French Connection Vol. 3 Read Online Free PDF Page A

“Everyone on Corsica knows Alizee because she is a member of the biggest crime family on the island. Me, she did not recognize, but that was not a surprise.”
    “So you're, what, working with her because of some weird childhood jealousy thing?”
    His face hardened and I instantly knew there was something more here, something much stronger than anything I held against Alizee.
    “Self-made business man.” There was bitterness in his voice. “Married my childhood sweetheart. Had a beautiful little girl who I gave everything she wanted. Had the perfect life.”
    I had a bad feeling I wasn't going to like what came next. As soon as he spoke, I found out I was right.
    “Three years ago, when she was sixteen, my daughter became angry because I wouldn’t let her go out with an older boy she liked. She ran away to Cannes with him, and it turned out he was a recruiter for one of Alizee's clubs.” He looked down at the table, and then back up at me. “It took me a year but I finally tracked her here. I was too late. What I found was that she had been turned out, forced into prostitution and several months before I arrived in Cannes, her body was found in an alley. The police ruled it a suicide.”
    Damn. I didn't know what to say. I knew if my daughter had disappeared, been hurt, been murdered... I shook away the thought, unable to imagine it. Skylar was my world, the only person I cared about more than Carrie.
    “I know Alizee was responsible for her death. Even if not directly, then indirectly. The police did not care, no matter how much pressure I put on them.” Vincent's normally jovial voice was laced with anger and pain worse than anything I'd ever felt. “I have been trying to gather evidence, proof of what she’s done.”
    “I'm truly sorry for your loss,” I said. “But I don't understand what that has to do with Alizee hitting on me or why you're working with her.”
    “Because you turned her down, I know I can trust you,” he said. “And I needed a partner I could trust to take Alizee down. You are that partner.”
    What he'd been telling me finally sunk in. Alizee wasn't just a flirt or a blackmailer. She was dangerous. A trafficker. Possibly a murderer. A murderer who was pissed at me.
    Carrie.
    Shit.
    Alizee could go after Carrie because of what I'd done.
    I pulled out my phone and hit her contact number.
    Voicemail.
    I left a message and then dialed again.
    Dammit Carrie. My heart pounded. Pick up.
     

Chapter 6
    Carrie
    I was standing on the balcony, looking out at the ocean and trying to figure out how to handle this thing with Gavin when he called the first time. I let it go to voicemail. I didn't want to have this conversation over the phone. Hell, I didn't want to have it at all, but it needed to be done. The phone dinged to say he'd left a message and I sighed. It was probably just a 'call me, we need to talk' or 'where are you' message. I should've been the one asked where he was. I'd reluctantly come back to the room after Pierre left the restaurant, knowing I couldn't leave things with Gavin the way they'd been, but he'd been gone. No note, no indication of where he'd gone or when he'd be back. Of course, my thoughts had automatically gone a negative route.
    My phone rang again. Gavin's ringtone. I frowned. He must've called back right after leaving the voicemail. That didn't seem like the kind of thing he'd do unless something was wrong. I wasn't quite sure I was ready to talk to him, but I did go to my voicemail.
    “Babe, please call me.”
    I could hear the worry in Gavin's voice and immediately tensed.
    “I'm with Vincent right now at La Femme en Bleu and I need you to call me. Please, Carrie.”
    I frowned at the phone. I was pretty sure the place Gavin mentioned was a strip club, but the fact that he'd told me his location spoke volumes. I wasn't stupid enough to think Gavin never took a business meeting at a strip club, but he also didn't generally offer the information.
    I sent a