Page 66 of Mountain Void

“Lorenz. Ms. Brooks.”

She recognized him. He was one of the gendarmes who’d come to her house the night of the graffiti.

Salope.

The word still held power over her. Enough to make her shiver, if she allowed it. She would not allow it.

“How are you feeling?” he asked, his tone unerringly polite.

“I’m okay, thank you.”

“What is it, Vincent?” Lorenz asked.

“I wanted to reassure Ms. Brooks that her neighbor doesn’t seem to be involved. When he said he was trying to sleep, he apparently meant he was … entertaining … two young women. The graffiti wasn’t there when they arrived, and they didn’t leave him alone long enough for him to have done this.”

“Two women?” Charlie asked. She and her neighbor had clearly started off on the wrong foot, but she wasn’t sure there could ever be a right foot with him.

“I wouldn’t think twice about him.” Vincent lowered his voice. “It appears he’s just naturally a jerk.”

Lorenz made a hollow sound.

“We found something, though.” He pulled out his phone, angling it towards her. “Do you know this car?”

Charlie didn’t know much about cars. She recognized the small diamond logo on the front—two thirds of the cars in the school parking lot, and she imagined in all of France, carried the same logo—but other than that she couldn’t see anything familiar in the grainy, dark image.

“I don’t recognize it, I’m sorry. How do you know it’s involved?”

Vincent studied her for an instant before putting the phone away. “We don’t. Not for sure. But it was there that evening around the right time, and it doesn’t belong to any of your neighbors.”

“Wow. You cross-checked my neighbors’ cars?”

Vincent looked mildly affronted. “Of course we did.”

“I don’t understand,” Charlie said, looking around at Lorenz. “All this … over some graffiti?”

Vincent squared his stance, exchanging a quick glance with Lorenz, who stood still next to her.

“We take care of our own, mademoiselle.”

Of course. Lorenz was one of their own. And she—she was …

A bubbly voice distracted her from her thoughts. “Charlie! How are you?” She looked up to see Tess fairly launch herself in her direction, only to be caught by Damien.

“Gently, Tess. She’s had a rough night.”

“Sorry!” Tess said. “We were all so worried when we heard.”

Charlie looked around her, only to find most of the people who’d attended the barbecue—was it only just hours earlier—were in the waiting room now.

“What—“

The answer came to her immediately.

I ruined the party.

“I’m sorry.” Charlie could feel tears building up behind her eyes. She shrank back, straight into Lorenz’s chest.

“I’m the one who’s sorry,” Tess said ruefully. “It’s a bit much, right? We … we were all just so worried about you. We wanted to make sure you were okay.” She waved around the packed waiting room. “The ones who aren’t here, it’s because they had to go back to work, or they’re taking care of the kids.”