Page 31 of Mountain Challenge

Ry’s teeth clenched together. “Yes. And if they’re coming against me, they could just as easily decide to go against him as well.” He shook his head. “I know the team will have to interview him. I just don’t want?—“

Beau’s gaze softened. “Let me worry about Hugo, Ry. Go home, take a few days off. I’ll let you know when there are any fresh developments.”

Ry pulled his badge out of his wallet and placed it on the conference table. His hands shook, so he placed them on his knees.As if Beau hasn’t already noticed.

“You’re going to be okay?” Beau asked calmly. Ry could feel his boss’s concern from across the conference table. So, while he wanted to shout at the unfairness of it all, he nodded instead. Beau wasn’t the one he had to convince. And he’d wasted enough of the commandant’s time already. He stood up and pulled in the chair—stared for a long instant at his badge, before pulling his gaze away. “Thank you, Beau. For everything. Is it okay if I go upstairs to talk to Vincent for a minute before I go home?”

Beau nodded. “It’s going to be okay, Ry. It’s only for a few days.”

On his way up, Ry wondered if he should pack up his things. Beau had said it was only a few days, but he didn’t really know. This shit was serious, and it could get worse before it got better.

He forced himself to focus as he approached Vincent’s desk. “Hey, Vincent.”

Vincent smiled, suddenly looking years younger. “Ry. I was about to call you. I have good news, man.”

Ry sighed in relief. He could do with some good news just about now. “You found the tire slasher?”

Vincent nodded. “Thanks to you, we had a good idea from you of when it must have happened. We just needed a bit of luck. And we found it. One of the traffic cameras going up Rue la Mollard caught him speeding away.”

Vincent was making it sound easy, but Ry had a pretty good idea of how many hours of footage he and his team had gone through. “You know who it is?”

“The car was registered to a retired teacher and his wife.”Huh. That made little sense. “To make a long story short, it was their sixteen-year-old son. His name is Jérémy Raines. We have his confession.” Vincent brought up a school picture of a blond teenager. He was younger, and smiling, but Ry had no difficulty recognizing the disgruntled teen who’d been sent away with his girlfriend for not having their parents’ authorization.”

Fuck. He should have thought of him. He could have saved Vincent and his team hours of work. “I was there,” he said. “When Isla turned him away for not having the proper paperwork. I don’t know how I didn’t think of telling you about him.”

Vincent’s smile grew wider. “You couldn’t have known. The important thing is, your friend doesn’t have to worry anymore. The boy’s parents are taking this very seriously. They could have gotten him out yesterday, but they left him in jail overnight. But, step by step. We’re speaking with him again at 3 p.m. He’ll have his lawyer with him by then, but we already have a signed confession, so I’m not expecting any trouble. I’ll call you right after so you can updateMademoiselleBernard.”

Ry breathed a sigh of relief. “This is good news, Vincent. Thank you. I owe you, man.” Not that he knew if he’d ever been able to repay it. For now, he had to leave the building before he got Beau in trouble.

14

Ry

Ry knew the chances of leaving the hospital without bumping into anyone he knew were slim. Chamonix was a small town, and the amount of time he and his team spent in or near the hospital meant they knew many people there. The exit was in sight, though, so it looked like this time it was going to happen. Ry lengthened his stride—and bumped right into Val.

He reached out to steady her, waiting until he was sure she would not topple over like a tiny bowling pin. His left shoulder pulled at the sudden movement, but the pain wasn’t bad. Just a small twinge.

“Ry.” A smile lit up her face. She pulled a red strand of hair away from her face. “I was hoping to bump into you, though not quite this literally.”

He sighed. Beau’s fiancée was one of his favorite people in the world, which was one reason he didn’t want to see her today.Not when he was in such a shitty mood. “Hey, Val. How are you?”

“That should be my line, I think.” She cocked her head sideways. “You’re no longer wearing the sling.”

“I just saw Dr. Legrand. He gave me the okay to remove it. I’m fit as a fiddle, apparently,” he said, not able to hide the bitterness in his last words.

“I’m sorry,” she said. It was clear she and Beau had spoken. She took his hand in hers. “I’m sorry this is happening to you. You know we all know you did nothing wrong, right? I was here when you guys got to the hospital that day. I saw the state they were in, and I know you saved those men’s lives.”

The tears prickling at the back of his eyes made it hard to speak, but he managed a stiff nod.

“It’s going to be okay,” she said. And he could see how badly she wanted to fix it for him. But this wasn’t something she—or Beau, or anybody else from the team—could fix. A process had been set in motion that would have to run its course, for as long as it took. A process with an uncertain outcome. If found guilty, Ry would lose his job. He’d lose his immigration status. He’d lose everything he’d been working towards.

“Thank you, Val. I’m okay, I promise.” A lie, because he was nowhere nearokay, but also the truth, because he was okay enough not to do something stupid. He was angry, and hurt, and disappointed, but he also knew he’d done the right thing. He’d done his job. He’d saved the man’s life.

“Call us if you need anything, okay? Day or night.” Again, she flashed that smile.

“Sure thing. Say hi to Ren for me.” Ren was Val’s daughter—now Beau’s daughter as well—and Ry and the whole team would do anything for the girl.

As he got into his car, his phone rang. It was Vincent. All thoughts of Miles Getty left his mind.

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