Chapter Twelve

Lost and Found

-oOo-

The sight hit Chloe like a slap in the face. Everything in her apartment was either turned over, broken or missing, including her computer and the case file she had left on the monitor.

Chloe walked through the rubble, her sofa had been pushed over and the pillows slashed, bleeding the stuffing. Her coffee table had been smashed into splinters, her television turned over, curtains ripped, light shade yanked off the ceiling and everything from her cupboards and drawers had been thrown unceremoniously onto the floor.

"Oh my God" she breathed. Chloe knew it couldn't have been a coincidence; the people who had just tried to kill her had to be the people who had done this to her home. But who the hell were they? And why were they doing this to her? She shifted through her things and found that nothing else had been taken but her computer system and the case file, which could only mean one thing. It was all connected to the case.

"Son of a-" Chloe growled. The Council must have found her out and wanted to shut her up, except she wasn't home, so they made it look like a burglary and took what they needed so she didn't have anything to work from. Chloe knew she should be terrified, but anger boiled over the fear. She was furious that men who were supposed to be of the cloth would try and murder her and would come into her home to desecrate it and steal.

Chloe kicked aside a large splinter and found her phone, still intact. She lifted it up and sat on the arm of her sofa. Her phone. It was the only thing she had left that the thieves had not destroyed. She frowned as she turned the phone in her hand, why would they leave the phone in one piece when they destroyed everything else?

As she lifted the receiver it all began to fall into place. The phone was tapped. They hadn't got their chance to kill her, so they wanted to find someone she cared about and kill them until they finally got to her. She knew how these people worked; she had seen it before in past reports she had written. That meant that Jerome was in danger! Throwing the bugged phone to the side she pulled out her mobile, but her eyes suspiciously razed the apartment. She didn't know what kind of technologies this Council had; it might be that there were hidden cameras and bugs lying about. She had to leave right now.

After raiding her bedroom for a suitcase, she crammed as many clothes as she could and left the flat, making sure to close the door behind her and left down the fire escape, her eyes constantly flitting about, trying to find anything suspicious. She saw the full extent of the damage to her car as she ran up behind it. The bumper was destroyed and scratches ran up and down the paintwork. Overall, it was going to draw a lot of attention, so she would have to ditch it as soon as she could.

As she bundled into the driver seat, she reversed down the road and turned around, heading away from the city to the quieter outskirts where she could stop and think. As she drove, she kept picturing her godfathers face in her mind. Although she was still angry with him, she couldn't stand by and let him be another victim of the Council. She would have to let him know as soon as possible that his life was in danger; she only hoped he took her seriously enough to get away from the city. And then there was Capitaine Fache. She hadn't heard from him in ages and she began to wonder whether the Council had been to his home and tried to kill him. Maybe he was already dead; she had no way of telling.

Finally, Chloe pulled into a car park for a recreational field. She tucked her car between a large people carrier and a chunky 4 by 4 so no one could see it unless they were right behind or in front of her car. The wind was beginning to pick up, so Chloe fished a blue jacket out of her suitcase and with her mobile phone, headed toward a clump of trees where a damp old bench sat, sheltering the occupants from the wind and from view of the road.

Chloe perched herself on the bench and pulled the collar of her coat up around her cheeks and ears, then she pulled her mobile out of her pocket and dialled Jerome's office number. She knew she was taking a risk but it was highly unlikely that her mobile was tapped considering she had it on her person all the time. She felt her heart racing as she heard the phone ring and ring on the other end.

"Lieutenant Collet" came the unenthusiastic reply. Chloe felt light-headed with relief.

"Jerome, it's me" she began.

"Chloe? What's wrong? You sound upset, where are you?" he asked. The paternal worry in his voice made Chloe's voice sound shaky and tears almost threatened to spill. She needed her godfather more then she knew, she was lost and alone but she had a job to do.

"Please, be silent for a moment, Jerome. I'm going to ask you to do something for me, but I can't answer any of your questions right now, you just have to promise to me that you will do as I ask" she said, toughing her voice so she didn't sound like a frightened little girl.

"Please, Chloe, you're scaring me. What's wrong? Where are you?" he asked.

"Please Jerome. I need you to leave the city for a few days, just until I call you. Go and stay in Isabella's and Jonas' yacht, take it as your holiday" she rushed.

"Wait, Chloe. What's going on? Are you in trouble?" he asked. Chloe was growing frustrated but she understood his concern.

"This case Fache gave me is getting a bit complicated. I think the people I'm after know about me and are going to hurt the people I care about, which is you Jerome, so please just do as I ask" she pleaded.

"My God, have they hurt you? Where are you?" he asked more urgently.

Chloe held her head in her palm, "I can't tell you Jerome, just please, go. Promise me you will" there was a silence, which Chloe hoped was her godfather considering her request, but when he replied his voice was shaky and unsure.

"I tried to contact Bezu this morning. He didn't answer his phone, he always answers his phone"

Chloe sighed, "I need to find him, but if you don't go, the same thing could happen to you. I know what I'm doing, I have a plan, but I need to know you're safe"

"And what about you? You expect me to go off on holiday and leave you here to face this danger? What kind of godfather would I be to walk away from you?" he asked.

Chloe almost laughed out loud, it had been easier in her mind to talk Jerome into leaving the city, but it seemed it would be as impossible as getting Silas to denounce God. She had to improvise.

"Fine, okay Jerome, but can you please just stay at a hotel somewhere? I just don't want you to stay at home right now. If they can find me they can find you"

"Find you? Jesus, Chloe, have they hurt you?" he panicked. Chloe bit her tongue for her bad choice of words.

"No, they just gave me a fright when they followed me home. I'm okay" she replied, though the silence on the other end of the phone told her that Jerome was not convinced.

"Alright, mon petit poisson. I'll stay at a hotel. But I'll have my mobile with me at all times and if you are in any trouble, any trouble at all, please ring me" he begged.

"Of course, just keep an eye out of anyone suspicious. The guy that was following me today was in a black BMW"

"Okay, you take care" Jerome said. Chloe smiled sadly to herself and realised she just had to say something to her godfather before she hung up.

"Take care yourself and Jerome, I forgive you. You're the only family I have" she said, close to tears again.

"Same here" Jerome replied in a chocked voice, then Chloe shut off her phone and starred at the grass by her feet, swaying in the harsh winds suddenly feeling more alone then ever.

Something about sitting in the quiet must have helped Chloe brain digest what had just occurred over the past few hours, because her mind began to clink and whirl, tying loose ends to loose ends until she made an infuriating discovering.

Who could have told the Council that she was on the case? Who could have given her name? Who could have betrayed her?

"Aringarosa" she hissed angrily. The Bishop had sold her out; she mentally kicked herself for being stupid enough to trust him. He must have called his people as soon as she had left the hospital and told then she was there. One of the Council's hit men must have followed her and the rest was history. Chloe clenched her fists and cursed the day she had met the Bishop, but that also meant that she was now against the monk. Silas was a loyal subject to Aringarosa, his word was law in Silas' eyes. He had even said to her that the law of the Church was beyond that of the law of man, but then he had surprised her by saying he would no longer kill under order. But did that mean even by Aringarosa? If he ordered him to kill her, would he do it? She was curious to know, yet terrified to find out. Either way, both men were her enemies and she vowed not to trust a single word either of them said.

Now she had to plan her next move, it was clear to her that she needed to find Fache, he was the only inside man she would trust, despite being Opus Dei. It was evident that the Council wanted him silenced and she was worried that she would be too late. She would have to go to his home.

Chloe returned to her car and started the engine. She was glad to have been invited to Capitaine Fache's home a few times for dinner parties so she would have no trouble finding his house, but she would have to leave her car a few blocks away as not to be detected. As she drove into the city, the roads grew thicker and thicker in traffic. She checked her watch; it was almost three, which meant parents were on their way to pick up their kids from school. It made Chloe think back to her own school days, she would watch from the windows as girls rushed out to meet their parents, hugging and kissing with big smiles plastered on their face. She had never had that, save for when Jerome came to visit her, but because of his job, those visits had been very rare.

She snapped out of her thoughts as she rounded the fourth road from Fache's house. Carefully, she pulled into the multi-storey car park built for the shopping centre next door. As she sat in her car, she tucked her gun into the back of her trousers and her phone into her jacket pocket. For added disguise, she grabbed a baseball cap from her suitcase and tucked her dark hair under it before lifting the hood of her jacket over the cap. To any other person, she just looked like a pedestrian avoiding the sharp wind. Finally she tucked her badge in her other jacket pocket and made her way out of the car park and towards Fache's home.

The pavements were busy with shoppers and small children walking with their parents. Chloe tried to blend in by visiting the local book store and buying a book on Opus Dei and a sandwich from the local deli. She walked along the street with a bag in one hand and shovelling a sandwich in her mouth with the other. She kept her eyes open, looking for anything unusual, she was sure she had seen the same BMW go past a few times, but on close inspection found the licence plates to be different.

Finally she rounded the last corner and strained to see the front of the Capitaine's house. She saw the familiar black bars over the top bedroom windows and the dead fern on the doorstep. She glanced at the opposite side of the road and saw a white van sitting in place, two men in the front. Chloe watched as they chatted to one another, but their eyes frequently turned to the front door of Fache's house.

Forced to go back, Chloe headed down a small narrow alleyway, full of dumpsters and stray cats, her shoes kept sinking into foul smelling puddles and drops of water from the overfull guttering kept landing on her hooded head. She kept her eyes peeled as she counted off the houses until she reached number fourteen. Fache's house. She looked over the rotting fence and glanced over quickly. There was a small poorly kept garden, no bigger then a car parking space. The grass was wild and unkempt while weeds and moss grew unchecked. Chloe looked left and right down the alleyway but nothing stirred or moved, she was completely alone, so she grabbed the fence and leapt over, landing softly on the grass. Crouching, she rushed to the back door and peered through the small window. As she expected, the whole place had been turned inside out. She knew that Fache was particularly house proud, she had often seen piles of paper work and dust on the shelves, but everything had been turned out of place and furniture on its side.

Slowly, Chloe tried to handle of the door only to find it was locked, which wasn't surprising, anyone living in the city locked their doors, you were foolish not to. Her eyes fell on the mat by her feet, she smirked as she lifted the corner and to her surprise, she found a small gold key. Picking up the cold metal object, she fitting it easily into the lock and opened the door so she could slip in unnoticed and strained her ears to hear any sounds of anyone moving about.

Chloe removed the hood and the cap from her head and made her way up the stairs of the small house and into the master bedroom. The duvet had been pulled apart and the pillowed plundered so the feathers lay like snow on the carpet. Chloe rummaged through the opened drawers, but she could see nothing that would be of any help. She snuck through the bathroom and guest bedroom, but still found nothing so she returned downstairs and kept low so she could not be seen from outside. The television in the lounge had been overturned, the sofa slashed, just has hers had been. The kitchen had been ransacked as well; food had been thrown out of the fridge, cutlery spilling from the drawers and papers strewn across the dinner table. Chloe sifted through the papers and found them to be reports on several cases Fache was working on. Then her eye was caught on the leather bound diary she had seen the Capitaine carry once or twice. She grabbed it but found the pages had all be torn out, frustrated she dropped it onto the ground where it landed on another wad of papers. She bent down and flicked through them and caught a thin page of paper titled under 'Names & Addresses', it was a page of the diary the intruders had missed. She picked the paper up and found that the only entry had been scribbled out. She lifted the paper to the window and saw, shining through the paper, the number Fache had tried to hide. It was the number of an Opus Dei house right here in Paris.

Excited that she had finally found a clue, Chloe shoved it into her pocket and decided that she had found all she was going to in this place. She grabbed a carton of orange from the fridge and put into a bag a few things she could eat later if she couldn't find a place to shop and left the house, making sure to lock the door behind her as if she had never even been there.

The address on the piece of paper was unfamiliar to Chloe, so she was forced to find a library and check the local maps. It seemed the Opus Dei house she was looking for was no longer then a ten minute drive, but she was loathed to go and get her car and drive it any further into the city. As she put the map back on its rack and thanked the friendly librarian, she checked the details on the parking ticket she had shoved in her pocket and was releaved to find that it was a twenty-four hour car park. That meant she could at least leave the car there until dark when her citron would be less likely to be recognised.

She shoved the ticket back into her pocket and left the library, being careful to put her baseball cap back on. A light rain had begun to fall, forcing people with umbrellas to open then offering further cover against her enemies.

Chloe flagged down a taxi and gave the driver directions to the Opus Dei house. As she leaned back against the warm car seat, she began to question Fache's decision to hide out in a house made to protect the very people who were after them. He would have made a huge risk in going to them, who knew if they were working for the Council? He couldn't be sure of that, could he?

Chloe hoped that her godfather had taken her advice and gone to find a hotel to spend the next few days in. She hated to think what they would do to him if they discovered his connection to her, she wanted to know who these people were who were doing this to her. All she had seen were shadows and suits; she couldn't fit a face to her enemy, except perhaps Aringarosa and Silas.

The driver stopped outside a modest looking semi detached brick house. The windows were small and sheltered by heavy looking blinds. The door was peeling and the front garden was overgrown, it wasn't anything special, any person walking by would have just ignored it. Chloe paid the driver and grabbed her bag before stepping up to the old front door of the house, her heart racing. She heard footsteps before she had even knocked on the door and it was pulled open revealing an elderly man in typical monks robes.

Great, Chloe thought, another fanatic like Silas.

Respectfully she nodded to the man, "I do apologise for intruding, but I was wondering if a man named Bezu Fache is here?" she asked politely, adding a smile.

The man's weathered face looked her up and down suspiciously, "I'm afraid I cannot help you, young miss, we protect our brother's privacy. If he is here, it is to be alone with God" he replied.

Chloe almost stomped her foot angrily, "I understand, but this is a police matter" she added, pulling her badge from her trousers, "Please tell Capitaine Fache that Officer Chloe Blanc is here to see him and I won't leave until I do" she smiled.

The monk scowled and closed the door in her face, uncharitably leaving the cold, wet woman in the rain outside, but no longer then a minute later, the door reopened and this time a younger man shroud in a thick robe answered. She didn't recognise him at first, but when he lifted up his hood, Chloe's eyes widened as she saw the Capitaine sharpe cold eyes.

"Well get inside!" he ordered, "Before someone sees you" and he grabbed Chloe by the arm and hauled her into the warmth of the house.

Fache ushered her down the narrow hallway into a sitting area, already occupied by two middle-aged men in identical robes, pouring tea. They hardly took any notice of Fache and Chloe, only nodding to them to acknowledge their existence.

Chloe was shown to an armchair by the window; Fache took the stool in front of her and offered her a cup of tea. She declined.

"Capitaine, what are you doing here?" she asked first.

The man before her lifted his sleeves and went about pouring a cup of tea into a small china cup, "It's safe. The Council has no reach here, although I can't say that for some of the other safe houses in Paris" he replied, carefully sipping his boiling tea.

"I went to your house today, there was a van outside and someone's ransacked your house" she explained. Fache nodded as if this was not news to him.

"I know, I came home after I called you last. I saw the van and two suspicious men standing outside my house. I managed to escape before they got to me"

"They got to me" she replied sharply, "They tried to kill me, my car's a wreak and I got home to find it upside down. Those bastards tore everything apart and took my computer" she explained.

"Then you let them see you" Fache replied, "I told you to be careful"

"I was being careful!" she hissed, trying to keep her voice down, "but I was betrayed"

Fache frowned, "By who?" he enquired.

Chloe sighed, she knew he would be mad that she showed an inch of trust in the Bishop, but she needed his help more then anything right now and he needed to know everything she did. So taking a deep breath, she told how she went to see Aringarosa and made a deal with him to return Silas and how she had taken the monk to the hospital (although she left out how she convinced Silas to trust her) and then how Aringarosa had refused to co operated and sent her on her way only to be pushed off the road by a black BMW.

"You were foolish to trust the Bishop" Fache said darkly.

"I didn't have a choice!" she hissed in return, "You couldn't help me, I couldn't put Jerome in that kind of danger and I keep telling you I'm not trained for this! I did what I thought was a good idea at the time"

"And put both our lives in danger" Fache hissed back.

"You put our lives in danger! You! When you put me on the case, when you got caught going to the Bastille. But I need your help, I can't go home, I can't go to work" she said with gusto, surprised at how unafraid she was of the Capitaine now.

He lifted a finger and jabbed it at her, "Don't you dare talk to me like-"

"You're suspended remember, Capitaine, and it's unlikely I'm going to see another day thanks to you dragging me into your personal affairs" she hissed.

The Capitaine gaped like fish, obviously aware she was telling the truth was unable to defend himself. Instead he settled on taking another sip of his tea.

"You're right of course, Chloe" he said, surprising her by using her first name. It seemed to distil some calm in her and she settled back into the armchair.

"Just tell me what to do next. I keep messing everything up. I know I was wrong to trust Silas and the Bishop but I want to finish this, the Council's ruined my life, I want to ruin theirs" she said.

Fache nodded, "Well you've told me all you found out, but you need to use your expertise to figure out the next step"

Chloe frowned, "Well I was hoping you can tell me more about this Bishop Horus you told me about on the phone. Who is he?"

Fache sighed, "He's another pawn in the game. I held him in high regard before, but when he made the complaint to my superiors, I'm now quite convinced he's a member of the Council, why else would he see the release of a murderer?"

Chloe nodded, frustrated that she hadn't made that connection herself, she had just had so much on her mind recently that she just wasn't thinking straight, but as she sat with the Capitaine, the clues were coming together.

"These people, these Bishops in the Council, they have everything at their disposal, don't they?" she asked.

Fache shrugged, "Mostly, they are unofficially connected to Opus Dei and the Vatican, their financial gains could be limitless" he replied.

"Exactly and because they're men with everything, you can't just buy your way into their confidence and expect them to talk" Chloe said, more to herself then anything. All her training was coming back now she had time to think, her mind was whirling like it had in her classes.

"What's your point?" he asked.

"Well, what do men with everything, fear most?" she asked and she too saw the cogs in Fache's mind begin to turn.

"Losing it" he smiled.

"Exactly!" Chloe said, clicking her fingers, "I need to take something of theirs to convince one of them to point fingers" she added.

"And who and what are you talking about?" Fache asked, "We know nothing about Horus, he's an underground Bishop, hardly available even for charity events"

"I mean, Aringarosa. You should have seen the way he looked at Silas when he saw him alive, it was like a father looking on his lost son. They have such a bond I know he'll do anything for him, even betray his Council" she replied.

Fache smirked, "What are you saying, Miss Blanc?" but she knew he knew the answer.

"I'm going to kidnap Silas" she replied.

-oOo-

Miranda - Hey, thanks for the review. I like that your liking the suspence. Let's me know I'm doing a good job!

Possessed-Gummy-Bear-Inferno - Hello Crazy, glad you're still hanging in there. Sorry but I am the Queen of the Cliffs! It's suicide to read my work.

phoenixrisingGhostLoveScore - Aw! Thanks mate. I wasn't sure I could pull that car chase off, but I couldn't get the idea out of mind and I could almost see it play out like a movie and couldn't resist!

Laura - I know, car chases rock! I can't get enough of them!

Mish - Lol, Bishop Aringarosa fetishes definitly means you're crazy girl!