One Night in Monaco - Blair Babylon Page 0,22
would have investigated an inert person on the floor, assumed to be falling-down drunk. That sort of unsavory inebriate would have been removed to a private room.”
Roxanne nodded. She’d been to several high-society events and venues since she’d married Casimir, and drunks who embarrassed themselves were quietly led away from the party. Yes, security would have removed him if they had thought he was drunk or stoned.
Arthur mused, “Finding a dead body would cause a commotion even in the Monte Carlo casino. So, if Maxence wasn’t killed there and he wasn’t still in there, he must have left somehow. He was inside for less than two hours that we know of, and we did find an image of him on the video monitors during that time. If he hadn’t left, we would have seen him within those three hours.”
“So, if you were Simone,” Roxanne asked them, “where would you take Maxence? What hotel would you stay in?”
Arthur blinked. “Estebe Fournier wouldn’t stay in a hotel. He’s paranoid, and he has an enormous mega-superyacht that I would bet is anchored off the coast. It’s one of the largest in the world. It’s twice the length of a football pitch and looks like an aircraft carrier. She must have been ferried to shore on one of the tenders because that ostentatious monstrosity is far too large to dock at Port Hercule. They would have taken Maxence back to the ship the same way, on one of their landing tenders.”
“And then, they pulled up anchor,” Gen said, frowning. “If I had a captive on board, I’d sail away.”
Arthur nodded. “It might take them some time to get that beast moving, though.”
“Jesus, Arthur,” Casimir said, nearly panting. His heart was flailing in his chest under Roxanne’s hand, and she was still clasping Casimir’s fingers. She held onto him more tightly. He said, “Maxence has been taken prisoner or hostage or whatever. Maxence. I swear to God, if Pierre engineered this, even if it is just for a few days, I’ll kill him. I will take him apart with my bare hands.”
Roxanne was missing something, but she could tell that Casimir was vibrating with violence. He was ready to punch a wall.
“Yes, Pierre does know just how to turn the knife in someone’s back, doesn’t he?” Arthur mentioned lightly.
Roxanne grew more worried.
Arthur told Casimir, “Don’t sully your hands with him. If that’s the case, I’ll call in favors, and I’ll make sure it hurts. We need to go down to the marina to question people, to see if anyone saw a tender take Maxence and Simone Maina back to Fournier’s yacht last night.”
Chapter Nine
Métropole Shopping Monte-Carlo
Gen
That morning, Gen and Roxanne meandered around the Métropole Shopping Monte-Carlo shopping mall, dubbed the “Billionaire’s Shopping Center,” well before the shops were to open at ten.
Only a few people strolled the mall at that hour, a few early-rising tourists in shorts and baseball hats and some hotel employees getting off the night shift.
Four men wearing dark suits lingered on the benches or leaned against walls, watching from behind mirrored sunglasses.
Someone famous or royal must also be window shopping early, Gen mused, and had brought their private security with them.
Gen told Roxanne, “I do not like that those two buckeroos swanned off to the port without us.”
Roxanne nodded. “It was ungentlemanly to leave us at the hotel while they ran off and searched for Maxence.”
Gen nodded. She had known that Roxanne was solid and would agree with her about the men. “Still, we would have slowed them down.”
Roxanne sighed. “Between my short legs and the earl in there,” she pointed at Gen’s burgeoning belly, “we definitely would have slowed them down. Have you decided what to name him yet?”
“Sam-Houston,” Gen said, grinning. “Hyphenated. We can call him Sam for short.”
“Sam-Houston Finch-Hatten,” Roxanne said, trying it out. “That’s quite a mouthful.”
“As big as Texas,” Gen said, and Roxanne nodded along with her, again, solid like that.
Roxanne gestured toward a store window. Inside, diamond jewelry caught the light and sparkled like a laser show. “Holy malony. Did you see these rocks? It would serve the guys right if they left us alone and we went shopping for diamonds.”
They marveled over the opulent gems and jewelry in the windows of the shops for a while and then sat down for a second breakfast at the patisserie in one arm of the center. The morning sunlight streamed through the skylight, ricocheted off the two enormous crystal chandeliers hanging in the mall, and threw spangles