Chapter Twenty-One
Asher
I woke up to the sound of my phone vibrating somewhere in the room. Lilah was still fast asleep next to me. Groggily, I leaned over the edge of the huge canopy bed trying to reach my pants lying on the floor with the phone buzzing incessantly in one pocket. I half crawled, half fell out of the bed. Luckily, the rug in the floor was thick and plush, so there wasn't much of an impact or noise to wake the sleeping beauty beside me. I fumbled around with the pants and eventually managed to extricate the phone. Just before I answered, I glanced at the time. It was just after 4:00 in the morning.
“Hello?” I mumbled, still half-asleep but also trying to be quiet.
“Mr. Sinclair? It's Alan Weiss, head of security.”
I sat up straight, immediately feeling more awake. I quickly scrambled to my feet and headed for the bathroom so I could talk without being too loud.
“Alan, hi. Sorry, it's really early in the morning on this side of the world. I didn't recognize your voice. What’s going on?”
“I completely understand, sir. Listen, I'm gonna cut straight to the chase: there's been a break-in at your building.”
“What?! When?”
“We're here now, sir. The silent alarms went off 15 minutes ago. By the time we arrived, the perp had already fled the scene.”
If I hadn’t been awake before, I was on full alert now.
“What did they do? Did they steal anything? Any idea what they were after?”
“We're not sure yet. Whoever it was, they knew what they were doing. We've discovered tailor-cut photos taped over the security camera lenses to match the areas being surveyed. Whoever did this had done their homework—they knew where all the security cameras were and the exact view each security camera had.
“On a quick review of the footage, our best guess so far is that the intruder snuck in about an hour ago, slipped the photos in front of the cameras, and then calmly went about their business. They eventually triggered the silent alarm—the one that only you and I know of, sir—but like I said, by the time the onsite guards made it to the top floor, there was no one around.”
I sighed. This could be bad—stock plunging bad. There was a lot of sensitive information in those top floor offices. I didn't care about anything material being stolen, aside from a few fairly priceless historical relics in my office, but the theft of that data could bring my company to its knees.
“I'll call my pilot right now and be there as soon as possible, Alan.”
“All right, boss. We'll keep searching for the intruder. Maybe we can find something.”
“Get the best private investigators you can hire. We're going to need more than just the cops' help to solve this one.”
“I'm on it. Have a safe flight back, Mr. Sinclair.”
“Thanks, Alan. I’ll see you as soon as I get there.”
I cut off the call and shoved my hand through my hair, frustration setting in. This wasn’t good. I slowly opened the bathroom door and glanced across the room at Lilah as she slept peacefully and I wondered if she was dreaming of me. I hoped so.
I sighed. I hated that I had to leave. I'd been looking forward to spending the next two days with her, sightseeing, wining and dining her all across Paris, following through on what Colonel Tanaka had told me: show her your heart and leave the rest up to her. But this was an emergency, and I had to get back immediately.
I dialed my pilot's number, and he answered with a sleepy mumble.
“G-g-good morning, sir,” he managed to get out.
“Sorry to wake you, Zach, but I’m going to need you to get out of bed, get to the airport, and get the plane ready ASAP,” I said.
“N-now?”
“Yeah, now. We have no time to lose. It's an emergency.”
There was urgency in my voice, and I could hear that it was waking him up.
“Yes, sir,” he responded, with far more readiness this time. “We'll be ready to fly as soon as possible. See you there.”
My next call was to my driver, instructing him to stop by my hotel and pick up my clothes and belongings from my room. Then, I gave him the address of my current location and told him to pick me up from this hotel after he was done.
I then googled and called up a local chauffeur company for tourists.
“BD Chauffeurs, how can I help you?”
“Hi. I'd like a private chauffeur for the next two days. Luxury vehicle, on-call 24/7.”
“Certainly, sir. We currently have a senior driver with a Mercedes S-class available if that suits you?”
“Perfect.”
I gave them Lilah's details and told them to pick her up from the hotel when she called them.
I padded into the room and sat down on the edge of the bed, looking down at Lilah. I couldn't stop myself from leaning over and planting a gentle kiss on her forehead as she slept. She smiled in her sleep and then rolled onto her side. She was lost in the land of dreams. As much as I wanted to wake her, kiss her, and explain what was going on, I thought it would be best to let her sleep. I tiptoed back to the bathroom where I showered and freshened up before heading back into the bedroom where I got dressed in the previous night's clothes. I'd get into a fresh suit in the limo. It was spacious enough to get changed in.
I wrote a note for Lilah explaining the situation and giving her the details of the chauffeur company. I also told her I would have loved to have personally shown her around Paris but, because of the circumstances, she'd have to see it on her own.
I left her a company credit card and instructed her to use it to purchase a first-class ticket back home when the time came and for any incidentals and meals she might need. I also asked if she’d let me know when her flight would be set to arrive in the States so I could arrange for my driver to pick her up from the airport.
As if on cue, my phone buzzed as I was finishing up the note—my driver alerting me that he was waiting downstairs.
I gave Lilah one last kiss on her forehead, then quietly left the room.