Page 75 of Dagger’s Shield

17

DAGGER

Ihad to take the stairs two at a time to catch up with Maëlle before she got to the bedroom. As I anticipated, she tried to slam the door closed as I stepped over the threshold.

She crossed to the window, with her arms wrapped around her waist, and let loose a stream of French I couldn’t have followed even if I spoke the language fluently. I closed the door and waited for her to get it out of her system.

“He won’t accept it, Killian. His wife has cancer, and he tells me doctors only frighten women and it isn’t true.”

“I heard.”

“In spring, you will see I was right.” She mimicked him. “And in spring, when she is too weak to stand, what will he say? That the doctors frightened her into it?”

“Come here.”

She shook her head. “If you hold me, I will cry, and I am not finished being angry.”

“Then, finish. I’ll wait.”

“Before you arrived for breakfast, I confronted Rémy.”

“Go on.”

She told me Rémy hadn’t known about Chantal’s diagnosis and that his own mother had died of the same disease. And before any of that, she’d told him she was the Valais heir and demanded to see the books every quarter.

“How did he react?”

“He was irritated and impatient.”

“Makes sense. Then what happened?”

“I told him about Maman, and the rest, you know.”

“If your cousin has something to hide, you told him you’re looking.”

“I know. That was the point.”

“If Rémy is involved, you’ve warned him to start covering himself,” I pressed. “So think like him. What does he do first?”

“He cleans the books.”

“How long would that take?”

“A day. Less, if all he must do is delete.” She uncrossed her arms. “Everything I photographed could be gone by tonight.”

“If you’ve got it all, let him scrub.”

She smirked. “You sound pleased.”

“It’s crunch time, mon feu. I can feel it.”

She went to the desk, and when she faced me again, she was Givre, not Bertrand’s daughter. Not Maëlle. “Let’s talk about tomorrow night,” she said.

“Your father’s important associate. You know who I think it is?”

“Géraud.”

“We’d be fools to plan for anyone else.”