The Girl in the Shadows by Katherine Debona

Author:Katherine Debona
Language: eng
Format: azw3, epub
Publisher: Harlequin (UK) Ltd
Published: 2017-03-14T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter 16

Veronique

Stopping outside a restaurant window, Veronique watched as a waitress extracted two slices of strawberry gateau and slid them onto china plates. Stepping inside she headed for the stairs, nodding her greeting to the maître d’.

The narrow balcony was full, the umbrellas on each of the dozen tables open in anticipation. Christophe raised a hand from the far end, the other resting on the edge of a tumbler.

‘This doesn’t bode well.’ She kissed him and sat down opposite, kicking her bag underneath her seat and curling the straps around her ankle. ‘No sign of Giselle?’

‘Non. And no one at the clinic has seen or heard from her for weeks, which can only mean she’s relapsed.’

‘That was pretty clear from when we met her.’

‘V, you’re not helping. It’s our fault that she’s disappeared. I only hope that she’s had the sense to run before Valentine gets hold of her.’

Veronique laid her hand on Christophe’s only for him to pull it away. ‘I’m sorry,’ she said. ‘If I had known the risk we were taking by going to see her…’

‘I know.’ Christophe drained his glass and signalled at the approaching waitress. ‘You’re sure there was no sign of her at the appartement?’

‘None.’

‘Bonjour.’ The waitress smiled down at them. ‘How can I help?’

‘I’ll have another cognac…’ Christophe passed over his glass ‘…and she’ll have a vin blanc.’

‘Do you have a preference, Madame?’ the waitress redirected at Veronique, the grit of her teeth a giveaway as she registered her scar.

‘A bottle of the 2008 Meursault, s’il te plaît,’ Veronique replied. ‘And may I also have a portion of the langoustines.’

‘Certainement.’ The waitress blushed as she followed the movement of Veronique crossing her legs, glancing once more at the blind side of her face before disappearing back into the restaurant.

‘Do you have to do that?’ Christophe asked.

‘All I did was cross my legs. If she can’t handle my scar that’s not my problem.’

‘Let’s hope alcohol takes the edge off your bad mood.’

‘Was that your first or second drink?’

‘I have a right to be stressed out.’ Christophe dabbed at his neck with a napkin. ‘Remind me again why I do this?’

‘Because you love me.’

‘Because I’m stuck with you more like.’

‘What did George say?’

‘You mean once he’d stopped salivating over the comic you found? Not a lot, unfortunately. He was rather preoccupied by a lovely English girl.’

‘An English girl?’ The girl she had met in the church was English. ‘What was her name? Why is he helping her?’

‘No idea. He refused to tell me, claiming client confidentiality of all things.’

Veronique laughed. ‘You’ve got to love George for obeying the rules, even if he does make them up himself. What was she like?’

‘Beautiful, in that whole delicate flower kind of way.’

Could it be the same girl? She too was beautiful, but the last word Veronique would have used to describe her was delicate. Fragile, perhaps, but also determined with a certain ruthlessness to her that Veronique found rather endearing.

The waitress returned and set down two glasses, pouring wine into one and stepping back.

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.