Secrets (13 page)

Sonya
immediately climbed the stairs to their room. It was also tidied,
but their suitcases, her computer case and Bryan’s backpack were in
shreds. Obviously they had been looking for the memory card.
Without a word, Madame Lalonde left the room, and returned with a
large suitcase.

“This will be
suitable,” she declared and disappeared into her own room to attend
to packing her and Sylvain’s immediate necessities.

Sonya finally
finished packing their possessions into
Madame
Lalonde’s
suitcase and Mike hauled it out to the Mercedes, returning for the
rest of the luggage.

Within an hour,
they were on their way. BB parked his car and motioned for them to
follow him. They were in front of a charming rural inn. About
ninety minutes were spent over a pleasant late lunch and by the
time they returned to the house and unpacked their bags, it was
quite dark.

The telephone
rang and Sonya was advised that cocktails were being served in the
living room. After freshening up, she sailed down the stairs, and
the moodiness and feeling of
malaise
were gone. She was
beginning to become the happy person she had been several days
previous. Had it only been a few days since all of this had
begun?

The scene in
the living room was a surprise. Not only were Steve and Mimi
present, but so was Maurice and several others that she didn’t know
– obviously without balaclavas. Seriously pleased with her decision
to freshen up, soon Sonya was sipping on a wonderful Bordeaux and
mingling with the other guests. It was most civilized.

The dining room
was splendidly laid out, and the meal fit for a king. Course after
course was served and Sonya was seriously stuffed with the fine
food. Before dessert, BB asked for everyone’s attention and lifting
his glass in toast, he began.

“Early last
spring, a mission involving my stepson, Steven Hunter, terminated
in Gibraltar, where I witnessed him and his co-pilot, John Toth, in
a number of unguarded moments. As a result of that encounter and a
great deal of research, I had a heart to heart talk with my then
wife, Celine. She revealed a truth that has been over four decades
coming to light.”

“The pilots in
Gibraltar were half-brothers in reality, and yet total strangers
until then. Steven’s father was Ivan Toth, not Paul Hunter as we
had all believed since his birth.”

“Another part
of that secret also came to light at the same time. The man who
John Toth believed to be his brother for his lifetime, Mike Toth,
is in reality my son. I wish to raise a toast my son, and to
declare my absolute delight that this fine man is my family. I am
looking forward towards getting to know him much, much better.”

Stretching,
Sonya gazed around her bedroom and luxuriated in the knowledge that
Bryan would be joining her here, this very day. Checking the time,
she quickly hurried to her attached bathroom, cranked up the shower
and prepared for a very exciting day.

After dinner
the previous evening, Maurice had spoken to her privately,
requesting her permission to attend their round table discussion
with BB. They had not been able to speak to Bryan given his poor
condition when he was rescued, and both he and BB were hoping that
he could answer a few questions for them.

Sonya had no
problem whatsoever granting his request. She wanted the skunks that
had hurt Bryan to pay and pay big time, and if this would put a few
nails into their coffins, then she would be happy to provide the
hammer. Hopefully, it would be a sledge hammer. But first, Bryan
had to be released from the hospital. Mimi had reported that her
mother was very pleased with his progress and he would indeed be
released the following morning.

It had been
interesting to watch Mimi and Steve in a casual situation, after
their business-like mission that fateful night that Bryan had been
rescued. They were, in Sonya’s mind, two halves of a whole. She was
aware that her cousin John’s wife, Sara, had very much liked Steve
and had wanted to set him up because she wished him to have a happy
life. Sara needn’t have worried, Steve was doing just fine by
himself. And, in her very humble opinion, Mimi was perfect for
him.

Extremely
curious after seeing Mimi at the bar with Grégoire that night that
she and Bryan had joined them, she finally gained enough courage to
ask Mimi what she did, at least when she wasn’t being a spy.

Mimi had
laughed. “I come from
un famille
that was in
La
Résistance
during the Second World War,” she admitted. “We joke
that it is the family business. My brother, Maurice, he ask me on
some occasions to help. How I can I say
non
? I meet Steven
on mission and I enjoy the, how do you say in English,
l’excitement
. It is a good complement to my business.
Je
suis un décorateur d’intérieur
.
(I am an interior
decorator)
I may go many place and because I have degree from
la
Université
, I can watch Grégoire.”

Ah, thought
Sonya, no wonder Mimi seemed to be on the cutting edge of fashion –
or perhaps it was because she was a native Parisian. It did seem to
be something that came naturally to most of the women that she had
seen.

Maurice was her
brother? Wow! Now that she knew, there was a family resemblance.
Nonetheless, it came as a surprise, but Mimi asking Doctor Dupont
to see to Bryan in the middle of the night now made perfect sense.
Maybe after the round table more things would make sense as
well.

Ensuring her
makeup was perfect, her hair behaved properly and her outfit was
not too over the top but not too drab, Sonya finally stepped out of
her room. She hadn’t been this nervous since the first date that
she and Bryan had planned, many years previous.

“Sonya!”
Sylvain’s happy voice greeted her as she entered the kitchen. “I go
to school today!” he exclaimed, as he tucked into his cereal. It
was obvious; he was dressed in a school uniform and his school bag
was sitting by the back door.

“Your school
isn’t close to here, is it?” Sonya asked.

“
Non
,
now I go to new school not old one! It is premier, best in all of
Paris!” He was genuinely excited, and Sonya wondered if he even
knew about his father and the trouble that he was in. Somehow, she
doubted it. The closeness that she had witnessed between them told
her that he was blissfully unaware of the latest happenings
regarding his father.

Madame
Lalonde smiled softly at her grandson. “
Cinq minutes, Chéri,
cinq
,
(Five minutes, sweetie, five minutes
.)” she
warned, as she stood, “I meet you in front of garage.” She raised
her hand in a goodbye gesture and left the kitchen.

So, Sylvain was
enrolled in another school, obviously private by the look of his
uniform. Was this to protect him? Perhaps this was a question that
could be asked at their meeting later this morning.

Inhaling her
breakfast, Sonya rushed upstairs to grab her purse. BB would be her
driver this morning, escorting her to the hospital and both she and
Bryan back to his home. And, she reasoned, act as their protector
should something go amiss.

The fact that
no one in the mission, Crusades, Sonya believed was their code
name, had spoken to Bryan was a little worrisome. Sonya had noticed
that occasionally, like Steve, BB wore a gun under his jacket. The
thought occurred to her to wonder if today would be one of those
days.

BB’s arrival in
the foyer precluded any more pondering. They were on their way and
Sonya’s heart soared with joy. Today, Bryan came home and they
would finally be together. Today, she and her husband would finally
return to their long planned honeymoon.

BB was somewhat
quiet on their drive to the hospital.

“I thought that
Mike would come with us,” Sonya remarked, trying to draw him into a
conversation. “I have to say that, personally, I’m very pleased
that you turned out to be Mike’s father. His dad was dead by the
time that I was born, but I have heard a lot about him through the
years.”

“My cousin,
John, is an absolutely wonderful man and everyone says that he’s
just like his dad. But everyone in the family also says that Mike
isn’t. Although he and John look like brothers, Mike’s personality
is totally different – great, but different.” Sonya was beginning
to feel like she was putting her foot into her mouth big time.

“I guess what
I’m trying to say,” Sonya attempted to clarify, “is that you and
Mike are a perfect fit and I think it’s just wonderful that you are
in his life.”

“Shut up now,”
Sonya silently reprimanded herself. “Just shut up!”

“How very
gracious of you, Sonya,” BB replied. “I have so many different
emotions about the revelation that Mike is my son. The prevalent
one is joy, the second is pride. He is a very fine man. I intend to
get to know him much better, as much as the time I have left will
allow.”

“Are you sick?”
Sonya asked in a panic.

BB smiled
benevolently. “No, my Dear, I am in very good health for my age.
But given my age, I have fewer years left than I would wish.”

They walked
side by side into the hospital, up the stairs and along the hallway
to Bryan’s room. The man that had stood guard at the doorway was no
longer there. BB stopped immediately, throwing his arm out to stop
Sonya.

“We have a
problem,” he whispered. “The guard is no longer in evidence. This
is wrong. We are walking into a trap of some sort.” With that, his
hand clamped upon Sonya’s arm and he turned abruptly into the room
before Bryan’s. The folks in the room looked up in surprise.

“
Quel joli
petit enfant!(what a beautiful baby)
” BB enthused about the
red-faced infant squalling in its mother’s arms.
“Excusez-nous,
ça ce n’est pas la chambre propre,
” he declared. “
Je les ai
appellez pour le numéro propre pour nos famille. Est-ce que ça
c’est acceptable avec vous? (Excuse us, this is the wrong room. I
will call for the correct room for our family. Is that acceptable
with you?)

“
Absolument
!” the young father smiled, beaming at BB’s
complement about his child. The people in the room, obviously proud
grandparents, smiled back as if on cue.

BB never let go
of Sonya’s arm. He flipped his cell phone open and hit a number
with his thumb. “Worst case scenario,” he declared. “Instant
response!” He closed his phone with a snap.

“
Merci
,”
he declared to the young people with the baby.
“Bonjour!
” he
stated as he was guiding Sonya out of the room.

A cell phone
sounded and was answered by one of the grandfathers. He said
something that she didn’t understand, and to Sonya’s absolute
surprise, almost all of the people in the room seemed to mobilize,
changing from gentle grandparents into soldiers, in what seemed to
be the blink of an eye.

One of the
grandmothers pulled out a cell phone and after punching a few keys,
brought up a picture and shared it with BB. Another grandparent
closed the door to the room. The apparent father of the infant
pulled out a laptop from a case on the floor and within minutes, he
had acquired a video of the room next door, Bryan’s room.

Sonya’s joy
about this day turned into a nightmare. Weren’t the bad guys in
jail? Why would Bryan be in jeopardy - again?

BB seemed to
understand her questions despite the fact that she had not voiced
them. “They want me, not Bryan. We did not realize just how much,”
he stated very calmly. “Obviously, I have some knowledge that they
want.”

Who were
‘they’? More bad guys, Sonya presumed.

BB studied the
video of the room in which Bryan was hospitalized. There was a man
in the bed, similar in coloring and height but it was not Bryan!
Sonya’s eyes almost bulged, but a slight pressure from BB, whose
hand was still around her arm kept her from saying a word. Her eyes
questioned him, but his steady stare was enough to silence her.

“Call them,” he
ordered. Sonya hadn’t noticed that others had joined those in the
room, Maurice, Steve and Doctor Dupont as well. The mother and
child had disappeared.

It was Doctor
Dupont that took her hand and handed her a note. It read, “All is
well. He is safe.”

Sonya handed
the note to BB. He quickly scanned it and returned it to her with a
quick nod. "Okay," she told herself. "Take a deep breath." He was
the one that she trusted now. She felt that Bryan’s life depended
upon it.

Then an image
appeared that surprised them all.
Madame
Lalonde, dressed in
the black outfit that was worn during the night operation, stepped
into the video of the room in which Bryan had been treated. She
held a gun. And it was pointed directly at Mike’s head.

She said
something to the man in the bed pretending to be Bryan, and he
slowly stood up, backed up to the door and left the room.
Immediately upon the door closing behind him, there was a knock at
their door. He entered, shaking his head, his gun still
holstered.

BB appeared to
be absolutely in shock. His normally unreadable face was painful to
watch. Maurice stepped up and touched him on the shoulder.
“
C’est pour moi, maintenant,
” he stated with empathy.
“
C’est pour nous autres
.” (
This is mine This is
ours.)

“I must be the
one to answer her threat,” BB replied. “This is about what she
believes is my betrayal.” BB took a deep breath. “She has always
believed that Lucien was my son. He is not. DNA has proven that.
She is grieving about what he has done and is looking for payback.
She has chosen to extract it from me. I can give that to her. Mike
should not be the one to pay for what happened so long ago.”