Henri – 17

 

Henri – 17

 

The next morning, Henri gritted his teeth, girded his loins—as he thought of it—and went to catch the bus into the Quarter. By the time he stepped off, he had to clench his hands to stop them from shaking. But I made it without Xavier or his man trying to snatch me off the street. That's a plus, even if I did sweat off five pounds in the process.

 

His first stop was to pick up a cell phone. A cheap one, since he had no plans to use it for anything other than calling Taegan, Miranda, or Ransom and Allyn—once he had numbers for that last two. As soon as the phone was activated, he called Taegan to let him know he was on his way to the gallery. Then he checked in with Miranda, much to her relief. He asked her for the other numbers he needed, although he knew he probably wouldn't call them, except in an emergency.

 

Henri arrived at the gallery to find Taegan deep in a conversation with one of the customers, so he walked around, looking at the paintings, drawings, sculptures, and various other objects on display.

 

He was studying an impressionistic scene of one of the Quarter's streets, looking down toward the Cathedral, when he felt someone's hand on his shoulder. He stiffened instantly, whirling around, ready to teleport out of there.

 

"Damn, I'm sorry," Taegan said contritely.

 

"It's okay. I think my heart rate's returning to normal now," Henri replied with a grin, smacking his hand to his chest. "I really do have to stop being so panicky."

 

"With reason," Taegan said.

 

"Maybe." Henri lowered his voice. "I know we're hoping he'll come after me again, but I was thinking on the ride down here, what if we're going about it the wrong way?"

 

"How so? Before you answer, let's go into my office."

 

When they were there, Henri continued his thought. "This is a big city. Just because I've made a move to be more accessible doesn't mean he's going to know I am. Right?"

 

Taegan nodded. "I see what you're saying. The chances that you and he will cross paths are fairly small. For starters, it's not as if you advertised the fact you moved into the apartment, even if we weren't exactly being secretive about doing it."

 

"Exactly. You know the idea that people might have gossiped about my being at the barbecue doesn't really hold water either. First off, I'm hardly worth talking about. It's not as if I was someone well known. Now if there had been reporters and photographers there from the newspaper, because it was a social event…"

 

"And you showed up in a picture on the society page. I wonder…" Taegan looked thoughtfully at him. "It would have to be something extraordinary enough to draw the crème-de-la-crème. We should talk with Miranda and Allyn. For the moment, however, one of the people from the security company I use is due here any minute now. He'll go back to the apartment with you to set up the alarm system."

 

"Why didn't you tell me…? Okay. No phone, until now. No way you could have called to let me know."

 

"Exactly."

 

There was a knock on the office door. It was the man Taegan was expecting and from there, things went as planned. The man even drove Henri back into the city when he was finished and had explained everything Henri needed to know to make certain his apartment would be secured against any intruders.