A week later Alain boarded a train and arrived in Lyon in roughly two hours. Taking a cab he arrived just outside of a pedestrian zone that was fairly quiet and not too crowded. Sitting under an awning at a table for two was a woman with deep, dark brown hair cut to a bob that brushed her shoulders. She had full cheeks and a sparkling smile, complimenting her large brown eyes.
Rose worked with Alain ten years ago when he was an INTERPOL agent. When Slyvie was born he resigned to be a more stationary. Rose hadn't changed much in the time since. A few wrinkles and a couple streaks of grey were visible, but she was still a gorgeous woman.
Rose stood up when she saw Alain, hugging him before they sat across from each other.
"It's been too long Alain," Rose said with a large smile.
"It has, how are you doing Rose?" Alain asked.
"Work, work, and work," Rose said and Alain nodded in understanding.
"Sorry to add to that."
"Please you're stuff is always fun. We'll get to that, how old is Slyvie now?"
"She's ten, she's growing like a weed," Alain said, pulling out his wallet to hand her the latest picture.
"She's even cuter from the last time I saw her. How is she handling the divorce?"
"It seems like she understands. It's not ideal, but she's tough," Alain said with a shrug.
"How are you handling it," Rose asked, Alain sighed and looking away, "You still drinking?"
"Only on bad days," Alain said, looking back at her.
"You get any good ones?" Rose asked and she knew from his face it was time to start the real conversation.
"Let's get to business," she said, pulled open a file and handing it to him, "I didn't get much, but his name is Lowel Tyron, some files have him as Lowel Ikonov. Fell off the grid in 2003."
"What do we know?" Alain asked, reading over the details.
"PhD in physics, mathematics, and engineering. No particular engineering discipline, it just says engineer. Recorded I.Q. of 176, the guy is a technological genius," Rose summarized and waited for Alain to turn the page. "In the late eighties he was hired by a tech firm omitted by classification, that was then hired by the government for god knows what. The firm never accomplished their goals, and he went quiet till he completely vanished in 2003."
Alain scrolled the file and saw 'Frontier Technologies' as a prior employer.
"Frontier Technologies," Alain said, making a note to call Giles Melo again, technically for the first time, "Did any other names appear. Hopper or Schaeffer?"
"As a matter of fact yes…" She said and pulled her note book out of her purse. Flipping pages she found what she was looking for, "Anthea Schaeffer, witness protection."
"Really?" Alain asked as Rose handed him her notebook.
"When you asked me to look into this, never did I imagine it would lead me to the shadiest case handling I've ever seen. This was done off the books as much as possible. From what I managed to gather, her and her husband worked on this project also. The husband went crazy and tried to weaponize the technology and sell it on the black market. Anthea turned him in, but not fast enough, he kidnapped their daughter and went into hiding. Nothing since 1992."
"Do we know where Anthea is now?"
"It's witness protection, the whole point is no one knows. I do know she exited the program in 2004. If they dropped her off in another country, we'd never know."
"I can work with this," Alain said and then looked up from the notebook at her "Thanks."
"Always a pleasure, just promise they're all this interesting," Rose said and smiled, "What are you doing right now?"
"Heading to the train station, can't stay long," Alain said, making Rose shake her head and sigh, "What?"
"Ten years and you still won't talk about it," Rose said as she looked at him with her eyebrows raised.
"Ten years, and I've been married for twelve. See the issue with the arithmetic?"
"Funny how things like that tend to catch up with you," Rose said, laughing that now he's only getting divorced because he finally got caught, "You're getting divorced, why can't two consenting adults have some fun and relive good times."
"I'm still married, I don't want to give Paulette any ammunition."
"I've kept us a secret for a decade. I think I can keep it on wraps until your divorce is finalized," Rose said and flirtingly smiled.
Alain let out a sigh before he looked back and said, "You still right around the corner?"
The gang ate their breakfast while discussing various topics before Jeremie felt a tap on his shoulder. Looking over his shoulder he saw Laura with a smile and a bag over her shoulder.
"Hey, so about them books," Laura said to jog his memory.
"We'll get them right now, everyone this is Laura, she just started," Jeremie said, the group one by introducing themselves. Laura said hello to all of them, and wasn't unaware of the look Aelita shot at her.
'Pink is the girlfriend I'd take it,' Laura said to herself.
"Let's go get them," Jeremie said and walked off with her. Aelita sat there, unsure of what to do or say. For some reason she immediately detested her.
"Did you just let a moderately cute blond walk off alone to your boyfriend's room?" Yumi asked and Aelita looked over at her.
"Shut up."
Jeremie opened his door and had Laura hand him her schedule to see what she needed.
"AP Calculus, AP...how many APs are you taking?" Jeremie asked since her schedule looked similar to his own.
"Pretty much all of them...nice system," Laura said, crouched next to his computer tower and examining it closer, "Custom?"
"It's a Frankenstein of work over the years. You into computers?"
"Obsessed is more accurate. Games too, PC master race, all that jazz. I spend more time in tech expos than in salons. It's why I've never really fit in anywhere. Girls think I'm weird and guys think I'm nerdy."
"Not so much on the games for me, but I know the feeling of being on the outside looking in."
"Your friends seem nice. The pink haired girl…"
"Aelita?"
"Yeah her, she's your girlfriend if my spidey-sense was right."
"I'm sorry spidey-sense?"
"Seriously?" Laura asked, knowing he was a nerd and not a geek, but still.
"Never mind, I'm sorry for the fight you'll eventually get into," Laura said with a chuckle.
"Why would we fight?"
"You just walked to your room alone with a cute blond," Laura said and Jeremie realized when you said it like that, it wasn't as harmless.
"I guess I did," Jeremie said with a laugh, then looked at her face as she smiled at him, "What?"
"You just said I was cute," Laura said and Jeremie blushed and looked away before he was saved by the bell, "Thanks for the books, but we need to go."
They split up, Jeremie turning right and Laura left where she went to her History class and sat in front of Aelita. As Laura approached her desk she smiled at Aelita to be polite and took the seat. She could almost feel Aelita's eyes burning a hole in her head the entire class.