Author’s notes –
Glad everyone likes the new site. I really have no skills at such things, so anyone who wants to help, feel free to let me know!
And now…on with the idiocy!
“This shouldn’t take long.”
_______________________________________
Chapter 49:
Bella was looking all over the place and making it obvious she was a tourist. Every time someone was speaking something other than English, which was most everyone, she would jerk her head around and look at them, as if eye contacts might make her understand. She admitted to taking a year of French in high school, but that it wasn’t making any difference. I knew just enough French to understand the gist of what people were saying, but I couldn’t speak it to save my life. Get slapped, yes – save my life, no.
We entered a little drinking establishment within view of the Eiffel Tower, and I had to practically drag Bella inside to stop her from staring at the gigantic structure. I led her other to a table off in the corner and sat down with her and asked her what she would like to drink. She just gave me a funny look and shrugged, so I ordered two glasses of white wine.
“You’re of age here,” I said with a smile. She narrowed her eyes and sniffed at the glass before taking a sip. Her face scrunched up in the more adorable way at the taste. I had to laugh a little.
I drank a big gulp of wine, which was actually pretty good. Well hell, I am in France. The wine ought to be good, right?
“What now?” Bella asked quietly. She had spread her fingers around the stem of her glass, and was tilting her left hand back and forth. The diamond on her finger sparkled in the low level lights.
“Do you like it?” I asked.
“Like what?” Bella glanced up at me.
“The ring.”
“Oh.” She looked down again and began turning her hand around. “It’s very pretty. Did you pick it out?”
I was tempted to say I had, just because she seemed to like it, but I didn’t.
“Jasper did,” I admitted.
She quietly contemplated the rock on her hand for a minute before speaking again.
“So?”
“So what?” I asked.
“What now?”
I had forgotten that question.
“You stay right here at this table,” I told her. “I take care of the last piece of business, and then we go back to the hotel. We’ll head to Germany tomorrow.”
“Germany?”
“There’s a place we can stay there. It’s near Heidelberg.”
“Before all this happened I had never been farther west than Albuquerque,” Bella said.
I wasn’t too sure if she meant that as a good thing or not, so I had no idea how to respond. I looked down at my watch and decided it was probably time to get this show on the road, as they say. I pulled a one-hundred dollar bill from my wallet and a pen from my pocket. I wrote the word “twilight” across the bill.
“What’s that?” Bella questioned.
“My key,” I said with a smile. “Wait here. Don’t move. Don’t talk to anyone, okay?”
“Fine,” she snipped.
“This shouldn’t take long.”
I stood up and crossed to the other side of the room, where a big guy stood next to a closed door. I handed the guy at the door the bill in my hand. He nodded curtly and stepped aside, pushing the door open for me. I went through, and the door closed behind me. I was in a hallway, and at the very end there was an open door. I walked quietly towards it, pulling out both my gun and the silencer at the same time. As I approached, I twisted the silencer onto the end of the gun and listened closely to the conversation inside the small room.
“According to my sources, it was the Hales,” a deep voice proclaimed.
“Why would the Hales go after Aro?” This voice was one I recognized – Eric Yorkie from New York. Go figure. He had moved over to the European operation several years ago. I had met him once or twice regarding arms deals. “They’ve hardly done any business together, and their businesses are only marginally related.”
“If they were going to eliminate anyone, I would think they would go after Cullen’s group. He has the tech market down, and the Hales were always into hi-tech.”
“McCarty’s involvement has been verified,” the third voice said. “I have my guy trailing him, and he is with Hales.”
“Of course he is,” Eric replied. “He’s tight with Rosalie Hale.”
“I doubt she’s all that tight,” the first voice said with a laugh. They all joined in.
It was time for me to make my move.
It would all be over soon, right?
________________________________________________
Chapter end notes:
Sounds like they already know a bit too much, huh?
Sorry for the cliffie…well, not really. I’m evil like that.
More tomorrow.
