“Everything goes well for me, perfectly in fact, the minute I see you.” They had just shared another beautiful weekend. He had to be at the airport at eight p.m. for a ten o’clock flight that would land him at JFK before one a.m. local time, and was due in the office the next morning. He knew he’d be thinking of her most of the way home, when he wasn’t sleeping. He flew business class because he was just too tall and powerfully built to travel coach and be able to function the next day. He wasn’t traveling on the government’s dime, and on his own.

She and her bodyguards went with him to the airport. She left him at security, which was as far as she could go with him since she wasn’t flying herself. She wished she was. She was going to miss him terribly. They grew more attached every time they saw each other, and so far there had been no bad moments between them. They were both easygoing people.

He kissed her one last time before he got into the security line.

He could see the DGSE agent assigned to her now, out of the corner of his eye, and was glad he’d be with her. There were too many evil forces focused on her now, the original kidnappers lost somewhere in Russia, Pierre de Vaumont poisoning her to chase her out of her château, unknown people who were envious of her, or being paid to harm her, or take advantage of her. He hated not being with her to protect her, but at least other professionals would. He saw her leave the terminal, with the plainclothes agent close behind her, glancing left and right, aware of his surroundings and the unseen threats, which hovered near her, out of sight but never gone. She was a brave woman. She got in her car with one bodyguard driving and the other in the front seat. She sat silently in the back, thinking of Mike and the happy times they shared. She missed him already, and she no longer felt as safe when he wasn’t there. No one protected her as he did.

Chapter 11

There was an odd article in the newspaper the next day. Theo saw it over breakfast. It said that socialite and entrepreneur Pierre de Vaumont had disappeared. He had failed to show up at a weekend house party where he was expected, and the hosts were concerned. They called his cellphone and got no answer, then went to his home on Sunday. The concierge in his building said he had left with two men in a black Mercedes on Friday night around midnight, and he hadn’t returned since. The concierge didn’t know if he was traveling abroad, as he often did, or away for the weekend. She couldn’t recall his taking any luggage when he left with the two men, and he hadn’t been seen again. She said he always kept odd hours and stayed out late. She thought he had many friends, although he never entertained at the apartment and was a quiet tenant. His friends had reported his disappearance to the police, and foul play had not been ruled out.