Page 255 of Papa's Bébé
Maya couldn’t keep up. What was happening? Why had this man tranquilized Kathryn? And who was Pup?
“I gather we’re talking to the Fox,” Matthieu said tensely.
The Fox?
Oh my God.
The guy who had found Vince?
“Good guess and you can put the gun down. I’m not going to harm you. I care nothing for you. You don’t interest me, but Maya does. My Pup likes her. He admires what she does for her animals. And he wouldn’t be happy if something happened to her. So that’s why I’m here. To protect her.”
Matthieu slowly lowered his gun.
“Good call. I could have shot you dead at any time so your gun wasn’t really protecting you. Now, I’ve handed you everyone in a nice package. First, Vince. Now, Kathryn. I accept muffins as a thank you gift. Or cookies. You can leave them with my Pup.”
“Wait,” she said suddenly. If this was the Fox was the Pup Brody? It had to be, right? And the Fox had helped Maya again because of Brody? Thank God Brody liked her. “How are you here?”
The question didn’t come out quite right but she was having trouble gathering her thoughts together.
“Cameras,” the Fox said. “Brody has still been monitoring the cameras here. And the ones at your father’s house.”
“There are cameras at my father’s?” she asked.
“Hmm. I put them there. I knew it was her. I did some questioning while I had Vince. You don’t think it took me that long to find him, do you? No, he was easy prey. But it wasn’t a simple job to question him without marking him. I didn’t want any evidence. That takes skill and a bit more time. I don’t have a lot of time now that I’m a family man.”
A family man? Holy heck. She couldn’t even see him and she was terrified by him.
“Vince thought he was keeping the truth from me, but I didn’t need him to blurt it out. I’m not stupid. I worked out that it was her pulling the ropes. So I decided to watch her. She drugged the officer guarding her before she snuck out to come here tonight. I don’t know how she knew you were here, but my guess would be that she probably bribed one of your neighbors to tell her if you returned. I also put a tracker on her car, but I’d already guessed she was coming here. So I decided I better follow. I have always had impeccable timing. Now, I’ve got to go home and play a celebratory game of hide the sausage. If you know what I mean.”
Did she? Maybe?
Lord, she was so confused.
“Um, okay, bye,” she called out.
There was no answer and Matthieu turned to her, pulling her close to him. He started speaking in rapid French and the only words that she could understand were the swear words.
So she just hugged him back, tight.
She understood the sentiment. She was glad that he was all right, too.
Finally, he lifted her and kissed her. Hard.
“Je t’aime, Bébé,” he said.
Yeah. She knew that one.
“I love you, too.”
EPILOGUE
“Bend over the back of the chair and show me your ass.”
A shiver ran through Maya at those words and she moved to the chair in a daze, positioning herself over the back of it.
She was wearing a pair of wide-legged black pants and a black sleeveless top. She was going to throw a lavender lace top over the top before they left.
But, apparently, Matthieu wanted to check her underwear situation first.
