Page 39 of Once Upon A Time

I don’t know why.

The SUV sped along the freeways of Paris, engine whining as they raced under the afternoon sun and heading for the airport.

Alexandre had called Quentin Sault directly to check in, and Quentin had told Flicka afterward that Georgiana was with Alexandre and safe.

Flicka wasn’t at all sure that Georgie was safe if she was with Alexandre Grimaldi, but knowing that the sniper hadn’t shot her was a step in the right direction.

Flicka’s phone in her purse buzzed.

She pulled it out and angled the screen away from Pierre.

The number was unknown because, of course, they hadn’t been texting each other, not at all, not for years.

The text read,Durchlauchtig, are you all right? Tell me this is you.

Flicka hesitated over the text, biting her lip. He was just using his old nickname for her as code, so she would know it was him.

If she had asked her friends, they would have told her not to answer. She’d never told anyone about her relationship with Dieter, of course. He’d insisted. But they knew someone had broken her heart that summer.

She texted back,I am fine, Leiblingwächter. They missed.

As she tucked her phone back into her purse, Pierre asked, “Who was that?”

“Wulfram,” Flicka said, “just making sure I’m all right.”

“Good.” Pierre looked out the front windshield as they neared the airport.

Second Betrayal

Dieter Schwarz

I swore that I would never lie to him,

but I will not let him die on his wedding day.

Dieter and Wulf leaned against the bulkhead in the narrow Gulfstream jet, watching everyone strap into the wide leather seats while the jet engines whined, idling.

Rae Stone was in the back row, fidgeting with her coppery hair and looking out the porthole window.

She shouldn’t be so near the window. Now that Wulfram was married, Dieter needed to chew him out on operational security more. Both of them had gotten lax the last few years, but the several shootings during this little vacation in Paris made Dieter nervous.

His arm itched where he had been shot.

Wulfram muttered to Dieter in Alemannic, the Swiss dialect that they spoke together, “Have we recovered Lizbeth and Theo yet?”

Dieter nodded and lied his ass off. “Luca Wyss assures me that they have been picked up by theWelfenlegionand are at the hotel. They’re shaken up, so they’re going to rest for a few hours. We’re going to be full here, anyway, when the rest of the cars arrive. They’ll have to take the Challenger.”

The other jet Wulfram had rented for his retinue was a Bombardier Challenger.

“Good. Is there anything they need?”

“Nope. Some food, some rest, a stiff drink, and they’ll be fine.” Not too much, not too little. Wulfram could detect lies better than most people Dieter knew, and Dieter rarely lied to him about anything other than Flicka.

Wulfram said, “Make sure Luca knows that they’re to have anything they want.”

Dieter smirked at him. “I don’t think anyone has ever complained about your hospitality, Wulfram.”

Even out of the corner of his eye, Dieter could see the change in Wulfram’s posture and energy. His body stiffened. His fingers twitched, almost a clench of his fists.