“Come, join me,” he said, motioning toward the outdoor seating area near the pool. He moseyed over there, and they followed. What other choice did they have, really?
“Would you like anything to drink? Sparkling water? Wine? Ouzo, perhaps? Or maybe you’re a raki man?” the man asked.
“What is this? Cocktail hour?” Theo said, sarcastically.
The man snickered. “Call it whatever you like. Maurice,” he said, motioning with his hand overhead for the taller man to come over. “Can you please get us a bottle of the Dom Pérignon from the cellar?”
Dani didn’t know much about wine—she was more of a michelada sort of chica, herself—but she knew enough to know Dom Pérignon wasn’t something that would be sitting next to the Monarch vodka on the bottom shelf at the gas station.
“Yes, boss,” Maurice said with a teensy bow before walking away.
“Are you hungry?” Frenchie then asked.
She was, actually. But what if he tried to poison them? When neither she nor Theo answered, Frenchie called over to Stocky. “And, Louis, bring us something to eat.”
Once both Maurice and Louis were away, Frenchie settled into his chair and took in a deep breath, as if he was savoring a delightful moment.
“Who are you?” Dani finally asked.
“Do you really not know? Not even a guess?” the man responded.
Dani certainly had no clue, but Theo took him in, scanning his face and surroundings before saying, “You’re Jean-Luc Monfils. Or should I say, Pierre Vautour?”
“Voilà!” he said with a flourish of his hand.
Well, that was easy.
“Um,” Dani said, interrupting their moment and raising her hand. “I’m sorry, but should I know who you are?”
“He’s a notorious artifact smuggler,” Theo answered, not taking his eyes off Pierre.
“I prefer antiquities enthusiast,” Pierre responded, looking smarmy and smug.
“Yeah, anenthusiastwho tricks people into working for him and then steals the artifacts they uncover so he can sell them in the illicit trades,” Theo said very matter-of-factly.
Pierre waved his hand in front of him and rolled his eyes. “I’m no different from the British Museum.”
“At least the British Museum isn’t in hiding,” Theo retorted.
“You say that as if that’s somehow better,” Pierre said with an air of superiority.
He had a point.
“What are you doing here? I thought you were dead,” Theo said to Pierre.
“Funny. I believe that many say the same about you.”
“Yeah, except I’m sure you’re the one responsible for people thinking I’m a goner. What about you? Rumor was that you’d died in the Amazon after that blown Moon City expedition.”
Oh my God, he’s THAT guy?
Dani remembered reading about that expedition in the news over a year ago. An expedition to a real lost city ending indeception and a scuffle in the Amazon rainforest. She wouldn’t haven’t been able to recall his name had she been asked earlier, but now that she heard it, yes, he was the man behind the whole thing. And the subject of an international manhunt thereafter.
Holy shit.This was wild!
Dani watched with fascination. Theo, Eddie, and Dani had had some fun adventures back in the day, but this was next level. She could picture their families together at the dining table, with everyone in stitches when they recounted the story of when they were on a school field trip to Chicago and somehow ended up in Milwaukee on their way home rather than Grand Rapids. Or the time they went on a kayaking trip and Eddie lost his bag so by the time they made it home, his chones were threadbare. How would they ever top this one?
Ifthey got out of it, that was.
