Page 21 of All the Devils Are Here

Armand held Stephen’s hand and bent close, as close as two people could be, and whispered, “I love you. Hold on. Help is on the way. I love you.”

“What can I do?” Daniel asked, joining them.

“Nothing,” said his father, not bothering to look at him.

CHAPTER 4

The paramedics arrived within minutes and quickly assessed the situation.

Armand stepped aside but remained close. Watching as they took Stephen’s vitals. Carefully turning him over. Fitting an oxygen mask on the bloody face.

Reine-Marie slipped her hand into Armand’s, feeling it sticky.

There was no sign of life from the elderly man. He was completely limp.

“He’s alive?” she whispered.

Armand nodded, but couldn’t yet speak.

He just stared at Stephen as the medics, who were communicating with the emergency doctor back at the hospital, used words both Armand and Jean-Guy had heard too often. About wounds too grave.

“Shock.” “Hemorrhaging.” “Probable skull fracture.”

Had this been a battlefield, Stephen Horowitz wouldn’t have passed the triage. He’d have been left on the ground. To die.

It would not have taken long.

The police arrived. Without leaving Stephen’s side, Armand quickly introduced himself and said, “This was no accident.”

“What do you mean, sir?”

“The vehicle, a delivery van for a boulangerie, hit him deliberately. I saw it.”

The officer paused in his note-taking. “That’s quite an accusation.”

“I saw it, too,” said Reine-Marie.

“And you?” The agent turned to Annie, Daniel, Roslyn, and Jean-Guy, who was still catching his breath after sprinting after the truck, then running back.

“It didn’t stop,” said Annie. “Did you get the plates?”

“I got a photo,” Jean-Guy said, and showed it to the cop while the paramedics lifted Stephen carefully onto a gurney.

“That makes it a hit-and-run,” said the cop, leaning close to Jean-Guy’s phone. “But not attempted murder. This’s unusable, sir. I can’t make out anything.”

Jean-Guy looked at it himself and had to agree. It was just a blur.

“I’m a police officer in Québec,” said Armand. “This was a clear attempt on his life.”

“Québec,” said the cop, and lifted his brows. No need to ask what he was thinking.

“Yes, we’re senior homicide investigators with the Sûreté du Québec,” said Jean-Guy. “You have a problem with that?”

“Not at all, sir.” The cop made a note, then looked at Beauvoir. “Did you actually see the vehicle hit the man?”

Jean-Guy bristled, but shook his head.

“Bon. Did any of you?”