Chapter 146 - Gilbert
The young miss was obviously distraught after hearing the news about her family. She’d only just regained them, and now two were hospitalized, while the other two had been abducted. Gilbert hadn’t gone into detail on anything, as he wasn’t sure how she would react if she learned too much, too fast.
It had been pure luck that Jacques had been in the area when she’d called. If not for that, it would have taken someone else longer to reach her and, without Tyrell by her side, there was always the possibility of her, too, being abducted, or worse.
Gilbert glanced at his son. Their paths had crossed while he’d been busy investigating Annie Devreaux’s disappearance — something he’d been doing for years at that point, with little to show for it. The man who raised Jacques was connected to someone of interest, and had been a possible witness.
When Gilbert had shown up at their door, the woman he’d spent a single night with twenty five years prior, took one look at him and began demanding he leave, immediately. It’d turned into a mess. She’d thought he’d returned after learning about the boy, and now her husband of over thirty years learned of her infidelity, and that his son wasn’t actually his son.
Gilbert hadn’t know the woman was married at the time of their rendez-vous, nor had she left much of an impression on him beyond that. It’d happened between deployments and, if she hadn’t caused a fuss, he’d have never remembered her at all.
For once in his life, he was an innocent party in the fight that ensued.
He did, eventually, get to talk with the husband about Annie Devreaux, but it’d been another dead end. The husband had tried to get more details about his wife’s affair, but Gilbert had firmly shut that down, wanting nothing to do with either of them. It wasn’t in his character to insert himself in someone else’s drama, even if he’d inadvertently been the cause of it.
A few months later, Jacques showed up, wanting to get to know his biological father. Gilbert had turned him away, saying there was nothing worth getting to know. Unfortunately, the boy was too much like his father, and managed to get hired by Mr Devreaux as a runner. He even began using the last name Morris when, legally, it was still Quinn.
Five years later, they were cordial, but Gilbert would have preferred never learning of his kid’s existence.
His phone buzzed for the umpteenth time, the preview telling him Tyrell had made it to the hospital, and was taking care of assigning security to the Devreaux brothers. One less thing for me to worry about, he thought, putting his phone back on the table. His eyes turned back to the young miss, taking in her red eyes, pursed lips, and trembling chin. On her lap, her hands were balled into fists, knuckles white from the force she was exerting on them.
Miss Vivian said nothing after he’d given the status report, or commended her for the decision to call for help; it was one of the rare occasions when the police showing up was considered good. Part of him expected her to demand he bring her to the hospital, or to go search for her father and brother. Instead, she sat in silence.
With her father and Gabriel taken, Sebastian in surgery, and Laurent knowing nothing about the Business, it meant Gilbert was now in a delicate position. Everyone would be turning to him for orders, until either Mr Devreaux returned or Sebastian recovered enough to take up his father’s mantle — whichever happened first. The young miss could easily make his job very difficult with demands but, as usual, her response to a bad situation was to turn inwards.
Gilbert half wished she would at least tell him what was going through her mind, so he would know how to deal with her appropriately. That was unlikely to happen. Instead, he would need to do his best with what little he knew.
First thing he needed to figure out, was how to get her some new clothes, as hers were speckled with blood. Nothing he owned would fit, nor did he particularly want her to wear his things. Turning his head to look at Jacques, who was lounging in his chair, Gilbert said, “Go get some new clothes for Miss Vivian.”
Jacques brows raised as his posture changed to show he was taking things seriously. “Sure. Anything in particular?”
Gilbert looked over at the young miss, who was watching them both with a frown. Nothing he’d said should have bothered her, so the frown didn’t make any sense to him. “Miss Vivian? Anything in particular?”
“No,” she replied after a few seconds. “Anything is fine.” Her voice was soft, yet steady. The trembling of her chin had stopped for now, though her mouth was still in a grim line.
Nodding slowly, Jacques got to his feet. After taking a few steps towards the door, he stopped and glanced over a shoulder towards Miss Vivian. There was a look on his face that said something was on his mind. After a second, he continued on his way, leaving the small apartment.
“What now?” She asked after a few minutes of silence, broken only by the sporadic buzzing of his phone.
“We wait,” he replied. Gilbert needed to start gathering information on what happened — more than just the texts that were coming in and the few calls he’d made while waiting for her to arrive — and plan their next move. None of this could be discussed with the young miss, as involving her in any of this went against Mr Devreaux’s orders; she wasn’t to have any part in the Business. They were to protect her — keep her safe — but anything they did outside of that, she wasn’t to know about, wasn’t to take part in. She’d already been targeted because of whose family she belonged to, and Mr Devreaux was adamant she not be introduced to their world more than absolutely necessary. It was a delicate balancing act, but one that was important to his boss.
“You should get cleaned up,” Gilbert said after another minute of silence had gone by. “I will see if there’s something you can wear until Jacques returns.”
Miss Vivian’s eyes were locked with his, as if trying to see past his words to some deep, unknown truth buried beneath. “I’ll just put these back on.”
“No,” he told her, his response a bit too fast, voice a bit too sharp. It wasn’t very noticeable, but she’d flinched at his response. “You should have something clean to put on.” Had she not noticed the blood on her shirt?
“Alright,” she nodded, voice soft again. Her response was almost mechanical, as if she’d been trained to always say a specific thing depending on the situation. Had she done it to herself, or had someone imposed it upon her during that unknown portion of her childhood?
Gilbert had been told what she’d revealed to the family, as he was still actively attempting to solve the mystery of ‘where had Annie Devreaux disappeared to’, and proved she knew far more than she was willing to share.
His assignment as her bodyguard had been two fold. Firstly, he was more than qualified for the position; and secondly, she was a key part of his investigation, and staying close to her could provide invaluable insight on the type of life she’d lead. No detail was too small, and now she’d willingly shared some of those important details, proving his suspicions correct.
The young miss had witnessed her mother’s death. She’d been raised by Mrs Devreaux, which meant there was a lot more information hidden in that mind of hers. Getting her to open up about it was the real problem, and Gilbert didn’t have the slightest clue how to do it. Give him someone he was allowed to harm and he could learn anything within a day, two at most but, when it came to handling someone with care, he was at a loss.
The one person who held the answers Mr Devreaux had been searching for all these years, was sitting on a chair right in front of Gilbert, and yet there was nothing he could do to get them from the girl.