Countermeasure (25 page)

Trevor swallowed his frustration and quickly caught up with her. They made their way down the street, crossing the bridge toward the Île de la Cité—a natural island in the very center of the city of Paris.

Cassandra stopped abruptly and turned to Trevor, nodding toward the beautiful gothic church in front of them. “She’s there. Inside Sainte-Chapelle.”

Thankfully, the line to enter the massive historical building was short. Within minutes, they made their way through the patio following the flow of tourists into the larger Upper Chapel. Trevor held open the big heavy wooden door for Cassandra. Once inside, they moved out of the way, just long enough for their eyes to adjust to the dim lighting.

They scoured the area quickly and checked the tourists both standing and sitting along the walls. Not finding Allison, they headed for the Lower Chapel—a smaller chapel dedicated to the Virgin Mary. As soon as Cassandra’s eyes adjusted, she began walking down the middle of the barren sanctuary. She sensed Trevor following behind her through the large narrow area bordered by tall painted columns in red and blue. Fleur-de-Lis in gold peppered the blue columns and gold images of the cathedral itself dotted the red ones.

The hush of the place was humbling and brought back memories of Sundays when her mother would take her to church. For a moment, Cassandra was distracted by the painful memories. They didn’t happen very frequently anymore, but when they did her heart always splintered.

Trevor stepped up next to Cassandra and joined her in searching the faces of the nearby tourists for Allison’s. He caught a glance of Cassandra’s profile when she lowered her head and noticed a tear running down her cheek. The unexpected sign of fragility was like a punch to his gut, and all his pent-up anger toward her dissipated. Concerned, he reached for her hand, leaned in, and whispered next to her ear, “Are you okay?”

Cassandra closed her eyes and quickly brushed the tear from her cheek. “I’m good.”

“Are you sure? Do you want to step outside?”

“No. I am okay. Really.” Cassandra pulled herself together and redirected their focus. “She’s changed her appearance. Look for black hair. She was wearing a floral-print dress.”

Trevor glanced at the different groups of tourists huddled in whispered conversation. Although Sainte-Chapelle was a popular tourist spot, with its beautiful stained-glass windows and gothic architecture, traffic was fairly light that day. It shouldn’t be hard to find Allison if she was still in there.

Trevor squeezed her hand to show support. “Right. Black hair. You take the right side. I’ll take the left. I’ll meet you at the end—there, by the chain.”

Nodding, Cassandra slowly walked down the right side of the room looking over those closest to her. She concentrated on clothes and the facial features she had memorized over the last weeks. Cassandra glanced Trevor’s way and spotted him working his way down the left. They reached the end of the room and the chained area in front of the statue of Louis IX at the same time.

“It looks like we missed her,” Trevor whispered.

“I guess so,” Cassandra sighed in resignation.

When she turned to head back to the exit, she heard a sound somewhere off to her right and tilted her head slightly to see if she could hear it again. In the soft light, she noted that behind the statue of Louis IX was a small marble bench built into the wall. Cassandra heard the sound again and realized that it was a muffled sob. She stepped to look around the statue and noticed a woman sitting on the bench, hunched over, almost out of sight.

Trevor stopped abruptly to avoid running into Cassandra. When she tilted her head his curiosity was piqued by the deep concentration on her face. When she unconsciously reached out for his hand and gave it a squeeze, his heart stuttered. She then turned to meet his eyes while nodding her head in the direction of the statue and tapped her ear with a finger. It was then he noticed the sound of a woman sobbing. When he shot her a questioning look, she pulled on his hand until he reached her side.

He followed the direction of her nod with his eyes and noticed the woman hunched over with her arms wrapped around her middle. Her dark head was bowed and he could see the tears glistening in the glow of the spotlights and stained-glass windows above them. Puzzled, Trevor looked at Cassandra. She nodded again before she stepped around the statue, walked quietly toward the woman, and took a seat next to her. Startled, the woman looked up at her. Trevor now saw the reason for Cassandra’s insistence. The woman was indeed Allison. Her blonde hair had been dyed black, just as Cassandra had described.

Cassandra’s eyes softened watching the woman. She had imagined time and again her reaction to finding Allison, but since reading the files George had provided and her discussions with Trevor, more and more Cassandra had come to view Allison as a victim.

The tears and fear emanating from Allison pulled at her heart and an overwhelming need to protect her engulfed Cassandra.
Damn
. Cassandra placed her hand over the clasped ones in the woman’s lap and whispered softly, “Are you okay? Are you hurt?”

Allison appeared to want to avoid contact at all cost and, pretending not to know English, responded in broken French. Cassandra locked eyes with Trevor. She signaled him to join them and played along. “Sorry, I don’t speak French. But my husband does.”

Distracted, Allison wasn’t aware of Trevor’s approach and didn’t notice him until he was already seated next to her. Nervous now that she was boxed in, the woman jerked her hands from under Cassandra’s and moved to stand.

“Allison, wait!” Cassandra whispered.

Allison’s eyes widened. “How did you…?”

Trevor gently gripped Allison’s arm to stop her from leaving. “Allison, please sit. We just want to talk with you. We’re not here to hurt you.”

Trapped, she slowly sat and asked in a shaky tearful voice, “Who are you?”

“My name is Cassandra. Cassandra James. This is my associate, Trevor Bauer. I was in charge of security for Bristol Pharmaceuticals and the formula EXClinic was managing trials for.”

Allison gasped. “Oh my god! How did you find me? I was so careful!”

Trevor cracked a gentle smile. “Well, with the right tools and contacts, anybody can be found.”

His statement appeared to put more fear into Allison’s eyes.

“Allison, we need to talk to you about the copy you made of the formula. Do you still have it? If you do, I’d really like you to consider turning it over to us,” Cassandra said smoothly, keeping her voice low so she wouldn’t attract the attention of the tourists now milling in front of the statue.

“I can’t.”

“Did you already sell it?” Trevor asked in a gentle whisper.

“God, no! I was never going to sell it.”

“Then why did you take it?” he inquired softly, keeping the line of questioning open.

“I was promised it would benefit the sick if I did. I was a fool. Such a stupid fool.” Allison broke down in tears.

Cassandra’s glance told Trevor he should continue talking; Allison was responding to his gentleness. “Allison, tell us what happened. How did you get into this deal?”

She hesitated, then gave in. “I was contacted by a man who told me all about how this medicine will be the cure for so many diseases. He made me think that by accepting his offer, I would be helping the sick and the helpless. I was blind. I thought I could make a difference. I made the copy and flew to Italy, as instructed, where I met the contact at the designated location. But on my way to the meet I started to question everything. It had been a rushed decision based on a painful personal experience. So I decided to ask more questions. Figure out what was really going on behind the scenes. I was scared. I decided to leave the formula some place safe and went to the meeting empty handed. I’m glad I did.”

Allison grew silent, apparently lost in thought. Trevor urged her, “Go on.”

With a deep breath, she sat back and continued, “During the meeting, my contact was unable to answer any of the questions I asked, including whom he worked for and what their real intent was for the drug. He dismissed them all. Needless to say, I was upset—and mad. I had just thrown my life away and damaged my family’s reputation for nothing. When he demanded I turn over the drive with the files, I refused. Told him I didn’t have it.”

Allison took a breath and a hushed sob burst out. “He didn’t believe me, so he searched me. Then he warned me to bring the formula the next day—same time, same place.”

Tears rolled down Allison’s cheeks. Cassandra squeezed her shoulder and moved to take her hand again. “Did you take it to him?

Allison let out another sob. “No. I couldn’t go through with it. All I could think of was that it was for nothing. I would rather Bristol have the formula back. I had truly thought I was going to help innocent people. I went into hiding until I could get enough money to come to Paris.”

“Why Paris? Why didn’t you just go home?” Trevor probed.

“I was ashamed,” she whispered. “I didn’t know if Bristol or EXClinic had reported me to the police. If they had, I knew I’d go to jail. I came to Paris to rethink everything I had done, make decisions about the future. I’d always wanted to visit Paris’s beautiful cathedrals— Nôtre Dame, Sainte-Chapelle, Sacré Coeur. I thought I’d find an answer here. Paris would give me the chance to fall off the radar until I could figure out what to do.”

Allison suddenly gasped and tried to get up again. “You guys shouldn’t be around me. If you could find me, so will he. It’s not safe for you.” Allison looked lost as she pushed her way past Cassandra and moved quickly to the little wooden door tucked in the wall.

They ran after her and Cassandra caught her by the elbow. “Allison! Wait. We can help you.”

“No! You can’t!” Allison cried, jerking her arm out of Cassandra’s hand.

“We can take the formula off your hands, escort you back to the States. Prove to Bristol that you were coerced, tricked into doing what you did. You never gave up the formula. You have information, a name and description of the contact. They’d still have the advantage,” Cassandra whispered in a rush.

“I don’t know what to do. I don’t know what’s right anymore,” Allison said in a panicked voice.

“Allison,” Trevor spoke softly. “Please, think about it. We can help, make things right for you. You can trust us. Do you have your cell on you?”

“I do, why?” Allison was hesitant.

“Let me have it and I’ll program my number into your phone. All you have to do is press speed dial and you’ll be connected to us.”

She handed it over with a trembling hand and Trevor efficiently entered the number in her contacts list, associating it with the first available speed dial.

He handed her back the phone. “Press number four and you’ll reach us.”

Allison shoved the phone in her pocket. Without another word, she rushed past them and disappeared into the late afternoon crowd of tourists filling the chapel.

On the way back to
the hotel, Trevor had resumed fuming, albeit quietly, about Cassandra’s disappearing act. She had given no thought to how worried he would be, as if the conversation they’d had a few days back about being friends bore no meaning for her.

The silence between them had grown to an unbearable level. As they walked out of the elevator toward their rooms, Trevor, unable to contain his thoughts any longer, voiced them. “You don’t care one bit about me.”

Based on her quick reply, Trevor saw Cassandra knew exactly to what he was referring. “I told you already, I didn’t have time to contact or come back for you. We would have lost her. Days of surveillance down the drain! It was a miracle I ran into her in the first place.”

Trevor was quickly losing patience at her refusal to accept that following Allison without back-up had been a mistake. “All I expected was the courtesy of you telling me you were off trailing Allison so I could back you up.”

“You need to stop being obsessive about this. I did what I thought was right. I found her and came back for you. I wasn’t going to leave you there all night.” She looked at him with angry narrowed eyes. “You know what? Forget it. I don’t need this. I had to put up with the same possessive attitude from Nate. Neither of you own me.”

“Cassandra,” he said calmly. “This is not just about you not letting me know right away what was happening. You have to understand that this is about you going off on your own. You could have texted me. I’m your partner in this. I would have followed to give you back-up and, in the end, we would have saved time.”

Without a word, she turned her back to him and headed for her door. Before she could reach it, Trevor grabbed her arm and pinned her to the wall. Cassandra struggled and Trevor groaned inside at the feel of her body pressed tight against his. “Damn it, Cassandra. Hold still for a second.”

Her heart drummed rapidly against his chest and he saw her pulse beating at the base of her throat. He didn’t like using his size against her, but he needed her to understand. “This is not about obsession, and I sure as hell am not like your friend, who, by the way, sounds like an ass. This is about friends caring about friends. You said you wanted us to be friends. You wanted us to be a team, and yet you took off and never checked back with me. The next thing I knew, almost an hour had gone by and I had no clue where you were. We know there is something bigger happening behind the scenes, that Allison didn’t act alone. What if you had been hurt?”