Page 15 of Hidden Dane
If she acted like she cooperated, maybe she could find her way off the train. She leaned closer and nodded. “Absolutely. So, if I give you this necklace, you can let me go. I’ll fly back to Florida and he can forget all about me—again.”
Without any explanation, Ted stood and snapped his fingers at the other man. “I can’t let that happen. Alexandre, see if you can get her to talk about Dane Pearce until I get back.”
She watched Ted walk out of the small private room as the train continued on its tracks, making a light purr under her own tied feet. For a second she saw the plush red carpet of the main train, but the golden door closed and his footsteps disappeared from her hearing. The click of the door reverberated inside her gut. She’d use her years of defense training to get out of here. As the other man came over, Alexandre, she smiled at him, noticing his groomed face and hook nose— her instincts whispered to be cautious, as if timid. For all she knew, talk meant threaten rape. She glanced down and asked, “Alexandre, you’re French?”
“Oui.” He sank onto the chair his boss had just vacated. “Alexandre Mazet at your service,madame.”
He thought himself a ladies man. Maybe she could find her way out of this, with Alexandre’s unwitting help. She licked her lips and coughed, lowering her lashes. “Look, Dane and I were high school and that was a long time ago. I’ve not seen the man in ten years and I don’t want to. Not when I can talk to nice men like you. Why don’t we sit peacefully and have a glass of wine while we talk? Wine always loosens me up.”
“Wine is an excellent idea.” He stood. “Though it’s better for you that we don’t share too many personal details.”
“Why?”
“My wife might be jealous,” he teased. “Or, I might have to kill you later.”
Not good. She jingled her handcuffs. “I’ll behave. The wine sounds yummy, but you’ll have to untie my hands if I’m to join you.”
He eyed her as if assessing her strength. “How do I know I can trust you?”
Weak was her best weapon. She let out a small, sad sigh. “You don’t, but can you honestly trust any woman? Besides, you’re the one with the gun and we’re in a locked cabin. Where can I go?”
He gave her a glance that made her think she was on the menu as he took out a key and uncuffed her hands and legs.
She massaged where the metal chafed her. “Just a word of warning—wine makes me very friendly.”
Alexandre pointed her toward the bar with a sly grin. “Just what the boss ordered. Why don’t you pour?”
“I’d love to.” Emily knew that his eyes were on her figure, which had been his plan. Her blue pants hugged her hips and she gave an extra shimmy as she poured two glasses of wine.
She turned and handed him a glass with a flirty smile.
Slinging the strap of her pocketbook over her shoulder, she picked up her wine and sashayed in front of him to keep him distracted as she sank to the edge of her chair, casually hanging her pocketbook behind her like they were in a restaurant and everything was completely normal.
He offered his glass for a toast.
After a clink, Emily gulped her drink.
He watched her and shook his head. “SoAmerican. You gulped that down fast.”
“I guess I’m nervous. Do you have any crackers, or cheese?”
Alexandre got up and searched the cabinet beneath the bar.
While he wasn’t looking, she reached behind her and slipped her phone and prescription pills for stopping men at a nightclub in her lap, hiding them beneath a napkin.
He returned. “Nothing to eat. Now, where were we?”
“You need to drink,” she laughed, getting up and going to the bar to pour another. “I needed it. It’s been a long day.” She let out a sigh, and turned to him with a wink, then faced the bar again. “I’ll drink this one slower.”
Emily typed without looking at her phone at all and hoped for the best.Dane, we’re on the train to Paris.
Now, she wasn’t 100% sure they were off to Paris, but Ted had said bank so she put it together. She tucked her phone beneath the napkin.
Alexandre asked, “So how did you get mixed up with treasure hunting with Dane Pearce?”
Right. She slowly took the cap off the prescription bottle, not wanting to make a sound. She returned to the table with a pill hidden in her palm and sat again. The table provided cover for her phone and the bottle as she leaned forward. “I hadn’t planned to be. Two days ago, I graduated from college. Ted and his men showed up when I was out with my friends—so did Dane, and his guys.”
“Congratulations.” He lifted his glass to drink.
