The two police officers approached the old man lovingly polishing a very battered Citroen. "Monsieur Charbonneau?" they asked, flashing their badges.

"Oui?" Sebastien answered, dropping the polishing rag on the hood and giving the two men his full attention.

"We have a few questions about the two Americans you gave a ride to yesterday. It appeared that you knew the woman."

Emily had warned him that there was a strong possibility that he would find the flics on his doorstep wanting to know where he had taken them and that he shouldn't lie…too much to them. Just stick to the main facts and fudge the rest. He was not bothered by her odd request. He would do anything for his petite singe.

"Of course I know Mademoiselle Prentiss," he huffed in annoyance. "I've known her since she was une petite fille. Mon pere worked for her grand-mere at their family winery in the Savoie region. Mon frere Robert still runs it for her mere. Retrouvialles wines. They make a superb Roussette de Savoie. You should try it."

"So you are an old friend."

"Did I not just say that?"

The older of the two cops frowned. "So the two of you just happened to run into each other in the lobby of the hotel?"

"No. Mademoiselle Prentiss, Emily, called to see if I was free to give and her friend Monsieur Gideon a tour of our fine city. He has never been here before."

"But she has. Why didn't she just do it herself?"

Sebastien wagged a finger at them. "Because I know this city like the back of my hand. I know all the unique places of interest. She does not. Besides it is more fun and relaxing when someone else is doing the driving." He grinned at that.

The younger cop spoke up. "So at her request, you drove all the way from the winery to act as the Mademoiselle's personal driver?"

Sebastien stared at him like he had just sprouted a second head. Where did they find this twit, he wondered. It was obvious he didn't think before opening his mouth. If he had, he would have realized how asinine his question really was. The look on his partner's face showed he could believe it.

"No," he answered, speaking like he was talking to his four-year-old great grandson. "I drove from here. My home. Where I have lived for they past fifty years."

The young cop had the good sense to look abashed. "Oh, right."

His partner stepped back into the fray, flipping his notebook to a clean page. "Monsieur, would you be able to tell us all the places you visited?"

"Why all this interest?" he asked with fake confusion. "Are they in some sort of trouble?" He didn't expect to get a straight answer and he wasn't disappointed.

"I really can't say. Police business, you know."

"I understand," Sebastien said with a shrug and started rattling off all the places that popped into his head.

Per Emily's instruction, after dropping the two off in front of the hostel, he had driven all over Paris, making sure he appeared on as many traffic cameras as he possibly could. The flics were going to drive themselves crazy trying to discern a pattern out of his intentional wandering. His petite singe even promised to pay any traffic fines he might incur on her behalf. Sebastien wasn't worried about that; speeding tickets were a monthly event. His wife, Marie, continued to marvel each time one came how he avoided having his license suspended. You just had to know the right people.

When Sebastien finished his recitation, the older officer closed his notebook and gave a polite nod. "Thank you, Monsieur Charbonneau. You have been very helpful."

"I have?"

"Oui. If we have any further questions we shall contact you."

"I have one more question," the younger one piped up. "Why were you driving like that?"

"Like what?" Sebastien asked in genuine confusion.

"Like a madman," he said in exasperation. "You were weaving in and out of traffic, ran a red light and were speeding."

"Because that is the way I always drive."

The two officers had no answer to that.

Emily stumbled out of her bedroom in desperate need of coffee, preferably the whole pot. Her restless sleep and the late night escapade made her one tired, and slightly on the cranky side, agent. Not seeing Gideon in the main part of the suite and noting the door to his bedroom was stood open, she assumed he had gone down to the restaurant and headed that way. Suddenly he popped up behind the kitchen counter, giving her quite a fright.

"Good morning, Prentiss."

"Shit, Gideon!" she swore, jumping back and clutching at her chest to still her rapidly beating heart. "You scared the crap out of me."

"I'm sorry," he apologized. "I was just retrieving the knife I dropped." He held up the utensil as evidence.

"That's okay. No harm, no foul." Well that took care of her needing a whole pot of coffee. She was now wide awake. "Planning on having breakfast up here?"

"Why not?" he shrugged as he washed off the knife. "We have plenty of pastries left over from yesterday."

"Sounds good to me. I'll rustle us up some coffee."

Gideon waited for Emily to pick up the suite phone and dial room service to ask the question that has been bugging him all morning while she was sleeping. If he caught unaware, she might give him an honest answer, blurting it out before she had time to think about it.

"Where did you go last night?"

Emily stilled and then slowly set the handset back in its cradle. "Last night?"

"Yes. Last night."

She turned to face him. "I went and swam some laps in the hotel pool. It helps me to relax so I can sleep better." And keep the nightmares at bay, she silently added.

"That I know. I'm talking around midnight when I went in and saw the empty bed."

Her eyes flashed with anger and indignation. "What the hell were you doing in my bedroom in the middle of the night? Spying on me?"

He was unrepentant about crossing her personal boundaries. "I was worried about you. I thought you might have another nightmare so I decided to check on you and much to my surprise, you weren't there."

"You needn't worry. I couldn't sleep so I decided to take a walk around the block. I thought the fresh air would clear my head," she answered truthfully. That had been her intention. She couldn't help it if her feet had had something else in mind.

"You were gone for close to three hours. That was one really long block you walked around. Where did you go?" he repeated.

Damn! She hadn't heard him snoring when she had returned. That was a clear sign that he was awake, but she had been too tired to notice. She screwed up royally and now had to cover her butt.

"Look, Gideon, I appreciate your concern, but I'm fine," she said calmly while inside burning with rage. "Yes I have an issue with returning to Paris, but I'm dealing with it. It's really none of your business, but I can guarantee it won't interfere in our search for Noah. He's my highest priority and I'll do everything within my powers to bring him home. You have my word."

"As you've mentioned before, Emily, we haven't talked in a long time. I don't know what your word is worth anymore. But what I do know is that you're not the same Emily I once knew. Something has changed. And it seems this place really brings that something out of you. What could have happened here all those years ago that still has a hold on you? How long has it been since you were here? A decade, two?"

Uh oh. He's calling me by my first name again. That wasn't good. Maybe if she gave him a little tidbit, he'll drop the subject. "I've spent some time in Paris much more recently," she muttered.

"How recent?"

"Recent enough…" she quipped and then cut him off before he could dig deeper. "Enough with the inquisition, I need coffee so we can get started with this day and find Noah."

He studied her for a long moment. "I suppose it'll have to do. That doesn't mean I'm letting this go, but finding Noah is what is important."

"Fair enough," Emily agreed even though she didn't and turned back to the room phone. The second she touched the handset her cell phone rang. "Damn," she swore as she fumbled for it. "I'm never going to get my coffee." Only two cup in after breaking her rule of no coffee, she was already addicted to the stuff.

"It's on! It's on!" Penelope excitedly yelled before Emily even had a chance to say hello. "It's been finally turned on."

"Whoa, slow down, Garcia. What's been turned on?"

"The mystery number you gave me. Remember me telling you that I was going to put an alert on it so I would know if someone was using it?" She didn't wait for Emily's response, answering her own question. "Well I did and they are."

"That's great," she praised, finally getting a word in. "Can you trace it?"

"No can do. I can give you a cell tower it's pinging off of. That's still a lot of territory."

"At least it would let us know what arrondissement it's in."

"Aaron dishy what?"

Emily laughed. "Districts, Pen."

"Ooh."

"What is it?" Gideon demanded, coming up to her.

"It's Garcia. She said our mystery phone has been turned on," Emily explained.

Before she could say any more, Gideon whipped out his phone and dialed the number. He stood there impatiently tapping one foot and then muttered a mild oath. "They're not answering. They're letting it go to voicemail."

"Call again and this time leave a message asking Noah to call you back or if he's uncomfortable with that, have him send you a text," she suggested.

He nodded as he hit redial and waited impatiently for the phone to rollover to voicemail. "Noah, it's Uncle Jase. Please call me back or spend me a text. I've been very worried about you."

He hung up and both stared at the phone in his hand, holding their breaths and willing it to ring or ding. Across the Atlantic Penelope, still tucked in bed with her computer on her lap and the sleep mask pushed up on her forehead, listened closely for any sound indicating what was going on over there.

Ding went the cell phone and everyone released the breath they were holding. Gideon brought up the text and read it aloud. "How do I know you're who you are?"

"He's scared," Emily observed, "and needs some reassurance."

"You're Sancho to my Don Quixote," he said as he typed with thumbs not use to texting. "We're both fans of the book."

Emily nodded and they had to wait several more painful minutes for the next text. "Oh, thank god. Uncle Jase, I think I'm in trouble and could really use your help. How fast can you get to Paris?"

"I'm already here."

"You are?"

"Yes. A friend and I have been looking for you these past two days."

While he texting, Emily spoke into her phone. "We're in direct contact with Noah. Thanks for the help, Pen. I don't know what we would've done without you. It seems you cracked the case."

"Yay me!" Penelope cheered, clapping her hands. "Is there anything else I can help with?"

"Not at the moment. Now go back to bed. I know it's still the middle of the night there."

"Okay. I am still tired. You'll let me know how it all turns out?"

"Absolutely. Thanks again."

"You're welcome, my raven haired warrior. Night…uh…good morning…uh whichever works. I hate time differences. They really mess me up," she groused sleepily.

"Pleasant dreams," Emily wished with a laugh and hung up.

Gideon was still talking aloud to himself as he typed. "Why don't you come here to—"

"No," she interrupted, putting a hand over his phone. "I don't think that's a good idea. Odds are our shadows are still lurking in the lobby. We don't want to deliver him into their hands."

"Damn," he huffed in frustration. "You're right. We definitely do what to do that. We'll meet him somewhere else, somewhere public."

Emily thought quickly. "The Louvre. Tell him I'll meet him in the Denon wing, room 6, in front of the 'Les Noces de Cana'."

"You?" he asked with a frown. "Don't you mean us? I'm going with you. He's my flesh and blood, not yours."

"I know, but I'm the one who knows this city. That's one of the reasons you brought me along."

"I know where the Louvre is," he said angrily. "Remember I was there the other day?"

"I do. But I also know how to get around Paris without attracting attention and it's easier to do solo." Emily refrained from mentioning that the CIA had trained her in the art of evasion. He wasn't around when her past history and CIA shit hit the fan and she wasn't about to read him in on it now. Besides it was still classified and he didn't have the proper clearance for it. Hell…he didn't have any clearance. "I'll meet up with Noah and convince him to accompany me to the American Embassy. You can join us there."

"And if he doesn't want to?"

Emily blew out a breath. "Then I'll bring him back here where he'll be safe and let his Uncle Jase talk some sense into him."

Her attempt to ease the tension filling the room failed. Gideon crossed his arms and glared at her. "That all sounds fine and dandy, but what exactly am I supposed to be doing while you're gallivanting about the city like a spy?" She winced at how close he had just come. "Sit here and twiddle my god damn thumbs?"

Emily would have paid good money to see that. "No," she said, keeping the sarcasm out of her voice. "You're the decoy. You're going to lure our two shadows out of the lobby and keep them distracted long enough for me to slip in and out unnoticed." She had a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach that Noah was going to refuse to go with her to the embassy and she would be forced to bring him back here. If he had thought it was safe to go the embassy, he would have done so weeks ago.

"I can do that," he agreed, slightly mollified by her suggestion. Now that he had a job to do some of his irritation faded. "But I don't think I'll be able to keep them occupied for the entire time you're gone."

'You don't have to. When I'm ready to come in, you can go back out and take them on another little trip."

Gideon gave it some serious thought and then slowly nodded. "I'm not happy about being relegated to the sidelines like an overwrought parent, but I'll do it."

Because you're too personally involved while I'm not, she thought. "Great. Give Noah my name and description and tell him I'll meet him in two hours." That will give her plenty of time to get there and scope out the place. It has been years since she has been there. When you're living in fear for your life, hiding from a man determined to snuff you out, you didn't go looking at great works of art. You kept your head down and hid. Much like what Noah was doing.

When Gideon had sent the text and got the acknowledgement, he gave her a questioning look. "Why did you pick that particular wing and room for the meeting?"

"It's the same room the Mona Lisa is in and it's always packed to the gills with tourists. It's the perfect cover."

Emily made it to room 6 of the Denon wing of the Lourve with plenty of time to spare. She found a spot off to one side of the giant painting that afforded her the best views of all the entrances and kept her from getting trampled by the gawking tourists. Now all she had to do was to wait for Noah to show. Clutched in her hand was her phone with the most current picture of him on the screen that she compared to every young man who entered the room. If she weren't so focused on the task at hand, Emily would have taken some time to wander around the space taking in all of the artwork.

So far their plan has gone off without a hitch. In the lobby Gideon pulled off an Oscar winning performance. They had decided that like yesterday morning, he would go out to the local patisserie to get breakfast and coffee. The only difference was that he stopped directly in front of the two men they deemed to be their shadows, to take a fake phone call from her. In it she supposedly wasn't feeling good and wanted him to pick up a few things from the pharmacy. He said it was no problem and that she should stay in bed and drink plenty of water. He was so convincing that Emily, in her place of concealment, put her hand to her forehead to check if she had a fever. Their tails bought Gideon's act hook, line and sinker and followed him out like two eager puppies.

She let ten minutes pass to give Gideon time to get some distance from the hotel and to make sure there wasn't a third tail they had decided to tack on after yesterday's escape. Spotting nothing out of the ordinary, Emily emerged from the stairway where she was hiding and slipped out on to the streets of Paris. She intentionally took the roundabout way to the Louvre, double back over her tracks multiple times to be on the safe side. Once she was positive she had shaken any potential tails, Emily hailed a cab for the rest of the trip. She could have called Sebastien, but as she was leaving she got a text from him telling her of the police visit and knew she couldn't involve him any further.

As the appointed time quickly approached, Emily became more alert as she tied a colorful scarf around the base of her ponytail. Noah had been told to look for it, making it easier for him to identify her. Even though she had a picture of him, Emily almost missed him the first time. Noah had dyed his brown hair blonde and was wearing a baseball cap pulled low over his eyes. Luckily for her, the Gideon family nose gave him away. On his arm was a pretty brunette, not the blonde he was last seen with unless she had also dyed hers. Both were looking nervously around, trying to spot her, but unable to do so due to the large crowd milling around.

Emily decided it was best for her to approach him. She pulled her creds out of her jacket pocket as she weaved through the mass of humanity. She stopped at his side, discretely held up her badge and cleared her throat to let him know she was there.

"Hi, Noah. My name is…"

That was as far as Emily got. Noah jumped in surprise and did something she wasn't expecting. He ran.