“I don’t owe you answers,” I begin, but he shakes his head.
“Don’t you see what’s going on here? They framed Thayer as the murderer to draw you out. The Chabert family knows that you’re a couple, and taking Thayer into custody was the best way they had to convince you to come forward. They couldn’t storm the castle and take you, not from a place as secure as Le Luxe.”
“And yet Cosette tried, didn’t she?”
“Cosette?” Lyam asks. “What do you mean?”
I tell him everything that happened. He curses and lifts his phone, sends a few messages, then returns back to me with effort. He keeps glancing at his phone.
Are Lyam and Cosette a thing?
“First things first,” he says. “Thayer put these trackers on you so I could find you if he was hurt, because that’s the only damn way he’d let you go. I know you’re in Paris, and as luck would have it, so are Fabien and Nicolette.”
I swallow hard, so overcome with emotion I can’t speak for a few moments. “We now know that someone’s tried to pose as Nicolette, likely attempting to get information from you.”
“They kept asking where I was.”
“Of course they did,” he says under his breath. “God. So we need to get you with Fabien and Nicolette as soon as possible. The Chaberts want you out of hiding, Savannah. They want you to show your face so they can kill you.”
I nod, processing all of it. “So I draw them out,” I say. “I let them think I’m not aware it isn’t Nicolette. I tell them to meet me somewhere, then we see who we’re really dealing with.”
Lyam shakes his head. “Too risky.”
“No,” I insist. “It’s the only way, Lyam. I need to testify against them and free Thayer. But I also need to make sure Nicolette is safe, and ultimately that I am, too.”
Lyam nods. “Thayer would fucking kill me, but I think it might be our only choice in this case.”
I take out my phone and send a text to Nicolette’s number.
Me:
Hey, it’s me. I’m guessing you couldn’t call, no worries! I miss you so much. It’s been a scary time. Where are you?
Nicolette:
I’m in Paris. Where are you?
Me:
Paris!!
Nicolette:
Oh perfect. I want to see you!
My heart thrums at what might happen next.
I look up at Lyam. “She wants to meet. How many are there?”
Mario speaks up. “Only two. That’s the good news. Their captain didn’t take too kindly to them murdering an officer without permission. It put their entire posse in a compromising position. So there are only two—the two you saw the night of the murder—at large. The bad news? They’re pissed off enough they’re ready to kill on sight.”
Oh, isn’t that lovely.
“How’d you find that out?”
Mario smiles in a way that makes my skin prickle. “We have eyes and ears everywhere.”
I swallow. “Okay.”
