Ed turns to me and rolls his eyes. I get the sense Antonio is trying to appear insane, but that only makes me more anxious. We're being played. The question is, bywhom?
I sigh. Once we find Michel, we'll have to tell him of his sibling's death. My heart goes out to him. He's somewhere right now, ignorant of what's happened. To be told in the early hours of a rainy morning that your brother has been staked on church grounds iscruel.
I doubt if anything can make such news lesspainful.
* * *
Chapter 17
"Love ismy religion - I could die forit."
JohnKeats
Dawn is still a few hours away when we take the interstate, going directly to Michel's home outside Cambridge, an historic property, and it's then I realize that Michel has money. From the looks of the property, lots of it. But of course, his forefathers were Vicomtes back in theday.
Ed drives up to the security gate and waits for his car to be waved through. Finally the gate opens and Ed drives up the semicircular drive and parks in front of the door. The old mansion is a colonial with stately columns and lush landscaping. I can't begin to imagine how old or how expensive it is nor can I imagine Michel livinghere.
We get out of the car and I glance around. There are security cameras everywhere and a guard greets us at the front door. He's wearing a suit and has an earpiece like I've seen on Secret Service personnel. This place has a lot ofsecurity.
Ed speaks with the guard and the guard goes back inside, leaving us on the front driveway. Finally, the guard returns and waves us in. I enter the house and can't help but be curious, but at the same time, I'm afraid of how Michel will react to thenews.
"He's in the library. Follow me," the guard says and points to a set of double glass doors. He leads the way and we pass through into a huge room with wall to ceiling bookshelves. There are thousands of books and the shelves are so high, there is a ladder on rollers for access. The room is grand and a huge fireplace is a focal point to theroom.
Michel's sitting in a wing chair, reading. He's dressed in black jeans and a black sweater and the darkness of the fabric contrasts with his white skin and dark hair. He glances at me briefly, but his face isunreadable.
"My Lord," the guard says. "Agents O'Neil and Hayden to seeyou."
MyLord?
"What's the matter?" Michel says, closing the book. "You wouldn't come to my home unless this was important. Do we have asuspect?"
"Why the fuck haven't you been answering your phone?" Ed says. "Regs stipulate that you must be in phone contact 24/7."
"I left you a note about a personal trip I had to make and that I'd be out of phone contact for twenty-four hours at least," Michel says, his voice clipped,impatient.
"Where were you? The dark side of the moon? There's no reason for you to be out of phonecontact."
"I sent a note, Ed. Surely you can do without me for oneday."
"I didn't get any note. We've been trying to get in touch with you allnight."
Michel's jaw tenses. "What's soimportant?"
"Well, first, Eve was snooping around in Terri's files. The personnel files and she found herown."
Michel turns to look at me, and instead of mild disinterest, he appearsconcerned.
"How much did youread?"
I shake my head. "That's not important." I turn to Ed. "Tellhim."
"Tell mewhat?"
Ed sits on the couch across from Michel, who grips onto the arm of the sofa and his book slips out of his hand onto the floor. "Julien?"
Ed nods and stares atMichel.
"Staked. We found him just after midnight. He's intact, but he'sdead."