Chapter 12 - THE RIVER DOOR
“Change of plans,” Vasseur said.
Alexandre held the phone so tightly Lucie could see his fingertips whitening.
“Where’s Mathéo?”
“Nearby.”
“Put him on.”
“No more requests. Bring the envelope to the freight landing.”
Police vehicles were already moving toward it.
Moreau stood beside a map, listening through a second phone.
Lucie watched his face.
Every second felt wasted.
Alexandre kept Vasseur talking.
“Why take him? He’s your child.”
A pause.
“He’s leverage.”
Claire closed her eyes.
Lucie saw something break in Alexandre.
But his voice stayed level.
“You can still let him walk away.”
“You can still bring the papers.”
At the depot, officers approached from the service road while another team moved along the riverbank.
Later, Lucie would hear how it happened.
Mathéo sat inside a small office above the loading floor.
His backpack lay in a maintenance truck parked down the road. Vasseur had thrown it there after noticing the blinking watch.
The boy had one shoe off.
He had loosened a screw from the chair with the metal tip of his shoelace.
He wasn’t trying to escape through the door.
He was trying to reach the old wall phone.
When Vasseur heard it fall, he ran upstairs.
By then, Mathéo had pulled the fire alarm.
The building filled with a rusted bell’s uneven clanging.
Vasseur grabbed him and dragged him toward the river door.
“Stop fighting.”
“I want my uncle!”
A voice shouted from below.
“Police!”
Vasseur froze.
Mathéo bit his hand.
The doctor let go for half a second.
It was enough.
The boy dropped flat as officers came through the stairwell.
Vasseur ran for the loading platform.
Wet wood shifted beneath him.
He fell hard, caught the railing, and lost his grip.
An officer caught his coat before he went into the river.
They pulled him back and handcuffed him on the boards.
At the hospital, Alexandre’s phone finally rang.
Moreau answered, listened, and looked up.
“He’s alive.”
Alexandre bent forward, both hands over his face.
Lucie sat down because her legs would no longer hold her.
Then Moreau’s expression changed.
“What do you mean, another file?”
He listened.
May you like
A long silence.
Finally, he said, “Do not let anyone leave that building.”
