Echoes of a Violin

Chapter 13: Hollow Victory

Peter grabbed a cup of coffee in the hotel bar and headed for the courtyard patio. El had already left. Still no sign of Henry or Neal. They hadn't seen each other for a couple of weeks and had probably stayed up most of the night talking. He wouldn't be surprised if they'd gone out on the town when Neal returned from dinner.

But it wasn't long before Henry arrived. He was carrying a tray loaded with pastries and coffee. He sat down across from Peter at the wrought-iron table. "Just coffee? Have you already eaten?"

"El and I got up early," Peter explained. "Chantal offered to take her along on her morning shopping at the wholesale markets. Did Neal come downstairs with you?"

"I imagine he's still asleep." Henry picked up a knife and slathered raspberry preserves on his croissant. "We had quite a discussion last night. How has he seemed to you?"

Peter considered for a moment before replying. "He's had his game face on all week—tour guide for El and me, art heist expert for the French police, but you should know this business with Rolf has hit him hard. We're still waiting for the DNA analysis report, but the fact that Klaus's brother is most likely Azathoth has been rough." Peter told him about the discussion with Chantal. "The way she and Neal describe Klaus is almost identical. On the surface, the man was a charmer with a magnetic personality, but he used those attributes to manipulate both of them. He only revealed the bits of himself that he wanted them to see."

"You feel Chantal and Neal were both left battered by the experience?"

"That's an apt way of expressing it. When Neal offered to go undercover to take Klaus down, I didn't know the extent of his friendship with the thief."

"Did Neal consult a therapist after the op was over?"

"I recommended he do so, but he declined."

Henry's expression darkened as he swallowed a bite of croissant. "He must have had a difficult time of it."

Peter didn't comment. By the sound of it, Neal hadn't disclosed his issues to Henry. Peter had only gotten him to admit having flashbacks because they were resulting in acrophobia.

"Let me rephrase that since your silence is alerting me I was right," Henry said. "How severe were the issues?"

"Since Neal hasn't mentioned them to you, I have to assume he'd rather we not discuss them. He worked through the symptoms on his own and hasn't had any recurrences that I'm aware of for several months."

"I'm not surprised that he'd suffer PTSD from Klaus's death. I won't tell him about this conversation, but this present situation could cause a relapse."

Peter nodded. "The likelihood of Rolf seeking revenge is bound to affect him. The breakup with Fiona couldn't have come at a worse time. She was a stabilizing influence. Maybe I was deluding myself, but I hoped he'd be less likely to take risks."

"And now he'll throw caution to the wind?" Henry shrugged. "His emotions were all over the place last night. I wondered how much Fiona had to do with it. Do you think Rolf could have played any role in the friction between them?"

"I don't see how he could have caused it. Even for someone as devious as the man we've been calling Azathoth, it's a stretch to think he researched Fiona's background, discovered Gerald, and then arranged for him to be working on the same project in Amboise. But Azathoth could have been a factor. Neal was obsessing about my safety. He could also have been concerned that Fiona would be a target."

"I agree," Henry said. "Neal told me that Fiona thought she was in love with both him and Gerald. It didn't seem to me that he put up much of a fight to hold onto her. He may have thought Rolf would exact his revenge by hurting her."