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She had said that she was of French descent Not through anyone na back, aware that she was still banging against the doors and screa above him

There was a cell phone in her purse

She was probably realizing just about now that she didn’t have it

He turned back quickly, dug into the purse once again He quickly hit the buttons on the cell phone,the last nuain, but there was nothing that gave an address in or around Paris

She had co

Still, she spoke French decently enough, with a few hesitations and an atrocious accent But she had a good co in her wallet, he found a half-ripped luggage tag It gave an address on the Upper East Side of New York City It also listed an address in the village here, in this little place on the outskirts of Paris

He narrowed his eyes Wondering

He thought he knew the place

Froain He had to reach the woman One way or another--even if someone reached the door to the main church before he did

There was no way out of it She had to be hunted down Stopped

But not until he knehat she had been after in the crypt

The man arrived at the cafe just after dusk

Fashionably, casually dressed, self-assured and aware of his assets, he sat so a smile for the one female server at the cafe He was not the type of man who invited casual conversation, and yet he was not averse to talking to strangers when the occasion warranted, nor was he particularly severe When he chose, he gave that sed in discourse about the weather, travel, and the beauty of the country when autue disturbance in the air around hi within hi, he waited

He had waited before, and he would wait again

The girl ca if he would like e cup, like many Americans But his French carried no accent If he were not a Frenche with all the smooth fluidity of a native Parisian

"Monsieur, another coffee?" the girl asked

His eyes lingered upon her for a , slim, wide-eyed and pretty He smiled in return, and saw the way that his smile touched her face--she was flattered, she felt instantly close, and warmed

"Another coffee, certainly Yvette, is that what your tag says?"

"Yes, I ahtly breathy quality Ah, the young ones! So easily drawn to the attractive and powerful Ade to play

"Yvettealways, one of my favorite nalanced over her shoulder nervously, looking for her boss Indecision touched her large, deep brown eyes Ah, but the lure was greater

She sat

"How late do you work?" he asked

"Midnight, monsieur"

"Ah, but tell h," she assured him "Nearly twenty-one"

"Wonderful," he told her She had placed her hands upon the table--perhaps ready to push against it and juers with his own and leaned closer, just a little tete-a-tete, so about the cafe would not notice She shivered at his touch Her eyes ca to speak "Your naer toward her, beckoning her to lean in, toward hi her face, and his

Yet even as he played, he felt a sudden jolt rip through his body He pulled back, leaving the girl as she had been, mesmerized He stood, and looked around

Then cursed hi

He threw francs upon the table, lifted the girl’s chin, and muttered a quick thanks to her, and a proer, that he wanted the friendship of this place, across from the church