HEJ, MY LOVE

SCANDAL

Sierra sobbed; her leg made her suffer tremendously.

Jonas couldn't do anything, and he couldn't bear it, "there must be something they can give you."

Sierra covered her eyes. She didn't imagine it would be so painful, "no, Jonas. I won't take any risk or anything that might harm the baby. Can you just hold me?"

It wasn't much, but Jonas felt somewhat helpful. Though the hug didn't numb the throbbing pain, it comforted Sierra. Jacob returned to France after a week's stay in Sweden. He loved their new home and spending time with them.

The man felt Sierra had finally found her place. His sister had struggled for so long to find happiness, and he was sure she grasped the sentiment beside Jonas.

It amused Sierra to see her husband and brother exchanging recipes and sharing best cooking practices. All was natural and pleasant.

Jacob's presence did a lot of good. He absorbed Leone's attention. They had lengthy conservations where Leone explained his life and showed his uncle the koi fish. Jacob's patience never ceased to amaze Sierra. She wondered how he managed to dedicate himself to everyone and everything without ever demonstrating signs of exhaustion. Her brother's level of altruism definitely came from above.

The Potsmann's home already possessed a peaceful aura, but Jacob's presence brought that extra touch of stillness.

Now Jacob was gone; Leone was lonesome. Jonas did everything to entertain him, but the boy restored old habits. He rubbed Sierra's handkerchief on his cheek while he sucked his thumb in the reboot of the good old days of the beginning. For his parents, it was a red light. Leone wasn't well.

"Jonas, I thought perhaps we should get another pet for Leone; he's so sad."

The man sighed, "I thought of it too. It's just that it takes time to train a dog, and I'm afraid it will be too much with the baby. I mean, you can't even walk for the moment. I can't imagine you with a baby, a toddler, and a dog giving you the runaround."

"Even so, I think it will be a good thing. Leone will grow with it. It doesn't change much for me."

"Sierra, Iㅡ."

"Jonas, please, I know it's hard work, but it's just I can't stand to see him like this. Can we?"

The woman insisted, not just for Leone's sake. Used to Rufus, the woman felt safe in its presence. Images of how the old dog fought to rescue Leone still haunted her, and the only solution she saw to dilute the pain resulting from their loss was to replace him.

"Sierra."

The woman freed herself from Jonas' embrace and turned to face him. Her gaze became mellow, and her lashes fluttered as he uttered a very dangerous, "please."

Jonas covered his eyes, "don't do that. Don't give me that look."

"What look?" Sierra said and slid her head back.

"That one," Jonas said and pointed the finger at her while covering his eyes with one hand.

Sierra laughed, "how I wish I could move right now."

"Not as much as I." 

They both laughed.

Kinky Sierra was back but could not act. The conversation did some good as Sierra almost forgot her suffering. Jonas observed she wasn't nauseous, at least not yet. He had the impression the pregnancy's effects got knocked out by the pain in her leg.

The couple fell asleep shortly after, only to wake up at the sound of Jonas's beeping phone. He looked at the time displayed by his phone screen. It was Dirk.

Jonas picked the device up immediately, "hej Dirk. What's going on?"

"Sorry to bother you, Jonas, but something has come up."

Jonas sat up to receive the news.

How or who did it was a mystery. Yet the information was all over TV in Republic Czech, the appearance of the body of a specific Ms. B.

Bertrand was clever. The only place the police would not search for the body was where dead bodies were supposed to be.

A graveyard.

Bertrand waited for a funeral. Burying someone on an old emplacement would raise suspicion as the ground would be fresh from the digging. A new spot offered the camouflage. Bertrand dug and placed Colette's body beside the coffin's rightful owner.

Burning always left traces and dumping always ended with a body surfacing on land or water. It was not the case of a body already buried. Since removing the other corpse resulted in the same conclusion, he left the two in one box.

The murderer forgot one thing, it sometimes occurred to have an autopsy run after the burial or for a person to change emplacement, mainly to be cremated.

Those who saw the coffin break by the overweight were in total shock to see not one, but two bodies drop.

Of course, Dirk's man was still in Prague and immediately made the correlation. The detective contacted the lawyer, who forwarded the information to the Swedish police. Dirk insisted for them to communicate with the Czech police. If ever the person was Colette, Bertrand was definitely involved.

The results confirming the body's identity came quickly, just as the link with Bertrand. Colette had managed to pull a button that she clutched so tightly the doctors had no choice but to cut her fingers off to get the piece of evidence.

The police found no jacket with a missing button in Bertrand's belongings. The man assured to get rid of what he wore that night. Still, the police got a partial imprint other than Colette's, which placed Bertrand in the culprit's seat.

Insanity.

His wasn't temporary. The Swedish police realized that they perhaps held a serial killer. In the search to find answers, investigators discovered the odd circumstances in which his parents died. Bertrand's parents died in their sleep while their villa burnt. His parents were not woken either by the smell or the sensation of heat invading their room. Only Bertrand survived, becoming the unique heir of their fortune.

It only took forty-eight hours for Bertrand's story to find its way on French television.

For Colette's publisher, it was now or never. He hoped the novel would surf on the scandal and hit big. Bird Cage was the diary of the Gauthier's history from the birth of the first descent to its very last. In the book, the Gauthiers lineage ended with Cecile.

"Ms. Gauthier, is it true you are your husband's cousin?"

"Leave me alone."

"Mr. Gauthier, do you believe in the theories of pure blood as portrayed by the author of Bird Cage?

"Mr. Gauthier, did you purposely allow your nephew to abuse your five-year-old daughter?"

"Is it true there is a soundproof chamber in your villa for what you call the bedding?"

"Mr.Gauthier, did your nephew kill his parents?"

Cecile's father was way in over his head. The tabloids hunted him night and day, the questions fused by phone, email, and on his doorstep.

"Who do you work for?" The older man yelled with his usual authoritative tone.

"France Metropolitan."

"You'll be fired tomorrow."

The journalist chuckled, "do you truly think you're in a position to say that? Justice is for all, Mr. Gauthier, and so is the law. I don't know how you can believe you have control over this."

Mr. Gauthier pursed his lips and climbed in the car, taking them to the police station.