explained. "For the cars."
"What about the tissue flowers?" Terri asked, her gaze shooting to Bastien. "I thought they were made and ready to go?"
"They are," Bastien assured her, quite relieved to be able to say that. He moved to sit on the couch next to her. "Lucern and Kate took care of it. He was complaining the day you arrived about it taking forever."
"Yes, they did make them, and it did take forever," Chris agreed, looking miserable. "But Kate's place is small. Really small. And she didn't have anywhere to store them."
"No," Terri breathed.
"What?" Bastien asked. He didn't like being the one in the dark, and her expression suggested she al¬ready had an idea of what was coming.
Chris grimaced, then nodded at Terri. "She asked me to store them."
Bastien suddenly had a thought. "Where did you store them, Chris?"
"My apartment."
"Where in your apartment?" he asked, knowing the editor's evasiveness was a very bad sign. And there was only one place that the flowers would have been damaged.
C.K. sighed, then seemed to decide there was no hope but to confess. However, he prefaced the con¬fession with an excuse. "My place isn't all that big, ei¬ther," he said.
" Where?" Terri asked wearily.
"The bathroom."
"Dear God," she moaned.
"They may still be safe."
"And the pope might be Protestant," Bastien snapped. "Why on earth would you put them in the bathroom of all places?"
"In case he ran out of toilet paper?" Vincent sug¬gested. He yawned as he entered the living room.
Bastien was less than amused. "Shut up, Vinny. Don't you have a rehearsal to go to or something?"
"No. Lucky for you, I'm free today. And don't call me Vinny."
"Lucky?" Bastien snorted.
"I put them in the bathroom because that's the only place I had room," Chris explained, drawing their attention again. "It's an old building, and the bathroom is huge compared to the bathrooms they make now."
Bastien muttered something uncomplimentary under his breath regarding the editor's intelligence. Chris heard him and flushed, then said, "She brought them over in cardboard boxes. But I put those boxes in big black garbage bags to protect them from the humidity when I showered and stuff, so they might still be okay."
Bastien glanced at Terri. She was looking to him in question, a glimmer of hope in her eyes. But he had been at the apartment. From what he had seen, the chance that Kate's flowers were still okay wasn't good. He didn't want to upset Terri until he knew for sure, though. "I'll have to go check on them."
"Do you want me to come?" Terri asked.
Bastien hesitated. He really would like her to go with him. He enjoyed her company. But the landlady had given him a hard time when last he'd gone to the editor's apartment; and if he ran into her again and she caused difficulties, Bastien might have to take control of her mind again. It would be easier if Terri weren't there for that.
"No," he said at last. "Perhaps you could wait here for Meredith's call? I'll be as quick as I can."
"Okay," she agreed promptly.
"Thanks." He stood and started out of the room.
"Bastien?" Chris called after him, bringing him to a halt in the entry. "You need the keys," the editor said, and grabbed them off the coffee table where they had sat for the past few days. He tossed them over, then added, "Would you mind picking up some more clothes for me while you're there?"
Bastien grunted and turned to leave. Whether he would or not depended on his mood. And that would depend on the state the flowers were in.
"I tried to get a hold of Kate's catering company this morning, hoping that someone would at least be there to take calls and answer questions, but of course they aren't answering the phones. If there's even any¬one there to answer the phones anymore."
"Hmm," Terri murmured into the receiver. She wasn't terribly surprised at the news. Neither was she surprised that Meredith had checked it out. The woman seemed superefficient.
"But I was able to get some information from other sources, and it would appear that any deposit Kate might have given the caterer is as good as gone. She isn't likely to see it back. Nor can she expect any service. The company is completely defunct."
"I was afraid of that."
"Yes," Bastien's secretary agreed. "So I called around to all the best caterers in town. They're all booked up, of course."
"Of course," Terri said wearily.
"However, Argeneau Enterprises does a lot of business each year in