He heard crying and turned around. The three girls with hoods on their heads were huddled in the corner. Ben walked over to them. They shrieked when he touched them.
“Shhh! It’s ok, the police have arrived. We will get you home.” They froze when he said that. He saw their hands were zip tied and had nothing to cut them loose with. The hoods just had string ties so he was able to undo those and pull the hoods off. They blinked in the bright light of the room and looked up into his kind eyes. They threw themselves against him and cried. One was speaking French but the other two were speaking a language Ben didn’t recognize at all. They looked alike so maybe they were sisters.
The police busted into the room, pushing the corpse to the side and started yelling… something. Ben raised his hands and two burly men grabbed him and pulled him back from the young women. Ben continued to reassure the young frightened girls. The police cuffed him and left him on his stomach on the floor. He sighed. The two ladies from the bedroom were screaming something to the police and crying. The officers looked at him and one knelt down by his head.
“You are American?”
Ben relaxed. “Yes.”
“What is your name?”
“Ben Shepherd.”
“What were you doing here?”
“I was having dinner in a nice Lebanese restaurant. I went to use the washroom and got locked out. I ended up in an alley. The only door that opened brought me to this room. I- I don’t remember much between that and finding the two ladies in the bedroom. My friend is still in the restaurant. A beautiful brunette woman in a gorgeous green dress. Her name is Gabriella Wallace.”
“We will check your story. Did you kill these men?” the officer asked.
“I… I don’t know. I have… holes in my memory,” he explained.
“Convenient.”
“Not really. It’s frightening, actually,” Ben sighed.
The officer barked something and the two larger men helped Ben to his feet and led him out. Once he was out on the street he saw he was in the building next to the restaurant. He spotted Gabriella behind the police barricade and the officer who questioned him went over to speak with her. They pushed Ben into the back of a police car. Someone rushed up and took a picture of Ben looking out the window. He leaned back and closed his eyes.
Great. That was just what he needed.
It was six the following morning when Gabriella and Ben were dropped off at the hotel. It had taken a concerted effort of Gabriella, Chief Inspector Boucher, and a statement from Ben’s psychologist to clear up his involvement in the incident. As he was going to be staying in Cannes for the next few days they were assured he wasn’t going to leave immediately. He was cleared of any criminal charges as he had been unarmed, his hands had no traces of gunpowder residue, and he’d been in a life or death situation. It had clearly been self defense.
There was also the matter that he’d become something of an instant media celebrity and hero as he’d saved the girls from a horrible fate. The slightly out of focus shot of Ben looking sad in the back seat of the police car was sold to a number of media outlets who scrambled to get the story out first. It hit the Internet in record time.
Two of the girls rescued had come from a prominent Russian family. The police weren’t sure if the twins were being held for ransom or were destined for the sex trade as slaves. The French girl had just been a tourist visiting with her family. The families were immediately reunited with their children and were overjoyed. At the pleading of the twins the Russian father immediately added pressure to see their liberator freed. The police were shocked by the speed at which the politicians became involved.
When Ben and Gabriella arrived on the floor they headed straight for his room. They closed the blinds, got undressed, and climbed under the covers. They were asleep in seconds.
Catherine knocked on Gabriella’s door at 8AM to head down for breakfast. She heard Miriam’s voice asking who it was so she announced herself and Miriam opened the door. Both Daniel and Miriam were ready to go to breakfast so down they went. They were soon joined by her daughters but there was no sign of Ben or Gabriella.
Rachel smiled knowingly at her mother and she smiled back.
It was Daniel, returning from the washroom through the restaurant, who saw the TV displaying the image of Ben sitting in the police cruiser. He froze in shock then went racing out to the tables to tell Catherine that Ben was on TV.
The entire party rushed inside and asked for the sound on the TV to be turned up. Catherine and her daughters listened carefully then relaxed as they heard he wasn’t under arrest but was actually being called a hero for rescuing some girls from captivity. Catherine sent everyone back to the tables to finish breakfast then went upstairs to see if they had returned to the room.
She used her key to Ben’s room and went in. She pulled one of the drapes open slightly to let a little light in and saw Ben and Catherine both asleep. She closed the drape and left the room heading back down to the restaurant.
She let the family know that both Ben and Gabriella were upstairs sleeping. The plan for the day had changed.
It was noon when Ben woke up. Gabriella stirred and reached out to hug Ben. He caressed her arm over his chest and kissed the top of her head. She tilted her head up and he kissed her lips tenderly.
“Sorry for messing up your date night,” Ben said.
“Oh Ben, no one can say a date with you is dull!” she smiled.
He looked at the clock and sighed. “You’re missing your Nice shopping trip.”
“There’s always tomorrow,” she replied with a stretch.
The phone rang and Ben picked it up. “Hello?”
“Hello, am I speaking with Benjamin Shepherd?” a weary voice said.
“Ben Shepherd, yes. Who is this?”
“Ah, this is Chief Inspector Gilles Favreau. I am leading the investigation of Rachid Shakir and the two witnesses you liberated for us are refusing to say anything unless you are present. They are most adamant. Would it be possible for you to return to the station as soon as possible?”
“I just woke up and I haven’t eaten anything since dinner last night so can you give me an hour?” Ben asked.
“Of course! We will pick you up in front of the hotel in one hour. Thank you Mr. Shepherd,” the Chief Inspector said and hung up.
Ben groaned and slid out of bed.
“Who was that?” Gabriella asked.
“Chief Inspector Gilles Favreau. He needs me to come back to the Police Station as the two women I found in the room won’t give a statement unless I’m there. Don’t ask me why.” He scratched tiredly at his scalp and went to take his shower.
Once he moved under the spray he hissed in pain as the water ran down his body. Gabriella rushed into the room to see what was wrong and saw him looking at a red gash across his left side. It was crusted with dried blood.
“Oh my god, Ben. You were shot! How did you not notice this?” she shrieked.
“It’s just a flesh wound,” he insisted in a bad British accent and gave her a silly grin.
She looked at him angrily.
“Really? You didn’t get that Black Knight reference?” Ben frowned unhappily. “It was the perfect opportunity to use it!”
“Ben! Be serious! You were shot!” she scolded him.
“It looks like it just grazed me. That will need a big bandage,” he said examining the wound. It wasn’t deep but it was about six inches long. He had been lucky.
He gave himself a shake. He was running out of time and still needed to eat. Gabriella helped wash him and Ben dried himself off while she took her shower.
He smiled at their comfort with doing these domestic activities together. She caught his happy smile and smiled back.
Gabriella taped some gauze over his new wound when she got out of the shower. Ben dressed and gave her a kiss as he hustled downstairs to get some food. He took a table in the far corner of the restaurant, ordered a beef stew dish and asked them to hurry as he had to leave in thirty minutes.
He looked across the room at the television just as his face appeared on the screen. His jaw dropped in dismay as he saw the heading ‘Mystery Hero’ printed underneath.
Ben noticed two well-dressed young women staring in his direction. He pretended to be looking at something on his phone but that didn’t deter them from getting up and walking over to his table.
The taller of the two said something to him in French and he made an apologetic gesture. Her friend slapped her arm. “American!” she growled. She took over speaking for them.
“That is you on TV, yes? You are the hero!” the woman gushed.
“Yes, that’s me but I’m not a hero. Just in the wrong place at the right time,” he growled and they grinned excitedly.
“May we take our picture with you?” the tall one asked.