miracle

It will get thrilled. A picture of the Café and the outfits are on Tumblr and Pinterest.


Last time in chapter 11:

Ten minutes later, D'Artagnan received a phone call.

"The tournament is over. We're on our way to the casino now, so get out of there." D'Artagnan immediately went to find the others.

"Athos, we have to go. The tournament is over and people are on their way here."

"We need to get Aramis, he's in the storage room," Athos said, gruffly. They went to the next door and Porthos tried the handle. "Merde, it's locked."

It took almost 15 minutes for D'Artagnan to pick the lock and let Aramis out. They were almost at the front door, the back door being too crowded with personnel at the moment, when the abruptly stopped. The guests were already here! "Merde, what do we do now?" D'Artagnan asked.

They all looked around wildly. How could they escape? Athos had an idea. "Come!" he motioned for them to follow him to the personnel room. The large, square was empty, now that the staff was taking care of the arriving guests. There was a small kitchenette with a coffee maker, a microwave and a fridge at the back of the room, with a couple of chairs and tables beside it. The front of the room was taken up with lockers and benches. One of the benches held a couple of casino uniforms – red jackets, white shirts and black pants. "Grab a uniform," Athos said. He had already taken one for himself, slipped out of his own pants and shirt and put on the uniform. The others hastened to do the same.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

"How did you like the game?" Louis looked at Anne questioningly.

"It was incredible. I'm not really a fan of tennis and I hardly know the rules, but I have to say, at the end I was really excited," Anne answered. Louis nodded in agreement. "Not a very exciting game, but it did draw us in."

"Yes, that's why the odds weren't very good either," Nicollier remarked. "Oh, you bet on it?" Constance asked, curious.

"No, I just heard it from some of the other spectators. I'll try my luck at the casino tonight. May I hope to see you there, too?" Nicollier asked, looking around at the others.

"Of course, absolutely, maybe I'll have better luck this time," Louis said. Nicollier took his leave and Constance also excused herself and headed for the restrooms. Anne knew that she had to make an important phone call.

Once Constance was back, they went back to the cars. The cars were just about to leave, when Constance's cell phone vibrated. She took a quick look and her expression darkened. "They're not out yet."

"Merde, what now? We can't stop everyone from leaving."

Constance had no idea what to do. Luckily, they were in the first car, so Anne asked the driver to go slowly, claiming that they wanted to enjoy the beautiful scenery, but that would only by the guys a couple of minutes.

When they arrived at the casino, the first guests had already arrived and the staff came hurrying out to greet them with champagne and to park the cars. Anne and Constance went inside, slowly and apprehensively. The mood of the few guests already present was festive. It didn't seem like four men had been found to be in the casino illegally. That helped to reassure Anne and Constance a little, but they remained worried, hoping to hear from their co-conspirators soon.

"A glass of champagne, Madame?" one of the waiters asked, holding out a tray with filled glasses.

"No, thanks," she said firmly.

"I think you should take one, you look very tense," the waiter suggested.

"How dare you?" Constance said indignantly. She looked directly at the man and realized who was standing in front of her. "D'Artagnan? But how…." She looked him up and down. He was wearing a casino uniform. D'Artagnan stepped closer to her and whispered. "We ran into some trouble and couldn't get away in time, so we had to hide out in the crowd."

Now, Constance did accept a glass of champagne and took a sip. Now that she knew, that there was no immediate danger, they just had to avoid Louis and get out of the casino.

"See you at the hotel?" D'Artagnan's question was merely rhetorical. He gave her a quick peck on the cheek and disappeared. Constance hurried over to Anne.

"I know, Aramis just offered me some canapés," Anne said with a slight grin. "With me it was champagne." Constance couldn't help smiling herself.

"In that case you definitely made the better choice." They both broke out in laughter, causing some of the other guests to turn around to them, wandering what was so funny.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

During the tournament

Anne and Constance followed the match, but Constance kept checking her phone, waiting for a message.

"Louis, this is rather boring. I think I'll go back to the hotel and relax at the pool," Milady complained.

"Yes, yes, do that. I'll stay a little longer." Right now, Louis wasn't really interested in Milady's presence, his attention was on the match taking place on the court. Milady rolled her eyes at the lack of sympathy and left without a word to either Anne or Constance.

She went back to the cars, where one of the drivers was already waiting for her. "Milady, I have been informed that you wish to go back to the hotel?"

Apparently one of the bodyguards had noticed the scene between her and Louis and informed the man. How annoyingly efficient they were, she thought. She stepped closer to the man, surreptitiously looking around. Luckily, none of the other drivers noticed them, they were all otherwise occupied.

"Yes, but first I would like to go somewhere else. Call it a surprise."

The driver opened the back toor for her. "As you wish, just tell me where to go."

"Well, that's exactly the problem…"

"Problem?" Before he could say anything else, Milady had already knocked him out and, as she had intended, he fell onto the back seat. She maneuvered the rest of his body inside, closed the door and took the driver's seat herself. Instead of going into the city or back to the hotel, she took the road to the casino, where she hid the car behind one of the catering trucks and got out. She locked the car and took the key with her just in case. The driver would be out cold for a while yet, giving her the time she needed.

Getting in through one of the ground floor windows proved rather difficult in her dress, but she managed it. Once inside, she evaded the staff setting up the final things for the buffet and went straight to the back rooms, where she expected the office to be. Once again, she was proven right and a few seconds later, she stood in front of the door to Nicollier's office. At least according to the name plate to the left of the door. The door was locked, but with the help of a bobby pin it took her only a few seconds to pick it. She was just putting the pin back in her hair, when a hand landed on her shoulder. Before she could grab the arm and throw the person behind her to the ground, she heard the low voice of a man. "What are you doing here?"

She would have recognized that voice anywhere. She dreamt about that voice, it would follow her everywhere. It was the little voice in her head telling her that what she did was wrong. It was the voice she had fallen in love with all those years ago, and the voice that had betrayed her.

"I was looking for you. You weren't at the tournament and I know how much you love tennis," she answered.

"That's not the reason. Let me ask you again, what are you doing here?"

She turned around and looked into the man's eyes. Eyes that used to shine with love for her, but now held only mistrust and hatred. "Well, when I want something, but don't get it, I just take it," she said mysteriously, running her index finger up and down his chest.

"I don't think there's something you need from the office of the casino owner," Athos whispered, but didn't stop the motion of her finger. Unfortunately, Milady had no way of knowing, if he secretly liked her touch or if he didn't even feel it.

"Athos, a long time has passed. I think you're no longer in a position to determine what I do or don't need."

Suddenly he had her finger in an uncomfortably tight grip and she had to stop moving.

"You should leave, before someone sees you. It wouldn't be good, if Louis' lady friend is found in Nicollier's office,"

"Would it be better if they found you there?" she said, sassily.

His walkie-talkie started to squawk, before he could answer. "Don't rat on me," she quickly whispered in his ear and disappeared into the office. For a moment, Athos considered following her and finding out, what she was looking for in there, but he was on a mission of his own. And he knew that she was perfectly able to look out for herself, so he decided to go back to the others instead.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Thanks to the uniforms, D'Artagnan, Athos, Porthos and Aramis were able to leave the casino undetected through the staff entrance. They hurried back to the car they had parked a short distance away and drove off. On the way back to the hotel, they stopped in a small, out-of-the-way street and changed back into street clothes. It wouldn't do for someone at the hotel to start wondering, why they showed up there in casino uniforms. Once they were safely in the elevator and on the way to their floor, they high-fived each other, glad that everything had worked out in the end and that no one had noticed their little intrusion.

"Good work," Athos said. D'Artagnan had to admit that such things were easier with the four of them. They were definitely stronger together. They all headed for Porthos' room, since they could be sure there were no bugs there. Porthos stowed their equipment under the bed and they started to go through the photos they had taken on the laptops.

When they had closely looked at and analyzed every single photo, Aramis concluded "That plan must have been a long time in the making. The equipment alone is very expensive and then you'd have to hire the right technicians."

Porthos agreed with him. "If that's so, Nicollier not only knew about it, he ordered it. No one can be that clueless."

Before the others could say anything there was a loud knock on the door. Porthos gave the others a questioning look. They closed the laptops, so that no one could see what they were working on. Porthos went to open the door to find Nathan standing outside, looking at him with a serious expression. "I know what's going on."

Porthos had no idea what to make of that, but before he could react in any way, Nathan had squeezed past him. "They're laundering money."

"Who launders what?" D'Artagnan asked, confused. Athos got up to take Nathan out of the room, but he young man didn't budge. "The casino is used to launder money. I didn't see it at first, but the postings are all wrong. And the bank notes, the numbers, nothing matches. I've seen something like that before. There was something on the darknet about money laundering and what to avoid."

Athos looked at him questioningly. Nathan rattled on. "Anyway, I recognized the pattern. The casino launders money, that's the reason for the wrong numbers and the low sums. That way, no one will notice and investigate."

"That would explain a lot," Athos said, leaning back in his chair.

"Yes, and also why some tables always win and some always lose. With the losses they take the right money in and with the wins they get the wrong money out." Porthos had closed the door and joined the others again.

"Very good, Nathan. Thanks. Can you please let Anne know about it? Wait a second, I'll give you a note for her," Athos said. He grabbed a pen and paper and wrote a message, including the information that Nathan didn't know the whole story, and handed it to Nathan. The young man immediately took it, glad to be in on the whole thing know. At least he thought so, but he had no idea, that the others had broken into the casino and that Nicollier was partly responsible.

Nathan quickly left to carry out his important task and the four men were alone again. "So it's money laundering, I wouldn't have thought that. Makes more sense now, however," D'Artagnan said. "But now we should turn to Grimaud."

"We'll check the other bedrooms, and also the rooms we have been using frequently. Maybe we'll also still find something in Nice," Porthos suggested.

"Good, we'll start looking here, you and Treville go back to Nice," Athos ordered.

"Me and Treville?" Porthos gave him a pleading look.

"Yes, I think it will be good for him. He just keeps worrying and blaming himself. We'll get him involved, that way he'll get out and can concentrate on something else for a change," Athos explained.

"Okay, if you say so…" Porthos gave in and left the room to inform Treville.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Nathan had handed the note to Anne and quickly left again, since he wanted to meet with Henry and Marc to tell them what he had found. Anne went back into her room, where Constance was already waiting. Together, they read Athos' hastily scribbled message. "So the casino is used for money laundering. How come nobody noticed that?" Anne was furious.

There was another knock on the door. This time Constance went to open and came back a few seconds later with D'Artagnan and Aramis. "Did you get the message?"

The ladies nodded. "Yes, and we can't believe it. To think we almost worked together with this man. What would have happened, if he had been found out? We would have been implicated as well." Worriedly, Anne looked at the men.

"And all just because you noticed something, when you were there. You have to tell Louis immediately," Aramis said.

"Yes, we have to warn the others as well," Constance said, but D'Artagnan shook his head."What if they're in on it, too? After all, as far as I know, they've been working together with Nicollier for a long time now."

"Okay, then we won't warn them. But we should tell Louis that Nicollier can no longer be the resident expert for finances," Constance said.

"Yes, but how can we get rid of him?" Aramis asked.

"Well, the easiest way would be to go to him, put our cards on the table and tell him to resign from the business association," Anne suggested.

"I had no idea you could be so unscrupulous," Aramis said, partly impressed and partly shocked at her suggestion. "It's not a bad idea, but I think you should be the one to do that. We can provide backup if necessary, of course."

"Don't you want to come with us?" Constance asked, looking at him.

"No, it's better if he doesn't know that we're involved in this. And we need to check on something else, maybe the two things are connected," D'Artagnan said, with a knowing look directed at Aramis.

"What kind of things?" Anne asked.

"We found out that some of our rooms were bugged and…" before Aramis could finish the sentence, the ladies were already .

"Did you say 'bugs'?"

"I can't believe it!"

"Oh my God, what have they heard?" They were absolutely shocked.

"Don't worry, we'll find out, and also who was listening in on us. But for the moment it's better if we stay below the radar."

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

After breakfast the next morning, Porthos and Treville left for Nice. The drive was unusually quiet. Normally they had a lot to talk about, about their lives or about the new recruits. There was always something. Athos was the silent type in the team, Porthos usually wasn't.

"This Côte D'Azur trip is more work than we thought, isn't it?" Porthos tried to start a conversation.

"Yes."

"So, do you like it here?"

"Yes, it's good to get out of the chateau for a while."

"I think so, too. It's really good. And by the time we get back, the ballroom will be fhinished." Porthos noticed how mention of the ballroom changed the mood in the car.

"It's not your fault. No one could have seen that coming. We all checked the employee profiles and there was nothing in them to suggest they would betray the king. And as for Marmion, Louis himself invited him. If anything, you saved the king from an attack. Or did you think we didn't notice how you protected Louis from the gunshots?"

Treville continued to stare out of the window, but started to speak. "No, but I'm responsible for security at the chateau. I should have had Marmion's equipment checked. If any one of you makes a mistake, it falls back on me."

"But no one blames you."

"Louis does," Treville said, simply.

Porthos was silent. What was there to say to that? At least now they knew, that the problem was between Treville and Louis. They could work with that. And maybe Athos was right and this little mission would help Treville and distract him. It would definitely show him, how much he was needed here, which was a very important point for Porthos. He valued and respected his captain very much.

After another thirty minutes they arrived at the hotel. They parked on the other side of the street, went into the lobby and headed straight for the reception desk. "Bonjour, my name is Treville. We had booked a couple of rooms here three days ago and our boss, Louis, has asked us to take some photos of them. Would that be possible?" Treville hadn't managed to come up with a good explanation, why they wanted to get into the rooms again, so they could only hope, that the receptionist would be kind enough to comply with their wish. Unfortunately, luck wasn't on their side.

"No, unfortunately, that's not possible. We're not allowed to just hand out room keys, especially not for the suites, and most of the other rooms are already occupied again," the receptionist answered, typing on her keyboard.

Porthos and Athos took a seat in the lobby and discussed how to get their hands on the keys.

"I have one last idea," Porthos said. He took his cellphone and dialed a number.

Yes, hello?

"Hello Elodie, this is Porthos. Sorry for calling you, but I really need your help. I wouldn't call, if I could think of another way…"

No problem, how can I help?

Porthos smiled slightly, glad he could count on her. "Do you happen to know a maid at the Boscolo hotel in Nice?"

Treville wondered, who Porthos was talking to.

Mhm, I'd have to go through my address book. Do you need the maid for a specific floor?

"Well, we need the keys to our old rooms, we need to look for something there."

"I understand. Wait for me at the hotel and I'll see what I can do, Elodie said and ended the call.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Anne and Nicollier had arranged to meet this morning at a café close to the hotel, named Le Loga. Since she would be there in her function as CFO, Anne had chosen an orange one-shoulder cocktail dress with matching pumps, a golden clutch and gold jewelry. A white, unusually cut blazer made the dress fit for a business meeting.

Constance had chosen a flared midi-skirt with a large multicolor fishscale pattern and a dolman sleeve top, together with brown strappy sandals and a matching Birkin bag.

As usual, Nicollier greeted them politely. "Mesdames, how very nice. I am glad you asked for a meeting. How can I be of service? I'm certain we'll work closely together, with you as CFO and I as the resident financial expert."

"Of course, although I find it strange that you have been suggested to us as a financial expert," Anne said, getting straight to the point.

"Come again?"

"We have evidence that your casino is rigged and that you pay out counterfeit money instead of the money you take in from your guests." While Anne confronted Nicollier with the truth, Constance placed the photos the bodyguards had taken in front of him.

"I don't know what you mean, these have clearly been manipulated," he said, indicating the photos. "I would never do something like that, it's illegal. How did you get these in the first place?" He was more than shocked and became angry.

"That does not matter. As CFO and representative of my cousin, the security and protection of our corporate interests is my responsibility. An association with you would be more than detrimental for us."

Nicollier was silent. He knew that he had been caught. Of course he saw that the photos were real and that he couldn't deceive Anne and Constance any longer, so he caved in. "What do you want?"

Constance knew that they had him now. "We'll hand over the photos and the print-outs to you and never speak of the matter again, and in return you resign from this business arrangement. Say it's getting too much for you or something like that."

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Porthos and Treville only had fifteen minutes to wait, before Elodie came up to their table.

"Elodie, you didn't have to come just for us." Porthos immediately got up and offered her his seat, which she gratefully took. He noticed how pale she was.

"Sorry, I just need to get my breath back for a minute," she said.

"What brings you here?"

"I wanted to get on it right away and I was in the area anyway. There's a flea market for baby clothes, so I could combine the two errands."

Treville got to his feet. "So, do you know how we can get into the rooms?" Apparently, he was in a hurry. Porthos was just about to point out that Elodie was pregnant and needed to rest, but she stopped him. "No, no, it's okay. Let me get the keys and I'll be right back." Elodie struggled to get back to her feet and Porthos helped her. Something was different today. Last time she had had no trouble getting around even with her pregnant belly.

Elodie went to the staff quarters and came back a few minutes later with a key card. "This is a skeleton card, it will get us in every room." Porthos smiled and held out his hand for the card.

"No, I'm coming with you, after all I'm vouching for it."

A short elevator ride brought them up to the third floor. Once Elodie had opened the door for him, Treville went into his former room, while Elodie and Porthos went on to Porthos' old room.

Porthos searched every nook and cranny – the bathroom, the lamps, the wardrobes, but didn't find anything. He was ready to give up, when he had one final idea for a hiding place. He looked beneath the shelves and, lo and behold, there was something there, fixed to the underside with a piece of strong tape. He was just about to remove it, when Elodie doubled over in pain. "Ahhhh…" She tried to suppress a moan, but Porthos was at her side immediately.

"Is it coming?"

Elodie nodded, unable to speak. "Yes. Oh God, it hurts."

"Come, sit down." He said, helping her onto the bed and gently stroking her back. He kept pushing against her pelvis. Sweat beaded on her forehead and she was breathing heavily.

Again and again her contractions came. "Good, the interval is getting shorter, we're almost there. So, if you feel like pushing, then do it as hard as you can."

Elodie shook her head and reached for his hand with a pained expression. "I can't. I'm afraid."

"Hey," Porthos said, gently stroking back a strand of hair from her face. "You're a strong, independent woman. There's nothing you can't do. And I'll help you," he promised, squeezing her hand for confirmation.

Elodie wasn't convinced, but he gave her strength. It was strange that a man she had only met a few days ago could give her so much confidence, but right now she didn't mind. "Are you an expert in childbirth?" she asked, just to make sure.

"I grew up in a social housing project. Our neighbor had seven kids. So, yes, I have helped a woman give birth before."

After roughly thirty minutes, Porthos handed her a small bundle. Elodie reached out and admired her little girl. She was really perfect. Porthos had used a couple of towels to clean the baby up. Now he sat on the bed beside the mother and child. There was a knock on the door and both of them flinched. Had the guests come back? How could they explain what happened?

Porthos went to the door and relaxed when he saw Treville. Treville followed Porthos into the room. "What the….?" Flabberghasted, he looked first at Elodie and then at the newborn baby in her arms.

"It happened so suddenly," Elodie said, overjoyed. Treville patted Porthos on the shoulder approvingly. "We should really leave now," he said, serious again. Porthos nodded. Elodie started to get up. "No, let me." Porthos simply picked her up and carried her out of the room.

They were lucky, the corridor was empty. They quickly went into the stairwell and left through the back entrance Elodie pointed out to them. They had left a very generous tip in the room and later Treville would call the hotel and let them know that the room required a thorough cleaning.


Do you liked the chapter? What about the scene with Elodie and Porthos. Also huge thanks to DebbieF, Hsg, Sigmund and LadyNeve for the comment.