The next day Steven did call Carlton Shaw. Unfortunately, Shaw provided less information than he got from Leo at the bar. Afterwards he called Nash again and told him to be at the Café de la Paix at 1:30 that afternoon. He was determined to get some answers. "Okay, Leo, what's going on? And don't tell me nothing."
"Steve, I told you Germaine set the rules. She wanted her involvement to be minimal. I don't know much more than that," Leo responded.
"The hell you don't. You know a lot more than you're saying. For one, you know the rules, which means you met with her before she came in. Secondly, you have her contact number," Steven replied angrily.
"And if I was at a meeting with her? So what? I am the senior agent; I didn't 'retire' for five years," Leo said to him making little quotation marks with his hands as he spoke. "So, I have her number and you don't this time around. You told me this wouldn't be a problem, remember that?"
"I'm not the one with the problem. You know this isn't like Germaine as well as I do. She doesn't breeze into an assignment, stay for an hour and run out." Steven said. He was sure Germaine wouldn't give Leo her number for social reasons; at least she wouldn't have years ago. After a brief pause he asked, "Since you're in on everything these days, Leo, tell me why everyone told me she was dead."
"Stevie, she doesn't do this anymore; she hasn't for years. She quit, even before you did," Leo told him. He was starting to walk a very fine line by answering and chose his words carefully. He didn't want to betray Germaine's confidence but if he didn't answer Steven Bloom was sure to keep digging until he found something. "If you want to know more than that, you have to ask her yourself. And I have no idea why they told you she was dead; none."
"Leo, how can I ask her anything when you're the only one with access to her?" Steven asked him.
"I can't give you her number. She'll never forgive me," Leo replied truthfully.
"Good time to get full of morals, Leo. That's okay; there are other ways," Steven Bloom said as he pulled out his own cell phone and dialed Hoyt. "Hey, Hoyt, it's Steve. Can you get a location on Germaine's phone for me? I'm worried she might be in trouble, we can't reach her."
"Sure, Mr. Agent Bloom. Just give me a minute or two," Bill Hoyt replied not knowing the real reason Steven wanted the information. Leo looked over at Steven as he quickly wrote down the address Hoyt had provided not quite believing what was taking place.
"Steve, don't... just let her be," Leo said trying to prevent Steven from pursuing her. "She won't like you prying. You know her better than anyone and you know I'm right."
"I'm not prying; I'm concerned about her well-being. In fact, we're both concerned," Steve replied. "Let's go."
"Where are we going?" Leo asked.
"You're going to drive to this address," Steven answered and showed him the piece of paper with the address he had scribbled down. "And there isn't going to be a discussion, Leo. Today we're playing by my rules."
As Leo drove to the address with the help of the in-car navigation system he tried change Steven's mind. It proved useless; he was determined to find out what was going on with Germaine. They pulled up and parked in an open spot across the street from a school. Germaine was nowhere to be seen. "Are you sure this is the right place?" Steven asked. Leo pointed at the GPS and nodded, his face grim. They were playing with fire now. He knew it was a good possibility Germaine would kill them both if she caught them there.
It had started to drizzle as they left the café. At 3:30 pm as children began coming out of the school it was raining steadily. About the same time they caught sight of Germaine walking down the sidewalk opposite them towards the school. She carried a large umbrella and watched the children pouring from the doors paying no attention to the cars parked across the street. Steven watched intently as a child with long, dark brown curls peeking out of the hood of a rain slicker ran up to Germaine. Germaine crouched down and the girl threw her arms around her. He smiled without realizing, mesmerized as he watched. This is what she had been running back to: a child, her child. As Germaine stood, she glanced across the street and saw the pair in the car watching her. Seconds later, Nash's phone rang. "Now you did it," he told Steven.
"What the hell is going on?" Germaine asked in English as she began walking in the direction she had come from minutes earlier. She kept the girl shielded under the umbrella, away from the street and their eyes. "You promised me, Leo."
"Germaine, he wouldn't let it go. He wanted to know why you weren't 100% on this one. He called Hoyt and had your phone located," Leo told her.
"And then you drive him here?" she asked hotly. She silently cursed to herself for having chosen that afternoon to pick up her daughter's schoolwork for the day she would miss while Germaine was on assignment. Any other afternoon she and her phone would have been found somewhere else.
"He would've driven himself, you know that. I tried to talk him out of it," Leo answered hoping to ease her building anger.
"Really? Good thing he wasn't suicidal," Germaine said. "Put Steven on the phone." Leo handed his phone to Steven shaking his head; an angry Germaine was a force to be reckoned with.
"Satisfied?" she asked her former lover. "Now you know why I'm not in 100%."
"Germaine, don't be angry," he said trying to calm her. "I was worried about you. You could've said something last night."
"What would you have liked me to say? Hey, Steven, I'd like to stay and talk to you all night, but I missed my daughter's bedtime and I promised I would take her to school in the morning," she said and hung up.
"That would have worked," he said as the phone disconnected. He looked over at Leo Nash his jaw set and eyes steely. There was more to this and Nash knew what it was but Steven realized now was not the time to try and find out.