Beneath The Orange Sunset ✔️

42

~42~

It was mid morning, Juliette Vallario slowly drained a hot cup of coffee as she stared out of the glass window of her home. Holding her phone to her ears, she felt unsettled.

"I will never forget that day. What happened to me in that house still gives me chills."

"Mum, you should leave Paris, I'm scared for you. Why do you insist on staying? Just come to London."

Juliette let a warm smile dance over her quivering lips. She understood the worries of her teenage daughter. She griped her robe tightly over her chest.

"Don't worry too much about me, Anna. Your mother is a strong woman. I will join you when the time is right."

She walked away from the window and her attention drifted to the pictures playing on the TV screen. There was a female reporter talking.

'Recent heavy rains have Paris on edge. There is significant flooding in the city of light and the swollen Seine river is expected to crest overnight putting flood response plans to the test...'

Juliette felt numb and unreal. For a few seconds her mind went completely blank as her eyes flickered in different directions at the images on television screen.

"Mum... Can you hear me?"

"Yes, hon..." Juliette finally managed to say. Her voice shrunken to minimum pitch. "I... will call you right back in a minute."

She picked the TV remote and increased the volume, her hand fidgeting as she did.

'France has had the third wettest September on record,' the female reporter continued talking, 'meaning the sun has risen to five or six times it's normal level and in places has overflown its banks...'

The news caption on the bottom of the screen was written boldly in English, PARIS IS FLOODING.

The news was less of a shock to Juliette. What actually caught her attention was the fact that the female reporter was covering the news beside the flooded Seine river.

Among the images captured were white swans swimming in the residential streets, rescue teams placing logs of wood across the streets to make a safe passage for trapped people, and just beside the bridge was a pale green Mercedes floating in the middle of the water.

Her own Mercedes.

That can't be... possible

Juliette knew her car. She paused the broadcast for a moment and walked closer to the television. The water was high enough to have swallowed the tyres of the car overnight, blurring out the plate number. But on a closer look, she recognized a miniature white teddy hanging from the inner mirror.

What was her car doing in the middle of Seine river?

Juliette finally laughed at her own obvious discomfort. If someone was pulling her legs, he or she better pull harder because she wasn't going to let this go without a fight.

Just how did her car get to Seine river. Last place she remembered she had left the vehicle was at Fabien's country home, proir to the ongoing police investigations.

If Fabien was behind this joke...

A ring to the door bell brought her back to reality. She went to the door and looked through the the peephole.

"Can I help you?" she asked.

"Yes. I'm representing the state court of Paris. And this is an urgent matter."