Chapters (22)
“It sounds like she will.” He had already booked a flight and was taking Thursday and Friday off to be there through the weekend. She was expected to be out of the hospital by then, if all went well.
—
Mike had spoken to Theo that night before she went to sleep. They had given her something to relax her, so she was drowsy but she made sense. She had had a long, traumatic day. She still felt ill from the poison, but not extremely so, and she had been exposed to so little of it that they thought she’d make a full recovery, but it was very upsetting anyway.
“Do you really think de Vaumont would do that to me to make me sell?” she asked him, still somewhat incredulous about everything that had happened, and the theories that had been proffered.
“I don’t know,” he said, “but it’s possible. He sounds like a very greedy guy with some dangerous connections.” He didn’t discuss the kidnapping with her. He didn’t want to upset her. “Just rest and get well this week, till it gets out of your system. Leave the bad guys to the agencies who are there to take care of that.”
“I feel bad about Daniel. The poor guy was sicker than I was. But they said we were both lucky it was on a doorknob and not some other place. Apparently your palms are more resistant than other parts of the body, so it couldn’t penetrate as easily.” They had learned more about poison that day than they ever wanted to know.
“I’m just glad they got you to the hospital quickly, and it was a small dose of a less dangerous substance than some of what’s out there.” He wondered how they were going to keep her safe from people who used such lethal and creative methods to destroy their victims.
“I really need to get to the office,” she complained, sounding anxious. “And I miss you,” she said in a small voice.
“I miss you too. I wish I were there to protect you myself.” He had thought a lot about it, and he wanted to review all her security measures and tighten them when he came back. It would be a big project, but it was necessary, particularly if the kidnappers had surfaced and were restless. “I want you to be very, very careful. The DGSE is going to give you some extra coverage for a while.” She yawned as the medicine started to take effect, and he smiled when he remembered how she had looked sleeping next to him. He couldn’t wait until he’d see her again. But she had to get well. And de Vaumont had to be stopped.