Cast An Evil Eye (19 page)

Zack put his arm around her. “What did I ever do without you?” he asked. “I can’t imagine it anymore.”

“Good!” she grinned. “That’s the way I like it.” She looked toward the kitchen. “There’s a cheesecake in the freezer. Why don’t I thaw a couple of slices and we can pig out? We can’t do anything till your friends get here and that won’t be for another two or three hours. There’s nothing like a pig-out session with cheesecake and a couple of glasses of wine to calm the nerves.”

She no sooner had the cheesecake out of the freezer when the phone rang.

Zack picked it up.

It was Jay calling from the plane. “We’ll be there in a few hours,” he told Zack. “Don’t try to meet the plane. I’ve hired a limousine to meet us so we won’t have to stand in line for a taxi. We’ll drop our things off at the hotel and come right over to the apartment where you’re staying. See you soon.”

“We’ll be waiting right here,” Zack assured him.

There was a pause. “We?” Jay questioned.

“I’ll explain it all when you get here. I’m staying at someone’s apartment. It’s just around the corner from where I saw Courtney and Manny—and Lilli and Gregory. We had breakfast there. We made sure they didn’t see us. We followed them to an apartment house where they’re staying.”

“Did you speak to Courtney?”

“I spoke to her briefly inside the cafe.”

“Did Manny see you?”

“Not that I’m aware of.”

“How do you know Courtney won’t tell Manny?”

“Jay—I hate to tell you this, but she’s too spaced out to sound coherent. I really don’t think we have to worry about that. What we do have to worry about is that Manny has her believing we’re all a bunch of liars. I think you’d better warn the others so it won’t come as a shock. I’ll fill you in on everything when you get here. That can’t be too soon for me.”

“We’ll be there shortly,” Jay promised.

Zack hung up and breathed a sigh of relief. Things were progressing. Slowly. But there was so much more to do. His stomach was playing leapfrog.

“That was Jay,” he told Renee. “He was calling from the plane. They’ll be here in a few hours, depending on how long it takes them to get here from the airport.”

Renee had defrosted two large slices of cheesecake and poured two glasses of wine, which were waiting on the end tables on each side of the sofa.

Zack kicked off his shoes and stretched out in one of the recliners. He welcomed the wine that calmed his stomach.

Renee had already removed her shoes as soon as she entered the apartment. She stretched out in the other recliner beside Zack.

As they lounged side by side, they relished their cheesecake and sipped their wine. It was quiet, with only the tick tock of the clock and the sound of the crackling fire which Renee had lit with the automatic remote before she sat down. The peace of the surroundings soon lulled them to sleep.

The jangling ring of the doorbell woke them up with a start.

Zack looked at his watch. They had slept for three hours. He jumped up. “They’re here!”

He rushed to the door. “Am I glad to see you!” he greeted them. He shook hands with the men and hugged Hildy and Cammie.

Renee stood beside him, smiling. “Come in,” she invited them.

“What a lovely apartment!” Hildy exclaimed as she looked around.

Renee’s eyes lit up in appreciation. “Thank you.”

Hildy looked curiously at Renee, waiting for an explanation. “I think introductions are in order,” Jay said to Renee. “I’m Jay Stuart and this is my wife, Hildy. And this is our daughter, Cammie, and her husband, Jeremy Douglass—better known as Count Francois II. And Glen Macdonald, Courtney’s fiancé. He’s also the producer of ‘Déjà Vu’.”

Zack put his arm around Renee. “This is Renee Aumont Davis—my wife,” he said proudly. He smiled at the shocked looks on their faces.

Renee extended her hand, first to Hildy, then to Cammie. “Zack has told me so much about you. I’ve seen many of your beautiful musicals. And,” turning to Cammie, “I saw you perform in ‘The Ginger Jar.’ And now Courtney—following in the footsteps of both of you. What a talented family!” She shook hands with Jay, Jeremy, and Glen.

Hildy was the first to recover. “Zack! How wonderful! When did this happen?”

“Just a week ago,” Zack told them.

“Why didn’t you tell us?” Jay asked him.

“There wasn’t time,” Zack explained. “We decided on the spur of the moment.”

Adoration shone in Renee’s eyes as she looked up at Zack. “We were having trouble concentrating on the investigation, so—”

“Our emotions were distracting us,” Zack interrupted. “Neither one of us has been married before. It hit us so hard we couldn’t think straight. I think you know what I’m talking about.”

Jay reached for Hildy’s hand. “Yes, we certainly do. There’s nothing like it.”

“We figured we’d better get married and get ourselves settled so we could concentrate better,” Zack continued. “We were married by the Justice Of The Peace a few blocks away. The Justice is a friend of Renee’s. When he saw how much in love we were, he agreed to perform the ceremony right away.”

“We had waited so long to find each other, we felt there was no reason to wait any longer,” Renee explained.

“We knew from the moment we met that we were right for each other,” Zack told them as he gestured toward the sofa. “Please—sit down. Make yourselves comfortable.”

“Can I get you anything?” Renee asked. “Did you eat on the plane?”

“About two hours ago,” Cammie answered. “We don’t want very much. We’re too upset about Courtney.”

“How about some sherry? It will help you relax.”

“Sounds perfect,” Hildy said. She turned to Renee, puzzled. “Aren’t you the gendarme that Zack said he was working with?”

Renee stopped pouring for a moment. She had a dreamy look as she answered Hildy. “Yes. That’s how we met.”

“We’re delighted for you, Zack,” Jeremy said. “And for you, too, Renee.”

“It’s about time you found someone!” Cammie agreed.

Jeremy grew serious. “I’m sorry to change the subject,” he interrupted, “but—you say you first saw Courtney around the corner from here?”

“Yes,” Zack replied. “Renee spotted Manny first.”

“You knew him?” Jeremy was puzzled.

“I’m the police officer who sent him to prison five years ago,” Renee told him. “I posed as a customer in the night club and caught him hypnotizing people and then robbing them.”

Jay shook his head in wonder. “It must be fate that brought you two together. You have so much in common.”

Zack put his arm around Renee. “Yes,” he agreed. “She has the same uncanny gift of intuition that I have!”

“I’m surprised Manny got out of prison so soon,” Renee said, puzzled. “He was sentenced for ten years.”

Zack snorted. “I’ll bet he hypnotized the judge or the parole board. He’s very clever.”

Jay looked very sad. “What are these lies that Courtney believes we told her?” he asked.

Zack hated to tell them. It would be a terrible shock. But his common sense told him they had to know sometime. Better get it over with. He proceeded to tell them everything that Courtney had accused them of. When he finished, there was a dead silence.

“How could she believe such things?” Jeremy exploded. “She knows what happened!”

Cammie finally recovered enough to speak. “I told her the whole sordid story! Didn’t she believe me?”

Zack put a comforting hand on her shoulder. “Cammie—you’re forgetting—she’s under hypnosis. She’s not responsible for what she’s thinking. Manny has done a real job on her. It has nothing to do with whether or not she believes you. Her thought is clouded beyond reason.” He rose and walked over to the window. Then he turned back, his face red with anger. “Damn!” he exclaimed. “We need Nate so badly. Do you have any idea when he’ll be able to travel?”

“Not for some time,” Jay replied. “By then it might be too late. We don’t even know how to get Courtney away from Manny.”

“We have to think of another way,” Zack said grimly. As he stood there thinking, he suddenly had that far away look that always crept into his eyes when his intuition was telling him something.

Jay recognized the look. “What is it, Zack?”

“I think I know what Gregory and Lilli are after,” Zack told them. He began to pace. “It’s not money. Lilli has plenty.” He sat down again and looked directly at them. “I’ll bet they want to reclaim Gregory’s title of Count, along with everything that goes with it. The Chateau in Biarritz—the Chateau in Amboise—the pomp and ceremony—people bowing and scraping—all the perks. And they’re using Courtney to accomplish it. I’m afraid they’ll do away with her once they have it. She knows too much. If she blabbed, they’d go back to jail! You can bet they’d do anything to keep that from happening!”

“I’d gladly give up my title!” Jeremy exclaimed. “It’s a hollow honor compared to losing my daughter!”

“I think you’d be putting her in more danger if you agreed to that,” Zack told him. “Remember what happened to Cammie in a similar situation twenty-one years ago. Gregory planned to kill her once he got what he wanted.”

Glen had been sitting quietly, taking it all in. But he couldn’t stay quiet any longer. He rose and walked over to Zack. “Where is this apartment building where Manny is holding Courtney?”

“About a mile from here,” Zack informed him. “We followed them to 221 Rue de la Parc. As soon as they went up in the elevator, we went into the lobby and looked on the roster. Manny is listed on it as Mario Sanchez, the alias he used before he became Manny. He’s in apartment 2B. I don’t know how long Lilli and Gregory will be there, but at least we know where Manny is staying and where Courtney is.”

“Can’t we drive around there and rescue Courtney?” Glen asked anxiously.

“That’s a bad idea,” Renee cautioned him. “We have to be careful. If he should see us he’d probably be off like a shot and take Courtney with him.”

“Now that she’s been found we can’t take any chance on blowing it,” Jeremy agreed.

Glen went back to his chair and nervously tapped his fingers on the end table. “We can’t just sit and do nothing!” he exploded. “What’s our next step?”

“I’ve been giving this a lot of thought,” Zack told him. “I haven’t come up with anything yet, but I’m working on it. I don’t mean to scare you, but she’s with some very dangerous people.” He looked at the grandfather clock in the corner. “It’s seven o’clock. We have to be careful we’re not seen, so we should stay here while we get something to eat and try to come up with some ideas. Renee, what do we have in the fridge?”

“I’ve got a better idea,” Glen spoke up. “Manny has no idea what I look like. Neither do Lilli and Gregory. Why don’t I go to that restaurant around the corner and bring something back? I might spy Courtney and Manny. If I should run into them, she’s the only one who would know me, and you say she’s pretty spaced out, thanks to Manny! She might not even recognize me. I think it’s safe.”

“Do you have dark glasses with you, Glen?” Renee asked him.

Glen pulled them out of his pocket.

“I suggest you wear them,” Renee advised him. She handed him a visored cap that she sometimes wore to shield her eyes from the bright sun. “Here,” she said. “Wear this, too.”

Glen nodded. “I’ll be back shortly.” He put on his jacket, donned his dark glasses and the visored cap, pulled it part way down to shade his eyes, and left.

“I think we all need a little something to soothe our nerves,” Renee announced. She went over to the wet bar at the back of the room. “What would you like? I have the makings of everything here. Name your sedative,” she joked, trying to put a light touch on a most difficult situation.

“Our stomachs are rather empty,” Jay said, “so why don’t we all settle for a small aperitif?”

Zack walked over and took down some small, dainty glasses from the cabinet.

Renee filled them with some special port.

They sat there sipping, and waiting for Glen to return.

CHAPTER XXIX
 

G
len walked briskly around the corner to the outdoor cafe. He glanced briefly at the tables as he passed by, doing his best to act unconcerned.

No Courtney.

He entered the cafe.

No Courtney there, either.

He approached the maitre’d. “I’d like to order seven dinners to go,” he told him.

“Oui, Monsieur,” he replied, handing him a menu. “What would you like?”

Glen scanned it, at the same time exercising his peripheral vision to watch for Courtney if she should happen to appear on the scene.

While the dinners were being prepared and packaged, Glen walked over to the door and looked out. He was so angry with Manny he had hard work to keep from walking to the apartment building where Zack said she was and demanding that they release her. What was that address? Oh, yes. 221 Rue de la Parc.

No, he decided. Going there could only make things worse. The last thing he wanted to do was to endanger Courtney’s life, or frighten her abductors into fleeing and taking her with them.

As he pondered this, the maitre’d motioned to him that the meals were ready. He gave him his credit card and signed the tab.

He walked outside carrying the meals packed neatly in individual boxes and put into two huge plastic bags with handles.

He looked around again.

Still no Courtney.

His spirits began to spiral downward. What if we don’t find her? What if we do and she won’t listen to us? Worse still—what if Manny harms her before we can get her away from him?

And the bottom line—what does he want with her, anyway? Could Zack be right? Does Gregory want his title of Count back, and is he using Courtney to get it? His mind was spinning with questions.

While they were still on the plane on their way to Paris Cammie had filled him in on what had happened to her and Hildy years ago. “You have a right to know,” she told him. “You’re going to be part of our family.”

“You think what happened to you and Hildy is happening now to Courtney?” He shook his head in bewilderment. “Déjà vu! All three of you! Only you weren’t hypnotized.”

Cammie’s eyes filled with tears. “Well, we were in a way. We were completely taken in—first by Gregory Wilcox, Sr., then by Gregory, Jr. and Countess Lilli. It took some doing to convince us that they were up to no good. I just hope Courtney wakes up before it’s too late.”