Page 38 of Thorn

Chapter Nineteen

Juliette

The outskirts of Paris, France

Saturday, 8:00 p.m.

At the top of the hour, the radio station had shifted to a news show.

Juliette was awake but had kept her eyes shut the whole drive, pretending to be asleep. She didn’t want to have a polite conversation. She just wasn’t up to it. Wasn’t up to any questions. Her list now included − Paris and the airport, some research on her phone for some place she might stay where they’d be happy to take her money and not ask for an I.D. Then pain pills and sleep.

She still had her dinner in her pack. Back at the café, Juliette had purposefully ordered quite a bit of the kinds of foods that would keep the best over a period of time. If she had a small fridge in her motel room and portioned carefully, Juliette might be able to keep her head low until the fever broke, and she could make a new plan.

One step then another.

But right now, her vulnerability was inching up.

On the radio, the news castor was advising people of the strange car-jacking that had happened earlier in the day. The police had found the car she’d stolen and parked by the shopping area in Orléans.

The news castor said, “The keys had been placed in the glove compartment and a note read:I’m so sorry to have put you through this. Forgive me. I was kidnapped and running for my safety. You saved my life. I will always be appreciative and hold you in prayer.You might note that the grammar and phraseology are non-standard. And reading this, I can tell you, there are some slight spelling errors. It is probable that the note was not written by a native French speaker,” he concluded.

Juliette tried to tell by the vibrations in the air if Jean-Luc was looking her way. If he were listening and knew that she was the person who wrote that note.

“The police are asking for any information if you saw anything that might help them find the woman. The owner of the car does not wish to press charges against the theft, as the circumstances of the car-jacking do align with such a scenario, however, authorities want to ensure that the woman is safe, and the kidnappers are brought to justice. Any suspicious activity should be reported.”

The radio announcer’s update shifted to a mention of something that would come to a vote on Monday. There was information about the football match in Brussels that night, and a meteorological prediction of an approaching storm.

The music came back on. Juliette had weathered the announcements.

After a few moments though, Juliette heard Jean-Luc whispering.

“Maman,”Jean-Luc began. “I’m in your car heading to Paris. I need your advice.”

Juliette would willingly jump out of the car going highway speed before she let Jean-Luc take her anywhere other than the airport.

In quiet tones, low enough in range that Juliette could hear almost all of the words, he launched into the story of what had been on the radio, and how he came to be in his present situation. After a pause he said, “She’s sleeping.”

…

“I don’t see any blood. No, no obvious wounds. She’s on crutches. She was swaying like a drunk as we walked to the car. But I’m pretty sure from the way she spoke to me that she’s sober. She fell asleep almost instantly. Maybe she’s suffering a head trauma? What should I do?”

Juliette held her breath.

“She’s trying to get to Charles De Gaulle to fly home to America, she said.”

…

“Yes, she was sincere. I think she’s in trouble. I just don’t know what to do.”

…

“All right, yes. Will that give her enough time to get away? What if I came home and went to bed and when I wake up eight hours later, we have this talk again? That would give her more time.”

…

“You’re right. The police could see from my phone records that I called you. But they won’t know what we said or that I heard the news. I could, for example, just be telling you that I’m driving a girl to Paris and will be home before you get there.”

…

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