one regret in life. He had let Jean-Claude Pierre down and he would do anything to change the fact. Even with no one paying him for the job. Albert had always been sure of one thing. If he ever had the chance to finish the hit on the American artist, he would.
Because that’s what Jean-Claude had wanted from him.
And Jean-Claude Pierre meant everything to him. Even now.
Albert stared at the ad once more. Yes, the artist would be at this exact location Thursday at seven o’clock. Which could only mean one thing. After all these years, Albert was going to see Ashley Baxter again. And he would have one more chance to do Jean-Claude’s bidding.
No matter what it cost him.
8
Ashley and Landon were headed east over the Atlantic Ocean on the nighttime nonstop to Paris. Once Landon was asleep again in the seat beside her, there was nothing Ashley could do to stop the memories.
She leaned her head against the window and closed her eyes. Seconds later she was no longer on a flight to Paris to celebrate her first French art show and her eighteenth wedding anniversary. Instead, she was twenty years old and packing a pair of suitcases in the upstairs bedroom she had still shared with her older sister Kari.
Their conversation came to life once more.
“This is all because of the accident. That’s why you’re leaving.” Kari had sounded afraid. “I think you should wait, Ash. Get more counseling.”
Ashley didn’t want to get angry with her sister. She and Kari were best friends. “Of course it’s because of the accident.” Ashley dropped a pair of shorts into the suitcase and turned to Kari. “Don’t you get it? Everywhere I go it’s the same thing. People see me coming and their expressions change.”
“What?” Kari slid to the edge of her bed. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Just what it sounds like.” Ashley had waved her hands in front of her, like she was clearing invisible smoke from the room. “They stare at me like I’m this… this horrible person.”
“That’s crazy.” Kari stood. “Is that what you think?”
“Of course.” She shrugged and grabbed two T-shirts from her closet. Her tone rose a notch. “I was driving. I should’ve veered the other way or seen it coming. It’s my fault Jefferson is in that cemetery instead of living his life.”
“Hey.” Kari had lowered her voice. She waited until Ashley stopped moving and finally looked at her. “No one… not one person… thinks that accident was your fault. You were both victims, you and Jefferson.” Kari took a step closer. “Don’t run to Paris because of that.”
Tears had blurred Ashley’s vision and the fight left her. She slumped to her bed and covered her face with her hands. The accident wasn’t her fault, Kari was right. The truck was already over the line by the time she saw it. They were on a curve, so she couldn’t possibly have noticed him sooner.
Ashley was still sitting on her bed, hands over her face, when she felt Kari’s hand on her shoulder. “Go to Paris some other time, Ash. You have so much here.”
Ashley lifted her head. “I have nothing.”
“You do.” Tears had filled Kari’s eyes, too. “You have us,all of us. And me… your best friend. And you have Landon.”
Before Ashley could respond, before she could sort through her feelings, their mother’s voice called from downstairs. “Ashley… Landon is here.”
Landon.
Ashley felt a surge of panic. She’d already said goodbye to him at her going-away party, the one she hadn’t wanted in the first place. Every minute in his presence made her less likely to get on that plane.
