Turn Back Time (The Full Circle Series Book 1) Annette Anders (shoe dog free ebook TXT) 📖

missed the press conference,” Stella sat on their balcony and poured them both a glass of the wine the hotel gave them as a courtesy gift.

“Why are you so interested in the hostage situation? We don’t have anything to do with it.”

“I don’t know, maybe because we’re so close to it?”

“I bet the whole thing will be forgotten as soon as something else comes up,” Naomi said. “Imagine the national scandal if a visitor leaves his sticky fingerprints in the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles.”

“Could be. John seems to follow the reports, and I’m sure he’ll tell us if there’s a new development.”

For a moment, they sat in silence. The pastureland, where only hours ago sheep had grazed, was covered by water again. The surreal light of a full moon created the illusion of countless tiny sparkles.

And in the distance, the island seemed illuminated by thousands of flickering candles, their warm yellow glow also reflecting in the dark water.

“Can you imagine anything more beautiful than this?” Stella sighed. “I liked the story of how Victor and Annette met and how he carried her onto dry land. And it had a happy ending, too, for a change.”

“Yeah, it was lovely. Oh…speaking of happy endings. Look at our honeymooners going for a late-night stroll under the full moon. How cute.”

“Aren’t you even a little bit jealous of them?” Stella asked, watching Andrew and Sarah leave the hotel.

“No. Andrew said they had to deal with many roadblocks before they got where they are now,” Naomi said and topped off their glasses. “I’d rather take the direct route, no detours, and no hoops to jump through.”

“Wouldn’t we all?” Stella muttered.

CHAPTER 21

Stella—July 2018

S

tella wrapped a scrunchie around her hair then let the ponytail fall over her shoulder. On her way past a low table in the hotel’s lobby, a headline on the front page of a newspaper caught her eye. “Naomi. There’s Kai!”

“Where?” Naomi craned her neck at the large urn where she was helping herself to a cup of coffee.

“Here, in the paper. Ugh, it’s all in French. What’s Kai doing on the front page of Le Monde? Oh my God, he’s at the same place we saw on TV yesterday. What happened?” Stella’s voice rose.

“If you’d give me a minute, I’d be able to read it and tell you,” Naomi held out a hand for the newspaper.

But Stella had just spotted John, Michael, Karen, and Jenna sitting in an alcove of the lobby, concentrating on something on TV, and pulled Naomi along to join them.

“Jeeesus, Stella, slow down.” Naomi freed herself from Stella’s iron grip. “Hi, guys, what’s going on?”

“There’s something about the catacombs. Looks like a repeat of last night, though,” John said.

“Oh good, it’s in English.” Stella was relieved—until she recognized one of the two men standing in front of a dark green, almost black, shack-like building.

“This is Leo Wu, and I’m reporting from the catacombs of Paris, where an unknown man took three hostages two days ago. With me is Kai Olders.” Leo looked up at Kai, who was a head taller than the reporter. “Kai, you came face-to-face with the captor and the hostages. Tell us what you saw.”

“Oh, no!” Stella grabbed Naomi’s arm again. “Did you hear him?”

“Stella, for cryin’ out loud, I don’t wanna spill coffee on my white shorts,” Naomi hissed and set the coffee cup on the table next to her.

“Leo, let me clarify. I didn’t come face-to-face with him. I only saw his back,” Kai replied.

“We were told the tours have been suspended. What were you doing there? And isn’t it illegal to be in the catacombs after hours?” Leo prodded.

“I guess it is, but I was also told it doesn’t bother the police too much. And it’s an open secret that there’s lots of business going on after the tunnels are closed. So anyway, this one guy from our group knew about a cave that was set up with tables, chairs, air mattresses and blankets. There were also snacks, beer and bottled water. Three of us decided to stay and have some fun.”

“Why did you want to sleep in an underground tunnel full of bones and skulls?”

“Such a chance doesn’t come up too often. I guess it’s the grown-up version of telling ghost stories at a sleepover,” Kai grinned.

“When did you run into the kidnapper?”

“We were on our way out of the tunnels around nine in the morning when we heard voices. It was strange, because, as you said, the tunnels are closed. At first we ignored the voices. But then we heard a crash, and someone screamed.”

“What kind of crash?”

“As if someone threw a coffee maker against the wall.”

“A coffee maker?” Leo’s eyes narrowed to slits.

“Listen, you asked what kind of crash. It sounded like someone dropped a small appliance, and glass shattered, okay?”

“And what about the person who screamed? When was it?”

“The scream came right after the crash. It was a woman’s voice. The guys and I just looked at each other and decided to check out what was going on. Now…the tunnels can be low and narrow, and at times you must be on your hands and knees to get through. And it’s like a labyrinth down there—one wrong turn, and you end up who knows where.” Kai stopped talking and raked his fingers through his hair.

“After a few minutes, we came around a bend and the voices were much closer. I was in front. No idea how I got there because I’m not familiar with the tunnel system, but there I was, and my half-forgotten military training from almost twenty years ago kicked in. I got on my belly, slid to the corner to peek around, and saw a man holding a gun maybe ten to twelve meters away.”

Leo asked, “How well could you see in those tunnels? Isn’t it dark?”

“There are electric lights on the walls every few meters, and they’re bright enough to see where you’re going. Anyhow, this guy had his back