« I'm fairly sure that you picked up a lot more jewellery than Skye came
here with Jax."
"Yes, but notice how talkative the shopkeeper became when he realized that I wanted to buy everything she sold to him. Al least we know that she has plenty of cash."
"Assuming some pickpocket didn't relieve her of that too."
Jax shook his head. "No, I don't think so."
"Why not? Obviously that kid didn't have any problem taking that card off of her."
"That's just it. Only one card has turned up."
"So."
"At any point in time, Skye would have four or five different cards on her. Yet this kid only had one. Why?"
"She had that card separate from her other cards for some reason. Maybe she was planning to buy something with it."
"Yes, she bought herself some manoeuvring room."
"Huh?"
"Let's assume that Skye knows Alcazar well enough to know how he thinks. Before that kid started charging things, where were Alcazar's men?"
"Most of them were searching the airports and train stations for Skye. Alcazar assumed that she would try to get out of town." Chris paused for a moment. "Shit."
"Exactly. She was trying to get out of town, but she needed a distraction, something to get his people away from all the ways of exiting Paris. All we need to do is check to see who bought a ticket with cash at about the same time as when everyone was searching Printemps."
Chris looked at Jax like he was nuts.
"What? How hard could it be?"
"Let's see, there are two major international bus lines in Paris, four train stations, and two major airports. This is assuming that she didn't leave town via the metro system and charter a plane at one of the private airports. Checking who bought a ticket with cash will lead us all over Europe."
"Do you have a better plan?"
"Actually, I do."
"I'm all ears."
Chris handed him his cell phone. "Call your bank."
"What?"
"Call your bank and track that check you just wrote out for all that jewellery."
Picking up the phone, Jax did as Chris requested. "Now why am I doing this?"
"Because I need to know which bank he uses. Once he deposits that check, it should be easy for me to follow it back to the account he deposited it at."
"I still don't understand where you are going with this."
"Then you obviously weren't paying attention when the old guy was talking to us."
Jax looked at Chris, slightly insulted.
"He said that he didn't keep that much cash on hand. He gave Skye 3000 in cash and a check for the rest."
Chris watched as understanding dawned in Jax's eyes. "When she cashes that check, then we will know where to find her."
---
"Damn it, I hate travelling coach." Skye looked around and stretched as she walked off of the plane. Normally she wouldn't have dreamed of sitting in anything less than first class, that was assuming that she couldn't find someone to fly her there in a private jet. But for once in her life, Skye knew that she had to watch her money. If she didn't find who she was looking for and somehow convince him to help her, then she might have to live off the money from selling her jewellery for a while. "But first thing's first." Skye muttered to herself. She walked up to the attendant and asked where she could find a phone and telephone directory.
As Skye flipped through the yellow pages she thought, 'Where the hell would he be staying.' Skye started to mentally review everything that she knew about the man. It wasn't exactly easy to track down someone that she had never met who travelled among a rather fast set, especially when she didn't know what he looked like, or even if he was still in town. All she knew for sure was that a month ago she had overheard someone say that he was in Seville, Spain and he would be staying here for a month and a half. Assuming he hadn't changed his plans, that meant that he would be here for another two weeks. "Damn it, next time that I ease drop on someone's conversation, I'm really should pay closer attention to details." Skye muttered.
"I guess that I will have to do this the hard way," she sighed as she opened the yellow pages to the section with the five star hotels, picked up the phone and started dialling. At each hotel, she simply asked to be connected to his hotel room. Nine phone calls later, she finally had the right hotel. Skye hung up the phone before they could connect her to his room. She didn't want to talk to him over the phone. She still wasn't completely sure how she was going to talk him into this, but she did know that whatever she did, she needed to do it in person. She called the hotel back and made a reservation for the next couple of nights under her assumed name. If she didn't manage to get his cooperation in that time, then she would need to move to somewhere less expensive.
"I need a change of clothes, makeup and maybe a little luggage would be nice. Shopping, yes I believe that is what I will do next."
Skye stepped out of the airport and hailed a taxi. "El Corte Ingles, Por Favor."
"Cual tienda?"
Damn she had forgotten. There were a few of them in this town. Skye gave him the address of the hotel and asked to be taken to the closest one to that address. After two hours, Skye managed to keep herself from buying more than she actually needed to get through the next couple of days and she was feeling a lot better. It helped that she changed her clothes and put on a fresh layer of makeup. She packed the rest of her purchases into her new luggage bag.
'I haven't travelled this light since I stowed away on Jax's plane and ended up in the middle of that damn swamp,' Skye thought. As the taxi pulled up in front of the hotel she thought, 'Al least the accommodations are going to be more comfortable."
Skye smiled as she walked up to the reception desk. As she walked across the room, she felt several pairs of eyes settle on her. "I'm Toni Calloway. I believe that you have a reservation for me."
"Yes Senora. If you would fill this out and sign here."
Skye quickly filled out the card and the desk clerk handed her the key to her room. As she looked at the mail slots behind the receptionists, Skye had an idea. "May I have a piece of paper? I would like to leave a message." After the receptionist handed her the paper. Skye quickly scribbled a short message and handed it to the clerk. "Could you please see that Mr Jerry Jacks gets this please?"
Jerry had noticed her the second she walked into the hotel. The woman was simply gorgeous. 'No one meeting her would soon forget her,' he thought. That milk white complexion, slim curves, beautiful features and red hair. Jerry has always been drawn to red hair. He didn't know why but they always seemed to have more fire. It wasn't just her looks. This woman's movements spoke of grace and confidence. Her posture spoke of purpose. She looked like someone who knew exactly who she was, where she was going and what she would do when she got there. Every man in this room was probably thinking the same thing as him. Wouldn't it be nice to have her focus that attention completely on him? Jerry moved up behind her at the counter so he could get her name. He had been debating with himself on what type of flowers that he would send to her room when he heard her say his name. 'Damn his luck. This gorgeous woman was looking for him.' Jerry tried searching his memory, but he couldn't recall ever seeing her before and he was sure that he would have remembered meeting her. Then he thought about the name that she had given to the clerk. Toni Calloway. No that didn't ring any bells either.
Never one to let such an opportunity slip, Jerry walked up to her. "You could leave it at the desk, but wouldn't it be simpler to just give it directly to me?"
Skye turned around and took her first look at her ex brother in law. She smiled. The man looked nothing like his brother/her ex husband. Where Jax had fare hair and a light complexion, Jerry had raven black hair and was well tanned. Except for the accent, She didn't see any similarities.
"If I had given the note to you, then I wouldn't have known your room number. Now I do."
"I guarantee that had you asked me, I would have been glad to tell you where I was spending the night. However, I don't believe that we have met. I'm Jerry Jacks." Jerry stood there waiting for Skye to introduce herself. As he introduced himself, Jerry reached for her hand and brought it to his lips. Noticing the ring he said, "Please tell me that you're not married."
"Would it matter if I were? From what I have been told, it never stopped you before."
"You're right. A husband wouldn't have stopped me, especially one who is obviously a fool to let you travel without him. But it does add the complication of weather or not I have to look over my shoulder for a jealous spouse."
"I'm not currently married, but I do have a small problem with an over possessive male following me around who never seems to learn that I'm not interested."
"Perhaps I could help you discourage him."
"That is among the reasons that I cam to see you."
"So, you were looking for me?"
"Mr. Jacks, you are my entire reason for coming to Spain."
"I'm flattered. You came to Spain, just to see me."
"You should be."
"Now I just wish that I knew why."
"That Mr. Jacks is a story, best told over a good meal and some place more private."
"Please, call me Jerry. Every time that I hear the name Mr. Jacks, I expect to see my father."
Skye's smile turned into a small laugh.
"Did I say something funny?"
"No. You just reminded me of your brother when you said that."
"You know my brother?"
Skye could tell that it was killing him that he couldn't place her.
Jerry looked directly into her eyes. "I'm not sure that I like the idea that you seem to know me when I don't have a clue who you are. You know, this is normally where you would tell me your name and then I would invite you to dinner."
"Really? Well, I accept your invitation to dinner."
Jerry grinned. "And your name?"
"Well, today it is Toni Calloway."
Jerry looked amused. "And what would it have been yesterday?"
"Now you can't expect me to tell you everything. I was told that you liked a little mystery."
"Don't believe everything that my brother told you about me. Jax was constantly getting into trouble and I always somehow ended up taking the blame."
"Ah, the curse of being the older sibling. So it isn't true that you once decided to go camping and because you promised to watch your younger brother, you packed up Jax and tied him into the dog sled with the rest of your gear and proceeded to get hopelessly lost."
"Jax told you about that!"
"No actually your mother did."
"It is truly unfair that you seem to know so much about me when all I know is the name that you say you are using today and that you have a problem that you want me to help you with."
"I thought that you liked a woman who knew how to keep a few secrets."
"Oh, I do. Not knowing everything adds a little spice to life. Shall I pick you up at eight?"
"Eight would be perfect."
"I will meet you outside your room."
Skye nodded. "It is."
"326," Jerry finished.
"You were paying attention."
Jerry kissed Skye's hand again. "Until tonight."
"Yes, but notice how talkative the shopkeeper became when he realized that I wanted to buy everything she sold to him. Al least we know that she has plenty of cash."
"Assuming some pickpocket didn't relieve her of that too."
Jax shook his head. "No, I don't think so."
"Why not? Obviously that kid didn't have any problem taking that card off of her."
"That's just it. Only one card has turned up."
"So."
"At any point in time, Skye would have four or five different cards on her. Yet this kid only had one. Why?"
"She had that card separate from her other cards for some reason. Maybe she was planning to buy something with it."
"Yes, she bought herself some manoeuvring room."
"Huh?"
"Let's assume that Skye knows Alcazar well enough to know how he thinks. Before that kid started charging things, where were Alcazar's men?"
"Most of them were searching the airports and train stations for Skye. Alcazar assumed that she would try to get out of town." Chris paused for a moment. "Shit."
"Exactly. She was trying to get out of town, but she needed a distraction, something to get his people away from all the ways of exiting Paris. All we need to do is check to see who bought a ticket with cash at about the same time as when everyone was searching Printemps."
Chris looked at Jax like he was nuts.
"What? How hard could it be?"
"Let's see, there are two major international bus lines in Paris, four train stations, and two major airports. This is assuming that she didn't leave town via the metro system and charter a plane at one of the private airports. Checking who bought a ticket with cash will lead us all over Europe."
"Do you have a better plan?"
"Actually, I do."
"I'm all ears."
Chris handed him his cell phone. "Call your bank."
"What?"
"Call your bank and track that check you just wrote out for all that jewellery."
Picking up the phone, Jax did as Chris requested. "Now why am I doing this?"
"Because I need to know which bank he uses. Once he deposits that check, it should be easy for me to follow it back to the account he deposited it at."
"I still don't understand where you are going with this."
"Then you obviously weren't paying attention when the old guy was talking to us."
Jax looked at Chris, slightly insulted.
"He said that he didn't keep that much cash on hand. He gave Skye 3000 in cash and a check for the rest."
Chris watched as understanding dawned in Jax's eyes. "When she cashes that check, then we will know where to find her."
---
"Damn it, I hate travelling coach." Skye looked around and stretched as she walked off of the plane. Normally she wouldn't have dreamed of sitting in anything less than first class, that was assuming that she couldn't find someone to fly her there in a private jet. But for once in her life, Skye knew that she had to watch her money. If she didn't find who she was looking for and somehow convince him to help her, then she might have to live off the money from selling her jewellery for a while. "But first thing's first." Skye muttered to herself. She walked up to the attendant and asked where she could find a phone and telephone directory.
As Skye flipped through the yellow pages she thought, 'Where the hell would he be staying.' Skye started to mentally review everything that she knew about the man. It wasn't exactly easy to track down someone that she had never met who travelled among a rather fast set, especially when she didn't know what he looked like, or even if he was still in town. All she knew for sure was that a month ago she had overheard someone say that he was in Seville, Spain and he would be staying here for a month and a half. Assuming he hadn't changed his plans, that meant that he would be here for another two weeks. "Damn it, next time that I ease drop on someone's conversation, I'm really should pay closer attention to details." Skye muttered.
"I guess that I will have to do this the hard way," she sighed as she opened the yellow pages to the section with the five star hotels, picked up the phone and started dialling. At each hotel, she simply asked to be connected to his hotel room. Nine phone calls later, she finally had the right hotel. Skye hung up the phone before they could connect her to his room. She didn't want to talk to him over the phone. She still wasn't completely sure how she was going to talk him into this, but she did know that whatever she did, she needed to do it in person. She called the hotel back and made a reservation for the next couple of nights under her assumed name. If she didn't manage to get his cooperation in that time, then she would need to move to somewhere less expensive.
"I need a change of clothes, makeup and maybe a little luggage would be nice. Shopping, yes I believe that is what I will do next."
Skye stepped out of the airport and hailed a taxi. "El Corte Ingles, Por Favor."
"Cual tienda?"
Damn she had forgotten. There were a few of them in this town. Skye gave him the address of the hotel and asked to be taken to the closest one to that address. After two hours, Skye managed to keep herself from buying more than she actually needed to get through the next couple of days and she was feeling a lot better. It helped that she changed her clothes and put on a fresh layer of makeup. She packed the rest of her purchases into her new luggage bag.
'I haven't travelled this light since I stowed away on Jax's plane and ended up in the middle of that damn swamp,' Skye thought. As the taxi pulled up in front of the hotel she thought, 'Al least the accommodations are going to be more comfortable."
Skye smiled as she walked up to the reception desk. As she walked across the room, she felt several pairs of eyes settle on her. "I'm Toni Calloway. I believe that you have a reservation for me."
"Yes Senora. If you would fill this out and sign here."
Skye quickly filled out the card and the desk clerk handed her the key to her room. As she looked at the mail slots behind the receptionists, Skye had an idea. "May I have a piece of paper? I would like to leave a message." After the receptionist handed her the paper. Skye quickly scribbled a short message and handed it to the clerk. "Could you please see that Mr Jerry Jacks gets this please?"
Jerry had noticed her the second she walked into the hotel. The woman was simply gorgeous. 'No one meeting her would soon forget her,' he thought. That milk white complexion, slim curves, beautiful features and red hair. Jerry has always been drawn to red hair. He didn't know why but they always seemed to have more fire. It wasn't just her looks. This woman's movements spoke of grace and confidence. Her posture spoke of purpose. She looked like someone who knew exactly who she was, where she was going and what she would do when she got there. Every man in this room was probably thinking the same thing as him. Wouldn't it be nice to have her focus that attention completely on him? Jerry moved up behind her at the counter so he could get her name. He had been debating with himself on what type of flowers that he would send to her room when he heard her say his name. 'Damn his luck. This gorgeous woman was looking for him.' Jerry tried searching his memory, but he couldn't recall ever seeing her before and he was sure that he would have remembered meeting her. Then he thought about the name that she had given to the clerk. Toni Calloway. No that didn't ring any bells either.
Never one to let such an opportunity slip, Jerry walked up to her. "You could leave it at the desk, but wouldn't it be simpler to just give it directly to me?"
Skye turned around and took her first look at her ex brother in law. She smiled. The man looked nothing like his brother/her ex husband. Where Jax had fare hair and a light complexion, Jerry had raven black hair and was well tanned. Except for the accent, She didn't see any similarities.
"If I had given the note to you, then I wouldn't have known your room number. Now I do."
"I guarantee that had you asked me, I would have been glad to tell you where I was spending the night. However, I don't believe that we have met. I'm Jerry Jacks." Jerry stood there waiting for Skye to introduce herself. As he introduced himself, Jerry reached for her hand and brought it to his lips. Noticing the ring he said, "Please tell me that you're not married."
"Would it matter if I were? From what I have been told, it never stopped you before."
"You're right. A husband wouldn't have stopped me, especially one who is obviously a fool to let you travel without him. But it does add the complication of weather or not I have to look over my shoulder for a jealous spouse."
"I'm not currently married, but I do have a small problem with an over possessive male following me around who never seems to learn that I'm not interested."
"Perhaps I could help you discourage him."
"That is among the reasons that I cam to see you."
"So, you were looking for me?"
"Mr. Jacks, you are my entire reason for coming to Spain."
"I'm flattered. You came to Spain, just to see me."
"You should be."
"Now I just wish that I knew why."
"That Mr. Jacks is a story, best told over a good meal and some place more private."
"Please, call me Jerry. Every time that I hear the name Mr. Jacks, I expect to see my father."
Skye's smile turned into a small laugh.
"Did I say something funny?"
"No. You just reminded me of your brother when you said that."
"You know my brother?"
Skye could tell that it was killing him that he couldn't place her.
Jerry looked directly into her eyes. "I'm not sure that I like the idea that you seem to know me when I don't have a clue who you are. You know, this is normally where you would tell me your name and then I would invite you to dinner."
"Really? Well, I accept your invitation to dinner."
Jerry grinned. "And your name?"
"Well, today it is Toni Calloway."
Jerry looked amused. "And what would it have been yesterday?"
"Now you can't expect me to tell you everything. I was told that you liked a little mystery."
"Don't believe everything that my brother told you about me. Jax was constantly getting into trouble and I always somehow ended up taking the blame."
"Ah, the curse of being the older sibling. So it isn't true that you once decided to go camping and because you promised to watch your younger brother, you packed up Jax and tied him into the dog sled with the rest of your gear and proceeded to get hopelessly lost."
"Jax told you about that!"
"No actually your mother did."
"It is truly unfair that you seem to know so much about me when all I know is the name that you say you are using today and that you have a problem that you want me to help you with."
"I thought that you liked a woman who knew how to keep a few secrets."
"Oh, I do. Not knowing everything adds a little spice to life. Shall I pick you up at eight?"
"Eight would be perfect."
"I will meet you outside your room."
Skye nodded. "It is."
"326," Jerry finished.
"You were paying attention."
Jerry kissed Skye's hand again. "Until tonight."