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Jack raced through the small streets to get to the archives building. He quickly texted Devon.
Change of plans. We’re coming now. It’s urgent. Do what you need to do.
Clara was ringing her hands. Jack could tell he was scaring her, but how was he supposed to her he was sure he knew who her family was? If she was the descendant of the last Dauphine of France, that wasn’t enough for her family to keep the secret from her, and from Marc threatening him. No, there was more to this.
Stopped at a red light, Jack’s phone pinged. He quickly glanced at it: Ok, I’ll get the guards upstairs. Marc just said he was leaving for the night. This better be good if you’re ruining our plan.
Fuck you Devon, you’re lucky I’m letting you in on this to begin with, he thought.
As soon as the light turned green, Jack was racing as fast as he could.
“Jack...you’re scaring me.”
Jack quickly turned the corner on Rue de Rivoli and made his way up Rue des Archives. “I know, Clara and I’m sorry but I have to make sure. I don’t want to get your hopes up.”
What is he talking about?
He pulled into the special employee parking underneath the archives. As he got out of the car, Clara followed.
“Jack, I don’t understand what’s going on here.”
“I know, but I don’t want to say anything until I’m sure.”
They both stepped into the elevator. A man was waiting for them.
“Jack.” The man said nodding his head.
“Devon. Classified section.” Jack didn’t even look at him.
Devon punched in a code into the keypad in the elevator and they went deep down into the basements of the archives.
When the doors opened, it was nothing like she’d ever seen. It almost looked like that scene out of Angels & Demons when Tom Hanks gets locked in the Vatican Archives.
Clara accidentally thought out loud and broke the eerie silence. “We’re not gonna get locked in here and the air starts depleting, are we?”
Devon and Jack both looked at her.
“What?” They said in unison.
“Nothing. Just was thinking of something else.”
The glass walls reached the ceilings. There were rows and rows of these large glass boxes with shelves of books, sealed off papers, and artifacts. Clara could see ancient vases, statues, and even clothing! They walked past a mannequin with an 18th century jacket and Clara immediately recognized that blue coat with gold trim.
“Is that the Marquis de Lafayette’s jacket?” she said, almost walking right into the glass.
Jack let out a small smile. “It is. C’mon Clara we have to keep moving.” He grabbed her hand and continued leading her down the corner. Devon noticed out of the corner of his eye that both of them were blushing red.
They reached a sealed-off section of the corridor marked: Revolution. Devon typed another code into a locked keypad on the bullet-proof glass door and they heard a tick and the sound of the door unsealing itself. Devon opened the door and gestured Clara and Jack inside.
Clara looked up at the rows and rows of books and papers in boxes. There were small busts of Marie Antionette and Louis XVI in the one corner. Her wedding gown, still as pristine as ever with the diamonds and jewels sewn into the delicate silver fabric, laid on a mannequin.
“Clara, start searching through the boxes. We need anything from the royal family and the Brooke de Láuront family.” Jack said picking up a box off a shelf.
“Right.” Clara opted for a box in front of her. She noticed Devon stood by the door keeping lookout.
“Are we not supposed to be here?” she asked, her tone rising slightly.
Jack was examining the contents of a box marked Marie Antionette 1792. “Clara
honestly that doesn’t matter right now we need to find Princess Tryniti’s marriage certificate and her letters. Anything on her.”
Clara didn’t specifically understand why they were looking for the former Dauphine’s records... unless he thought... Clara quickly started searching through her box. There were correspondences between the royal family and George Washington, letters between Marie and her mother, and more royal correspondence. Nothing mentioning Princess Tryniti. Jack and Clara searched almost every box, finding nothing.
“Jack, we looked through everything. There’s nothing here.” Clara said, sitting down in the chair next to the table, defeated. Even Devon looked upset for her.
“There has to be something!” he said, looking around the room. “We missed something, somewhere...” His eyes fell on the wedding dress.
“Over there. The dress.”
Clara threw up her hands in confusion. “Jack what would the dress have anything to do with papers? It’s just her dress on a mannequin.”
Jack paid no attention to her and started searching around the dress. He looked through the sleeves gently, under the dress, careful not to ruin anything. Then he spotted it: a small section of the back of the mannequin looked to be carved out. He ran his fingers over it, trying to find an opening. He pressed on it lightly, heard a click, and the section popped out. Prying off the cover, he noticed a small button that could only be pressed with a pin prick. What the hell was he going to use? Then he looked at Clara.
“Clara, I need your brooch in your hair,” he said gesturing to her.
Clara reached up and undid the brooch, the rest of her hair cascading down to her shoulders. She walked over and gave Jack the brooch. Jack opened it and held onto the small bar, pushing down on the button with the end of the pin. They heard hissing, and the whirring of gears. Clara and Jack immediately stepped away from the mannequin.
“Jack what the hell did you do?” Devon gritted from the door. The mannequin’s base rose up from the floor, and slowly moved off to the side to reveal a set of stairs in the floor. Clara and Jack looked at each other in amazement, then eyed each other silently asking who was going down the stairs first.
“Ladies first.” Jack taunted.
“Oh no, you first there could be spiders or a serial killer or Indiana Jones booby traps down there.” Clara gestured.
Jack raised his eyebrow. “Seriously?”
“Yes, seriously!” She squealed.
“Fine, I’ll go first.”
Jack slowly descended the steps with Clara right behind him. She held onto his waist the entire way down. It wasn’t a creepy ancient corridor, but at least a well-lit staircase with actual electricity and carpeted stairs.
"Devon!" Jack called up the stairs. "Keep watch if anyone comes and tell us!"
"Okay!" He called back, almost sounding annoyed he couldn’t go with them.
As they reached the bottom of the stairs, it opened into a large room with stone walls. The walls almost looked 18th century. It was dimly lit, so Jack pulled out his phone to get better lighting.
“Where do you think this room came from?” Clara asked looking around.
“I don’t know.” Jack was fiddling with is phone. “This almost looks like one of the secret rooms of the Bastille, but no one ever confirmed they existed. There were rumors of secret underground passages to various buildings that the royal family for centuries would use to get around Paris if they didn’t want to be seen. They were also used by the Romani’s at the time.”
“Romani’s?”
Jack finally got the light on his phone to work. “Before it became a slur to use, they were called gypsies.”
“Oh. I haven’t heard that one.”
Jack smiled. “And you call yourself a historian.”
Clara gently smacked his shoulder. “I’ve been a bit preoccupied, sir, with other matters of history. So don’t you dare...” Jack silently quieted her by staring with his mouth open in front of him. When Clara realized he wasn’t paying attention, she looked at what he was staring at. It was a painting of a woman in a beautiful 18th century Parisian ballgown, with purple satin and a delicate azure blue overlay of a lace bodice. The woman’s long brown curly hair was at her waist, and her eyes were as blue as the sky. And there the locket was, around her neck. But something wasn’t right...
“Jack...she looks just like me. Only darker.”
Jack examined the painting closely. “It’s her. But why is her skin so dark?”
Clara pointed to the painting. “That’s Princess Tryniti?”
“Yes, but...” he slowly shifted the painting around to look at the back. “Every painting I’ve seen of her she had creamy light skin. Her skin here looks as if she’d been out in the sun for years.”
“Jack...” Clara said in shock. “That’s my locket.” She fingered the locket around her neck. Tears were welling up in her eyes. “Oh my god... I have to sit down.”
Jack walked over to her and gently helped her to a small wooden chair in the corner. “This can’t be real...this can’t be the secret.”
Jack knelt beside her. “I don’t think it is either. There are many people out there related to some royalty and none of that matters now. There must be something else.” Jack’s eyes moved down to her locket. “Clara, have you ever been able to open your locket?”
Clara wiped the tears away from her eyes. “No, it’s welded shut. We tried before but was afraid of ruining it.”
Jack stood up and started looking around the room. “I think there’s more to that locket than we know.”
He ran his fingers against the stone walls, looking for any clue. In the other corner by the painting was an insignia carved into a rock. When he looked at it straight on, it looked like the coat of arms for the Bourbon family. He looked off to the side, searching for an opening or a clue, and the coat of arms changed. He wasn’t sure, but it looked like a pirate flag. His eyes finally caught a glimpse of a small hole at the bottom of the carving. He shined the light into the hole. It was an indentation in the shape of...the locket!
“Clara! Clara hurry come over here!”
Still in shock, Clara wobbled over to Jack. “What is it?”
“I need your locket.”
She quickly clasped her hands around her necklace.
“Clara, please trust me.” He sighed. “I know what that locket means to you, I promise you nothing will happen to it.”
Clara backed away and slowly undid the clasp. She stared at it before handing it over to Jack. Jack gently took the chain out from the hoop and placed the locket in the hole. The next thing they knew, dust flew all around them from a secret door opening next to them. Through the settling dust and the coughing fits of centuries old dust and dirt, they squinted into the room. It was completely dark, so both Jack and Clara shined their phone lights into the room. What they found was something they weren’t ready for.
There was another painting of Tryniti, only this time she wasn’t in a ballgown, she was in full pirate garb on a ship. A dull sword hung off the wall near the painting. There were chests of gold and silks, a changing silk screen was in another corner with a scene of a Colonial Paris sunset and the Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Paris in the foreground. There were instruments for plotting courses, and another small sea chest. Clara couldn’t help herself, she felt drawn to open it. When she creaked open the lid, inside was a chest of 1700s black trousers, flowing black shirts, a corset, and a tri-corner hat. Clara gently touched the hat and felt a warmth like she never felt before. Almost like she had found a home she never knew.
“This stuff is worth a fortune...” Jack whispered.
A small table under the sword had an ornate golden box with the family coat of arms. Fleur-de-lis surrounded the corners of the box. Clara noticed no keyhole, and it was locked. At the top of the box was an indentation of small round oval shape. Clara stared at it and realized, the locket! She quickly ran back to the entrance and grabbed the locket from the hole. She waited in the archway, ready for the door to close on them, but nothing happened. She took the locket over to the box and placed it in the indentation. The box clicked gently. Clara opened the lid to find three letters inside. One was addressed to Princess Tryniti, one was addressed to the Marquis de Winchester, and another was addressed to... her?
“Jack, come here.”
Jack stopped looking at the painting and walked over to Clara. “What is it?”
“I think this is a letter... to me.”
Jack took the letter and read the front of it: To my rightful descendants of the Brooke de Láuront and the Reilly family.
“That’s my last name. Spelled the exact same way.”
Jack handed the letter back to Clara. “Well open it.”
With shaking hands, Clara broke the wax seal of the ancient parchment and began to read aloud:
My dearest descendant,
I hope this letter finds you well. I will never know who you are, but I know, as a descendant of Sean and I, you are lovely and the pride and joy of our family. Now, for the truth. If you found this letter, that means you found the secret room. This room was built shortly after I was kidnapped by Piazzo, the once Crown Prince of Italy. It’s a long story. My aunt and oncle, Tonius as I called him, had this secret room built under the gardens to protect my identity and my possessions. They gave the location of this room to Maximilien Robespierre, a once trusted family friend, who then gave the location to me after their deaths. In exchange for the throne and to build a new government, they spared me, my siblings, and my parents as we had nothing to do with my aunt and oncle’s discrepancies. But you are probably wondering why all the secrecy? Why were you never told of your ancestry? I’m afraid that was my doing. I did not want any further conflict, or any Revolutionaries to find our family and harm them. And I also made a lot of other enemies. The painting on the wall, done by my close friend Captain Tango, is true. I was once the feared pirate the Black Rogue. The family kept my secret even on their deathbeds, and no one but the family and close personal staff, like my sister’s husband Aramis, ever knew the Black Rogue and Princess Tryniti were the same person. When I returned to France after my kidnapping and found out I no longer was the Dauphine of France, I was able to sail the seas once again freely with my new husband Sean Reilly. I cannot tell you what exactly you are to us, other than a direct descendant of our bloodline. You will find some of Sean’s documents here in the sea chest, but his company’s merchant logs are with his brother Pierce. As I don’t know when you will find this letter, I cannot say where those records would be then. We are now retired from the sea life and settled in St. Martinique. My ship is docked nearby on a private dock in St. Martinique, the location only known to our family. Our daughter is still here with us, as well as my sister Azula. Our son Lawrence moved to Philadelphia in America in 1841, and then to Gettysburg with his beautiful wife and child. Or so he tells me. That is probably were you will see the records were erased. The French government was instructed by me and my son to hide our whereabouts in case of any enemies of our family. I’m sorry if this caused you any distress, but what you carry in the locket is enough to make anyone come after us. At this point, all of us are long gone, do what you will with it.
Your ancestors love you and will always protect you. Au revoir.
Former Dauphine of France, and the pirate Black Rogue, Tryniti Bella Bourbon Brooke de Láuront Reilly. October 1857.
Clara almost dropped the letter. Her ancestor was the last Dauphine of France and the most feared pirate of the seven seas in the 18th century! This was the family secret! It wasn’t just the royal bloodline; the royal bloodline had a famous pirate in it! But...surely that didn’t all matter now did it? She had no choice, she had to make a quick phone call. She looked at her phone and found she had just enough signal. She started to dial.
Jack looked at her, puzzled. “Who are you calling?”
“My grandmother.” The phone picked up.
“Hello? Clara is that you?”
“Hi grandma. Yes, it’s me.”
“I can barely hear you. Where are you, dear?”
Clara sighed. “Grandma, I’m in Paris.” The phone went silent. “Grandma, before you yell at me, I need to know. Why did Paps give me the locket?”
She could tell her grandmother was debating on telling her the truth. “Grandma please, I know things now I didn’t before. Just tell me.”
Her grandmother let out a long sigh. “I’m not sure, Clara. He told me his father gave it to his mother who gave it to him. He remembers them telling him to always keep it as safe as possible and to never lose it. He remembers his grandfather saying the same thing to his grandma when she wore the locket.”
“But grandma, I thought the locket was passed down to the first-born daughters?”
“It was supposed to be, yes. I don’t know what happened, but somehow your great-grandparents got it, and Paps got it and gave it to you. He said a woman came to him in his sleep before you were born and said, ‘Clara needs the locket’. Before he died, he told me this and said the woman looked just like you.”
Holy shit. Is this some weird paranormal ghost stuff?
“Grandma...I’m in the bottom of the archives in Paris. I found Tryniti. And I found out she’s the Black Rogue.”
Her grandmother was silent. “Grandma?”
After what felt like an eternity, her grandmother spoke. “None of us ever knew that. How did you find that out?”
Clara let out a small giggle. “It’s a long story grandma. I’ll tell you when I get home.”
“I’m sorry I couldn’t be more help, Clara. But now you know the family secret. Just don’t go telling the world about it.”
“Grandma, none of that matters anymore. It’s already well into the 21st century. Things may have been different centuries ago, but now none of that matters. Hell, there’s people out there related to Mary Stuart, or hell I don’t know Stalin maybe, and nobody gives a damn about them. I don’t see why all these years you all made a big deal out of it.”
“Well, I don’t know dear. Tradition, I guess. It gets instilled in you and it's hard to break. I love you. I’m sorry about all this.”
“It’s not your fault, grandma. It’s ok. Trust me, everything will be fine.”
Clara hung up the phone. Jack listened to the entire conversation.
“Why didn’t you ask your grandfather directly?”
Clara hung her head low. “He passed away about two months ago.”
“Oh...” Jack’s face plummeted. “I’m sorry, I didn’t know.”
“It’s ok,” she said, smiling. “I think he would’ve wanted me to finally know all this.”
“So, you finally figured it out.” A voice called from the entrance. Jack and Clara quickly looked over.
“Marc.” Jack sneered.
“I thought I told you not to go meddling in things you didn’t understand.”
“I certainly understand now,” Jack growled. “Where’s Devon? What did you do with him?”
“He’s fine.” Marc said creeping closer to them. “He’s out cold right now, but physically he’ll be fine. Can’t say about emotionally when I fire him for letting you down here.”
“Look, Marc, whatever your name is,” Clara shouted. “I have every right to be down here. I am the descendant of Tryniti Brooke de Láuront and Sean Reilly.”
“Oh, I had no doubt of that when I found out about you Miss Reilly. You know if you took your father’s name instead of your mother’s I may have overlooked this, but your name stood out right away.”
“You leave my parents out of this,” she growled.
“Give me the locket Clara and I’ll let both you and Jack free like nothing ever happened.”
“My locket...?”
“What do you want with her locket, Marc?” Jack interjected.
“That’s classified knowledge for me and the president.”
“Fuck that bullshit Marc, it’s her locket and I won’t let you get your nasty paws on it.” Jack was fuming. Clara had never seen Jack truly angry yet, and it was terrifying.
Marc looked over at the box and saw the locket on top of the box lid. He made a dive for it, but Jack snatched up the box and spun around to trip Marc over his feet. Marc fell and landed chin-first on the edge of the table. Disoriented, he tried to stand up. Jack shoved the box in Clara’s hands.
“Go! I’ll take care of him, go!” he shouted.
“Jack, I can’t leave you here...”
“I said go!”
Marc stood up and woozily lunged for Jack. Jack stepped out of the way and Clara made a run for it up the stairs. At the top of the stairs, she noticed Devon passed out by the door. She quickly checked his vital signs and saw he was breathing, and no blood anywhere. Quickly looking back at all the history inside the glass room, she didn’t want to leave. Summoning her courage, she ran out of the sealed glass door and back to the elevator. When she tried pushing the button, the doors opened, and a man stepped out of the elevator.
“Oh no...”
***
Jack sideswept Marc and grabbed the sword from the wall. “Marc, stop this. You’re being driven by power and madness. What could you possibly want with that locket?”
Marc lunged but Jack nicked his shoulder with the sword. A small stream of blood started to inch down Marc’s arm.
“You fucker! It’s not the locket I want! It’s what’s inside the locket!”
“Inside? Marc it’s not worth it! This is insane! Listen to yourself.”
Marc and Jack walked circles around each other, Marc looking for an opening. “You should take your own advice, Jack. You think I don’t hear things? Walls have ears. I know all about your deal with Devon and using her to get that locket.”
Jack stopped in his tracks. “That may have been true at one point but none of that matters now.”
“We could work together Jack. You and me. It will be the biggest find in all of history!”
Jack’s back was now to the entrance. “Forget it, Marc. I’m not doing anything with you anymore. Once I turn you in to Nathan, you’ll lose everything. Your license, job, all of it.”
“Not if I get rid of you first!” Marc lunged again for Jack, but when Jack went to lift the sword to defend himself, he felt a strong arm grab his wrist and turn him away from Marc. Marc went barreling right past them, and into a man’s fist standing in the entrance to the room.
“Marc... I think you can figure out you’re fired. And arrested on however many counts I can think up.”
Marc was out cold on the ground. Jack looked over to see how was holding his wrist and saw Nathan, doing that stern cold-hearted look but smiling at the same time. He was dressed in a black suit and tie, with his fresh fade and a gold Rolex watch on his wrist. His smooth chocolate skin almost blended in with the darkness.
“Sir...sir I...” Jack began.
“No need to explain, Jack. This young woman told me the whole thing as we ran down here.” Nathan gestured to Clara hiding on the other side of the door.
“Clara!” Jack said breathlessly. “Clara, I told you to get away from here!”
Clara snuck around the corner to squeeze between Nathan and Jack. “I did. I promise! But when I got to the elevator, Nathan stepped out. I knew right away who he was because I saw him once during a lecture at Yale. I told him the whole thing as fast as I could, and we raced down here.”
Jack couldn’t help himself. He grabbed Clara close and held her tight against him. The smell of her vanilla and musk perfume drove him wild. He leaned down and kissed her, at first softly, then more eagerly. He quickly broke from her lips when he remembered Nathan was in the room. When Jack looked back down at her eyes, she looked punch drunk.
“I think we need to try that again later...” she whispered.
“Jack...” Nathan interrupted. “I had no idea Marc would do this. I knew I should’ve given you the job like I wanted but the board had me tied. I won’t listen to their advice again and go with my gut.”
Jack gave his famous grin. “Thank you, sir. But what happens now?”
“Oh, Marc is definitely fired. So that means there’s an opening for a new head of the archives.”
“Well, sir, I can recommend a few...”
Nathan held up his hand. “I want you, Jack. You are officially the head of the new national archives building.”
Jack’s face lit up like a Christmas tree. “Thank you, sir! I have big plans you won’t regret it!”
“Can you promise me one thing?” Nathan said.
“Anything, sir.”
“Help this young lady with her book so the university and her publisher stop bothering her, we’ll need her as our new head of the Musée des Archives Nationales as soon as possible.”
Both Clara and Jack looked at Nathan in shock.
“Oh, sir I couldn’t...” Clara began.
“Sir, but the amount of change she’d have to...” Jack interjected.
Nathan held up his hands to silence them both. “I think there won’t be a problem with you moving back to Paris, Miss Reilly. After all, you have something to...keep you company.” Nathan winked.
“Back to Paris...you knew about this?” She asked.
“Your ancestry? Of course, I did. I’m the President of the National Archives, directly answering to the President of France. Did you think I wouldn’t know? However, we had no idea about this room. Or that she was the famous Black Rogue. For centuries we tried figuring out what that insignia on the wall meant, and you solved it.”
Clara smiled. “Thank you, sir. I’d be glad to accept my new role.” Clara looked back at Jack. “I guess my family is finally home again.”
“I guess so.” Jack laughed.
Clara walked to put the box back on the desk where it belonged. “As their descendant, I’d like this room to stay sealed off. And we’ll keep it a secret about her piracy.”
“Clara are you sure?” Jack said, concerned. “But your book...”
“My book will have my ancestry. But I think we can leave that part out. Family tradition, you know?” she said with a smile.
She took the locket back out of the indentation. “Oh no...”
Jack walked over to her. “What’s the matter?”
“My locket...it’s broken. Look.” She handed the locket to Jack. He turned it on its side and saw the side had been broken open. Nathan walked up beside them and took a close look.
“Miss Reilly the locket isn’t broken. There must have been some sort of other lock in the box. This was opened by a lock mechanism.”
Sure enough, on closer inspection, Clara saw grooves in the side that matched the grooves of a key.
“But...I thought...it was welded shut!”
Jack turned the locket over. “It looks like they welded the hinges shut, but not the opening of the locket. Hold on...”
Jack placed the locket on the desk and gently started to pry it open.
“Don’t break it...” Clara pleaded.
“I’m not going to break it.”
With a gentle push, he saw the hinges on the inside were not welded to the metal around the outside. He could open the locket freely. Inside, he saw the same painting of Tryniti with her sun-kissed skin in her pirate garb. On the other side was a small, folded piece of paper. He took out the paper and noticed a large diamond, with blue and purple hues, attached to the inside of the locket.
“It can’t be...” he whispered.
Clara and Nathan walked to his side. They looked down into the locket and saw the diamond. Clara clasped her hands around her mouth, and Nathan’s eyes grew wide.
“Is that...” Clara began.
“The French Blue diamond.” Nathan continued.
“The fucking Hope diamond.” Jack exclaimed.
Holding the paper in his hands, he gently unfolded it. He showed the note to both Clara and Nathan. It was written in French, but Nathan translated it out loud:
Ma chère, Tryniti,
I hope you’ll accept this wedding gift from me. I decided to give this to you for safe keeping, along with the only portrait I have of you that reminds us all of your true spirit. I have done some bad things as Queen, and I know I will not live to regret them. For that I am sorry. And I am sorry for putting you in this position to become the Dauphine and new Queen of France. I hope one day you will forgive me. Always remember that I, and your oncle Tonius, will always love you. Follow your heart, have hope, and be the great Queen we both know you can be. Keep this diamond safe at all costs. It is the one thing I left to give you and I know you will keep it safe, forever.
Love,
Tante Queen Marie Antionette.
Clara couldn’t believe it. This entire time her family was in possession of the French Blue, the royal diamond, the Hope diamond! The world’s most elusive diamond! It was found!
“It makes perfect sense.” Jack chimed in. “The diamond went missing in 1792. That’s when Tryniti was kidnapped on her wedding day! Marie must have given her the locket on her wedding day and that’s why the diamond was never seen again.”
“I can’t keep this.” Clara interjected.
“Clara. This diamond is worth a fortune. It’s the rarest diamond of them all. It’s priceless!” Jack said exasperated.
“Jack, you’re a historian as well as me. I can’t keep this nor sell it. It belongs in a museum. It belongs here, in the vault.”
“Are you sure, Miss Reilly? We can easily put it in our most secured section of the archives on display for the world to see.”
“I know. But... please. Let me keep it here in the vault. Where only you two know about it. I think Tryniti and Marie would want it that way. And my grandfather, if he’s watching us.”
Nathan and Jack both nodded their heads. The look in their eyes showed defeat, but they understood. Clara took both the note and the diamond and re-opened the box. She placed them both inside the box on top of the letters and re-closed the lid.
“Oh, I’m keeping the locket though. I have probably the best ancestor ever around my neck as a pirate!”
The trio laughed as they headed up the stairs and re-locked the vault.
***
A few hours later...
Clara and Jack watched as Marc was led out in handcuffs to his new home in La Santé Prison, then Marc drove Clara back to her hotel. They got out of the car, and Jack walked with Clara back to her room. They both stood on the balcony, looking at Notre Dame and the Eiffel Tower lit up in all its glory in the distance.
Clara turned to Jack, watching him in the glow of the city streets and his black hair blowing in the warm night air. “So...looks like I’ll be needing an apartment in the city. I’m betting you can recommend a few on your old salary.”
Jack turned up a smile. “Or...you could stay with me.”
Clara’s face dropped. “Jack, I couldn’t. It’s been a few days and we barely know each other.”
“Clara...” Jack gently grabbed her face and pulled it close to his. “I know. But I also know you do things to me I can’t explain. When I’m with you, I feel powerful, like I can take on the world. I feel safe, and happy. I’m pretty damn sure I’m in love with you.”
Clara started to let the tears flow. “And I feel the same with you. At first, I thought you were just another pompous asshole looking for another notch on the bedpost. But I’ve come to find you’re caring, and sweet, and make me feel like the happiest woman in the world. You’re Sean to my Tryniti.”
Jack let out a hearty laugh and pulled her close. “Nice analogy.”
He leaned down and kissed her gently, then she grabbed him and kissed back more passionately. They were locked in an embrace right on the balcony. They gently pulled apart but kept their heads close together.
“So, how are you going to finish the book?” He asked, gently caressing her neck.
“Well, there’s a lot more to find out. You saw what she said. Sean’s records are down there somewhere and in England. And her ship! We have to find her ship! It’s still exists — I know it!” she said excitedly.
“We’ll do all that and more, if you’ll let me be by your side.” He cooed.
“I don’t see a problem with that.” She replied huskily.
With that, their lips found each other once more as he picked her up and led her back into the hotel room, closing the sheer curtains behind him.
––––––––
Adieu
* * *
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