Epilogue
THE NEXT MORNING IT WAS AROUND eleven thirty, that dead time after breakfast and before lunch, when Javert showed up on the terrace. Along with Rocco.
"Good morning." Rachel went over to them as if they were any other customers. "We're still serving the breakfast menu." She pointed to the card on the table, realizing too late it had the rental sticker on it. Oh well, what the fuck. Literally.
"We'll both get the croissants, and some coffee," Javert said.
"No over easy?"
"Not right now. We'd like to talk, if you're not too busy." All the other tables were empty.
"I, uh, do a lot of the work in the kitchen before lunch. I can't just sit out here and talk with you. I'm close to getting fired as it is. If they see me goofing off..."
With that, she went inside to place their orders.
"Isn't that Rocco?" Elise whispered when she got into the kitchen. "He's got a lot of fucking nerve. Who's the other one?"
"Inspector Javert?"
"Javert? You've got to be kidding me. What do they want?"
"Who knows? They want to talk to me, but I'm working."
"Tell them you have a lunch break at two. If they want to wait that long."
"Or they can rent you." That was from Tony, the head chef. "But we all get to watch. I want to see Mata Hari in action."
Mata Hari. She'd told Elise everything, babbling out an incoherent confession, but apparently that had been a mistake. Now she had a new nickname. One that was going to be hard to get rid of.
"Just don't leave any dead bodies."
That parting shot as she walked back out with the coffee and pastries.
"I can talk to you if you rent me." With that, she set down the tray and turned around to go back into the kitchen. A tug on the back of her little apron stopped her.
"We can't just, like, pay you the rates and just talk?" That from Rocco. He had come over wearing clothes, running shorts and a tank top.
She shook her head and headed back into the kitchen. Another tug on the apron, so hard it almost fell off.
"What?"
"How about you give me a blow job, or at least pretend to?"
"How about I bite your fucking balls off? Fifty euros, up front. And it's five minutes and that's it. Pull your fucking shorts down." She hated doing this on the terrace. There was a nice soft carpet in the restaurant to cushion her knees, but the terrace was all terrazzo. Slippery if it ever rained. "Wait." She retrieved a couple of napkins to use as pads.
"First, I want to say how sorry I am."
She had all of his prick and balls in her mouth, not that much of a challenge when he was limp. She bit down a little to let him know she was not pleased with that remark.
"You fucking set me up." She withdrew to spit that out. He was getting hard. She didn't know if she should be flattered or totally offended.
"Sit on my lap so we can talk."
She couldn't bear to face him, sitting that close. Instead, she turned around to squat down, and he actually had the gall to impale her. "So what do you want to talk about? You have," she glanced at her watch, "three and a half minutes left."
"I didn't set you up. Not exactly."
"Bullshit. Did you really swim back from the yacht?"
"Well yes, but it wasn't quite as far. They brought me in close to shore."
"To get me?"
"Sort of."
"Sort of?" His balls were sticking out on the chair seat. She punched them as hard as she could.
"No dead bodies." That from the kitchen reminded her that people were watching. Probably the entire kitchen staff.
"You were supposed to be there to begin with. The sheikh saw you on the last show, the one that got hacked, and he assumed you had joined the group. He was very disappointed when you didn't show up on the yacht. And weren't you ready to do anything to save your friends?"
"Maybe not that. So you knew that I was going to be kidnapped?"
"Nestor told me that it was important that we keep things going."
"Nestor? What the fuck does Nestor have to do with it?
Mon Dieu!
Speak of the devil!"