Dark smoke obscured the front of the house between the two columns. Tanya entered from the side door, her heart hammering in her throat, and headed for the foyer. A body lay sprawled, covered with blood, in the entrance.
"Edda! Dear God, what happened?" Tanya cried. She hurried to Edda's side, then reached for the telephone.
"No, I've called for an ambulance. You must get out of here. Away…This-this was meant for you. You are in grave danger." Edda's voice gasped the words, each sentence punctuated with gulps of air as she fought to breathe.
"But what happened?" Tanya asked as she slipped a pillow under Edda's head. Stunned, she looked around, as she expected somebody to show up or something else to happen. Her heart pounded; her breath came in short spurts.
"They are going to kill you," Edda whispered. "Get out. Now." Her eyes closed with the effort to speak.
"Who? And where's Charles?"
"Don't know," Edda said with a cough.
"Is he dead?"
Edda seemed to nod and mumbled something Tanya couldn't understand. Smoke invaded the room making her eyes burning with tears.
"You have little time. Listen…" Edda's voice faded.
Tanya bent closer.
"Take one of the cars and pass the French border. When you are in France, abandon it and rent another…something totally different. Drive to Cannes." A fit of coughing racked her body.
"Cannes? Where is that?"
"Go west. Use a map. Just keep going on the road along the sea. Take my passport and my driver's license…" Again she stopped speaking while she coughed, her body convulsed. Blood spilled from her mouth.
"Use them. We are the same height, just disguise yourself to look my age." Her eyelids fluttered. "Go now, hurry. Be careful. You're in great danger."
Tanya nodded, bent and kissed Edda's forehead, then rushed from the villa. She went to the old mansion and fetched her purse, her own documents, cash and credit cards, Edda's documents, and some of Edda's clothes. She stayed alert for anything unusual around her.
With the Fiat missing, along with the cellular phone, she took the second car. She drove slightly below the speed limit, her mind racing. What had happened? Who hurt Edda, who wanted to hurt her?
When she arrived in Cannes, she immediately booked herself into the closest hotel in order to call Malcolm.
After a frustrating attempt to use her French, Tanya discovered that the hotel's desk clerk spoke a flawless English. In no time Malcolm was on the line.