Suspects(12)

“The place looks incredible,” Valentina complimented her. “Wait till people see it at the party. I got confirmation this morning that the press is coming. Women’s Wear Daily, Vogue, and Vanity Fair. And I’m sure we’ll be on Page Six in the Post.” That evening, they set up all the clothes on the racks they’d had built, even though they were only keeping the space for two weeks. But with the kind of prices they charged, everything had to be perfect. It couldn’t look like a temporary store, it had to be chic and have substance. It was Theo’s unfailing eye and perfectionism that had made her successful, as well as her business sense.

She had sandwiches with the crew at lunchtime, and by the time they set up the racks of clothes at the end of the day, she was too tired to eat dinner. The others were going out together, but she said she’d get room service at the hotel.

They had even set up a makeshift back room, curtained off with heavy dark red velvet drapes, which they could use as an office and a stockroom. It was where she intended to stay out of sight during the party. She could manage the stock for them because she knew it well. She said something about it to Valentina before she left for the day, and the young woman looked shocked when she realized that Theo didn’t intend to be at the party.

“But you have to,” she insisted. “The press will expect to see you, and so will the clients. It won’t have the same impact if you’re not there. Everyone wants to meet you.” Theo smiled and quietly shook her head.

“I don’t need to be there. We did pop-ups in Dubai and Hong Kong last year, and we’ve done several in London. I wasn’t at any of them. I was in Paris. This time, I wanted to see how it would work, and how the stock is moving, which affects our buy generally. If the press sees me there, it will distract them. It’s much more important that they see what guests are there and how great the clothes are.” They had invited three hundred people, and if even half of them came, it would be a mob scene in the store.

Valentina hoped she would change her mind by the next day, but Theo was quiet and firm, and had no intention of being at the party. She had no desire to ever go to a party again, although she and Matthieu had gone to many when they were newly married, and then had been at the heart of the Parisian social scene for their entire marriage. But now it seemed like a travesty to even consider it, with Matthieu and Axel gone. She had brought a simple black dress and high heels to wear, and she intended to stay in the back room, take a peek occasionally, and hear about it from the others. The noise alone would tell her how it was going, and the volume of sales. They had hired a pretty young girl to be at the door with the guest list, and a security guard to stand with her. The food and flowers had been ordered. Everything was set. Theo hadn’t forgotten a single detail. They’d invited half a dozen young movie stars, and hoped they’d come too. They’d offered each of them a free dress to wear and keep if they came to the opening party. Five of them had already agreed to do it and were picking up their dresses the next day before the party.



* * *



—

Mike Andrews had called Robert Richmond again that morning.

“I was thinking about Theo Morgan again,” he admitted to him.

“I think you’re obsessed with her,” Robert said coolly.

“What are the French police doing to protect her? She’s as big a target now as her husband was, more so because she’s a woman,” Mike said firmly.

“That’s true. But I have no idea. It happened a year ago. They’re not going to provide her bodyguards forever. She must have private security.”

“Do you suppose de Vaumont followed her to New York for a reason?” Mike asked him, worried and suspicious.

“Were they traveling together?” Robert sounded surprised. Mike hadn’t said so.

“Not that I know of,” he said sheepishly.

“Then it’s just coincidence. If he’s following her, which I doubt, it’s purely for his own benefit. He has absolutely nothing to offer her. She has all the connections she needs. She’s a very rich, important woman. She doesn’t need a guy like him for introductions.”

“But maybe he needs her.” Mike was like a dog with a bone.

“I’m sure he does, but I can’t see her being interested or taken in by him. He’s a user and she has no need of him,” Robert said.

“You’re probably right. I just hate what happened to her.” It made Mike feel sick whenever he thought of it, especially losing her son.

“It works that way sometimes,” Robert said quietly. “We’ve all seen it at some point or other. Life isn’t fair at times. That’s not news to us.”

“She lost her kid, her only child,” he said.

“Your obsessing about her won’t change that. You need to go out and get drunk with mates from the office, or have dinner with friends. You’re working too hard,” Robert warned him. “What’s de Vaumont been up to?”

“Meeting with every Russian and Saudi in New York, and a few Chinese. He’s killing my agents with his schedule. He’s a human tornado, he’s tireless.” Robert laughed at the description. “He’s out from morning till four and five a.m. every night.”

“Hence the term ‘hustler,’ I think. He’s ambitious and on the move.”