Chapter 5
A hot meal and Cole’s comforting presence had done wonders to restore Marit’s equilibrium. Her interaction with the police was over—hopefully for good—and she was ready to put the whole interrogation incident behind her.
Cole held open the restaurant door, the light from within spilling onto the pavement outside. “Are you okay walking from here to the hotel?” he asked.
“Yes,” Marit answered. “Like you said, it’s not far. But do you mind if I call Lars as we walk?”
“Go ahead.” Cole guided her around a couple strolling slowly arm in arm.
Marit pulled out her phone. Three missed calls. Two from Lars and one from Isabelle. She glanced at Cole. “Does Isabelle know you’re in Paris?”
“Yeah. I called her from the train.”
“You might want to give her an update. It looks like she tried to get ahold of me.”
He nodded. “I’ll call her as soon as you’re safely in your room.”
“You don’t have to wait on my account,” Marit said.
“It’s okay. I’d rather wait until I have the privacy of my hotel room.”
Marit pulled up Lars’s number.
He answered on the first ring. “Thank goodness! I’ve been really worried about you. Are you okay?”
“Yes,” she said, touched by the obvious concern in his voice. “I’m fine.”
“Isabelle called and told me you were taken in by the police for questioning. What happened?”
Marit glanced behind her. Other than Cole, no one was close enough to overhear her. “I don’t know much. It has something to do with a theft at one of the fashion houses I visited yesterday. They made me wait in a room by myself for a long time and then asked me a lot of questions before letting me go.”
“I’m so sorry, Marit. I hate that you had to go through that on your own. You should have called me.” He paused. “I heard you called Cole instead.”
“They only allowed me one call, and Cole was the first person I thought of who might know what to do if things didn’t go well at the police station.”
“Yeah.” She caught the wryness in his tone. “Most of us don’t frequent those kinds of places as often as he does.”
Fighting back a smile, she glanced at Cole. He raised a questioning eyebrow, but she didn’t take the bait.
“We’re headed to a hotel right now,” she said. “Cole’s insisting that we stay in neighboring rooms tonight.”
“Tell him thanks for me,” Lars said, genuine relief in his voice.
“I will.” She paused. “Can I call you tomorrow, after we’ve both had some sleep?”
“How about I see you tomorrow instead?” Lars asked.
She gasped. “I thought you were arriving on Friday.”
“Yeah, well, when your girlfriend gets pulled in for questioning by the police, you change your plans,” he said. “If there’d been a late-night train, I’d be there right now, but I’ll be on the first one out of Amsterdam in the morning.”
This time, Marit did nothing to hide her smile. “Really?”
He chuckled. “Really. I should be there by nine thirty.”
“I have a break between fittings at ten. Can we meet for brunch around ten thirty?”
“Absolutely.”
“How about Bistro 24?” Marit asked. “It’s just off the Champs- é lys é es.”
“Sounds great.”
A flurry of excitement rose above her exhaustion. “I love you, Lars. I can’t wait to see you.”
“I love you too,” he said. “Stay safe. I’ll be there soon.”
He disconnected the call, and Marit lowered the phone from her ear. “Lars is arriving tomorrow morning,” she told Cole. “We’re meeting for brunch at ten thirty at Bistro 24. Do you want to join us?”
“Yeah,” Cole said. They’d reached the hotel’s entrance, and he pulled open the door. “What time do you leave for your first appointment?”
“I’m meeting Esmee in the lobby of the flat building at half past seven. I should probably be there half an hour earlier to clean up and change. We have to be at Camille Allard’s fitting by eight.”
He nodded. “I’ll walk over there with you. Text me when you’re ready to go in the morning.”
“As much as I appreciate your help tonight, you don’t need to escort me tomorrow too,” Marit said.
“Until we know exactly what the police are investigating and Lars is here to take over, I do,” he said firmly.
Marit was too tired to argue. “Thanks, Cole.”
“Happy to help.” He guided her toward the check-in desk. “Come on. Let’s get our keys and see if they can find you a toothbrush.”
***
Isabelle opened her laptop on her dining room table and checked her calendar for the next few days. Nothing on it demanded that she be in the office, and if the silence stretching out between her and Cole was any indication, Marit’s issue with the police was more serious than they’d first thought.
Isabelle paced to the hall closet and pulled out her go bag. Might as well make sure she could leave quickly if the need arose.
Then again, maybe Cole would call and tell her everything was fine and that he was coming home.
That thought had barely formed when her phone rang and Cole’s name lit up her screen.
“What happened? Is Marit okay?” she asked the second she answered the call.
“She’s fine,” Cole said. An elevator chimed in the background.
Relieved that everyone was safe, Isabelle asked, “Where are you?”
“I just checked into my hotel.”
Padded footsteps carried over the line, followed by the beep of an electronic keypad opening. Isabelle waited until the click of a door closing sounded before she pressed Cole for details. “Why did the police take her in?”
“She was a suspect in a robbery. We aren’t sure what was taken, but the theft happened around the time she left the offices of a designer who is here for Fashion Week.”
“Have the police cleared Marit?”
“They didn’t have enough evidence to hold her, but I don’t think she’s off their list yet,” Cole said. “From what she told me, I think she may have seen the culprit.”
“That’s scary.”
“Yeah. I’m not thrilled that I can’t crash on her couch to make sure no one comes looking for her.”
Isabelle shook her head as a smile started to form. Cole had no clue how that might look to anyone outside their close circle of friends. “I doubt her agent would be thrilled with that arrangement.”
“Apparently, her building won’t let it happen anyway. All the flats there are for models.” Cole sighed. “Marit doesn’t think I could pass for one.”
Isabelle’s smile broke free, but she managed to cover her quick burst of laughter with a cough. “If her building is that strict, I’m sure they have security in place.”
“A concierge with a security vest at the front door isn’t my idea of tight security,” Cole said. “That’s why I convinced her to stay at my hotel tonight, until I can check out her flat for myself.”
“Not many places would live up to your standards,” Isabelle said dryly.
“I’m sorry I didn’t make it home tonight,” Cole said, changing the subject. “I really did try.”
“It’s okay,” Isabelle said, though she couldn’t deny her disappointment. “Any idea how long you’re going to be in Paris?”
“No. I told Marit I’ll meet her in the morning to escort her back to her flat and then to her fitting. I’m also hoping to meet up with the designer to see if I can shake any new details loose.”
“You realize you don’t have any jurisdiction in Paris, right?”
“Not technically, but I have an ID with me that will give me access,” Cole said. “I want to stay in Paris until the police have the real thief in custody, and the sooner that’s taken care of, the better.”
“If Marit already pointed a finger at a new suspect, that could happen by tomorrow.” Isabelle walked back to her laptop and glanced at the calendar displayed on the screen. “You know, I could grab a flight tomorrow, and we could spend a few days in Paris.”
“What? Like a vacation?” Cole asked.
“Yeah. We could try to catch Marit at one of her shows, maybe see the sights.” Isabelle sat at the table and looked at her calendar again. She could definitely pull a long weekend away from work. With the amount of leave she had saved up, she might even be able to manage to stay for all of Fashion Week. “What do you think?”
Silence hummed over the line for several seconds. Isabelle drew her eyebrows together. Did he have another mission pending that he hadn’t told her about?
“Cole?”
“There’s a direct flight that leaves at eight tomorrow morning. Will that work?”
Both relieved and delighted, Isabelle nodded to the empty room. “That sounds perfect.”
“Great. Marit and Lars are meeting at ten thirty for a late breakfast/early lunch. I’ll text you the address. We can all meet there,” Cole said. “Or better yet, I’ll text you the address of my hotel. You can leave your luggage in my room until we get you your own.”
“Sounds good. I’ll meet you there.”
“I can’t wait.”