Page 49 of Dagger’s Shield

Beacon typed something on her laptop. “This is really good progress.”

“What about on your end?” I asked.

“The image search we did on Bertrand Valais confirmed that he was a frequent traveler to Geneva, beginning nine years ago,” Delfino reported. “The trips were more frequent early on, but have gradually tapered off. What we’ve seen correlates with the images we already found of him with Aristide Géraud.”

“There’s a pattern to the trips. He’s in town three or four days at most, stays in the same hotel, and eats at the same restaurants. We haven’t come upon anything that shows him venturing outside of Geneva,” Hornet added.

“Linking Géraud to Fontenay is the next step,” said Beacon. “We can work it from our end too.”

“Anything else we need to know?” Blackjack asked.

“Not yet, but we’ll keep you updated,” I responded. “What about Liechtenstein? Have Preacher and Cassidy found anything?”

“Negative. The holidays have all but shut everything down,” answered Hornet.

“Which sometimes makes it the easiest time to get inside,” I countered.

Hornet chuckled. “Agreed.”

“Will you and Dagger have réveillon with your family?” Beacon asked.

“They’d never forgive me if we didn’t. The lot of them are quite enamored with my fiancé.”

Maëlle glanced over at me and smiled.

“What can I say? I’m charming.”

She rolled her eyes. “You don’t say.”

I turned my attention back to the screen. “We’ll check in again on the twenty-third, unless something of significance turns up before then.”

“And vice versa,” said Blackjack before signing off.

I closed my computer and leaned against the chair. “I suppose we should return to Valais now.”

When Maëlle bit her bottom lip, it was all I could do not to wrap my hand around her nape, lean in, and bite it myself.

“Are you hungry, by chance?” she asked.

I rested my elbows on the table and leveled my gaze at her. “Always.”

Based on the way her cheeks pinkened, she caught my innuendo.

“My favorite restaurant in all of France is within walking distance.”

My eyes widened. “From here?”

“Oui. Would you care to join me?”

“I’d never turn down the chance to have dinner with the prettiest woman in all of France at her favorite restaurant.”

She lowered her gaze. “You’re flirting.”

“Should I stop?”

Maëlle pushed away from the table and held her hand out. “Let’s go. I’m starving.”

Chez Nolette was a short walk from the cottage. It was a small place, with its name painted above the door. Inside, the room was warm and crowded with people eating.