Allegro 16

Rated PG

Characters belong to Lloyd, Moore and Others

She wandered into the kitchen while Edmond slept between two pillows on Dominic's bed. I am hungry. He told me to eat and I forgot. Now I feel I could empty his pantry. She opened his fridge. You can tell a lot about a man by what he keeps in his fridge. No beer or wine. Nothing actually. Some clotted cream and four kinds of jams and jellies. No, six kinds. Wait. Eight jam jars? Evey blinked. He can't expect me to eat just jam. She closed the fridge and opened the freezer. Ah. That explains it. The freezer was packed with microwave dinners. She ran her finger down the boxes. It looks like he just reached in the freezer case at the grocer's and pulled out a stack without looking at the contents. She tugged three of them out and set them on the counter. Next to the frozen dinners the freezer was stuffed with plastic bags and twist ties. Curious, Evey yanked at one and tried to see through the frosty plastic. These look like crumpets. And these…scones. And baguettes and different kinds of breads. She felt herself begin to smile. Aha.

She closed the freezer and turned to the cooker. An elaborate tea kettle rested on the back burner, glorious in its shiny brushed aluminum. A little metal bird, poised to sing, was attached to the spout. She brought it closer to her eyes so she could see the little hinged wings. When the water boiled the little bird would whistle and the wings would flap. She laughed out loud. I see. Let me guess. This cupboard…she opened the overhead cupboard next to the cooker and snorted. The cupboard was packed end to end on three full shelves with tea. Every kind of tea: green tea, black tea, white tea, pekoe, herbs, spiced, everything. He had them arranged first by category, then alphabetized. All the Asian teas were on one shelf: Chrysanthemum, Jasmine, seven kinds of green…it went on and on. Then another shelf for his Indian ones, he loves the Chai, look at that. Six different kinds. And then the English teas on the bottom. He had loose teas, strainers, rock candy swizzle sticks and individual packets. This man loves his tea. Three teapots were nestled on the shelves as well. An iron tetsubin, a fancy painted porcelain one with a long spout, and an elegant white one. Evey took down the white one and filled the kettle. I will try one of the caffeine-free herbals. She took down a few packets of the chamomile, and then put the frozen dinners in the microwave.

She turned around and leaned back on the counter while she waited. His little kitchen table was by the window. It was piled with paper, binders, books, and folders. There was a tiny little space cleared on the surface directly in front of the single chair. Evey imagined him sitting there, fork in one hand, frozen dinner in the cleared space, the other hand holding up some kind of report. He probably doesn't know what he is eating. She stepped over and looked at the papers. Crime reports. She pushed them around absently. That's a lot of work. The kettle whistled. She turned back to take it off the burner, and watched the tiny wings of the little bird flutter while he sang that her tea would soon be ready.

He'll be back soon. I'll wash my dress, take a shower…when Edmond wakes up

I will wash him too. Then I will sleep.

XXX

Evey woke up in the dark. The baby slept peacefully in the crook of her arm. She used her other arm to turn on the bedside lamp. Yes. There he is, little Edmond. Sleeping. She bent down to kiss his head, inhaling his baby smell with a happy sigh. He had squalled all through his bath in the sink, and she had been terrified lest the landlady come thumping up the stairs and bang on the door. But nothing happened. Evey had heard the landlady's telly on all day. That noise will help. She had examined every inch of her baby, from his fingertips to his toes. He seemed perfectly normal. His lungs were certainly healthy. Part of her longed to take him to a physician and get a professional opinion, but a much stronger part of her was determined that no one would ever touch him but her. This is V. She looked down at him now. She kissed him again and almost woke him The last two letters in the satchel had been about the baby. On the outside of the fourth one was written, "Don't read this until the baby has come" and the fifth one said, "Read this one to my child". Soon I will have them in my hands. As soon as Dominic gets back. When I read them I am with you. I miss you so much.

Her own hot shower had been delicious. She wiggled her toes under the sheets. Maybe I can have another one now. She was still in Dominic's bathrobe, a hand towel pressed between her legs to protect his clean sheets from the aftereffects of becoming a mother. Dominic. Isn't he supposed to be back? Why didn't he turn on the lights when he came in? She lifted her head from the pillow so she could see through the door into the front room. It was dark and silent. Maybe he is asleep on the sofa.

Evey slid her arm out from beneath the baby and walked to the door. No. The sofa is empty. What time is it? She glanced back at the bedside digital clock. Four. Four in the morning? Or afternoon? No, it is too dark to be the afternoon. What day is it? She flipped on the house lights and walked over to the telly. It was a small monitor in the corner of the room, she was not surprised to find it covered in dust. Even the remote control had a fine layer of dust on the keys. The telly popped on and she flipped the channels to the 24-hour news channel. The Newsreader babbled on in French while Evey read the time and date and weather at the bottom of the screen. It's Tuesday. Tuesday?

Didn't we get here on a Sunday? She frowned, muted the volume. I slept for an entire day? A nagging fear started curling at the corner of her mind. He left me. No. He wouldn't leave me. He promised. It would make no sense. Something important has come up. Yes. That's it. She returned to the bedroom and changed the baby, fed him, took another shower. Dominic still had not returned. She paced the bedroom in the bathrobe, thinking of her hotel room. All my stuff is there. I could call a cab…no! No more cabs! She sat down on the edge of the bed, thinking. He told me not to use the phone. Why hasn't he called? She looked at the bedside phone.

As soon as she had the thought, the phone buzzed loudly, making the baby startle. She snatched the phone and pressed the button, "Dominic?" she breathed.

"Mrs. Abernathy?" an incredulous male voice answered.

"Mr. Perry!" Evey's eyes widened.

"Mrs. Abernathy! Do you know where Detective Stone is? He was supposed to send me the placenta. The jet is still in Marseilles!" Perry sounded frightened.

Evey tried to calm herself. Dominic. She tried to steady her hand against her ear. Something terrible has happened to him. "Mr. Stone is not at home, Mr. Perry," she said in a shaky voice, "would you like to leave a message?"

"No! I want to speak to the Detective. Is he there? This is important!"

Evey was silent. She heard Perry breathing far away in London. I don't know where he is. What if he's dead? What if Massey got him? Her hand went cold and she dropped the phone. It bounced once on the carpet. He is dead and I am alone. They could be coming for me and Edmond next. She heard a click at the front door. She heard the sound of the door being opened.

Her eyes darted to the lamp table. Dominic's gun. She picked it up; it was heavy. She released the safety and pulled back the top like he showed her to set a slug into the chamber. It made a clicking sound as it snapped back.

There was sudden silence from the front room, then she heard the exact same clicking sound. She aimed the short barrel at the doorway at about the height she remembered Massey to be. I am surprised I am so calm. She closed one eye and put her finger over the trigger. She saw the end of the barrel of a pistol emerge two inches from the door jam. She pointed hers where the intruder's head should appear.

"No!" she heard a gasping voice in the other room. "Put it away, Johnson." The barrel disappeared from the doorway, but Evey did not lower her weapon. The voice called out to her weakly. "Eve. Put the gun down. It's me." Evey hesitated, then glanced down at Edmond, still sleeping in a little bundle of blankets between the pillows. She slid first one leg then the other off the bed and carefully made her way, gun extended in front of her, to the doorway. It might be Dominic. Maybe.

She stopped at the door and pressed her body against the wall as she called out softly, "Dominic?"

"Evey. Please. It's me."

"Show me. Come through the door."

She listened, waiting. She heard a scraping sound, then a thump, some heavy breathing. He did not appear at the door. Evey extended the barrel toward the doorway again.

What might have been Dominic's voice said, "I can't." It was almost too faint to hear.

Then Johnson spoke up, louder and stronger. "He can't, Miss Hammond. Put the gun away and come out."

Evey grit her teeth. It could be a trick. She heard a low moan and that same scraping sound again. Something inside her told her it was not a trick. She lowered the gun and set the safety. She put her hand on the door jam and stepped through. The sun had come up and in the yellow light that streamed through the windows she saw Agent Johnson kneeling, bent over a man lying on his side on the floor. Johnson looked up when she stepped into the room.

"Miss Hammond."

"Dominic?" Evey joined him on the floor; she set the gun down by the sofa. Dominic had both hands pressed over his face, his hair tangled in his fingers. "It's a migraine, isn't it?" she whispered.

"I don't know," Johnson answered. "He is not supposed to be gone from hospital."

"Hospital?"

"He called me this morning to pick him up. The nurses tried to stop him from leaving. Look." Johnson indicated a shaved spot and some stitches on the back of Dominic's head and neck. "I was called to hospital Sunday night. He was attacked at the airport. French security took him in."

"Oh no. The placenta."

"The what?"

Evey ignored him, reached out and carefully pulled Dominic's hand from his face. "Dominic?" His eyes were tightly shut and his mouth was a thin line. He was very pale but for the dark stubble on his cheeks and neck. Evey lay down on the floor, forcing Johnson to move out of the way. She brought her face within inches of his and spoke as softly as she could. "Dominic. Where is the placenta?"

One eye opened briefly then squeezed shut. He groaned. "Tandy…"

Evey didn't understand him, but Johnson hovered closer. "James Tandy? Our man in
Paris?" He asked loudly.

Evey shushed him with a fierce whisper. "Quiet, Mr. Johnson, haven't you ever had a migraine?" She gave him a glare before turning back to the Detective. Evey put her cool hand on Dominic's forehead and smoothed the long hair back over his head so she could see his eyes. "Perry doesn't have it," she murmured.

Dominic winced. Evey turned her ear to his mouth to hear the words that barely lisped out. "Tandy took it," he breathed.

She got to her feet and took Johnson by the elbow, steered him away from Dominic and toward the front door. "It looks like your man in Paris has turned traitor, Detective Johnson. I suggest you try to find him."

Johnson looked from Evey to Dominic then back at her. "This placenta…is that what was in the ice chest?"

"Yes," she answered. "The National Laboratory needs it right away. He was trying to get it to the plane when Tandy took it from him."

"What? Who else would want it?" Johnson rubbed his face.

"Plenty…" They both turned to see Dominic struggle to sit up.

Evey went to him and held him down. "Lie back. Let Johnson do this."

"No. We have no time." He sucked in air through his teeth with a grimace. "The Inspector…"

Johnson spoke to him. "Mr. Stone, I can make inquiries. Please stay here, at least for a few hours. I'll be back in the afternoon. You'll be better then."

Evey agreed. "Stay here, Dom. Let Johnson go and get the information for you. I'll stay with you while you wait this migraine out, then we can all go together. I need to get to my hotel. Please. Tell me you will. God, Dominic, give yourself a few hours."

"Ha…" it was more a sigh than an agreement, and Evey knew better than to expect him to nod his head. She turned to Johnson. "I will stay with him. Please hurry."

"I'll be back as soon as I have the information we need." Johnson slipped on a pair of sunglasses and disappeared through the door.

Evey tried to lift Dominic under his arms. "Let me put you to bed," she said to him.

"No." He fell back to the floor. "Just bring me a blanket. I can't move."

She obeyed, bringing back a blanket from the bed. She covered him up, wondering if a pillow would help. "Two days without your blue pills. That's what did it, isn't it. And that bump on your head. That didn't help any." She stroked his back as he lay curled around himself. "If I bring you the pills now will they help?"

"'s" he said.

Evey took that as a 'yes' and went to his bathroom cabinet and brought him his pills. She slipped one between his lips, knowing he would not sit up to drink any water. She sat on the floor next to him, her hand on his hip. "I knew you didn't leave me," she whispered. His arm moved under the blanket, his hand emerged from under the wool, then he lightly touched her ankle with two fingers.

Johnson returned as promised. The later afternoon sun threw a long pillar of light across the front room, but now Dominic was sitting on the sofa, an ice pack to his neck. Evey had changed back into her dress, now clean and dry, and Baby Edmond blinked at both of them from his pillow on the floor.

"I was able to speak to Perry in London, Detective," Johnson flipped over his notepad. "The Lab got a ransom email last night. It seems two French physicians are withholding the placenta and demanding ten million pounds. "

"Do you know their names?" Evey asked, pacing back and forth. She thought she might.

"No, but the techies have traced the url to a computer in a genetics lab that is run by a Dr. Marveaux. Of course he is not there today, and cannot be reached on his mobile," Johnson finished dryly.

Evey said, "Marveaux. He was the geneticist in charge of my case, Detective. He was working with Dr. Sevier. I suspect they are the two men you want."

Dominic spoke up. "How did Perry know it was two physicians?"

"The ransom note said that the placenta was being stored properly in liquid nitrogen." Johnson read from his notepad, "and the terminology used the throughout the message was medically precise and included references to equipment and procedures only physicians and other scientists would use. The other thing is that Tandy never showed up at the office yesterday, and didn't call in. It's pretty clear what happened."

"And the cottage on Motorway 323? What are the French saying about that?" Dominic moved the ice pack to his forehead as he looked up at Johnson.

"All the dead men are British nationals. The case is being turned over to Paris. The Ambassador is demanding a report from you, sir."

"No doubt," Dominic sighed. He moved the ice pack down to cover his face. "Bloody Hell."

"Can I go to the hotel now?" Evey looked hopefully at Johnson.

Johnson looked at Dominic. "Can she?"

The ice pack slid off Dominic's face and onto his knee. "Yes. The French have been alerted to Mrs. Abernathy's situation?"

"Of course. Yes." Johnson turned a page in his notebook. "There are two policemen outside her room now."

"Then we can go. You want to check out, Eve? Or do you want to stay there?"

"I just need to get my things. I don't want to stay there anymore." She stood in front of him. "Can I stay here? I don't want you to be here alone…your head…" She indicated the ice pack.

Dominic looked up at her sharply, then winced. Evey blushed, realizing how suddenly the tables had turned, how swiftly she had gone from helpless to protective. "I really like your tea," she said quickly. "They don't have such nice tea at the Bompard."

At the Bompard the policemen unlocked the door for them. Evey blew into the room and set Edmond on the huge bed, then immediately went into the closet for her satchel. I have been away from it too long. Her fingers and hands actually ached to hold it, the same feeling they had when she heard Edmond cry. She swept back the hangers of clothes and coats in the closet and bent down to reach for the handles, to take V into her arms.

The satchel was gone.