Chapter 119 Remy
Chapter one hundred nineteen
Remy
We pull into the drive behind the town car. Erik is already outside in the pouring rain, tapping his foot.
I grab an umbrella and go to the rear door.
It’s locked.
The driver hasn’t moved.
“What are they doing?” I ask.
“Madame put the partition up after I entered the vehicle,” Erik says, voice clipped.
I knock on the window.
The lock clicks. I pull the door open harder than necessary. It swings back into my hip. I ignore it and angle the umbrella over the opening.
A black-gloved hand emerges.
When Madame steps out, Erik moves to my side. “Madame, we need to speak.”
“You are correct. Be a good lad and fetch a second umbrella for Christianna. There is much to discuss.”
She turns to me. “Let’s see my grand dogs. I would also like a Scotch. Two fingers.”
I lead her inside. The dogs immediately swarm her, tails beating wildly. She produces dried chicken strips from nowhere and distributes them like a general rewarding troops.
“Madame,” Erik starts when he sees the treats. “They….”
“They are wonderful, and I have missed them,” she says, cutting him off again.
“I’ll get your Scotch,” I say. “Why don’t you sit with the dogs?”
“Need to go out,” Erik blurts.
He heads for the back door, but the Notes are already planted beside Madame on the sofa.
Tianna steps into him, laying her head against his chest. His arms close around her without thought.
“Go change,” she murmurs. “By the time you’re back, Coulson will be here. I’ll get you a drink. I think we’ll need it.”
His eyes flick once more to the dogs before settling on her.
“I’ll be back shortly. Whiskey, please.”
She joins me at the beverage cart. I hand her two snifters and pour Madame’s Scotch.
“When did we get a beverage cart and Scotch?” she asks quietly.
“Storage. You also have furnished guest rooms.”
She takes a long sip and nods. “Good to know.”
Ruiz comes in after resetting the alarm and checking the perimeter.
I toss him a bottle of water.
He checks his phone. “Coulson is here.”
He steps back out and returns with Coulson and Colt.
Ruiz hands them water before taking a seat with us.
When Erik returns, he sits beside Tianna and she hands him the glass. He swallows it back immediately and holds the empty out to me.
I shake my head, take it, and refill it. The dogs still curled beside Madame are one thing too many for him tonight.
I hand the fresh glass back to him, then pass Coulson and Colt their waters before taking my place behind Erik and Tianna.
My attention shifts to Madame. She leans forward and sets her snifter down.
“Thank you, gentlemen. I have some information to share with you.”
She reaches into her purse, removes a manila envelope, and extends it to Coulson. He takes it.
“I believe you will find this helpful in your investigation.”
Ruiz lets out a low whistle when Coulson pulls out the photo.
“She’s the woman who was approaching. Biancholli. I noted her earlier. She was with the woman who harassed Christianna.”
Coulson pulls out his phone. “Excuse me. I’m getting an alert tied to Christianna’s name.”
He taps a few buttons and low, murmured voices spill from the speaker. It sounds like a cocktail party.
An AI-generated voice intones, “The little porn star from the Earls can’t be satisfied. Now she is openly with two men.”
His phone vibrates again. He glances at the screen as another video begins to play. It opens with the same AI voice, then cuts to the matron making her disgusting comments, followed by a deep male voice saying, “Interesting timing for this slander.”
I place my hand on Tianna’s shoulder.
“What was that?” I ask.
Coulson checks the screen once more before answering.
“Social media chatter. One video attempts to take Christianna down, similar to the previous deep fake. The second is a stitch from an unknown user defending her by redirecting attention to what happened tonight. Meg has also posted the performance. Comments are currently positive.”
Madame clears her throat and every eye turns to her.
“If I may?” she asks, tilting her head slightly.
Coulson nods and leans back.
“The woman you refer to as Biancholli has another name. Or rather, she used to.” She gives Tianna a look I can only describe as regretful. “Her married name was Thorne.”
Tianna lets out a small sound and curls into Erik’s side. The Notes immediately abandon Madame for her. Bass burrows against her while Treble rests his head in her lap.
“I’m fine. It’s just a bit of a shock,” she says, her voice muffled. Her hand strokes Bass’s ears in a slow, steady rhythm, soothing both of them.
Tianna looks between Madame and Coulson. “His widow? Do you think she is behind the attacks?”
“It would explain why they feel so personally directed at you,” Coulson says. “We can’t know definitively until we dig into her. She wasn’t on my radar.”
“She has always been a vile woman,” Madame says evenly. “Spoiled by her father, then married into the Thornes. They believed their money placed them above everyone else. Horrid people.”
She folds her hands over her cane.
“Normally I speak only in facts. But in light of Christianna’s harassment, you should know this. It was rumored she paid off Silas’s former students. You could not call them girlfriends. They were always students in his class, which removes the question of consent.”
The room goes still.
“One girl was said to have taken her own life after receiving harassing calls and threats. Similar to what Christianna experienced. The phone calls. Her car being vandalized.”
“I don’t understand,” Tianna says. “I was paid off, I took their damn blood money, it was through attorneys, but I did it, I haven’t told anyone. Well I told Remy and Erik, but there is no way she could know.”
“She was fine, when you were invisible,” I tell her, “but now you have emerged. You’re thriving.”
She’s shaking her head. “It’s been seven years. I didn’t even know who she was. We never crossed paths.”
“Christianna,” Coulson breaks in. “Logically, the fact you are moving now in her circles, emerging stronger. She wants you beaten down. She only wins if you stay small.”