The Fey (30 page)

“
This way,” Ben
said.

Alex followed him up a set of twenty white
wooden stairs. Pulling his keys from his pocket, he unlocked the
locked door at the top. He flew through the door and Alex followed.
She shut the door and turned the bolt. They went down a narrow
limestone hallway, passing bolted doors, to a door near the end of
the hallway. Ben unlocked the door, let Alex through then used his
key to relock the door. They climbed up three flights of stairs
until they came to a door.

Out of breath, Ben ruffled his salt and
pepper hair, then turned to Alex.

“
My in-laws’ home,” he
said. Alex nodded. “You must speak French.”

“
What language have we
been speaking?” Alex asked.

“
Spanish,” Ben
said.

He pushed the door open to reveal a tidy
basement. Alex took off her body armor then held her hand out for
Ben’s body armor. Pulling a cell phone from his pocket, he slipped
off his body armor while he dialed the phone.

“
Claire?” Ben said. He
continued in French. “Alex and I were in the tunnels then decided
to visit your parents’. Would you mind asking Max and John to meet
us here?”

Alex heard Claire’s flood of confused
words.

“
Yes,” Ben said. “I’m
sorry. Please ask Helene to take the children home. Yes, come to
your parents’ as well. I…”

There was another flood of words from
Claire.

“
I love you,” he said.
Closing his phone, he turned to look at Alex. “We must clean
up.”

Alex nodded then crammed the body armor into
the duffel bag.

“
I don’t feel well,” Alex
said. “Dizzy.”

“
Do you think
it’s…”

He fell silent when they heard footsteps
above them. Alex pulled her handgun, but Ben pushed the gun down
with his hand. They heard a lock click open.

“
Benjamin,” a woman’s
voice called from the top of the stairs.

“
Yes Noémi,” Ben replied
in French. “I am here with my daughter, Alexandra. I was showing
her the catacombs when I remembered that you have your own
entrance.”

The woman laughed.

“
Claire called. Come up.
Come up.”

A small thin woman came half way down the
stairs to greet them. She turned and led the way up the stairs. Ben
followed and Alex came last carrying the duffle bag.

In the light, Alex noticed the blood on her
hands and jeans. Claire’s mother looked at her and raised her
eyebrows.

“
You better clean up,
chérie, or no one is going to believe your story,” she said. “There
is a shower in there. Give me your pants. Hurry, chérie, your
family will be here in a moment. Benjamin, you can clean up in the
kitchen.”

Too intimidated to argue, Alex pulled off
her pants. She emptied the pockets into the duffle bag then gave
the pants to Claire’s mother. She carried the duffle into the
bathroom and locked the door.

Leaning against the bathroom door, Alex
closed her eyes and slid down to the ground. She pressed her eyes
against her knees to keep from crying. With her arms wrapped around
her knees, she held herself in a ball. She whispered the words: “My
name is Alexandra Hargreaves. I’m in Paris. My brother is Maxwell.
We have the same middle name but it’s spelled differently.”

The words had no impact on the spinning
sensation in her head.

Pushing herself to standing, she caught her
reflection in the mirror. Her face and lips were drained of all
color and her eyes were round and gleaming.

Fuck.

I’ve been drugged.

F

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

She turned the shower to cold. Holding her
breath, she stepped under the frigid water stream of water. She
continued: “I’m Alexandra Hargreaves. I’m married to… well… I think
I’m… no… I was married to… no… I’m going to marry… What’s his
name?”

She giggled.

Oh crap. This is Ketamine.

She stepped out of the shower to avoid
collapsing. She needed to get situated before the Ketamine took
full effect. A light tap at the door produced Claire’s mother’s
hand holding Alex’s pants. Alex took the damp pants and put her
clothing on. She pulled her wet hair into a ponytail.

Stepping into the hallway, Claire’s mother
looked her up and down. She nodded, “Much better. I’m Noémi. You
are Rebecca’s daughter, no?”

“
Yes, ma’am. I’m
Alex.”

“
I’ve known your father
Patrick most of my adult life,” Noémi said. “Let me get you
something to drink. You don’t look like you are feeling very
good.”

“
Special K. I think it’s
hitting me now that we’re not moving.”

“
Hmm,” Noémi said coming
into the kitchen. “Benjamin, you were right. She has been drugged.
She says it’s Ketamine.”

Ben’s head jerked up. He was sitting at a
wooden block table looking at the identification papers they had
taken from the men in the tunnels. Searching Alex’s face, he gave a
curt nod.

“
What’s the name of the
guy I’m marrying?” Alex asked.

Ben opened his mouth then laughed.

“
It’s John something. I
can’t remember.”

“
Yes, John something,” Ben
said.

“
She needs a doctor,”
Noémi said. “I’ll call. Can you make her an espresso?”

Ben moved to make the coffee.

“
Sit down Alex,” Ben said.
“Sit down before you fall down.”

Dropping the duffle bag on the floor, Alex
plopped into a chair. She rested her head on her hands.

“
You have to talk Ben or
I’m going into a k-hole.”

“
Fair enough.” He poured
water into the espresso maker. “Claire’s family was in the
resistance. Her mother was in intelligence. That is how I met
Claire. I was working with Noémi on a project that included Patrick
when I met this staggering sixteen year old girl. I didn’t, I mean,
we didn’t do anything but my God… I thought of nothing else for
years. Drink this.”

He placed a glass of water in front of Alex.
With her head propped by one hand, she drained the glass of water
then slapped the glass onto the wooden table.

“
Anyway, that’s why I went
to bat for you and John,” he said. “I knew what it was like to have
your socks knocked off.”

“
You and Claire?” Alex
slurred.

“
I avoided Paris for a
couple years. I had plenty of women, so it wasn’t like I was alone.
My father, your grandfather, died. He wanted to be buried in the
family mausoleum in Paris. I’ll have to show it to you. Introduce
you to the extended family.”

He looked up to see if Alex was laughing at
his joke. With her head in her hands, she rotated her head back and
forth in an attempt to clear her mind. He smiled wondering if she
would remember any of this.

“
I held a service for my
father here, in Paris. Noémi and her husband, Jean, helped with the
details. They insisted I come for dinner the night before the
service. I arrived as Claire was leaving for a date. You would have
laughed. We stood in the entryway staring at each other. The boy
had to drag her out the door. I looked up and Noémi was laughing at
me.”

“
You were pathetic.” Noémi
stood in the doorway to the kitchen. “The great super spy was at a
complete loss for words over a mere girl. She returned from her
date and they’ve been together ever since.”

Alex smiled.

“
Chérie,” Noémi said. “The
doctor will be here in a few minutes. Drink this before your
husband gets here.”

“
I blame Patrick,” Ben
said. “He’s the first man I ever met who says straight out that he
fell in love at first sight. He planted the possibility in my
head.”

Alex drank the espresso down in one gulp.
Setting the cup down, she picked up a second espresso and drank it
down. Ben handed her another cup of water, which she drank. She
stuck out her tongue causing Noémi and Ben to laugh.

The doorbell rang.

“
What are we telling
them?” Noémi asked.

“
The truth,” Alex said.
“No more lies.”

“
Are you sure?” Ben
asked.

She flopped her head up and down in a
nod.

“
Oh, not another one.” She
whimpered when Ben set another espresso in front of her.
“Daddy…”

“
Do not call me that,” Ben
laughed.

“
Drink your espresso,”
Noémi said. She left to answer the door.

They heard talking at the front door.
Turning in the kitchen chair, Alex watched Max and John talking and
moving toward her. She attempted to stand but fell back into the
chair. Speaking in a rush of Gaelic, John lifted her into his arms,
but Alex was limp against him.

“
What did you do to her?”
John asked Ben in English.

“
She’s been drugged,”
Noémi said in English. “It seems like the drugs are affecting her
now that the adrenalin is wearing off.”

Shaking her head, Claire came into the
kitchen giving Ben a dirty look.

“
It wasn’t me,” Ben
replied in English.

Leaning against the sink, Ben pulled a
cigarette from his pocket. Bowing his head to light it, Claire
pulled the cigarette from his mouth. He kissed her. She held him
for a moment then put the cigarette back in his mouth. He smiled.
Taking the cigarette from his mouth, he kissed her again.

“
What’s your name?” Alex
asked looking up at John. He held her up with an arm around her
waist.

John looked at Alex then at Ben.

“
I remember that I was
married… no I’m going to get married… Are we still
married?”

“
I hope so,” John
said.

“
What’s your name?” she
asked.

“
Keep working on it,
love.” John kissed her forehead.

“
You’re Max.” Alex beamed
as if she had discovered a special present at Christmas.

“
I am,” Max
replied.

“
He doesn’t want us to
call him Daddy,” Alex whispered in a loud voice causing everyone to
laugh.

The doorbell rang, announcing the doctor and
Noémi went to answer the door. The doctor arrived in a flurry of
French that Alex couldn’t follow. She stood smiling at this
gorgeous John. Noémi led John, Alex and the doctor into a small
front room where the doctor examined Alex. With Noémi translating,
the doctor conferred with John while Alex rested against his
shoulder.

“
What is it?” Max
asked.

“
She’s been drugged,” John
said. “He thinks she should shake it. He took a blood sample to
make sure it’s Ketamine.”

“
How? What?” Max
asked.

“
I had something… Sorry I
have to keep my eyes closed.” Alex was silent for a moment. “My
coffee was very bitter at the bistro. It tasted funny but I love
coffee so I drank… three cups? It was a French Press. Maxie, what
is this guy’s name?”

Max laughed.

“
Maxie?” Alex asked. “I’m
going into a k-hole.”

She sagged. John caught her before she hit
the floor. He lifted her to his arms.

“
What does that mean?” Max
asked.

“
She’s tripping,” Ben
said. “Noémi, can she lie down in the guest bedroom?”

“
Of course,” Noémi
said.

“
You’ll stay with her?”
Ben asked John. “If it’s a k-hole, she’ll start hallucinating and
having flashbacks.”

John nodded.

“
Max, you better go
too.”

“
Bag?” Alex
asked.

“
I’ll take care of that,”
Ben said.

“
Come on, chérie,” Noémi
said. “You can lay down in here.”

Noémi led the way down the hall to their
guest bedroom. John laid her on the bed then sat in a chair next to
the bed. Max sat down on the bed to hold Alex’s other hand. After
more than an hour of flashbacks and hallucinations, Alex fell into
a sound sleep.

FFF

Five hours later

September 28 – 1 P.M. MST

Somewhere between Paris, France and
Buckley Air Force Base, Colorado

“
Wake up, Alex,” Raz said.
He shook her Alex’s shoulder.

Alex opened her eyes, then closed them
again.

“
Come on, Alex. You’re
coming off Ketamine,” he said. “You’ve got to wake up
now.”

“
Leave me alone, Josh,”
Alex said. “I wanna sleep.”

“
You can’t call me that,”
Raz said. He glanced around the military shuttle. If anyone heard
his real name, they made no indication.

They had decided the best way to protect
Alex was to stick her on a military shuttle back to Denver. Raz had
agreed to accompany her and the duffle bag. John and Max would
follow in a day as originally planned.

She spent most of the trip sound asleep
against Raz’s arm. But the doctor had been very clear. Alex needed
to wake up within five hours. She has been through too much trauma,
the doctor said. Her mind will crack, overwhelmed with the trauma,
if she doesn’t return to the present. You must wake her.

“
Open your eyes,” Raz
said.

“
I’m sorry. Can you talk
to me? It will help me come back,” Alex said.

“
All right,” Raz said. He
put his arm around Alex’s shoulder and spoke into her ear. “I had a
delightful time in Paris.”