On the Thief's Path (Esther Zhi Series Two Book 5) by Matthew Paisley

Author:Matthew Paisley [Paisley, Matthew]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2021-09-26T23:00:00+00:00

“It’s just as Darcey said, isn’t it?” Dakota asked quietly as they both peered beyond the café windows, waiting for Minnie’s car to appear in the road.

“What is?” Esther asked as she dropped the packet for her croissant on a nearby table, reaching over the edge of the wheelchair.

“She said she couldn’t trust anyone,” Dakota said, softly shaking her head. “This is why, isn’t it? If Bernadine Delacroix is involved, and Marcel is working for her, then everything Darcey ever did in the gendarmes and investigating the art thefts could be reported back to Delacroix. She was trapped. Whatever she told the gendarmes would sooner or later be fed back to Delacroix. That’s how they knew Darcey was onto them.”

“The moment they knew the gendarmes were investigating, Delacroix could have legitimately kept an eye on the case,” Esther said with care. “She could have said it was a case of national interest, that she wished to be kept informed. Anything Darcey reported to her team and superiors would sooner or later end up on Delacroix’s desk.”

“And Delacroix is definitely involved?” Dakota turned from the window, looking to Esther as she bit her lip. “There is no chance that we could be wrong? There is no way that it could be Marcel working alone?”

Esther shifted in her chair, wincing at the pain in her knees as she remembered something Marcel had said in the hospital.

“He said he brought a message from Madame Delacroix, when he attacked me,” Esther explained. Dakota closed her eyes and nodded in acknowledgement.

“She’s as involved in this as Marcel is then.”

“She has to be,” Esther agreed. The thought that the woman who had been so nice to them and so concerned about Darcey’s disappearance may have known about it all along, and not only that, but known she was dead, was sickening. Esther could see that the same thought was making Dakota’s hands tremble as she turned back to look out of the window once more.

“She’s here,” Dakota said, standing to her feet and reaching for the wheelchair Esther was in. She pushed her out of the café, toward the small smart car that was pulled up at the side of the road. Esther glanced around the street, straining to see what CCTV cameras were nearby. “It’s a gap,” Dakota said, clearly reading what Esther was doing. “It’s why I suggested the road. There’s one at this end, but not in the centre.”

“Good spot,” Esther confirmed, just as they appeared beside Minnie who whipped her head around, her mouth going wide when she saw them.

“Good lord! Why are you out of the hospital?” She flung herself toward Esther and wrapped her in a hug.

“Well, we—” Before Esther could answer, Minnie was off again as she stood straight.

“I was so worried. What a state you looked in last night! Didn’t I say, Dakota? What happened to the two of you? You look like you have been in a fight.”

“We have,” they said at the same time. These words made Minnie freeze as her jaw dropped.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.