“Victor said you were not sure it was Leo in your mind. Is he right?”
Sherry sighed. “I suppose. Still—”
“How close was he?” Basil interrupted.
“What?” she asked with confusion.
“How close was the person you saw that you thought might be Leo?”
Sherry hesitated and shook her head. “I’m not sure. He was on the other side of the parking lot, by the service center.”
“And we were in the van, about two hundred feet away,” he said dryly. “Sherry, you are mortal, with mortal eyesight. There is no way you could have been able to tell more than that someone with blond hair was there. From that distance it would have been hard to tell if they were even male or female unless they were very curvy or wearing gender appropriate clothes. What were they wearing?”
“Jeans and a T-shirt,” she said unhappily.
He arched one eyebrow at that. “In today’s society everyone seems to wear jeans and T-shirts. For all you know it could have been a woman you saw at the service center,” he pointed out, and then asked, “Was he alone?”
“Yes. No. I don’t know,” she said with frustration. “I didn’t see anyone with him.”
“So you saw someone with long blond hair?” he asked. “And immediately thought of Leo?”
Sherry nodded.
“That is not surprising. He would have been firmly on your mind after what happened the day before in your store. But it might not have been him,” he pointed out.
“But he’s here,” she countered. “At least, he was in London. It has to have been him.”
“Actually, no, it doesn’t,” Victor said from the door, and Sherry glanced to the man sharply.
“Victor,” she breathed unhappily. “I’m sorry. I—”
“There is nothing to apologize for,” he assured her, moving into the room and easing the door closed. “That is why I came up, to apologize for what Elvi said. She does not mean it. She is just upset.”
“Of course she is,” Sherry said wearily. “You two basically adopted Stephanie, from what I can tell, and now she’ll have to leave and it’s all my fault.”
“No,” he said solemnly. “It isn’t, and Elvi will realize that and feel bad for what she said the moment she calms down.” He hesitated and then added, “And Basil is right, it may not have been Leo you saw at the service center. We know his sons are always with him. According to Basha, he never travels without at least a couple of his sons at his side. In fact, the only time he has been without them was when we captured a handful of his boys and he was trying to free them. So, if you did not see any of the other Leos at the service center, then it probably was not him that you saw, just someone who looked like him or reminded you of him.”
Sherry bit her lip, but then pointed out, “Maybe, but then if I’d just remembered seeing him at the mall today, you would have known not to come back here, and Stephanie wouldn’t have to leave.”
“You are determined to take responsibility for this, aren’t you?” Victor said with a faint smile, and then shook his head. “You did not remember seeing him when you regained consciousness, Sherry. You still do not recall it. How could you tell us something that you do not remember?” He shook his head. “No, Sherry. You hold no fault here. Leo is the only one at fault. Now,” he added, his smile fading. “You two need to pack.”
“Pack?” Basil asked.
Victor nodded. “Harper sent for his helicopter. He and Drina are taking Sherry and Stephanie back to Toronto to the Enforcer house. I assume you will want to accompany Sherry?”
“Yes, of course,” Basil said at once.
“Then pack and come downstairs. If you are quick, you might even have enough time to eat before the helicopter gets here.” Smiling wryly, he turned to the door as he added, “Otherwise the rest of us are going to be eating tacos for a week.”
Ten
“All right?”
Sherry glanced back at Basil as he followed her into Harper’s apartment. She forced a smile and nod but couldn’t resist adding, “I really don’t think I like helicopters, though.”
Stephanie patted her arm sympathetically as she moved past her into the large entry. Shrugging out of her jacket, she said, “Yeah. I didn’t care for it myself at first. But you get used to it. Sort of.” She grimaced and then admitted, “Well, not really. I still get nauseous myself, just less nauseous.”
“That sounds encouraging,” Sherry muttered, taking both her overnight bag and Basil’s from him and then moving past him and out of the way as he removed his overcoat. She didn’t have a jacket to remove. Bricker hadn’t packed her one and it wasn’t something she’d thought to buy on their trip, so she’d done without. It hadn’t been that big a deal. While it had been nice out that day, it was fall, and the temperature had dropped at night. Fortunately, she didn’t have to walk far, merely crossing the street from Casey Cottage to the schoolyard where the helicopter collected them, and then crossing the roof to enter the building here, when they landed.