Wow.....just......wow! Two delicious posts to wake up to! I see a trend here...Jack sees yellow and baby blue and suddenly all suppressed feelings come flowing downhill!!! Great!!!

I can't believe I had 4 pages since Saturday to catch up on.

I see the undershirt made it into the story as well. I was wondering how long it was going to stay on though. What a fantastic post to start on horrible wet Monday morning.

Can't wait for more.

Karen

This is me alternating between and

kav

cath

What a wonderful post to wake up to! (You make all of us happy, Marlene - no matter what time zone or position on the globe!)

I'm thinking this is one instance where Sue won't mind getting 'burned' if she plays with fire.

Maybe they'll still miss breakfast.....

One can hope okiefoster, one can hope!!!

Marlo29, this is FAB!!!!

So tender and caring!!!

Jenny

When he came back after taking a nice hot shower her bag was on the bed, already packed, and the room was deserted. He found a note on her pillow.

You’re taking your sweet time ... and I’m starving!!!
Meet me downstairs.
Love, Sue

The note only accentuated the large grin he had been sporting since leaving her bed.

“I’m coming, my love”, his steps lighter than usual, feeling like an astronaut walking on the moon.

He found her sitting at a table for two. Almost on cue her gaze turned his way when he entered the dining room. Her smile melted his heart. Maybe it was a good thing they were not back in the room, he conceded, as he sat in front of her, his hand instantly reaching for hers.

“I was hungry, Jack.”

“No need to apologise”, his thumb brushing her wrist. “After all, I’m partially responsible that we worked out quite an appetite with that last kiss”, his eyes twinkling merrily.

He wasn’t sure how much of the nice dark shade of red on her face was from having been thoroughly kissed less than an hour ago and how much was from been flustered by his allusion, but he knew she wasn’t wearing any make-up. Maybe he could arrange that she didn’t need any this week, mesmerized by her appearance. She was radiantly glowing.

“You’re beautiful, Sue ... and I love you”, lifting her head as she lowered her eyes. “Don’t get me wrong, I intend to repeat those words every single day”, he softly warned her.

“Should I get used to them then?” rising an amused eyebrow.

“No ... don’t ... I like the effect they are having on you”, only adding a new tinge of red. “So? What looks good on the menu ... aside from yourself?” winking at her.

Jack in full flirtation mode is a force to be reckoned with. I love it!

Yep, Jack is wooing his babe big time.

If this is the way Jack is going to act, I'm just going to stay down here on the floor!!! Not that I'm complaining in the least, you understand!!!

Joy

cath

I thought it was great that they have told each
other of there love cant wait for more lin

wow that was just......wow, i love how jack first denies everything and then when he is in a room alone with Sue, wow...i never found a guy who was that fast in declairing his love hahahah i love it.....great marlo

It amazed him how natural it felt to simply reach across the seat for her. At the moment his fingers were gently massaging her left thigh through her cotton skirt.

“You should keep your eyes on the road, Jack”, not quite teasing him. “And your hands on the wheel.” They were caught in the middle of the traffic trying to exit Lyon during Friday morning commuting.

“Wouldn’t be as enjoyable”, he flirted with her, his head turned just enough so she could read every word. She bit her lips to refrain from smiling without much success. She loved this amorous flirtatious side of Jack. It sent the butterflies in her stomach soaring all over. “You, on the other hand, are supposed to tell me which road I’m supposed to take to get to that camp”, he reminded her. “Unless I’m distracting you?” wiggling his brows at her.

She buried her head in the map, occasionally glancing in his direction. He had a cocky smile on his lips, his shoulders were trembling, indicating laughter, while his fingers continued their soft ministrations. How did they manage to work three years together without ... she blushed even more as her mind wandered wildly. She needed to get a grip, or she was bound to burst into flames the next time he wrapped her in his arms.

She forced herself to concentrate on the map she was holding. Then she looked at the French signs around them. She was reasonably certain they were in the right lane for the direction they were hoping to take. Once they left the city behind, they traded seats. They had about two hours of sinuous driving through the valley before they reached their destination. Jack took the opportunity to call inspector Benoit.

Since he was working with children, a thorough background check had already been done on Antoine Cantin. He was deemed to be an exemplary citizen. The inspector even searched for some obscure connections between Antoine Cantin, Pierre Laffont and the London kidnappers, but found none. Not that Jack heard through the bureau that a ransom had been forwarded to the parents yet. Benoit informed Jack that he would be meeting them at the camp, not wanting to leave the two Americans without backup.

Satisfied, Jack leaned in his seat, his hand resuming its sensuous journey up and down her right thigh. It was only fair both sides received equal attention. After all ... he was a very conscientious boyfriend.

Boyfriend, huh?
Great post!

As always a wonderful post,
and can we have loads more '
fuzzies; a few later would be nice.
lin

Beautiful post as always!

I think I've said this before, but I'm gonna say it again..... I want a Jack Hudson!!!

Anyway, so they're on their way to the camp now. Hopefully they'll find a clue somewhere to help them find Sophia.

I'd say!!!!

Sue needs to realize that two can play that game!

Whoo! Is it hot in here or what???

Definitely. Boy, a girl goes to bible stidy for 2 hours and also does a bit of homework and comes back to 2 more posts!!! YAY!!!!!

Jenny

must be incredibly hot in that car right now

cath

I don't even think the AC in that car would cool them down. I love this flirty side of Jack. Just as well Sue was doing the map reading or Jack would have them out in the middle of no where.

Karen

conscientious boyfriend, indeed...

Flip you definatly have the right idea!! Sue .... listen to your Aunty Flip, she knows what she is talking about!

Yup, Sue, listen to flip!!! I'm glad Sue has the map otherwise we'd have ourselves another male-map-phobia-gene thing again!!!!!

Jenny

Just got caught up... wow! and

yea make him see that 2 can play that game, he will be squirming in his car seat before you even started

The inspector was stepping out of his car when they entered the parking lot.

“Good morning, madame et monsieur”, walking towards them. “Da was a pairfec timing”, praising the couple. “Shall we go see monsieur Cantin?”

They found their way inside a small office where a stern secretary was typing what they could only assume was a very important letter, since she barely acknowledged their presence over the barnacle hanging on the top of her nose.

“Madame?” inspector Benoit politely interrupted.

“Mademoiselle”, she corrected condescendingly.

“Police, mademoiselle”, showing her his badge which got her immediate attention.

“Oui, monsieur, que puis-je faire pour vous?” her tone of voice mellowing as she suddenly became very cooperative. “Ces agents du FBI”, indicating Jack and Sue, “sont à la recherche de mademoiselle Sophia Jamieson.”

“Mais mademoiselle Sophie n’est pas ici, monsieur”, she replied.

“Let me guess”, Jack said, “she doesn’t know where Sophia is.”

“Sophia isn’t here”, the secretary repeated in a perfect English as she realised the visitors didn’t speak French. “She won’t be arriving from Paris until tomorrow night.”

The three visitors exchanged a confused look.

“We were under the impression she should have been here two days ago”, Jack observed.

“Yes, she was ... originally, but she changed her plan”, looking at them with just as much confusion.

“It seems you’re the first person we talk to that knows about Sophia’s schedule”, Sue said. “When her mother phoned here on Wednesday night, she was told her daughter’s whereabouts were unknown.”

“See, it strikes us as strange that Sophia failed to mention that change of plan to her mother when she called her from Paris to say she missed her train and would be arriving a few hours late.”

“Are you accusing me of lying, monsieur?” offended by the FBI agent’s accusation. “I personally talked to Sophia’s mother that ... Oh my”, placing her hand over her mouth.

“You talked to Sophia’s mother? And?” Jack insisting that she continued.

“I’m afraid this is all my fault ... well, not totally ... I assumed Sophie would let her family know ... After all I didn’t learn until ...”

“MADEMOISELLE”, the inspector rising his voice. “We do NOT ave all de day. We are beesy people.”

“What happened exactly?” Sue asked gently, sensing the men’s frustration.

“Antoine had errands to run and people to meet at the village, so earlier that day, he told me he would take care of it as he went to pick up Sophia.”

“He was picking up Sophia at the village?” Sue wanting to be sure she was understanding everything.

“Oui, madame. He spent the evening there, and came back just in time to deal with the latest crisis.”

“Crisis?” Jack arching his brow.

“A few of our young boys decided it would be funny to hide snakes in the little girls’ dormitory ... and this was NOT funny, messieurs”, glaring at Jack and Benoit as a smile crossed their faces. “It took Antoine a few hours to clear the entire room of the eight unwanted guests”, she specified quite harshly. “I noticed Antoine was alone, so I inquired about Sophia. The only words I gathered before a frightened little girl jumped in his arms ... screaming at the top of her lungs ... was that Sophia wasn’t there. Later on Antoine explained, but in the meantime Sophia’s mom phoned, so I told her Sophia never arrived and didn’t know where she was ... you have to understand we were dealing with serious matters.”

“And it didn’t occur to you it might worry the mother just a tidy bit”, Jack remarked, shaking his head in disbelief.

“Of course I was worried about the mothers”, she retorted. “Last thing I wanted was for the children to be pulled out of the camp. I can assure you the little girls were comforted and the boys were severely punished”, totally missing the point.

“I ...” stopping when Sue placed her hand on his forearm.

“What did Antoine explain about Sophia?” Sue asked.

“That mademoiselle Sophia was spending a few days in Paris sightseeing and would only be arriving on Saturday night.”

“And how does he know?”

“Sophia phoned him, madame”, sighing in annoyance, like the answer should have been obvious. “You can ask Antoine, he is in the computer room.”

I love "boyfriend" Jack.

Why do I get the feeling that somewhere along the line Jack has scared little girls with either snakes or frogs??

Why is Sophia still in Paris and with whom???

Joy

I think jack was a typical boy
what makes people think they are married
dont get me wrong im loving the posts
and can not wait for all those fuzzies
that we know you are thinking up lin

Okay, and the plot thickens more....

And I could see Jack hiding snakes in the girls' dorm when he was a kid.

i could see jack scaring the girls with snakes, frogs or spiders, shame he didn't scare allie off with all of them!!

cath

How come I don't think it's a simple as it seems?

Just got back from vacation marlo and what a wonderful story to come back to! I kinda hope that Sophia IS just sightseeing in Paris and will be at the camp on Saturday. No matter what.....it did get Jack and Sue over to France AND to finally admit their feelings to each other!

and might I add that you do "admitting feelings to one another" just about better than anyone else I've ever read!!!

WOWZERS ... I had to catch up with plenty of posts and I don't know if it was because of the hot weather (35 degrees Celcius / 95 degrees Fahrenheit) or the wonderful fuzzies; tho I'm thinking it's a combination of those that made me ...... What a wonderful combi. may I add

Now as for the girl; why is she still in Paris and who's with her?

So it seems rather simple but I doubt it's that easy!!


Can't wait for more!!!

Hey Jolan! I wish it was ONLY 95 degrees here. We've been nudging 100-plus for the last week or so....

Welcome back!

Yeah, Marlo, when will we be getting more fuzzies??? Soon, right??

Okie... patience is a virtue

+++++

Jack felt like he was on a treasure hunt without being privy to all the rules ... unless he was simply given the wrong map to follow, but he sure felt like he was running in circle.

“Antoine Cantin?” Jack loudly requested as he entered the computer room. He was done with subtlety.

A handsome young man in his late twenties advanced towards the group. “Que puis-je faire pour vous?”

“Police”, the inspector showing his badge.

“And FBI”, Jack pulling his as well. “Speak English?”

“Yes, follow me please”, not wanting to disturb the group. He led them in an empty room.

“We’re looking for Sophia Jamieson and you were the last one to talk to her”, Jack said bluntly.

“Has something happened to her?” visibly alarmed.

Why did they all seem so darn concerned about her, Jack mused irritably.

“You tell us?” Antoine looked at Jack in confusion. “Could you please share the content of the phone call she made on Wednesday night?” wondering if his meaning was somewhat lost in the translation.

“Which call?”

“Monsieur, I would not play game wit dose people”, the inspector warned. “We ave a record off de call mademoiselle made to you.”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to imply ... she phoned me twice that evening”, he finally blurted out.

“Twice?” Jack repeated.

“Two times”, the young man confirmed. “See, she missed her train, so she phoned to let me know she was catching the next one. Then shortly after, she phoned a second time asking if she could spend a few days in Paris since she wasn’t needed here until Sunday. I had no objection. I’m supposed to pick her up tomorrow night”, meeting Jack’s gaze.

“Was she with someone?”

“I don’t know, madame. I didn’t ask”, shrugging. “It wasn’t any of my business.”

“How long between the two calls?” Jack inquired.

“Twenty ... thirty minutes maybe. I can check”, pulling his cell from his pocket.

Another wild goose chase, Jack thought, as he wrote down the numbers. The first matched Pierre Laffont, but the origin of the second was unknown to them. The inspector phoned his office for a trace.

“Unless I hear from you”, Antoine told the visitors, “I will be at the village tomorrow night waiting for Sophia.”

“Fair enough”, Jack said. “Please, if she contacts you before then, give me or the inspector a call.”

“Bien, monsieur”, escorting them out.

As he reached his car, the inspector’s cell rang. They had a lead. The cell used to call Antoine was registered to a Miranda Marchand. She lived in Paris and had been arrested for unlawful rally on many occasions.

I don't think Sophia would just stay back and not call her mom. She seemed like a caring daughter and had promised to check in regularly. Something's fishy
kav

I agree

Marlo, I've been told by many a person I need more patience. Problem is, I haven't found any....

So they have another lead, right back where they started from, huh? Hmmm.... Something fishy is going on.

I also agree sophia wouldnt,
do anything like that not without
letting her mom know where.
she is keep up the good work lin

very interesting developments!

Don't look my way ... none to spare here

Come to think of it ... not much sanity left either

+++++

The address led them to a shabby apartment complex. After checking the address twice and exchanging a dubiously look with Sue, Jack knocked on the door.

“Un moment”, yelled a female voice before opening. “Allô chéri”, smiling at Jack and ignoring Sue.

Jack quickly flashed his badge. Her demeanour changed instantly.

“J’ai rien fait”, insisting she did nothing wrong, her defiance and hostility palpable.

“Speak English?” Jack inquired.

“Yes, why? You want a lesson?” her tone suggesting she wouldn’t be caught dead giving one.

“Are you Miranda Marchand?” She reluctantly nodded. “We’re looking for Sophia Jamieson”, Sue informed the young lady who probably wasn’t much older than Sophia.

“Sophia? Why? Did she do something?”

“Have you seen her?” ignoring her question. “It would be in your best interest to cooperate, Ms Marchand”, Jack reminded her.

“Whatever”, stepping aside to let them in.

Everything considered, conducting the interrogation in the hallway would have been preferable, Jack concluded, after glancing around the disorganised apartment. Dirty dishes and clothes were lying everywhere.

“Make it fast, my boyfriend will be back soon”, she informed them.

“What can you tell us about Sophia’s whereabouts for the last two days?” Jack ordered.

“So it has nothing to do with me?” she asked in disbelief, making Jack and Sue wondered what she had to hide.

“Not if we like the answers”, Jack stipulated.

“Met Sophia at the train station on Wednesday night. I had not seen her for a while ... Went to College in DC for a year”, she added in response to the suspicious look exchanged between the couple. “To perfect my English”, as they didn’t seem to believe her.

“Continue, please”, Jack suggested. Later he would ask Bobby, Myles or Tara to check her background.

“She told me she got a job at some camp but didn’t start until Sunday so I invited her to stay.”

“Here?” the word out of Sue’s mouth before she could recall it.

“Where else?” Miranda visibly annoyed at the couple. “Anyway, she called her boss. He said fine. She crashed here on Wednesday night. We spent yesterday aux Champs Elyssée, and we split last night. I offered her to stay again but she refused ... not sure why”, shrugging.

Jack had an idea but he kept quiet.

“Where did she go?”

“Do I look like I have a clue?” rolling her eyes at Jack. “Are we done?”

“One last thing, what’s your boyfriend’s name?” thinking he would get Benoit to check the guy.

“Michel Dutoit, why? He never got to see Sophia”, she insisted.

For the guy’s sake, Jack hoped so.

This is getting all tangled and confusing and I'm sure you're giving us little bitty clues here and there. I can't wait to watch this unfold. Now...could we have some fuzzies please?

kav

the mystery is about to begin;
very scary;but I agree with,
Kav can we have fuzzies soon
please lin

Oh darn! It looks like Jack and Sue will be forced to spend another night in their search for Sophia. If Jack is smart (and we all know he is), he'll call and have Myles make their arrangements.