Page 23 of Mountain Struggle

Two hours and lots of pancakes later, the three of them were on the way to the station. Tess had seen the gendarmerie building on her way into town—it was hard to miss it, right by the Church—but had never been inside Damien’s workplace.

She recognized a few of the faces. These were the men and women who’d searched for her and Jamie. If they hadn’t found them, who knew if she and Jamie would have made it back.

A tall, athletic woman walked up to them. She nodded at Tess and kneeled beside Jamie.

“I’m Kat,” she said. “And you must be Jamie. I’m going to introduce you to a friend of mine, who’s a great artist.”

Jamie nodded. He seemed excited about meeting the sketch artist, unlike Tess, who was only just realizing how little she’d noticed about their kidnapper.

Once Jamie left, Damien led Tess to an office. He set a glass of water next to her.

“I can’t be in here,” he said. “I’m too close to you and Jamie—to the case. But I’ll be right outside if you need anything.”

“You make it sound like an interrogation,” she joked feebly. The thought stopped her.

Surely he didn’t think—

His eyes went hard. “No. Nobody’s thinking that. We just need you to take us through it again. Don’t leave any detail out. You never know what will help us catch this bastard.”

He swallowed, and his Adam’s apple bobbed up and down. The muscles in his neck were tight as guitar cords.

Tess placed her hand on his. She’d been so busy thinking of herself, she hadn’t realized how much stress Damien must have been under, and how worried he still was.

“I can do it,” she said, with more confidence than she really felt. “Don’t worry about me.”

And she’d done it. By the time she was done telling the story to the kind-faced police officer, she felt like she’d been put through the wringer. She didn’t know if she’d remembered anything relevant. Retelling the story had helped, in a way—it’d made her remember the decisions she’d taken at each point in time—the reasons she’d done what she’d done. She hadn’t just been a useless victim out there.

“Are we done here, Jacques?” Damien asked, popping his head into the room.

Tess almost laughed, looking at the one-way mirror lining one wall of the interrogation room. If he’d been right outside, as he told her, he knew perfectly well that they were.

“Where’s Jamie?” she asked.

“He finished a while ago. My father’s back in town—he took Jamie home.”

She nodded, picking up her jacket and handbag. “Come on, I’ll take you home.”

She shook her head. “I’ll walk, if that’s okay. I need the exercise, and to clear my head.”

He shook his head. “I don’t want to scare you, Tess, but until we catch his man, we don’t want you and Jamie out alone.”

“You think he targeted us on purpose?” It hadn’t actually occurred to her, that it hadn’t been a case of wrong place, wrong time.

A muscle ticked behind his jaw. “We don’t know. We simply don’t know.”

“I’m sorry I don’t remember more. I’m sorry—”

“Don’t apologize. If anybody should be apologizing, it’s me. For putting you through this.” He ran his hand along his dark hair. She wondered if it’d feel soft, like hers, or spiky. She should have taken a chance to feel his hair back in the cave, when they were—

Don’t think of that.

It happened.

And then Damien pulled back.

If he’s not thinking about it anymore, you shouldn’t either.

“Come,” he said, opening the door for her. “I’ll walk you home. It’s time for my lunch break, anyway.”