Deliver Us From Evil

54

WHAT, Evan’s not here with you?”

Reggie turned to see Alan Rice watching her. He walked across the main street in Gordes and joined her. “I thought his goal was to monopolize every minute of your time. And yet here you are, free and alone.”

“I guess he had something better to do right now. Plus I had some errands to run. I just came here to pick up a few things.”

“Do you have time for some coffee? With the sun behind the clouds it’s gotten a bit nippy. I could use some java.” He pointed behind her to a café on a side street near the Pol Para Museum situated in the village square.

They sat inside, ordered their drinks, and Rice didn’t break his silence until each had their cups. “Evan is quite infatuated with you, I’m sure you know that.”

“I enjoy his company. He’s a nice man.”

“No, he’s really not a nice man, Ms. Collins.”

“Pardon me?” Reggie said in surprise. “I thought you worked for him.”

“I do, so I know him intimately. He is an enormously successful businessman. But nice does not enter the equation.”

“And why are you telling me this?”

“I want to be sure that you know what you’re getting into.”

“I wasn’t aware that I was getting into anything.”

“I can assure you that Evan does not see it that way.”

“So what do you suggest that I do about it?”

“You can leave Provence.”

“I’m actually planning to leave on Saturday. If I do, you’re saying this enormously successful businessman with a possessive nature would just let it drop?”

Rice sipped his coffee and then fiddled with his spoon. “Perhaps.”

“So has this sort of thing happened before with Evan?”

“You mean with other women? Yes, it has.”

“And what happened to the other women?”

“I don’t really know.”

“You’re not being very convincing.”

“That’s ironic, considering I’m telling the truth.”

“So who are you protecting here? Me or your boss?”

“I thought it was clear. I’m protecting Evan. I don’t even really know you.”

“I appreciate your frankness. So protecting him from himself?”

“That’s one way of looking at it.”

“Well, for me, it’s the only way of looking at it.”

“So will you leave? Now? Don’t wait until Saturday.”

Reggie rose and put down some euros for her coffee. “I don’t think so, no. I’ve made plans to go with him to the market tomorrow, and I plan to follow through with it.”

Rice stood. “Leaving now really would be the wisest thing you could do, trust me.”

“That’s the rub, Alan. I’m having a hard time trusting anyone right now.”

A few minutes later Alan Rice stood next to a treadmill where his boss was performing his daily jog. Waller wiped his face with a towel and drank from a bottle of water as he increased the incline on the machine.

“You look troubled, Alan.”

“I just had a chat with our little friend.”

“Our little friend?”

“Jane Collins.”

Waller slowed the machine and reduced the incline. “Why did you do that?”

“I’m worried.”

“About what. We had the woman checked out, correct?”

“Absolutely, you saw the reports yourself.”

“Then what is the problem?”

“I see how you look at her.”

Waller slowed to a fast walk on the treadmill. “You see how I look at her?” he said questioningly.

“Please don’t be upset, Evan. It’s just that in the past you-”

The next instant Rice lay on the floor, blood flowing from his mouth. Waller stood over him, his hand cut from where it had struck the other man’s tooth.

Waller bent down and pulled Rice to his feet. “Put some ice on that before it starts to swell,” he said calmly.

“I was only trying to protect you,” Rice stammered, clutching his jaw.

“If I were in need of protection that would be admirable. However, I am not.” Waller stared fiercely at the other man. “You are my associate, Alan. You are my underling. Never forget your place. You are not and never will be my equal. Do you understand precisely what I am telling you?”

“I understand.”

Waller put an arm around his shoulders. “Good, then we will speak of this no more.”

Rice left to put ice on his injured jaw, leaving Waller alone to stare moodily out the window. He would never allow anyone to question his judgment or authority. Rice had come very close to doing both. Had there been anyone else in the room to hear this, Waller probably would have ordered his “right-hand man” put to death. However, he had displayed an alarming degree of independence just now, truly alarming.

And yet was there truth in his words? Did he need protection, essentially from himself? Yes, he was infatuated with Jane Collins; many men would be. Her close proximity aided in that infatuation. Yet it was much more than that. The woman was resisting him-now, that was the challenge. She was independent, outspoken, stubborn, unwilling to be led or manipulated. Waller found that he wanted desperately to possess her.

And he would. Of that he was convinced.