Page 29

29

Hugo

“ P lease tell me you have something.” Hugo’s fingers shook around Jo’s cane. He didn’t want to let it out of his sight. Jo would need it when they found her. And it was better than smoking, which was what he really wanted to do.

“A neighbor just came in. He says he saw them leave. He’s waiting in meeting room one,” Beau said, his tone clipped.

“From the souvenir store?” Hugo asked Tristan, who was waiting for him by the door. Tristan shook his head, opening the door for Hugo. “The podiatrist.”

The man looked like he was in his early forties. He had a receding hairline that he clearly hadn’t come to terms with yet, his hair combed to one side in a way that didn’t come close to concealing the thinning patches. He had the excited look of a child who’d never seen the inside of a gendarmerie before. The look of a man who couldn’t wait to go back and tell his friends about this.

As Hugo sat down, Beau made brisk introductions. “I’m Commandant Hugo Fontaine. You already met Lieutenant Devallé, and this is Lieutenant Morant.”

“I’m Dr. Stéphane Claude.” The man shook hands with each of them before sitting down again. “I’ve seen you,” he said, pointing at Hugo, “walking with Dr. Marsh.”

“Lieutenant Morant is Dr. Marsh’s husband,” Beau said curtly. The man’s eyes filled with sympathy, but Hugo didn’t need his sympathy, he needed information.

“I understand you have information about what happened earlier today,” Hugo said.

“I was taking a walk after lunch. It’s very important, walking after lunch. It helps lower the glucose curve and improves—” He caught himself and stopped. “I’m sorry. I’m nervous. You don’t want to know about my walk.”

“Tell us what you saw, please, Doctor.”

“Well, I’m still not sure I saw anything. But then my secretary told me you were looking for Dr. Marsh. So I came in.”

“You did the right thing by coming in,” Beau assured him.

“Anything you can tell us, Doctor, could mean the difference between life and death,” Tristan said solemnly.

The doctor’s throat worked as he swallowed rapidly.

“What did you see?” Hugo asked, his voice steady but firm.

“As I was saying, I was coming back from my post-lunch walk, when I saw them.”

Them . Hugo’s heart skipped a beat. “Was Jo—Dr. Marsh—was she okay?”

“I don’t know. The man walked out with Dr. Marsh in his arms. He said he was her brother, that she’d fainted, and he was taking her to the hospital. They had the same color hair.” The man looked everywhere except at Hugo. “I like Dr. Marsh. If I’d realized?—”

Hugo clasped his hands in front of them to stop them from shaking. Unconscious . He’d knocked Jo unconscious. The baby .

Tristan pulled up a photograph on his phone. “Is this the man you saw?”

The doctor stammered. “Yes. That’s him. Of course, he wasn’t wearing orange, but—” He licked his dry lips. “Is that a prison uniform?”

“What happened then?” Beau asked, where Hugo was unable to get a word out.

The man’s shoulders hunched with guilt. “I offered to call an ambulance, but he said it’d be faster in his car, which was parked right outside. They drove off in the direction of the hospital. He was calm, reassuring. I had a busy afternoon, so I didn’t think about it again until my secretary told me you were speaking to everyone?—”

More than two hours had gone by. They could be anywhere by now. They had to find that car.

“The car,” Hugo ground out, his hands clenched into fists. “What color was it?”

“Oh. Something dark. Dark blue, maybe. Or dark green. I’m sorry, I’m not very good with colors,” the doctor stammered.

Hugo’s hands clenched into fists. This is a waste of time. Before Hugo could say anything else, Beau stood up. “Dr. Claude. Thank you for your help. If you’ll excuse us, please,” he said, opening the door for the doctor.

The doctor stood up and gathered his things quickly, as if suddenly struck by the tension in the room. Before he had a chance to walk out, Alex ran inside.

“Who do we have looking for the car?” Beau asked.

“Three people from the tech team.”

“We need more people on this.”

Dr. Claude cleared his throat, reminding them that he was still there. “I can tell you the number plate, if that helps?” All four men turned to look at the man, hard enough that he blushed. “I mean, I’m pretty sure I remember. It was a beautiful number. A palindrome. GD 434 DG.” Hugo’s mouth fell open. Damn . “Why … why are you staring at me like that?”

Alex ran out of the room, already barking out the plate number, Hugo and Tristan hot on his heels. Moments later, Beau joined them, clapping a hand on Hugo’s shoulder. “We’ll find her, Hugo. We’ll bring her home.”

“Come on,” Beau said. “Find me this car. Start with rental companies but look at stolen cars as well. Anywhere in the country. Alex, stay here and coordinate the search. I’m going to update the colonel.” The activity around them turned frenetic, until Hugo felt like he was the only one who wasn’t doing anything. All he could think about was Jo—out there somewhere, with a man who had already stolen everything from her once. He wouldn’t let it happen again.