36. Warning

"Speaking of our French colleagues…"

Bonnie, thinking the meeting at an end, had half-risen to her feet, but at Bear's words, she settled back down.

Having begun, however, Bear seemed reluctant to go on. He eyed her somberly, his expression troubled. "This is none of my business, I know, but I think you should be aware… Beaumont… He's not what he makes himself out to be. He's all charm and friendliness on the surface, but, if half of what Isabelle's been telling me is true, he can't be trusted. Around women, I mean. He's a… playboy, I guess, is the nicest word for him."

Bonnie was touched by Bear's evident but unnecessary concern. "Sébastien's an awful flirt, and I don't doubt he'd like to pass for a ladykiller, but I don't get the sense his heart's in the seduction game. He may have had libertine tendencies in the past, or even now with other women, but he hasn't tried anything with me, and I honestly don't expect he will."

"But, that could be exactly what he wants you to think. What better way to get you to let down your guard with him? You may be right: the man may have only the best of intentions toward you, but he's got a damning track record, Bonnie, and you shouldn't lose sight of that."

Bonnie did not think she was deceived as to Sébastien's basic harmlessness, and was even more suspicious of the dread character Bear gave him when she considered the source informing it. The constant sniping between Isabelle and Sébastien, the awkward scene they'd enacted earlier in the day, these suddenly took on new meaning. "I take it Sébastien and Isabelle have history?"

Bear nodded grimly. "She's a very private person, and really hated bringing up the past, but she felt she had to, under the circumstances. She couldn't stand by and let you get hurt if she could prevent it."

Unaccountably, Isabelle's solicitude on her behalf, far from endearing her to Bonnie, grated on her nerves. "I'm sure I'm obliged to Isabelle for the warming," she said, purely for form's sake, "but you can assure her for me that I'm perfectly capable of dealing with unwanted advances. In fact, if Sébastien steps out of line, he'll find he very much regrets it."

Bear's slight smile betrayed more than a hint of amusement. "What, do you take kick-boxing lessons in your spare time, or is karate more your style?"

She raised her chin and looked down her nose at him. "You may laugh, but the truth is I've been trained in no fewer than three martial arts. My grandmother insisted on it. She learned the importance of self-defense the hard way, and she never let me forget it. I may not look the part, but I can do serious damage if I need to protect myself, and, believe me, I won't hesitate to do so."

Bear's heavy brows lifted in appreciation and perhaps newfound respect. "Whoa! Looks like Beaumont's in need of a heads-up as much, or more, than you! You make me almost pity the guy. Almost," he repeated darkly. "Look, I don't doubt you believe you could fight the man off, but the best thing, to my way of thinking, is not to let it ever come to that. I'm not saying avoid the man altogether, but, at the very least, don't let him lure you off on some pretext or other, all right?"

Bonnie was tempted to persist in dismissing Sébastien as any sort of potential threat, but in the end, simply to have done with the pointless discussion, she decided to humor Bear. "I'll be super careful," she promised. Once again, she prepared to rise, but then thought better of it. "Is there anything else?"

She was gratified by a nod. "One last thing. About Rose Mundy's private view tomorrow night: I've changed my mind. I'll be going after all."

"Oh!" All the irritation engendered by the previous topic gave way to a rush of delight. She was relieved now that all her attempts to find another taker for the invitation had failed. As her best friend and a slight acquaintance of Madame Vincent, Trev had been her first choice, but it turned out he had an office function he could not get out of. Not only did he refuse, regretfully, to accompany her, he tried to argue her into ditching the event in favor of attending his own. She next thought the glamorous art show might be just the venue for spending some quality girl-time with Vanna, but when she finally got her on the phone, it was only to discover that Trev had beat her to the punch. As for Eddie, her third and final option, she was still waiting, with ever diminishing hope, for a return call or text. "That's great! I have the invitation at my workstation. I'll just get it for…"

He held up a hand to stop her. "Thanks, but I won't be needing it. I'm going with Isabelle. As a favor," he hastened to add. "She's been feeling a bit lost and far from home, and was talking, kind of sadly, about skipping the show completely rather than go and feel alone in the crowd so I volunteered to escort her." He shrugged somewhat helplessly. "She's a guest of the department, and has really put herself out to help us. I feel it's the least I can do."

"Of course," Bonnie said, hiding her disappointment behind her best bright front. "Absolutely!" She tried a short, merry laugh. "And they say chivalry is dead!"

Bear took no notice of her playful thrust. "I didn't want to just turn up at the gallery without explaining first. Given how adamant I was, before, about not going, I think I owed you that."

"Yes, well…" Bonnie rose quickly, and fixed a smile on her face. "That was very thoughtful of you. Thank you. I hope you and Isabelle have a very nice time." She was about to add that Madame would be so pleased, but was able to stop babbling in time. "So… that was the last thing, right?" At his nod, she hurried on, "Okay, then. G'night. See you tomorrow."

She did not wait for a reply, but turned rapidly toward the door, and was so precipitate in her exit she would certainly have collided with Isabelle had the older woman not stepped nimbly out of her way.

"Such haste!" Isabelle said, with a forbearing chuckle as Bonnie, with a quick apology, tried to brush past. "He must be very special, this lover you are dashing off to meet!"

Bonnie, not trusting herself to speak, made no reply to this sally, and walked swiftly on. She did not so much as turn as, from behind her, Isabelle called out on a faintly puzzled note, "Bonne soirée!"

Bonnie did not have a good evening, although she was momentarily cheered when she saw her cousin's name pop up on her vid-screen. "Eddie," she cried happily, as his handsome face came into view. "I was this close to giving up on you! You'd better just be coming back from some out-of-the-country black ops mission, 'cause that's about the only excuse I'm going to accept for being kept dangling so long!"

Eddie grimaced contritely. "You know how I operate, Tootsie Pop: always leave the bearing of bad news to the last possible minute."

"Oh, Eddie, no! Are you seriously calling to say you can't make it tomorrow night? I was really counting on you."

"And I wouldn't leave you in the lurch if I could help it, Bonbon, you know that. Thing is, I've got a non-negotiable previous commitment."

"Let me guess." Her voice sounded sour to her own ears, but she was in no mood to sweeten it. "You've got a hot and heavy date with Val."

His fine features drew down in confusion. "Who?"

"Valeria Dunbar? You know, the leggy blond divorcée you've been squiring all over town?"

The clouds vanished from his brow, leaving him all sunny comprehension. "Oh, that Val. Yeah, no, that job's finished."

Bonnie's ears perked up sharply. "Job, Eddie? Is that what you said? Val was some kind of 'job' for you?"

"What? No," he protested. "What do you take me for, some sleazy gumshoe? I misspoke, is all. I meant to say… ah… 'escapade.' No, better make that 'episode.' "

"Oh, give it up, Eddie! The cat's out of the bag, so you might as well come clean. Grandpa asked you to check her out, didn't he?"

Eddie opened his mouth with the plain intention of fobbing her off some more, but after a moment meeting her uncompromising stare, he caved. "All right," he conceded. "You got me. I'll give you the whole lowdown, but you've got to promise you won't let on I told you. Not by word or deed, got it? Gramps will give me hell if he finds out."

"The old meddler," Bonnie grumbled, not quite under her breath. "Okay, it's a deal. Now spill."

He inhaled a long, resigned breath. "I don't have to tell you Gramps has always been hyper sensitive about kids at risk in the custody of neglectful or abusive parents. So, it'll come as no surprise that when you told him about Val's leaving Danny to the care of a complete stranger, his gut went on full alert, and he had to make sure, for his own peace of mind, that the boy wasn't in a bad situation. Like you said, he called and asked me to look into it. Nothing too involved: a little surveillance, a few casual conversations with the neighbors, that sort of thing."

"You were already 'on the case' the night of my class' art show, weren't you? I knew you were up to something when you turned up in disguise! What I don't get, though, is how you knew Val was going to be there. I was sure as heck amazed to see her."

"That was a stroke of luck, pure and simple. My only objective that night was to serve as Gramps' proxy and bid your paintings up to a predetermined dollar amount. The get-up and role-play was my way of injecting a little fun into what I expected would be a fairly dull evening — no offense!"

"None taken. What about the video you were shooting with the camera glasses?"

"That was for Gramps, too, a way for him to enjoy the show without the physical inconvenience. Turns out, he got the added benefit of a good look at the subject of our investigation. That was an unexpected bonus."

"Not to mention you suddenly having an 'in' with the subject, as you call her."

"Yeah, the opportunity kind of just fell into my lap, and I went with it. By the time we parted company, Val was dropping none-too-subtle hints about wanting to see me again…"

"There's a shocker."

He frowned repressively. "… so, I invited her out to lunch the next day. Long story short, we saw each other, off and on, for a little over a month."

Val Dunbar was not one of Bonnie's favorite people, and she would have been chagrined to learn that Eddie had genuinely succumbed to her questionable charms, but she thought, on the whole, she would have preferred that version of events to the one Eddie laid out for her. Val might have any number of faults and shortcomings, but she did not, on that account, deserve to be played, or have her feelings toyed with. "That's… low, Eddie, stringing Val along like that. I understand it was all in a good cause, but that doesn't make it right."

He pinned her with a steely look. "And that attitude right there is the reason I never tell you what I'm up to. Look," he continued, in a placatory tone, "I admit I wasn't straight with the woman, but, as cons go, it was fairly tame stuff. I didn't lead her down any garden path. She knew from the start I wasn't looking for more than good times and a few laughs, and that's what we had. I didn't steal her heart or anything."

Bonnie had long known her cousin was no boy scout, but she knew, equally, there was no real malice in him. He didn't hurt people if he could help it, at least not intentionally. "I hope you're right," she said on a sigh.

"Bank on it. Anyway, I've reported my observations to Gramps, so I probably won't be seeing much of Val going forward."

"And…" Bonnie prompted, when he said no more. "What did you find out?"

Eddie cocked a mocking eyebrow. "Are you sure you want to know? The intel was gathered under false pretenses, after all." He watched the shot hit home, then, with a satisfied nod, relented. "Let's put it this way: she's never going to win 'Mother of the Year,' but she's a good-enough parent. She tries to do the right thing by Danny, but she's having to make this mothering gig up as she goes along, and she isn't always sure what to do. She'd have an easier time of it, I think, if Danny was your typical kid, but he's got that old-beyond-his-years thing going, and that seems to throw her off her stride. Sometimes, when I watched them together, I'd get the distinct impression he was taking care of her, instead of the other way around. So, yeah, the vibe was definitely a bit dysfunctional, but what family isn't to some degree, right? The important thing to know was whether Danny was in a safe, loving environment, and I saw plenty of proof of that."

Bonnie blew out the breath she didn't know she'd been holding. "That's a weight off my mind, Eddie. Thanks for telling me. And, I'm sorry for coming down so hard on you before. I know you're basically a stand-up guy."

"And I know you're a goody two-shoes, cuz, so I make allowances. Well, got to run. Another caper to plan. You have a good time without me tomorrow night."

"And you stay out of trouble."

His face split in a wicked grin. "Not a chance."