All That Glitters (16 page)

“Andre?” Her eyes widened in disbelief. “The artist?”

“That’s right. Oh! You don’t know, do you?” He laughed as though this were all a big joke. “Andre was my mother’s butler many years ago. We thought he was dead, but you and I both know that he is still alive. It will be easy to put the blame on him.”

Cammie was in a state of shock, as surprise after surprise piled up—one on top of the other. “How can you do that if he’s not here?” she asked Francois.

“Easy. When Gabe makes the ransom call, he will disguise his voice and pretend to be Andre. Then Gabe and I will have to do away with him. Let’s see. Yes! He will commit suicide from remorse over murdering you.” He walked over to the door and put his hand on the knob.

In a desperate attempt to save herself, Cammie called out, “What about my fans? They’ll be wondering why I’m not appearing on stage!”

“You’re so naive,” Francois chuckled. “Why do you think I insisted that you quit the stage and let the whole world know? You wouldn’t do it, so I did. No one will wonder where you are. They’ll just think that when you became a Countess you dropped out of public life. When they hear of your unfortunate accident—well—you get the picture.”

“What about the people who saw us parade through the streets? They think we’re married!”

Francois sneered. “They’ll never know it was a fake wedding. With your death they will think I have become an instant widower. I have thought of everything, mon cherie.”

Cammie’s voice trembled. “Why do you have to kill me?”

He
looked at her coldly, and turned the knob. “You know
too much. I have to kill you or you’ll talk.
Your mother must suffer the way my mother and I
did. I’m leaving now. I have plans to make. There
is a television here in case you get bored. You
will be staying here until she admits her guilt.”

“She’ll never admit to something she didn’t do!” Cammie declared.

“She did do it!” he yelled, his eyes flashing with anger and hate. “My father told my mother. And your mother will admit her guilt, because if she doesn’t, she will never see you again. But as soon as she does, I’ll do away with you, anyway. You’ll suffer—all of you—for what you did to my father!”

Cammie shivered, but put up a brave front. “Zack will find me!” she told him. “He’s a great detective. He’ll know just where to look.”

Francois snorted. “Oh, did I forget to tell you? I locked Zack up in the secret room in Biarritz. That is why he wasn’t at the wedding. He will be dead before anyone finds him.”

All hope that she would be rescued drained from Cammie. A mixture of sorrow and panic overtook her. She loved Zack. He had helped her so many times, and now she had no way of helping him. “Francois, please don’t do this!” she begged.

He looked at her with contempt. “It won’t do you any good to scream. This room is soundproof. Have a nice day,” he said, and left.

Cammie stared at the locked door. She was trapped, barely able to believe this was happening. She grew up in a hurry that night. How could she ever have thought she was in love with Francois? She realized now she had just been in love with the glamour of becoming a Countess. Gone were her teenage fantasies, and in their place was stark reality! If only I had listened to Mom and Dad, she lamented, I wouldn’t be here now, a prisoner in this room.

CHAPTER XXII
 

It was still dark when Zack woke up in Biarritz the next morning. He felt as though he had been run over by a steam roller. He could barely breathe. He had taken only cat naps during the night. The clock read only four, but he couldn’t sleep any longer. He felt he had to get up and figure out where Francois had taken Cammie.

He questioned Fran yesterday for the second time, but was told he knew nothing about where the honeymoon was to take place. Zack was sure the Countess knew, but it was useless to confront her. She would only deny everything, then warn Francois. Another thing puzzled him. Gabe wasn’t here when Zack came down to breakfast. He seemed to have disappeared. Is he involved in this, too?

He decided that they should leave
right after breakfast and explore the countryside, hoping to come
up with some clue. As he pondered this, he heard
a ring on the doorbell, and the housekeeper informed Lilli
that someone was here to see her. She excused herself
and quickly exited the room.

Zack became suspicious and sneaked into the hall. He hid behind one of the pillars and watched. It was the priest who had performed the ceremony. He was dressed in jeans and a tee shirt, and his high collar was missing!

Zack recognized him immediately—an actor he had recently seen on the stage! Good Lord, he thought, the wedding was a fake! Lilli gave the man some money, and headed toward the back wing of the Chateau. Zack returned to the dining room before she could catch him spying on her. I won’t tell the others yet, he decided. They’re worried enough as it is.

By this time Hildy and Jay were seated at the table. They looked exhausted from worry and lack of sleep. Jenny and Peter joined them. With Lilli not there they could talk freely. Zack couldn’t stop blaming himself, although the others tried their best to assure him he had done everything he could.

Even Hildy, as frantic as she was, didn’t blame him. “What more could you have done?” she asked. “It’s nothing short of a miracle that you found the button that opened that panel.”

But Zack was inconsolable. “If only I had told you sooner about Andre’s fear of Francois and his mother, I might have been able to save Cammie.”

“Do you honestly think Cammie would have listened?” Jay asked. “Bsesides, you were trying to protect Andre. You had no idea something like this would happen.”

“I wish I knew why Andre is so deathly afraid of Lilli and Francois,” Zack said. “There’s a connection of some kind. It’s my guess he knows something they don’t want anyone to find out.”

“Well,” Jay said, “even if we knew, there’s no guarantee it would have stopped Cammie from going ahead with the wedding. She’s completely mesmerized by all the glamour.”

As soon as breakfast was over, they went to their rooms to finish packing. At Zack’s request, the car rental company sent one of their limousines to accommodate all five of them. After saying goodbye to Lilli and Fran, they left.

Zack got in behind the wheel. Driving, he felt, would keep his mind on something besides the blame he was placing on himself, and would help him to concentrate on what to do next. “Does anyone have any idea at all where to start looking?” he asked the others as they drove off.

For a moment no one spoke. Jay was the first to make a suggestion. “You say you ran into Andre in Nuits? Maybe we should go back there and look.”

“We’d need a plane to get there,” Zack replied. “We’ll have to come up with something else. I doubt that he’s still there, anyway. He moves around quite a bit.”

“I wonder if that’s because of his art, or because he’s afraid of Francois and his mother,” Jay said.

“Probably a little of both,” Zack replied grimly.

“Maybe Cammie isn’t in as much danger as we think,” Jenny suggested.

“I have to agree with Zack,” Peter said. “Francois is up to no good.”

Tears ran down Hildy’s cheeks. Jay, sitting in front with Zack, turned around and reached out to comfort her.

Zack was tight-lipped and determined as he spoke. “We’ll find her if it’s the last thing we do!” he declared.

“Zack, are you sure your intuition isn’t telling you where to look?” Hildy asked. “Not even a hunch?”

Zack shook his head. “After what’s happened, I’m not so sure I can trust my intuition anymore.”

“You suspected Francois all along,” Jay reminded him, “and you think you can’t trust your gut feelings? That’s absurd!”

“You’ve got to stop blaming yourself, Zack,” Hildy said. “Maybe that’s what’s getting between you and your intuition. It wasn’t your fault. Francois is a very clever man. I have to give him that, much as I hate to admit it.”

“Thanks for your vote of confidence,” Zack sighed, “but if
my intuition had only told me sooner, we might have
avoided all this. I want you to try and think
of something—anything you may have seen or heard that might
be a clue. Think! Any small thing could be very
important.”

They were silent for several minutes when, quite suddenly, Peter spoke up. “What about the Chateau de Boulanger in Chaumont?”

Zack was puzzled. “The Chateau de Boulanger?”

“You remember, Zack!” Jenny exclaimed. “The place where Fran said they spend their winter vacations.”

Zack gave them a blank stare.

“Oh!” Hildy exclaimed. “You weren’t there when Jeremy Douglass asked the director in Mont Richard about it. That’s where Jeremy went when he left the Chateau in Amboise. He thought it might be connected to his forgotten past.” She turned to Jay, her eyes wild with hope. “Oh, Jay! Do you suppose that’s where Francois took her?”

Jay looked discouraged. “Honey, I wish it were as simple as that, but the tourist season is still going on. Why would he take her there with all those people around? It’s too public at this time of year.”

“I was hoping—” Hildy’s voice trailed off.

Zack, however, grew very thoughtful. He remembered Francois’ words—“soundproof” and “locks in place.” Cammie could scream her head off, and no one would hear her. As they drove along he couldn’t get it out of his mind. The idea intrigued him. What a perfect place to take her, where no one would suspect, since the tourist season was still in progress! No one would ever guess she was there!

He pondered this as they rode along the heavily wooded area on the country road. “That might not be such a crazy idea,” he said. “If he locked her in a soundproof room, that might be the answer!” He turned his head momentarily away from the road as this inspiration hit him. “I think we should go straight to the Chateau!” He turned back to the road. “I’ll bet that’s where—Oh, my God!” he gasped, and suddenly jammed on the brakes so violently that if they hadn’t all been wearing seat belts, they could have been thrown through the windshield!

With no warning, a man had appeared out of the woods. He staggered, and fell to the pavement in front of the limousine!

Zack jumped out of the car. Jay
and Peter quickly followed him. The stranger was lying face
down, bleeding profusely. Zack turned him over.

It was Andre! He had been shot!

By this time Hildy and Jenny had joined them. When Hildy saw who it was lying wounded in the road, she dropped to her knees and cradled him in her arms. She spoke to him in a soothing tone. “Andre—hang in there! We’re right here!”

He opened his eyes and spoke barely above a whisper. “Madame Stuart,” he gasped, “Mademoiselle Cameron—Francois—” His voice trailed off as he lost consciousness.

Hildy put her hand on his neck. “He’s still alive!” she told them, “but his pulse is weak. We’ve got to get some help!”

Zack ran back to the limousine and picked up the car phone. He dialed the emergency number that was listed on the dashboard. After only two rings the dispatcher answered. “A man has been shot!” Zack told him. He looked at the map and told him their location. “Fine! Please hurry!” he said. “He’s bleeding badly!”

They tried to keep Andre as warm as possible, and stop the flow of blood. Zack had hoped to find out who shot Andre before he lost consciousness, but now he would have to wait.

The paramedics arrived and managed to stop the bleeding, but said his condition was serious. He had lost a lot of blood. The bullets were lodged somewhere near his heart and in his skull.

Jay and Hildy accompanied him in the ambulance as the paramedics rushed him to the nearby hospital. Zack, Jenny, and Peter followed in the limousine. As soon as they arrived, Andre was rushed into the operating room, while the others waited outside, wondering if he’d make it. Did he know where Cammie was? If so, would he regain consciousness and be able to tell them?

CHAPTER XXIII
 

Zack sat quietly in a corner of the reception room in the hospital. His intuition was hard at work again. He had a horrible feeling that Francois and his mother had ordered a hit on Andre. But why? By now he was positive Andre knew something they were afraid he might reveal, and this was all a carefully planned scheme by Countess Lilli. What did Andre know that had them so frightened? Zack didn’t have a clue, but these unanswered questions made him all the more determined.

When two hours went by with no word from the doctors, Zack stood up and began to pace.

“I think one of us should go down to the cafeteria and get some food and coffee,” Jay suggested. “We’ve got to keep up our strength.”

“I’ll go with you,” Peter offered. “Zack, I think you should stay with Hildy and Jenny.”

“After what happened to Andre, we can’t be too careful,” Zack agreed.

They were back in twenty minutes with some Danish and coffee, just as the doctors emerged from the operating room. Andre was wheeled out on a gurney.

Zack went over to him, but he was still unconscious.

“He won’t come to for several hours,” one of the doctors told them. “We still don’t know if he’ll make it. One bullet just missed his heart, and the other grazed his skull. Whoever shot him knew exactly where to aim. It’s a good thing he ran when he did. That may be what pulls him through.”

“When will we know if he’ll be all right?” Hildy asked the doctor.

“The next twenty-four hours will be critical,” he told her. “We should know by then.”

* * *

Hildy was haunted by the words Andre had uttered just before he passed out. “Cameron—Francois—” What about Cammie and Francois? She was so petrified she couldn’t think straight. Andre knew something, she felt. His voice was so weak, Hildy doubted that anyone else heard what he said, and she felt impelled to tell Zack now. Maybe he can figure it out.