“How are you here? Why aren’t you in custody?” the woman growled.
“Who the hell are you?” Ben growled back.
“Detective Babineaux. Answer my question!” she barked.
“I’m done answering quest-” Ben began loudly when Tina interrupted him.
“Chief Inspector Antoine Boucher said Ben was not the man the police were looking for. He set Ben free! If you want to question your boss feel free to speak with him. Until then you may leave us alone please!” Tina asserted.
Ben looked at Tina with a proud smile. Then he looked over at Lucy who was sniffling. “Are you Ok?” he asked.
“I just want to go home!” she begged looking at Ben pleadingly.
“Then let’s make that happen.” Ben said kindly, holding out his hand.
Lucy picked up her pack, slipped around the detective and seized Ben’s hand like a lifeline.
Babineaux stepped right up to Ben and looked him in the eye. The woman was almost his height. “I don’t know how you fooled Boucher and I don’t know how you’ve convinced these women to defend you but I know who you really are Kirion and I will take you down. Know this!”
“Lady, you have the wrong guy and while you’re wasting your time with me the real Kirion is out there… doing bad things.” Ben growled.
Chanel spat in his face and quickly stepped back waiting for him to attack.
There was a tense moment then Ben held out a hand to Tina. She placed one of her ever present cleaning wipes in his hand and he used it to wipe the spit from his face.
When he was done he fixed a cold stare directly into the detective’s eyes. “Your boss is going to receive a call from me now. You have moved from being merely annoying to assaulting me. It’s clear you’re becoming unstable. Unstable people who carry weapons are a risk to the public. Maybe you should go speak with him. Convince him otherwise.” Ben’s voice was calm but very cold. He was obviously restraining himself with great effort.
Chanel ground her teeth then her eyes caught sight of someone long dead. Her reason for going after Rapava so fiercely. Her face froze with a look of shock as the apparition moved towards her. Tall, fair skinned, white blond hair to her shoulders, fine features, lush lips, and those beautiful blue eyes that looked right into her soul. Babineaux came undone, took a step back then turned and fled before the ghost of her past could reach her.
Ben watched the detective push open the side door and rush outside. He looked back at Catherine who was approaching with Gabriella.
“Who was that?” Cat asked him.
“I was going to ask you that very question as she was looking at you like she knew you.” Ben said. When Catherine shrugged he shook his head. “She said her name was Detective Babineaux. She was rather upset I’d been released. She still thinks I’m this Kirion guy.”
“She spat in Ben’s face to get him to attack her!” Tina blurted.
Gabriella and Catherine made angry sounds then they noticed the young woman hiding behind Ben holding his hand.
Ben became aware of her again as well. He gently pulled her forward. “This is Lucy. We’re going to help her get home.”
Gabriella and Catherine both smiled and introductions were made as they all walked back to the bags and the other travelers in their group.
“We’re all checked in. We have the top floor to ourselves. All the rooms are ours. We can go up now. Then you can make the arrangements to get Lucy home.”
“Is that ok with you?” Ben asked the young woman.
“Yes, that sounds very ok.” she replied with a timid smile.
They took the elevators up to the top floor and Gabriella led Ben to his room. Catherine led the others to their rooms. Gabriella had arranged the largest suite for Ben as he was paying for the trip. Ben looked around the lushly appointed room in awe. He immediately kicked off his shoes at the door. The carpet in the living room looked like it was handmade and a work of art in itself.
“This is too much for me! Uh… where’s the bed? Does the sofa fold out?” he asked as he took in the beautiful sitting area.
Gabriella rolled her eyes and grinned as she walked over to a set of sliding panels cleverly disguised as frosted windows and slid them apart. Behind them was a huge four poster bed on a raised platform. Ben’s eyebrows went up in surprise. He walked in and there was a door beyond the bed that led to an amazing ensuite bathroom with a huge soaker tub and a large shower with jets like he’d installed in his own bathroom at home. He was impressed. The room was a little… ok, way over the top but the bed looked inviting.
First thing first though. He had to arrange to get Lucy home.
He walked back out to the sitting room and saw her staring at the bed with wide eyes.
“You’ve booked the entire top floor and they all look like this?” she gasped.
Ben looked at Gabriella who smiled. “Well, they’re not quite as opulent as this room but they’re all very nice.”
There was a rapid knock on his door and Gabriella opened it. Daniel and Miriam rushed into Ben’s room with excited grins on their faces. Their eyes popped as they took in how fancy Ben’s room was. “Mom! Our rooms are awesome!” Daniel gushed. The kids grabbed her hands and tugged at her to follow them. With a happy smile back at Ben the mother let her kids pull her away.
Ben sat down on the couch and pulled his notebook out of his shoulder bag. He flipped it open and grimaced at the oily fingerprints on his keyboard. He pulled out a wipe from a packet in the bag and cleaned the keys. He hated other people using his computer. Not that it was likely they got beyond the login screen. One of his customers installed military grade encryption and login authorization on it for him. He entered his password, swiped his finger across the biometric reader, and looked into the camera for it to map his face. Then he was in. He logged into the hotel’s WiFi after his firewall said it was safe to do so and pulled up a travel website to book a flight.
He motioned for Lucy to sit next to him. “Where’s home, Lucy? How long have you been away?”
Lucy sat and stared at Ben then looked away. “Phoenix, Arizona. At least it was up until I was eighteen. That was when my step-dad told me to put out or get out. I told my mom and she blew up and called me all kinds of nasty names and said I was lying. I had my inheritance from my grandmother so I just bought a ticket to Amsterdam and left. I’ve been doing odd jobs, moving from place to place and living off the inheritance when I had to for the past five years. I haven’t spoken with my mother since the day I left.”
“Maybe you should give her a call before you show up on her doorstep.” Ben suggested.
“Could I?” Lucy asked.
Ben flipped his phone on and handed it to the girl. He gave her the country codes to dial the States and she dialed her home. When it started to ring she stood up and walked to the window. Ben tried not to listen but the room was quiet and he heard her side of the call.
“Mama? It’s Lucy… Yes… I’m sorry to call at this time in the morning… It has been a long time. I’m sorry I didn’t call before… I’m sorry… Mama, I want to come home… No Mama I’m not in trouble. Can I come home?… Don’t say that! Please! Don’t say that-… Mama? Hello?”
Lucy pulled the phone back from her head and stared at it in shock and disbelief. Ben had actually heard the final angry yells of the woman on the line at the end. He picked up that the call hadn’t gone well and her Mom had hung up on her. She wasn’t going to receive a welcome home.
Ben stood up and walked over to the young woman. “Are you ok, Lucy?”
She handed the phone back and spoke with a voice gone hollow. “I won’t be needing to make any more calls home because I no longer have one. Mama- that woman told me I’m no longer her daughter.” Reality caught up with her and the tears started flowing. She’d always held the hope that one day she’d be able to mend that relationship and go back to her mother but the impossibility of that had just been made crystal clear. Ben opened his arms and she turned in to his chest as the flood gates opened. Lucy cried in huge sobs which shook her body. Ben just let her cry as he gently held her in his arms.
Gabriella opened Ben’s door and peeked inside when she heard the girl crying. Ben gave her a sad look and she came into the room with Megan in tow. They took a seat on the couch and waited quietly as the girl got it out of her system.
A few minutes later they heard her sobs begin to abate and soon she moved into the sniffle stage where Ben was able to pull back slightly.
“Feeling a little better?” he asked gently.
She nodded and glanced over at Gabriella and Megan who both had sympathetic looks on their faces.