Chapter One

Honeymoon Blues

Clouds hung heavy over London, a foggy rain dampening the air. Alain Danvers looked from the hotel window into the bleary lights of the city; he could almost feel the wetness on his skin, his brow, his hands, as if it were creeping through the walls, deliberately turning his flesh cold. Events of the last day – the last two hours, in fact – put him in a mood as grey and dreary as this miserable night. Twenty-four hours before, there had been a brilliant sun and blue skies to welcome them to England, and later after sunset, a rather warm evening for an autumn night in England. But how fast things change.

Alain turned from the window and gazed around the empty hotel room, worried, perhaps; wondering where she was, definitely. His new bride Meredith had taken off in a fit of anger. Not that he hadn’t expected as much. This was to be their honeymoon, a stopover in England to visit a dear friend and then two weeks in Southern Italy, which was all he could spare in his busy schedule. And now, the two week honeymoon had turned into no more than an idle daydream, diminished to little more than a day. Maybe if he hadn’t answered the phone call as they were leaving for dinner…but of course he had, and the call was urgent. Unexpected developments in an ongoing and very sensitive investigation would force their return and a premature end to their trip. She’d been so excited. The new bride, flushed from the romance of her wedding…the quaint chapel…the long slim gown…the veil, the flowers…their first dance.

He was pissed, too, over the swiftness with which their plans changed. But this was the life of a Police Captain and their return to the States was unavoidable. Almost predictably, however, Meredith retreated to one of her more childish behaviors once Alain stated the facts and she fled the hotel room in tears. She should have just stomped her feet and screamed – that might have felt better for them both.

Though their disappointment was palpable, he’d be damned if he’d run after her. Yes, give her time to stew awhile, calm down, come to her senses and hopefully return, that was Alain’s initial inclination. She knew better than to make him suffer, since he had plenty of ways he could make her truly suffer if he were so inclined. He’d rather she come back to him on her own; that would produce a much better result for them both. But forty-f