Cast An Evil Eye (18 page)

“Yes. I may find more clues about what Manny is up to back there.”

Renee pulled her suitcase from the closet and started packing some of her things. “I’m going with you,” she told Zack.

“What about your job here? I don’t want to interfere—”

“I’m your wife!” she declared. “My place is with you. It took us long enough to find each other. I’m not going to let us be separated now! Besides, if there are more clues to be found there, then that’s where I belong. This is the case I was assigned to, remember?”

Zack was relieved. He hated to think of leaving her here without him. He walked over and put his arms around her in a big bear hug. “Thank you, Renee. I was hoping you’d say that.” He picked up the phone and called Parisian Airlines. “We’ll take the first available flight,” he told her. “I want to get back there as soon as possible.”

“Great!” she replied. “I’ve never flown with Parisian Airlines. I’m looking forward to it.” She made it sound like fun—just what Zack needed right now—the light touch.

“We’d better get some breakfast,” he said when he finished making reservations. “We have a couple of hours. We can finish packing after we eat.”

“Good idea.” She walked over to the refrigerator. As she opened the door, she stopped. She stood there with her back to him, not moving a muscle.

Zack was so attuned to her hunches that he knew something was bothering her. “What is it, Renee?”

“I don’t think we should go to the States.” She turned and faced him, stunned. “Why did I say that?”

Zack nodded. “I’ve had the same feeling ever since I made the plane reservation!” he exclaimed. “For some reason I’ve felt very uneasy about it. This always happens when I’m going in the wrong direction. I’ve tried to squelch this hunch, but it keeps coming back.”

Renee closed the refrigerator door. “We can’t ignore it. Something is trying to tell us—”

Zack finished her sentence. “We should have breakfast around the corner at the sidewalk cafe! Something is pulling me—”

“Like a magnet!” Renee finished his sentence.

Zack headed for the door and Renee set the burglar alarm. There were lots of people at the cafe, but they found an empty table near the entrance. As they were about to sit down, Renee stopped and stared in amazement at the table down at the end.

“What is it?” Zack asked her.

“Carlos Mantilla! What’s he doing out of prison?”

Zack spun around in the direction where she was looking. “Manny!” he exclaimed.

“That’s Manny?!”

“It sure is! Oh, my God! Courtney—” he stopped in mid-sentence.

“You think she’s here?”

Zack was silent, thinking. “If Manny kidnapped her, she must be! I don’t want him to see me.” He grabbed a newspaper that someone had left on the table and held it up in front of his face, pretending to read it. “How do you happen to know him?” he asked Renee. “Does he know you?”

“He should!” Renee answered. She picked up another part of the newspaper and hid her face. “I’m the one who put him in prison!”

“You were the lady cop who fingered him?”

“Bingo!”

Zack shook his head. “You never cease to amaze me!” He glanced at his watch and looked around. “I’m going inside the cafe and see if I can’t find Courtney. I have a hunch she’s in there.” He walked over to the entrance, still hiding his face.

He had just entered the cafe when he noticed a young, blond woman coming out of the ladies room. She wore a bandanna and kept her head down, moving like a person in a trance. Could it be—? She held a pair of dark glasses in her hand. As she started to don the glasses, she turned and faced Zack.

He could see her face now.

What he saw was no surprise.

“Oh, my God!” he exclaimed softly. “I knew it!” He went over to her. “Courtney! What are you doing in Paris?”

Courtney looked at him with a blank, then angry, expression in her eyes. “Zack, I have nothing to say to you.” She put on her dark glasses and started out the door. As she began to exit, she gazed at the table where Manny was sitting.

Zack could see the look of adoration on her face, and his heart sank. He knew what had happened. Manny had hypnotized her again!

Zack was in a quandary. He had found her, but there was no way he could talk sense to her—not while she was under hypnosis. She wouldn’t listen to anything he said. But he had to try. Maybe—just maybe—he could get through to her. But he mustn’t let Manny see him talking to her. He took her hand and pulled her back into the cafe.

“Courtney—your parents are worried sick about you. They don’t know where you are. Don’t you think you should call them and tell them you’re okay? And what about Glen? Jay told me—”

“Who?” she interrupted. There was that blank stare again. “Go away!” she told him. “I don’t want anything to do with such liars! Leave me alone!”

Zack had hard work believing that such words were coming from her. “Liars about what, Courtney?” he asked her, puzzled.

“About my parents and my grandfather! Daddy is not my real Daddy! And he’s not Count Francois Dubonnet II, either! He’s Jeremy Douglass! He stole the title from Gregory Wilcox. He’s the real Count, and he’s my real father! He and my mother were married before Jeremy Douglass and Grampa Fran sent him and his mother, Lilli, to prison! She’s my real grandmother. As soon as Mommy and Daddy and Grampa Fran got rid of my real father, my mother married Jeremy Douglass. Then he named himself the Count, and Grampa Fran helped him do it! And Grampa Fran is not my real grandfather! You knew about it all along and never told me!” She put her hand up to her head like someone who was totally confused. “Why did everyone lie to me?”

Zack realized with a shock the extent of the damage Manny had done. He had programmed all those lies into her head when he hypnotized her. Manny must have gotten these wild tales from Gregory and Lilli! That was the only logical answer! They must have promised him the moon to make him agree to go along with this! In a flash Zack knew now who tried to kill Gus! Gregory Wilcox, Jr.!

Be careful what you say, he warned himself. He wanted to blurt out to Courtney that Manny had shot Julia and Nate, but he was afraid she might tell Manny, and if Manny found out that he, Zack, knew about it, it would scare Manny off, and he’d take Courtney with him! And Zack knew he mustn’t let on that Nate and Julia were still alive. Manny would surely find a way to finish the job. They were too much of a threat to him.

Zack watched as Courtney went outside and joined Manny. He returned in a daze to his table where Renee was waiting.

Two Danish pastries and some coffee were sitting on the table. Zack took a sip of the coffee to steady his nerves.

Renee looked at him questioningly. “What took you so long? I gave the order to the garcon ten minutes ago.”

“Did you see a young blond woman pass this table?” he asked her.

Renee looked over at Courtney. “Yes. She’s right over there with Manny. Why?”

“That’s Courtney Dubonnet—Jay’s granddaughter who’s been missing.”

“What?! What’s she doing here?”

Zack felt helpless. “Obviously Manny hypnotized her again and kidnapped her. He programmed her into thinking terrible lies about me and her folks.” Zack proceeded to tell her what Courtney had accused them of. “I’ve known her since she was born, but I’ve never seen her act like this except when he hypnotized her in New York.”

“Didn’t you tell me someone brought her out of it before?” Renee asked. “Couldn’t he help?”

“Nate? He’s the man that Manny shot. He’s in the hospital.”

Her eyes widened as a sudden thought hit her. “Was he the hypnotist that Carlos—uh—Manny worked with years ago when I turned him in?”

“That’s him. He used a different name when he worked the clubs. He’s a veterinarian now. Renee, we have to stay here. We can’t leave now that we’ve found Courtney.”

She nodded agreement. “This explains why we were being pulled like a magnet to this sidewalk cafe.”

“We mustn’t let them out of our sight,” Zack agreed. “Not till we know where they’re staying.” He sighed in exasperation. “I wish I could figure out how to follow them without their seeing us.”

“Do you think Courtney will tell Manny we’re here?”

“I hope not.” Zack thought for a minute, then dismissed it. “She’s in too much of a trance to make sense.”

Zack kept an eagle eye on them. He was disgusted at Manny’s arrogance. He feels pretty sure of himself! he mused. He knows he’s got Courtney under his thumb. But he has no idea there’s a cop at a table nearby. Renee—the cop who put him in prison before. And she could put him in prison again. That would wipe the smug look off of his face. Later. This is not the right time.

Zack rose to his feet. “We can spy on them from inside the cafe. If Courtney should tell Manny we’re here, it’s better if we’re nowhere in sight. He’ll think she’s imagining things.”

They rose, careful to keep their backs toward Manny. As soon as they were inside, Zack peeked through the window. They were still sitting there talking.

While Renee dialed Parisian Airlines on her cellular phone and canceled their flight, Zack dialed Jay in Scarsdale on his own cellular phone, keeping his eye on Manny’s table.

“Jay, we’ve found Courtney,” he told him. “Yes. She’s with Manny, sitting outside the cafe where we’re having breakfast. I won’t be coming back to the States. I’ll find out what Manny is up to. I’ve got a hunch he’s waiting for someone to join them.”

“Is she all right?” Jay asked anxiously.

“Manny has hypnotized her again,” Zack told him. “I guess you know that. Otherwise, she wouldn’t be here. I tried to speak to her, but she refused to listen. She called us all a bunch of liars. He’s done it again, and Nate isn’t here to undo it.” Jay was stunned. “What does she think we lied about?”

“It’s too complicated to go into over the phone.”

“Does she know about Julia and Nate? That Manny shot them?”

“No. I didn’t tell her. She might mention it to Manny. I don’t want to give him any reason to run away. He’d take Courtney with him. There’s too much at stake.”

“I’ll call Cammie and Jeremy. And Glen. We’ll fly to Paris ASAP. Fran and Andre should stay here in the States. They’ll be safer.”

“Good thinking,” Zack agreed. “Let me give you the address where I’m staying.”

“Will you make a reservation for us at La Grande Veue Hotel? That will save time.”

“Sure, Jay.”

Jay sounded curious. “I thought that’s where you were staying, but when I tried to get you there, I was told you had checked out. What happened?”

“It’s a long story. I’ll fill you in later.” He was about to hang up when something arrested his attention. “Wait a minute!” he exclaimed. “Some people just joined Manny and Courtney. Oh, my God!” he gasped. “Well! I’m not surprised! Gregory and Lilli! A piece of the puzzle just fell into place. You’d better get here. We need your help. I wish you could bring Nate. We need him now more than ever.”

“That’s not possible,” Jay told him. “I called the hospital a few minutes ago. He and Julia are recovering nicely, but they’re not able to travel yet. We’ll have to wing it on our own—at least for now. We’ll be there soon.”

Zack hung up and turned to Renee. “Courtney’s parents and grandparents—and Glen Macdonald, Courtney’s fiancé—are on their way here.”

They continued to watch Manny’s table.

“Who are those people?” Renee asked. “Do you know them?”

Zack nodded. “Gregory Wilcox, Jr. and Countess Lilli Claude Dubonnet. You remember—I told you about them. I’ve had a hunch all along that they were mixed up in this. I was right.”

“Are you ever wrong?” Renee asked in an admiring tone.

Zack smiled in appreciation of her compliment. “I haven’t been wrong yet. I wish I could hear what they’re saying, but we’re too far away. It’s too risky to go any closer. They’d know me in a minute. I’m the one who helped put them in jail.”

Renee made a quick decision. “I’ll get the patrol car,” she said, rising to her feet. “You stay here. I’ll be right back.”

“Make sure they don’t see you. The patrol car would scare them away,” Zack warned her.

“I’ll be discreet,” she promised.

In exactly seven minutes she was back. After parking the car on the street in back of the cafe she rejoined Zack. Manny and the others were just leaving.

Manny hailed a cab and the group got in.

Zack and Renee ran to the patrol car and reached the street in front of the cafe just as the cab drove off. Renee was careful to stay out of sight as she followed them quietly. No flashing lights or sirens.

Soon the cab pulled up in front of a stone building that housed apartments. Zack checked the address. 221 Rue de la Parc. Renee and Zack waited in the patrol car, well out of sight, watching as Manny and the others got out and entered the building. When they were sure the group had gone up in the elevator, they went into the foyer and looked at the roster.

At Apartment 2B the name of “Mario Sanchez” was listed—the alias Manny used before he became Manny!

Now they knew where he and Courtney were!

But what Manny, Greg, and Lilli were plotting remained a mystery.

They went back to Renee’s apartment to call Parisian Airlines and find out what flight Jay and the others were on.

Now all they could do was wait till they arrived.

CHAPTER XXVIII
 

Z
hen Zack and Renee returned to their apartment to wait for their friends, for one short moment the sun seemed to shine a little brighter as it streamed through the window—a ray of hope. Courtney had been found.

There was, however, a dark cloud on the horizon,—how to rescue her.

Zack shuddered, knowing she was now in the hands of three murderers—Manny, Gregory, and Lilli—and she was totally unaware of it.

Zack couldn’t sit still. He began to pace nervously. How was he going to tell Jay and the others what Courtney had accused them of?

Renee put a comforting hand on his arm. “Pacing won’t do any good,” she told him.

“It helps me to think—get in touch with my intuition,” Zack explained.

“Really? Strange,” she said, “sitting quietly helps me more. When I’m quiet, ideas come to me.” She took him by the hand and led him over to the sofa. “Sit down and try it.”