Page 48 of French Escapade

Without waiting for her answer, I place one arm around her shoulders and the other under her knees to pick her up.

“I think they worked hard enough for today, so we’re going to give them a break. And if your colleagues don’t throw me into some dark dungeon, they will get the Dylan Royal Treatment.”

A weak smile grows on her face, and I hug her a little tighter.

The magic of the moment is destroyed by Ted and Christophe, who have now found us. As they come closer, Élodie wipes her face clean against my shirt. Her big chestnut eyes look up at me.

I nod. No one would guess she’d been crying.

Christophe is the first one by our side. “Élodie, are you hurt?”

We answer at the same time.

“No, I’m fine,” she says.

“Her feet are hurt,” I object.

“Oh, wow, you did a real number on them,” Christophe says, punctuating his answer with a whistle. “We’re going take you to the Broussailles hospital.”

“No need to do that,” Élodie protests.

“You’re joking,” Ted says. “I think it can’t hurt to let a doctor look at you.”

“And while you’re there, maybe you can get your head examined, because, seriously, didn’t you stop and think for a minute?”

Christophe shakes his head as if he’s talking to a kid.

“I’ll agree to go the the hospital if you get off my case,” Élodie snaps back.

Good, she’s herself again.

“You’re right. No need for me to pile on,” Christophe apologizes. “Now the question is, what do I do with your friends? Not the P.I. We do not have anything against him. He was doing his job.”

“You don’t have anything against Jimmy, either,” Ted stresses. “It’s no crime to run away as he did.”

“Yeah, I suppose we can look the other way as far as Jimmy’s concerned. Ken’s case is going to be a bit more touchy.”

“Why is that?” Élodie is surprised.

“Because Ken is about to become the new legend of the station.”

“What are you talking about?”

“He did what we all dreamt of doing. He put his foot in Wagner’s face!”

“I don’t believe you!” Élodie seems incredulous.

Even though I ignored the name of my victim until now, I nod to confirm the information.

“My hero,” she declares with a touch of irony. She catches my neck and lifts herself up a bit to kiss my cheek … right at the corner of my lips.

The sweetness of the kiss makes everything better.

Carrying pretty Élodie is delightful, but I don’t forget our mission. We need to start from scratch to find my sister.

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