The Vintner and The Vixen

Chapter 19

Maya grabbed her clothes off the chair and pulled them on as fast as possible. She'd barely done up her jeans when she heard heavy footsteps in the corridor outside. Jacques stood there, his hands on his hips, looking every inch the ruthless businessman who'd just threatened to take an entire company down due to a few photos. But the damage was done. They'd found her.

She scanned the room, mapping all the escape routes. They could use the secret passages and evade the police. But in her heart she knew the time for running was over. She didn't want to live the rest of her life as a fugitive. And no way could she do that to Jacques.

Grace and serenity, Maya.

"Maya Tessier, this is the local gendarme acting on behalf of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Come out now or we're coming in!" someone yelled from the hallway.

Maya dashed to the door and flung it open. Several police officers in full Kevlar pointed guns at her. Who knew she'd merit an entire SWAT team to take her down.

I'm a legend in my own lunchtime.

"All right, all ready. Keep your hats on, ladies. I'm coming," she said.

"What the hell is going on?" Jacques bellowed from behind her.

She turned and had to take a deep breath before she could look into his eyes. "It appears the Canadian government takes their subpoenas to appear in court very seriously."

"Explain." His face was rigid, the muscle in his jaw jumping radically.

"Please, Jacques. Let's go downstairs and I'll tell you everything." She pushed past the policeman who stood at the door and headed for the stairs. She wanted Jacques's memories of his bedroom to be of the incredible joy and passion they'd experienced there. Not marred by the sludge from her past that was about to float to the surface.

At the bottom of the stairs stood a familiar face. What the hell was he doing here? Etienne was the very last person she expected to see. She'd figured he was either dead, in jail, or sipping cocktails on a beach in Rio. Were these even real cops? Her eyes darted from face to face. Ice crawled up her spine, and a scream lodged in her throat.

She scanned the uniform of the nearest police officer, looking for some sign he was legit. She wouldn't put it past Big Tony to get his thugs to pretend to be law enforcement. Etienne had obviously passed the test and was now Tony's right-hand man. How ironic that he'd be the one to come to dispose of her. Could she leverage their previous relationship and beg for Jacques's life?

Etienne spoke first and flashed a badge at her, complete with the RCMP crest. "Maya Tessier, you are under arrest for failure to appear. You have the right—"

"You're a cop?" Fear turned to rage and the ice in her veins became molten lava.

Etienne barely had time to nod while she launched herself at him. Before anyone could react she slapped him hard across the cheek. Two policemen standing beside him grabbed her and shoved her arms behind her back, snapping handcuffs on her wrists.

"Now we can add assaulting a police officer and resisting arrest to your charges," one of them sneered.

"There will be no additional charges," Etienne said. "I deserved that. I have some explaining to do."

"Damn right, you do."

Princess came racing down the hall, barking loudly, her teeth bared as she skidded to a halt at Maya's side. All the cops drew their guns again and leveled them at the dog, except Etienne.

"Call off the dog, Maya. This doesn't have to get ugly," he said calmly.

"Princess, heel," she unclenched her jaw enough to command. She needed to keep her temper in check. The dog sat beside her but kept a wary eye on the men with guns.