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Now the guards, still not worried enough to sound the alarm but getting closer as the Chief got farther away, picked up their pace.
Soon his steps could no longer be heard.
They finally came to a more remote bathroom. The senior officer motioned the junior to enter. He returned a moment later.
“He’s not here.”
“Damn!”
The doors opened. Isabelle and Shona stepped into the bright sunshine and crisp autumn air.
Captain Pinsent had decided to stay behind. To leave with them would be desertion, and she was not willing to go that far.
“You’ll be detained,” said Lacoste. Or worse, she thought.
“I know.” Or worse, she thought. “You’d better make it worth it.”
“Merci,” said Isabelle, and marveled again how quickly friendships were formed in battle. And this was a battle.
As the door closed behind them and Captain Pinsent headed to her fate, Isabelle looked around, getting her bearings. Parliament Hill was deserted, the police cordon in effect. The tall, emblematic Peace Tower loomed behind them, and ahead was the eternal flame.
“This way,” said Shona, walking swiftly to their left.
“How do you know?”
“My mother brought me here once. We skated on the canal, and she said if I was ever lost, I should meet her under the bridge.”
Isabelle followed. She knew perfectly well what had happened to Shona’s mother, and that the journalist blamed Gamache. And that once this was over, there’d be a reckoning.
They could see the bridge. It seemed a long way off.
“What does it mean that Manon Payette has your gun?”
“Not Manon Payette, Marie Lauzon.”
“Right. Shouldn’t we—” Shona looked behind her.
“Go back? Non. We wouldn’t get ten feet, and that wouldn’t help him.”
They needed to get their part done and trust he’d join them soon. First, though, they had to get under that bridge and regroup, before all hell broke loose. And it was about to.
CHAPTER 31
“They’ll be all right,” said Jean-Guy, staring at the screen. “They’ll be fine.”
He sounded as though he was trying to convince himself. He was as shocked as everyone by the images of the Prime Minister of Canada effectively ordering a journalist detained and two Sûreté officers beaten. And not just any officers. His friends. His family.
Beauvoir tried to tamp down his rage.
When you fight, stay as calm as the ocean …
“FINE you say?” said Ruth. “Well, that sure describes someone in that video. Fucked up, insecure, neurotic, and egotistical.” She turned to Rosa. “I wish we hadn’t voted for the bastard.”
Rosa nodded. Though she had soiled her ballot.
Nichol stared at them, unsure if she loved or loathed the elderly woman. And her duck.
Myrna and Clara had tended to Chief Inspector Tardiff’s wounds, putting salve and disinfectant on the rope burns and offering her painkillers. Which she rejected.
