All That Glitters (19 page)

“Why would anyone want to kidnap Cammie?” Jenny asked.

“I don’t know,” Fran replied. “We just have to wait and see if the kidnapper contacts us. Whoever it is must have read about the wedding in the newspaper and thinks he can demand some easy money. I’ll pay anything to get her back. Anything!” He paused and studied their faces. “Have you had any rest?” he asked them. “Not much,” Zack answered. “We drove all day and night.”

“Where are my manners?” Fran berated himself. “I’ll have one of the servants deliver your luggage to your rooms. Are you hungry?”

“We ate on the way,” Jay said. “But you’re right. We should get some rest.”

“Please do,” Fran
said. “We’ll call you the moment we hear anything.”

He summoned one of his servants, who took their luggage to their rooms.

* * *

At the Chateau de Boulanger, Cammie watched all day for Jeremy, but he never appeared. She was beginning to lose hope when the sound of someone unlocking the door startled her.

Francois saw her at the window before she could back away. “Thinking again about jumping?” he asked her in a snide tone. “Won’t you ever learn? That comes later, Cherie.”

“What do you want?” Cammie asked him. She was still hurting from the blow he gave her yesterday, and was careful to keep her distance.

“I’ve been trying to reach your mother,” he told her. “They must have decided to stay in France a little longer. There’s no answer at their home in New York. Do you have any idea where they might be?”

Cammie looked at him coldly. “No,” she replied. “And if I did I wouldn’t tell you.”

That ugly look appeared on Francois’ face again. “Careful,” he warned her. “You don’t want to get slapped around again, do you?”

Cammie cringed, and Francois laughed. “That’s better,” he said. “Just remember, I am in charge here!” He reached for the door, then turned back. “Oh,” he said, “I almost forgot. I’m afraid Andre has met with a most unfortunate accident. Someone shot him. Oh, he will still get the blame for your death!” he sneered as he left.

Cammie stared at the closed door as she heard the latch snap into place. He really means it, she thought with dismay. He’s had Andre killed, and I’m next! Where is Jeremy? He should have come back by now. Maybe he went to get help. Where can he be?

* * *

Jeremy was awakened in the middle of the night by yet another dream. It faded as he sat up in bed, but he remembered a lovely lady and a handsome man who loved him very much. Were they my parents? He lay back and drifted off to sleep.

When he awoke again, bright sunlight was streaming through the window, and he was shocked to see that it was two o’clock in the afternoon! He jumped out of bed.

More memories
flooded his consciousness as he showered, and he recalled riding
horseback one day with the man whose name he still
couldn’t remember. There were tears in the man’s eyes, and
he wondered why he was so sad. Soon a nice
woman came and took him away. The next thing he
remembered was riding on a plane with two very kind
people who told him they would be his new parents.
They spoke to him in French.

“Where am I?” he remembered asking them. “Where is my Daddy? Why are you taking me away?”

The woman put her arm around him and tried to comfort him. The man smiled at him kindly, and told him they would be his Mommy and Daddy now. Jeremy remembered crying himself to sleep in the woman’s arms.

Hours later they arrived in New York, and were driven in a big car with blacked out windows to a beautiful house in the town of Scarsdale, New York. He was told this would be his new home.

In the following weeks he became accustomed to his new surroundings, and he learned to love these two people who were now his Mommy and Daddy.

Gradually the memories of his past life had faded, almost by his will. It was the only way he could shut out the hurt. Why didn’t his Daddy want him or love him anymore? Had he been bad?

His new
parents never mentioned his past life to him—who he was
or where he came from. Before they died, they told
him he had been adopted—that was all. He recalled their
warning not to go to France. For some reason they
thought he would be in danger if he did. But
he was here now, and he hadn’t seen any sign
of danger yet. What could they have meant?

Why was I taken away to another country and adopted? That was the big question. He wished he could find that man and ask him, but he had no idea if he was still alive. So he felt there was no need to return to the Chateau de Boulanger the next day, as he had planned. I have to talk to the Count, he decided, and find out why I have so many memories of the Chateau. Maybe he will know.

After getting something to eat he headed toward the Chateau in Amboise, and arrived late in the afternoon.

Fran opened the door, looking very worried.

Lilli looked annoyed and fearful when she saw who it was.

As Jeremy was ushered into the library, he was surprised to see Hildy and the others all sitting near the telephone, looking extremely anxious.

“What’s wrong?” he asked.

Hildy rose and went over to him, greatly distressed. “Cammie has been kidnapped!” she told him tearfully.

“What?” Jeremy’s thoughts raced. “When did this happen?”

“Two days ago,” Jay told him. “The day she married Francois.”

Jeremy’s eyes narrowed suspiciously. “Who told you she was kidnapped?”

“Francois called us right after it happened,” Lilli chimed in.

“We’re waiting now to hear from the kidnapper,” Jenny said.

“If we only had some idea where the kidnapper took her,” Peter told him, “we’d go there with the police and rescue her.”

Jeremy opened his mouth to speak, but Zack stopped him. “Jeremy,” he said, “I need some fresh air. I’m going to go for a walk. Would you like to come? I could use the company.” He turned to the others. “You’ll be here if the kidnapper calls. We won’t be long.”

He took Jeremy’s arm, and gently but firmly, led him out of the room and over to the door that took them through the patio and on to the shaded walkway.

Zack put his finger on his lips, cautioning Jeremy to wait before saying anything until they were a good distance away from the Chateau. As soon as he was sure they were well out of earshot he spoke to him. “Jeremy, what is it?”

Jeremy was deeply puzzled. “I don’t understand,” he said. “Francois says Cammie was kidnapped day before yesterday, but I saw her yesterday afternoon. She waved to me from a fifth floor window in the Chateau de Boulanger. She wasn’t kidnapped then.”

Zack stood still, silent for a moment, staring at Jeremy. “I’m afraid she was,” he stated. “I was right! That is where he took her!”

Jeremy was astounded. “What makes you think she was kidnapped?”

Instead of answering Jeremy’s question, Zack responded with one of his own. “Tell me,” he asked, “did she just wave to you? Or did it look as though she was signaling you for help?”

Jeremy frowned, trying to remember. “I don’t know. She was waving her brightly colored sweater—the one with the sparkling silver threads.”

“Her security blanket!” Zack muttered.

“What?”

“Her favorite sweater. She says it comforts her when she’s upset. I think she was trying to signal you for help!”

Jeremy was dismayed. “How could I have missed a signal like that?” Could this be why he felt such misgivings about her the day he visited the Chateau? But why would she be in danger? “Francois is there,” he said. “Couldn’t he help her?”

Zack snorted in disgust. “You don’t know what’s going on, Jeremy. We’ve suspected all along that Francois and his mother are up to no good where Cammie is concerned. I think you’ve just given me the proof I’ve been looking for. If I wasn’t sure before, I am now! Francois is the one who kidnapped her, and he’s holding her prisoner at the Chateau de Boulanger!”

“Francois?” Jeremy asked, stunned. “Why would he do that?” He sat down on the nearest bench, scarcely able to believe what Zack told him, and he realized now that there had been good reason for the feelings he had about Francois.

Zack sat down beside him and explained the whole thing—all about Gregory Wilcox being Francois’ real father; how Greg had stolen Hildy’s musicals; how he was killed; and the vendetta that he believed Lilli and Francois had declared against Hildy. “I think they’re trying to punish Hildy through Cammie for something Hildy never did. They may be out for revenge, and if that’s so, Cammie is in great danger! We have to get to the Chateau de Boulanger.”

Jeremy rose and started back.

Zack hastened to follow him. “Jeremy,” he warned, “don’t let on in front of Lilli that you know where Cammie is, or that you were there yesterday. It would only put Cammie in more danger. If what I’m thinking is right, I have reason to believe that Lilli engineered this whole thing.”

“Don’t worry,” Jeremy said grimly. “I wouldn’t do anything that would make things worse. We’d better go to the Chateau de Boulanger before Francois harms her.”

“I don’t think he’ll do anything yet,” Zack assured him. “Cammie is his only bargaining chip. We have to wait and find out what he wants. But we must tell Hildy and Jay that we know where she is. They’d do anything to save her, and we must convince them that doing as Francois asks won’t stop him from killing Cammie. Maybe when I tell them it was a sham wedding, they’ll listen.”

“A sham wedding!? How do you know that?” Jeremy asked.

“I found out when I saw the ‘priest’ come to the Chateau to get his money. He’s an actor. I’ve seen him several times on stage.”

“If only I’d gone back to the Chateau as I planned,” Jeremy lamented, “I’d have Cammie out of there by now!”

Zack stopped walking and turned to Jeremy. “Coming here instead of going to the Chateau is the best thing you could have done. I doubt that you could have rescued her by yourself. Francois is very clever, and you might have ended up being a prisoner yourself—or worse yet—dead! But now we know for a fact just where she is.”

Jeremy looked sad as he turned to Zack. “I hope the Count isn’t in on this.”

Zack smiled and put his arm around Jeremy’s shoulder. “Jeremy, as sure as I am that Francois and his mother are, I know that Fran isn’t! He doesn’t know anything about it. Trust me!” He stopped as they approached the entrance to the Chateau where Hildy and the others waited to hear from the kidnapper. “Go up to my room,” he whispered. “It’s the third door on the left from the top of the stairs. Wait there until I figure out a way to get Hildy and Jay up there without arousing suspicion.”

“Won’t they wonder where I am?” Jeremy asked.

“I’ll explain that you were tired and you’re resting in my room,” Zack told him.

Jeremy nodded. As they reached the front door, he quietly headed for the stairs. The television was on, and a report on Cammie’s kidnapping carried into the hall. There was still no word from the kidnapper.

CHAPTER XXVII
 

At the Chateau de Boulanger, Cammie sneaked back to the window as soon as Francois left the room. He didn’t come back the rest of the day, and she was glad. She didn’t want him to see her there again and suspect anything. She could only hope that Jeremy had understood her predicament and gone for help, but the day passed by with no sign of him.

As she looked out, she could see the sun setting above the River Loire. The moon made an eerie path across the River. The wind picked up, and the water in the brook churned violently, as it plowed its relentless way over the giant boulders.

The hope that Jeremy’s appearance yesterday had given her was fast fading as he failed to return. She sat down on the chair in front of the television. She didn’t know why she turned it on. She hadn’t wanted to before, but something impelled her to do so now.

There was a special news report. “Celebrity kidnapped,” it said. The report went on to say that musical comedy star, Cameron Stuart, had been kidnapped shortly after her marriage to Count Francois Dubonnet the second. The Count was said to be distraught over the capture of his bride on the eve of their honeymoon, and would be willing to pay any amount of money for her safe return.

Cammie burst into tears. The next thing they’ll be reporting is my death! I’ve got to get out of here! Now! But as darkness closed in with no sign of Jeremy, she realized he would not be coming back to the Chateau, and she finally faced the grim fact that it was entirely up to her to find a way of escape.

She turned off the television so she could think more clearly. As she sat there quaking with fear, an inner voice said, Try the door.

At first it resisted.

She tried again.

It opened!

Just a crack, but it was no longer locked, and she guessed that Gabe must have been careless, believing he closed the door while clearing away the dinner tray.

She hurried back to the bed and stuffed pillows under the covers so that when they checked on her later they would think she was still there, asleep. She listened intently to hear if anyone might be lurking outside.

Not a sound!

Very cautiously, she pushed the door open a little further and looked at the staircase.

No one there!

She peered down the hall.

To the left.

To the right.

No one in sight!

She grabbed her sweater and closed the door silently behind her. Stealthily—very stealthily—she made her way through the hallway, hiding now and then behind the huge, marble pillars. Slowly she crept down the flights of the wide, granite steps until she reached the foyer.

Suddenly she stopped dead in her tracks.

She heard voices.

Francois was talking with Gabe at the far end of the foyer, facing the gardens.

Their backs were turned.

She could see the front door of the Chateau about twenty feet from where she stood.

Please, God, she prayed, get me over to that door without their seeing me. Although she had taken her shoes off so she could move more quietly, her feet felt like lead as she inched her way across the marble floor. Her progress seemed agonizingly slow. Finally she reached the door.