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it would be to transfer this call you made on to one of your new phones? Just a little micro-blip and it would show up on the FBI’s radar.
“It’s not like anyone would blame you for reaching out to your brother. They are watching him. They are looking for just this kind of thing. We protected you when you made this call. It was our technology. Our security that allowed you to speak to him without being traced, but that can easily be reversed. And you wouldn’t even know it.” She shook her head with a disappointed frown.
“One call from the American agents to their French agency and you would be scooped up like a baby kitten. Taken into custody. Deported immediately. After that, who knows what would happen. And it could all happen in less than five minutes. Just a blip. And suddenly you’re on their radar again.”
“Why are you doing this?” I dug my nails into the table.
“You need to recognize your contribution is necessary. You could be an asset. Or you could be expendable.”
I huffed. “You are bluffing about all of it. You’d never hand me over to the feds. I know too much.”
“Do you?” Her eyebrows raised. “What would that do for you? Alone back in the States without him? He can’t free you twice. And he certainly won’t go back there and risk being taken into custody on his own. No. He might love you, but he’s not exactly the martyr type. You will be completely alone.”
The pit in my stomach was going to swallow me whole. I knew this was the part I had to play, but there was also a viciousness in her voice that unnerved me. I was fighting to stay on track. Fighting to remember this was how I helped Vaughn build the door. I had to keep Eloise distracted. I had to go along with her insanity just a little while longer.
“I-it would risk everything you want from Paul Auclair,” I argued. “I would tell them everything. I’m calling your bluff.”
She peeled what was left of the cardboard into a single spiral like a long spaghetti noodle and cupped the coffee. She shrugged. “By then we’ll all have our money. Paul’s formula and research about his trials will have disappeared. There will be no proof. No evidence. There never is. That’s why we’re so good. All you’ll have is the confession of a sad young girl, heartbroken and desperate against what? A ghost?”
She smiled.
Marie walked over with a full carafe of coffee. “Plus, madames?”
I waved her off. It was the rudest I had ever been, but I was shaken. I knew none of the things Eloise threatened would happen, but they were dark thoughts. Bitter images. I didn’t want to go back to that place where Vaughn and I didn’t exist. I didn’t want to live in a world where he abandoned me. Where I spent every fucking afternoon with Agent Kenneth.
“What are you thinking? Have I helped you at all?”
Giving in was what I had to do, but even now I had to force myself to remember this was the path to freedom. I hated her for it. The deepest parts of my stubbornness resisted. They dug in, resisting the inevitable.
“Yes.”
“I think that’s a good decision. It’s better not to involve your brother. Not to worry about traveling home. You do fit in here. A vivid American in Paris.”
I had to hold my coffee tightly to keep my hands from trembling.
“I was hoping you and Aubrey Auclair could spend some time together today in her apartment.”
I straightened my back. The hardest part was over. “Aubrey has a salon appointment today. She and Paul are going somewhere for dinner. I can’t remember where. It’s a charity thing. She’s busy all day getting ready for it.”
“Surely you could stop by before they leave.”
“And get caught by both of them? Paul is always in his study when he’s home. No. I don’t think today is going to work.” I didn’t know how long I could stall the assignment. We needed more than days to finalize a plan. We needed weeks, but Vaughn and I were quickly running out of time.
“Then it will have to be tomorrow.”
I leaned into the table. “I said I would do this, but I have no idea how to get the code. Are you going to give me any tips? Hosting a dinner party was one thing, what you’re asking me to do now is completely out of my element. I am an attorney, not a secret agent.”
“You are also dramatic.” Eloise rolled her eyes. “Tell her you’re drawing up a will and that you and Leo don’t have any family in Paris. You want her to know where all your important legal documents are in case of an emergency. You’re just being very practical.”
“I open up in the hopes that she opens up and volunteers their personal safe’s digits? But we don’t have wills.”
“You have until tomorrow to come up with your cover. That’s my suggestion. Use it. Don’t use it.”
“All right. I’ll use your story. And the code? Once I have it, who do I give it to?”
“Someone will stop by to collect it,” she explained.
“Why can’t I just give it to Vaughn?” I wanted to tell her I’d just shout it into the bugging devices planted through the apartment, but I was certain we had covered our tracks. If she knew we had discovered the audio chips, she didn’t let on.
