Page 47 of Mountain Security

Yvette nodded. She understood what he meant. Money, for her, was also freedom.

Freedom, and the chance to take care of my family.

She knew her chosen profession wasn’t going to make her rich, but becoming rich wasn’t her primary concern. Which didn’t mean she didn’t like fine things. She did. She loved this dress, for example. She loved the view from her apartment. But the truth was, now that she and her family were comfortable, what she really wanted was to help other people who weren’t as lucky. People who were struggling, not through their own fault, but because society wasn’t designed with them in mind.

Alex squeezed her arm gently, and for a long instant Yvette allowed herself to imagine that he was here because he wanted to be.

What would it be like to date a man like him for real?

A big body pushed her to the side, hard enough that she almost toppled in her high heels. Only Alex’s arm on her hip kept her steady.

“Hey,” Alex said, but the man had already pushed on through the crowd.

“Don’t worry about it,” Yvette said. “I know him. He’s always been this rude.”

“Who is he?” Alex asked, his eyes narrowed.

“His name is Jardinier. He wanted to build some fancy shopping mall here in town. He invited us and some influential members of the community to Bali to view their sister property.” Her eyes narrowed as she remembered the invitation. “For three weeks. All expenses paid. Staying in a five-start hotel.”

“That’s—“

“Yeah. A bribe.” Yvette spat out the word. “That’s what I thought, too. Pierre and I made it clear we weren’t going, so nobody else went, either. Eventually, the project failed.” She shrugged. “It wasn’t well thought out, but I think Jardinier feels I was instrumental to the failure of his project.”

For a moment, Alex looked like he wanted to follow the man. Finally, he shook his head. “Is he on the list?”

She nodded, not having to ask what list he was talking about. Just as she knew, without having to ask, that Jardinier had just managed to get himself to the top of the list.

Yvette put on her game face as two women and an older man approached her.

The women were a couple, she knew. One of them was an artist, the other one owned several restaurants in the Three Valleys area. Yvette greeted them warmly, then turned to the man. For a moment, she couldn’t quite place him. Then she realized who he was.

She struggled to keep the surprise from her face. Arnaud Gaultier looked like he’d aged twenty years since she’d last seen him. His hair, previously salt-and-pepper, was now almost snow white, and he’d lost a lot of weight.

Arnaud Gaultier and Pierre had gone to university together, and the man, as well as a prominent local businessman and multi-millionaire, had always been one of their staunchest supporters.

Their last encounter, however, a private lunch in one of the town’s best restaurants eight or nine months earlier, hadn’t been productive—Pierre had been forced to tell the man that, precisely because they knew each other so well, they couldn’t discuss his newest project idea outside of official channels.

Yvette struggled to remember what the man’s proposal had been about. Something strange …

It came to her, eventually.

A hotel with a giant aquarium built in, right next to the slopes.

Something he’d seen in Dubai.

She suddenly realized that proposal was among the seven projects that had gone missing.

Hell.

If this came out, Gaultier would—

She forced herself back to the present.

“MonsieurGaultier,” Yvette said, holding out her hand.

The older man’s eyes glistened. She wondered if he was sick. He’d always had a healthy tan, but now his skin was almost sallow-looking.

“Yvette.” The older man took her hand gently in his and bent low to kiss it. Yvette relaxed—it looked like their last disagreement was forgotten, for now at least. “You look lovely.”

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