The Resistance Man (Bruno Chief of Police 6)

‘J-J, I’ve just had a call from Paul Murcoing at Crimson’s house. He’s taken Crimson hostage at gunpoint along with two other guests.’
    The Mayor rose, looking stunned, and then sank back into his chair as Bruno recounted Paul’s conditions.
    ‘J-J, I’ll meet you there at Crimson’s house and I’ll arrange for a doctor and an ambulance to be on standby. I have my mobile phone and for anything else the Mayor will be here at the
Mairie
. I’ll patch my phone through to his office and rig up a tape recorder.’
    ‘Mother of God,’ said the Mayor as Bruno rang off and called Fabiola’s cell phone.
    ‘I’ll be right back with the recorder,’ said Bruno and left for his office. When Fabiola answered, he briefed her and asked her to arrange an ambulance, and for someone to check on Florence’s children. One of her pupils was probably babysitting but could not be expected to stay all night. He opened his safe and took out his gun and a spare magazine and put on his holster and uniform jacket. He forwarded all his calls to the Mayor’s extension and took the recorder back with him along with two spare cassettes and rigged it to the Mayor’s phone.
    ‘I’m going to Crimson’s house where I’ll meet J-J,’ he said. ‘You’re the communications backstop. Get Roberte in to answer your phone rather than Claire, she’s more level-headed. Fend off all calls that aren’t related to this hostage situation and make sure you keep your mobile charged and ready, since I’ll use that to stay in touch with you. Is that clear, sir?’
    ‘Yes, Bruno.’
    ‘Please make a note to call me in exactly fifty minutes to remind me that’s when Paul is expecting me to call him again.’
    The Mayor looked at his watch, took the top from his fountain pen and scribbled a note to himself on a clean pad.
    ‘And nobody, nobody is to talk to the press. If Delaron gets hold of this we’ll have a circus.’
    Bruno was already dialling again, the special number that he was only to use in emergencies.
    The phone was answered but there was no reply, just a silence. ‘This is Bruno Courrèges in St Denis and I need to speak to the Brigadier urgently.’
    ‘Bruno?’
    Oh God, it was Isabelle’s voice. Of all the people in the Ministry she had to be the duty officer of the day. Firmly squashing all the emotions and recriminations that flooded through him, he kept his voice crisp and neutral.
    ‘Crimson has just been taken hostage at his home,’ he began, and explained the details.
    ‘
Putain
, the Brigadier’s not here. He’s gone to the Elysée and there’s complete chaos here. You heard our minister just resigned? I’ll try to patch you through but if he’s with the President he can’t take the call.’
    ‘Stay on the line to see if he answers and if not, keep calling him until you can brief him. I’m on my way to Crimson’s house where J-J will join me. We have some
Jaunes
in the vicinity with a chopper but they’re trained in anti-terrorist response, not hostage rescue. So do your best to keep them out of the way.’
    ‘You got it. If the Brigadier doesn’t answer in ten seconds leave it to me. And Bruno, please take care.’
    He waited the ten seconds but the Brigadier did not pick up. He rang off and then began to dial the Gendarmerie when the Mayor coughed and said: ‘Er, Bruno?’
    He stopped at the door, about to trot down the
Mairie
stairs, phone to his ear.
    ‘I’ll look after Balzac, don’t worry.’
    The pup was sitting on the rug beside the Mayor, looking up at Bruno in perplexity. Was his master going for a walk without him?
    ‘Thank you, sir, I know he’s in good hands.’
    He ran down the stairs as the call went through, hoping that Sergeant Jules would answer rather than Yveline.
    ‘Gendarmerie, St Denis,’ came a female voice, but it was Françoise.
    ‘It’s Bruno. Is Jules there? It’s an emergency.’
    ‘He’s right here. I’ll put him on.’
    As he got to his Land Rover Bruno explained to the unflappable Sergeant Jules that he wanted all available Gendarmes deployed to form a distant cordon around Crimson’s house. They were to stay out of sight and keep all traffic away unless it was official.
    ‘It’s a hostage situation, so you know the procedure. I’ve informed J-J. Perhaps you could inform the Prefect’s office and the
Proc
. We’ll probably need more Gendarmes from St Cyprien on standby if this goes through the night. Tell Ivan to start making sandwiches and