The Ben Hope Collection: 6 BOOK SET. Scott Mariani

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СКАЧАТЬ looked at him, smiled sadly. ‘She said life with me was like death. All I can think about, talk about, is death. It’s my job, the only thing I know.’

      ‘You do it pretty well,’ Ben said.

      ‘Pretty well,’ Simon conceded. ‘But not well enough. As you were quick to point out, you’re the one holding the gun.’

      Ben tossed him back the .38. ‘Sign of good faith.’

      Simon looked surprised, and slipped the gun back in its holster. Ben offered him a cigarette, and they sat smoking in silence as they both gazed at the flowing water and listened to the birds. Then Simon turned to Ben. ‘All right. Supposing I go along with you on this. There’s something else I want you to do in return.’

      ‘What?’

      ‘I want you to help find a missing teenager. That’s what you do, isn’t it?’

      ‘You really have been doing your homework.’

      ‘Your priest friend told me. I didn’t believe him at first, so I checked it out with Interpol. You wouldn’t happen to know anything about the Julián Sanchez kidnap case, would you? Spanish police are still wondering about the mystery rescuer who did such a…rigorous job.’

      Ben shrugged. ‘Off the record, I might know something about it. But I can’t help you with this one. There’s no time. I’ve got to find Roberta.’

      ‘What if I told you that I think this missing persons case is connected?’

      Ben looked at him sharply. ‘What the hell do you mean?’

      Simon smiled. ‘A gold medallion was found in the boy’s bedroom. You’d recognize the symbol on it, I’m sure. A sword with a banner and the words Gladius Domini engraved on it?’

50

      Montpellier

      ‘More questions? Why aren’t you people out looking for my son, instead of coming around here all the time?’

      Natalie Dubois showed Ben inside the simple, modest house and led him into a living-room. She was a small blonde woman in her thirties, pale and tense-looking with large black circles under her eyes. ‘It won’t take long,’ he promised her. ‘I just need a few details.’

      ‘I already told the other officers everything,’ she retorted. ‘He’s been gone for days–what more do you need to know?’

      ‘Madame, I’m a specialist. Please, if you co-operate with me I believe we have a much better chance of finding Marc quickly. May I sit down?’ He took out his pad and pen.

      ‘I just know that something awful has happened to him. I feel it. I think I’m never going to see him again.’ Madame Dubois’ face was drawn and haggard. She sobbed quietly into a handkerchief.

      ‘So, the last time you saw him, he was riding off on his moped. He didn’t say where he was going?’

      ‘Of course not, I would have mentioned it,’ she replied impatiently.

      ‘Maybe you could write me down the registration number of the bike. Has he ever done anything like this before? Disappeared for a few days, gone off somewhere?’

      ‘Never. He’s come home late a few times, but nothing like this.’

      ‘What about friends? Is there anyone he might have gone off with, or gone to see–like a music event, maybe, or a party somewhere?’

      She shook her head, sniffing. ‘Marc isn’t that kind of boy. He’s shy, introverted. He likes reading and writing stories. He has friends, but he doesn’t go off with them.’

      ‘He’s still at school?’

      ‘No, he left earlier this year. He works with my brother-in-law Richard, as an apprentice electrician.’

      ‘Does Marc’s father live with you?’ He’d noticed she wasn’t wearing a ring.

      ‘Marc’s father walked out of here four years ago,’ she said coldly. ‘We haven’t seen him since.’

      Ben noted down on his pad: Father involved in abduction?

      She gave a bitter laugh. ‘If you’re thinking his father’s got him, you’re wrong. That man isn’t the least bit interested in anyone but himself.’

      ‘I’m sorry to hear that,’ he said. ‘Is Marc religious? Did he ever talk about joining a Christian organization, anything like that?’

      ‘No. Are you asking because of that thing they found in his room?’

      ‘The medallion.’

      ‘I don’t know where that came from, I’d never seen it before. The cops–I mean, the other officers–think he stole it. But my Marc’s no thief.’ Madame Dubois rose defensively in her chair.

      ‘No, I don’t think he’s a thief either. Listen, do you think it’s possible I could talk to Marc’s uncle, Richard?’

      ‘He lives not far away, just up the road. But he won’t be able to tell you anything I couldn’t.’

      ‘I’d still like to pay him a visit. Will he be at home now?’

      As he was getting up to leave, she gripped his wrist and looked into his eyes. ‘Monsieur, will you find my boy?’

      He patted her hand. ‘I’ll try.’

      ‘The kid hasn’t been kidnapped, for Christ’s sake. He’s run off somewhere, probably got a girlfriend. Or a boyfriend. Who fucking knows, these days?’ Richard offered Ben a beer. ‘First cop I’ve ever known who takes a drink on duty,’ he laughed as Ben cracked open the can and pulled up a chair at the kitchen table.

      ‘I’m what you might call an outside consultant,’ Ben said. ‘What makes you so sure he’s just run off?’

      ‘Look, between you and me, he takes after his father, my brother Thierry. Total waster. Guy never held down a job in his life, in and out of jail for all kinds of petty crimes. The kid’s going down the same road, I reckon, and his mother can’t see it. Thinks the sun shines out of his arse. Me, I rue the day I ever let her talk me into taking the little bastard on. He’s a complete waste of time and money, and if I don’t fire him pretty soon he’ll probably fry himself on a live wire and I’ll get the blame…’

      ‘I understand, but I still have to treat this as suspicious until we know better. You’re his uncle, and he’s got no father. Did he ever confide in you, maybe mention anything out of the ordinary?’

      ‘You kidding? Everything’s out of the ordinary with Marc. Talk about head in the clouds.’

      ‘Like what, for instance?’

      Richard made an exasperated gesture. ‘You fucking name it. The kid lives in a dream world–if you believed СКАЧАТЬ