NorthernPassion (16 page)

Sam nodded. “You’re right. There have only been a few people
who have disappeared for good and most of those had it happen to them rather
than did it for themselves. Clearly, the woman is no Jimmy Hoffa.”

“That’s true. She is alive and kicking.” Desiree chuckled. “And
I’m still betting the missing man is too. We find her, odds are we find him.”

Not-so-happily Ever After

Sam turned the options presented him over and over in his
head. “I know this makes the most sense, but that doesn’t mean I like it.” He
wrapped his arms around Desiree’s waist and pulled her close to him. He buried
his nose in her neck, enjoying the scent of her Chanel No. 5 perfume.

She pulled at his hands, trying to open them. “I have to
finish getting dressed.”

“I know, but I think it’s important to get to the bottom of
this as soon as possible and we have to show up at the party.”

Reed had made it clear their timeline was short. They were
going home in two weeks whether they found out anything about the car crash or
not. That might be okay for some and would probably give Reed a lot to gloat
about but the idea of failure lit a new fire inside Desiree. She would have
many a sleepless night if they didn’t find out who was responsible for the
accident and curiosity would kill her if she didn’t figure out how the Passion
Club was related to it all.

“It would be weird if we didn’t go. They certainly did make
a big enough deal about us being there this time. The invitation was even more
elaborate than the last and three different people had followed up.” Sam let
her go but didn’t leave the bathroom. Instead, he watched Desiree finish her
ritual, appreciating how much she’d grown over the past months. Up to now, it
had been him who came up with all the plans. In a short time, Desiree had gone
from novice to the one leading the mission. Not only had Desiree figured out
how to find what they hoped was the missing link in their case, she’d found a
way to get what they needed and done the background research. She even braved
facing Reed on her own by sending the information back to the main office. “It’s
a good thing Reed was able to use the information you sent him to tell us where
Greta had last used her credit cards.”

Desiree squinted at the mirror as she put the finishing
touches on her foundation. “I told you I didn’t think she was that clever.
Anyone really trying to disappear doesn’t use credit cards and if they do, they
don’t use the same one at the same place repeatedly.”

Sam nodded. “Maybe she’s sick or something.” He said the
words, not believing them himself. Her credit card trails had led them right to
Greta. She’d been buying lunch almost daily in a hospital cafeteria on the
opposite side of Paris. If she was supposed to have disappeared, she hadn’t
gone far at all.

“She didn’t look sick when she sprinted down the steps and
into the dungeon underneath that building. And she certainly didn’t feel sick
when she pushed me on my ass.” Desiree shook her head. “I just don’t think so.
There are a lot of reasons why people visit hospitals. I’m going to find out
though so we won’t have to sit here and speculate about it.”

“I still think I should go. What if she gets violent again?
I’d hate myself if anything should happen to you.”

Desiree stopped breathing for a minute, then caught herself.
“Why, Sam, I think your emotions are showing.” She turned to look at him, her
face softening. “I learned from the best. I’m going to be fine. You know I can
handle her.” She paused, her eyebrows raised. “I think if she’s at the hospital
again, like I think she will be, she will be very civil. We’ll just have a
quick woman-to-woman talk and all will be well. And if anything else happens,
she won’t catch me unprepared again.” She quickly brushed her lips across his. “I
love that you are concerned about me though.”

Sam didn’t answer. Instead, their eyes locked, his face full
of uncertainty. “I know you can do this.”

She nodded. “Good. I know I can do it too. Besides, you have
to go to the passion party. I’ll join you after. It’s ladies’ choice, so you’ll
have a good time, I’m sure.” She paused. “Just not too good before I get there.”
Desiree turned back to the mirror to apply her lipstick. “I’m kidding. You do
what the mission requires.”

* * * * *

It took longer than she expected to get to Evry. Desiree was
silent as she made her way through most of Paris. The hospital was just south
of the city. Reed told her the facility was new and big, a jewel in the crown
for the city of Paris. As the car rolled onto the street, the massive building
was all she could see, looking more like a fortress than a healthcare facility.
She bounced her leg in anticipation. What she hadn’t told Sam was she really
had no plan on how she was going to find Greta and now, seeing the hospital,
the task was going to be more like finding a needle in a haystack than she had
anticipated. Desiree was armed with just the knowledge Greta purchased lunch
every day at about the same time and had been doing so for weeks.

It wasn’t hard to find the cafeteria. Desiree had refreshed
her French and cross-referenced all of the phrases she thought she would need.
A volunteer manned the information desk just inside the door. “
Ou est le
café?
” She barely looked up as Desiree asked her where the café was,
instead pointing toward a large atrium behind her. Desiree nodded her thanks,
then quickly found a corner near the café entrance to sit and wait.

She didn’t have to wait long. Greta walked so close to
Desiree, she could smell her perfume. Desiree held her breath and pulled the
hat she was wearing farther down on her head. As soon as she passed, Desiree
changed her seat so she could get a better view.

Just as Reed had said she would, Greta practically made a
beeline for the salad bar, filled a container and paid with her credit card at
the register. She didn’t sit in the café and eat, instead she picked up some
napkins and came back out into the atrium. Desiree looked down, pretending to
be reading a magazine.

Greta didn’t look around, instead she headed straight for
the elevators. Desiree waited until she was past her, then followed at a
distance. As she got on the elevator, Desiree walked silently by and into the
stairwell. She waited just outside the door on the second floor, hoping to see
the elevator doors open and Greta get out, repeating this on each floor, until finally,
on the fourth floor, her diligence was rewarded. Greta got off the elevator and
turned right, walking away from the stairwell and down the hallway.

More confident now, Desiree followed until she saw Greta
turn into one room. She took a deep breath, then messaged Sam she had found
Greta. Her heartbeat throbbed in her ears as she looked around the floor. The
nurses’ station buzzed with activity. No one looked up as Desiree slid past.
There
will be no fighting here
, she thought. With this many people around, it
would make quite the scene if there was a repeat of the other day. As far as
she knew, there was only one way out of the hospital room Greta had entered.
She would have to go through Desiree to escape. She swallowed hard, then
approached the room.

As she got closer, Desiree could hear a woman talking in that
voice people use to talk to small children. She paused. No one replied. Desiree
moved into the doorway stealthily, so much so, Greta didn’t even realize she
was there at first. Her eyes quickly swept the room. There was a sole hospital
bed surrounded by all sorts of medical machines. The room was silent except for
the sound of Greta’s voice and the mechanical whooshing of the respirator.
There was a man in the bed. His eyes were closed. Greta talked to him, but he
did not acknowledge her or move. After a few minutes, it was clear the man in
the bed had no idea anyone was there at all.

He seemed small and swollen. Desiree stared hard, realizing
almost immediately this was the missing man they were looking for. He was right
here, just outside Paris and not dead at all. She gasped. Greta jerked her head
upward, eyes wide. She looked around the room in a panic looking for an escape
route.

As she realized there was none, her face crumpled in defeat.
“What are you doing here?” she asked in a loud whisper. “He can’t have any
visitors.” Greta walked toward Desiree, shooing her away. She shook her head. “You
shouldn’t be here.” Her eyes were empty, haunted, and smudged by dark circles showing
she hadn’t slept in days.

Desiree licked her lips. “Maybe not, but neither should you.
Your sister and friends think you’ve moved away.”

“I have.” Tears sprang to her eyes. “Just not that far. I’ve
a need to be away from them.” She paused, walking around the bed. “Did they ask
you to find me? Why are you following me?”

“I think I should be the one asking the questions. Why did
you run? Why did your thug try to beat me to a pulp in the basement?” Desiree
walked closer to the hospital bed. The memory of her bruises were still with
her. She wanted answers and didn’t intend for Greta to leave the room without
providing them.

Greta didn’t move, instead, she gripped the raised side
rails. “You were following me. I had no idea why.” The confident sprinter
Desiree had met at the agency was gone now and in her place was a scared and
fragile-looking woman. “Geneva told me about you and your husband and I thought
it was too strange you were now in my place of business. You helped me at the
inn that day and I didn’t know why. No one does things for nothing.” She
paused, biting her lips. “Only one other person knew where I might be and I
thought they’d told you. Our privacy is very important. All we wanted was to be
away from my sister and her crazy husband.” Anger flitted across her face and then,
just like that, it was gone. “What do you want? Just leave us alone.” Her words
had all run together as if she were having an internal dialogue with herself.

Desiree raised her eyebrows, refusing to feel sorry for the
woman. “Us? And isn’t he supposed to be dead?”

Fresh tears appeared in Greta’s eyes. “No, he’s supposed to
be somewhere warm and sunny with me. On a beach, enjoying life. Not here like
this.”

“And you worked with him? Did your sister know that?” Desiree’s
brain whirled as things clicked into place. “They had a funeral for him, you
know.” She had so many questions, but she knew Greta would give her the answers
if she just let her keep talking.

Greta nodded, wiping at her tears with her fingers, and
ignoring Desiree’s question about the agency. “We know. The accident. He wasn’t
supposed to be there.” She cried harder, sobbing now. “The doctors say he might
wake up. We don’t know.” As she lowered her hand down to her side, Desiree
glimpsed her tattoo again.

“That tattoo. Your sister has one too. What is it?”

Greta looked surprised. “This? It’s our family tree. Derek
has one too.” She pointed to his arm. “We all do.”

“All?”

A heavy sigh escaped Greta’s lips. “I don’t feel like
explaining this to you. This is our thing. This is what we do. You’ve been to
the Passion Club.” She smoothed Derek’s hair gently. “Are you a cop? ’Cause
last I checked, ink was not against the law.” She folded her arms across her
chest. “Wanting to be left alone is not a crime, either. And if you’re not a
cop, you can go now. Neither one of us has done anything to anyone else. If you
couldn’t tell, it’s not a good time. I just want to be left alone with my
boyfriend.”

“Your boyfriend?” A multitude of questions floated in
Desiree’s head, but it was clear she wasn’t getting any answers, at least not
this way. Greta referred to Derek as her boyfriend and she was obviously
distraught he was hospitalized. “I thought he was your sister’s lover?”

Anger flashed in Greta’s eyes. “He was. But he didn’t love
her. She didn’t understand that, so I can no longer be in her life.”

Desiree’s mind whirled.
These people are crazy
, she
thought. “In her life? What does that mean?” As far as Desiree knew, Greta had
moved away and based on the funeral program, someone clearly wanted Geneva to
believe the man was dead.

“It means you’re asking too many questions.” She paused,
exhaling heavily. Greta’s face was racked with pain. She exhaled her defeat. “It
means I am willing to cut off all ties with my family to be with him. He wanted
to do the same. We can’t be together around Geneva. She lets Martin control her
and she is…just a little fragile, that’s all. Its better if she thinks I’m gone.”

“Better for whom?”

Greta ignored the question and stared across the room.

“Is he in a coma?”

A slap from Desiree would have gotten a smaller reaction
from Greta than the word coma did. She cringed as if mortally wounded. “Yes, he
is.” Her voice was smaller again. She leaned close to Derek, kissing him on his
cheek.

“I’m sorry.” At least the mystery of the missing body was
solved, Desiree thought. He hadn’t died with the other members of the wedding
party. “Do you think it was an accident?”

Greta whipped around. “What? The crash? It doesn’t matter,
does it? Nothing is how it was supposed to be. I don’t want to talk about that.”
She paused, adjusting the covers on the bed. “Visiting hours are limited. If
you don’t mind, we’d like to be alone.”

It didn’t get past Desiree that she hadn’t answered the
question. She nodded. “Sure,” she said. “I understand. I won’t bother you any more
today.” Desiree knew how to tell half–truths too. She checked her phone for the
time as she backed out of the room. Things may not be as they were supposed to
be and the missing man was found, but something was still not right.

* * * * *

The lights dimmed and the music started just as the first
guests arrived at the Passion Club headquarters. Purple hoods lined a table
near the entrance. The configuration had been changed so men and women entered
separately. Men entered through the back of the elevator while women would
enter via the front. The elevator whirred to life just as Geneva took the first
hood and slipped it on, throwing one gold drawstring over her shoulder and
adjusting it so her vision was not obscured. Their guests were arriving.

Martin headed over to the podium to test the microphone,
wringing his hands as he went. Geneva called after her husband. “Calm down.”
She was giddy with excitement. “We haven’t done this in a long time. It will be
fun.” He didn’t answer her, instead mumbling to himself under his breath. It
was crystal clear to Geneva that, although he was going along with the way she
wanted things, he wasn’t happy. She didn’t care. Geneva refused to be concerned
with her husband tonight. She only cared about one person and that was her
neighbor Sam Comfort. For some reason, the mystery surrounding him compounded
her excitement. As she thought about him, she suppressed a smile. It had been a
long time since she felt like this. Derek had been the last person to excite
her this way. She frowned, not wanting to think of Derek. His rejection had
hurt her deeply. She pushed thoughts of him to the back of her mind. He was
yesterday’s news. Over the next twenty minutes, it took everything she had not
to run to the elevator every time the rear indicator lit up.