Page 72 of French Escapade

Élodie makes me feel better about her sanity when she puts her hand on mine and whispers, “This is not the way I had imagined you helping me out of my clothes.”

“Me neither, but I promise next time will be better,” I answer in her ear.

Ted has moved to Arkady’s side. “Three bullets, and he’s still breathing. Even if he survives the ride to the hospital, which I doubt, he’ll never hurt anyone again.”

“We need him alive,” Jimmy protests. “Otherwise, we’ll never find Tiffany or any of the other girls he’s sold over the years.”

“He won’t talk,” Ted answers.

I’m afraid he’s right. But unlike the government of France, the country that came up with human rights, we don’t need a warrant to go through his stuff.

“Andrea, go through his pockets. Jimmy, can you check the house to see if you can find anything interesting?”

It would be surprising, since Arkady improvised his departure from Cannes yesterday, but maybe we’ll get lucky.

“Good idea,” Ted says. “Andrea, take all the phones from the guards as well.”

We quickly carry out a complete sweep of the place, and our loot is thrown in a duffle bag. One of Ted’s guys takes it and rides back to the office before the gendarmes, led by major Vivaudo, arrive.

“I thought I made myself very clear,” he says after a quick look at the perimeter. “I didn’t want any rodeos in my jurisdiction.”

“We thought we would first inspect the premises,” Andrea answers.

“Really. Do you think I’m stupid? Even if I were naive enough to think you would wear bulletproof vests and night goggles for a simple inspection, I would have questions aboutthat!” He points at our weapons, which we piled on the ground before he arrived. “This looks like a punitive expedition to me.”

Andrea opens his mouth to protest but closes it again, stared into silence by his boss. He’s done enough damage for tonight.

While Vivaudo tells us what he thinks about our behavior, the rest of his team gets to work. A medic looks at Madison. They put her on a stretcher and into an ambulance.

Then it’s Arkady’s turn. They put a line in him. I can’t believe he’s still alive. There’s no killing this man.

“Major, I understand your anger, and you have every right to be mad at us,” I cut in. “But do you think we could finish this conversation at the hospital? Élodie needs to see a doctor.”

Even if she’s standing on her own between Jimmy and me, Élodie is pale as a ghost.

“What do you mean?” Vivaudo roars. “If she was hit, what the hell are you still doing here? Get to Gassin,” he orders his men. “I want a report as soon as you get there.”

I carry Élodie to the door of the ambulance where Madison lies on her stretcher. The medic looks at Vivaudo.

“Okay, you can ride with them, but when you get there, you wait for me. If you’re not at the hospital when I arrive, I will find you, and you will not like what I will have to tell you.”

I get the message.

The doors of the ambulance lock behind me. The medic takes Madison’s BP.

“How is she?”

The guy looks at me, but he ignores my question. “She’s his sister,” Élodie explains. “She’s the one we came to rescue.”

The man’s face softens, and he looks up again. “She’s fine. In the bergerie, we found some tranquilizers. The hospital will run a blood test when we get there to confirm that’s what she took. But for now, based on what I see, I wouldn’t be surprised if she slept for an entire day. All her vitals are good, though.”

“Thank you.” I’m feeling better already.

“What about you?” he asks Élodie. “What happened to you?”

“Bullet in vest,” she answers.

Without any preamble, he slides closer to her and opens her shirt. He whistles when he discovers the spreading hematoma. He searches in one of his drawers and opens a tube.

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