Gauguin Connection, The (38 page)

“Jenny, you have to calm down.” Colin’s voice rumbled where he held me against his chest. I opened my eyes. My vision was back. The bright flash of light must have only blinded me momentarily. We were in the library. Colin sat down in the large wingback chair, still holding me to his chest. “I’ve got you. Just calm down.”

“Piros.” I managed to push the word past my lips.

“GIPN has him.” From his breathing I knew he was speaking louder than usual. I was glad. The ringing in my ears was terrible. He touched my face and I leaned into his palm. “God, I nearly died waiting for those arseholes to get their shit together. I thought we were going to lose you. Why didn’t you wait?”

“I was scared we were going to lose the opportunity to catch Piros red-handed.”

Colin bit down hard on his jaw, not taking his eyes off me for one moment. “Never, ever again. You will never put your life in danger like this again. Promise me.”

I stared at the agony on his face, in his eyes. “You care.”

“Of course I fucking care!” He took a few calming breaths. “Jenny, promise me.”

It wasn’t a hard promise to make. I never wanted to experience the last ten minutes again. “I promise.”

“Jen-girl!” Vinnie’s voice boomed across the room. He ran to us and slid to a stop on his knees at our feet. He looked at Colin. “Did you make her promise?” He looked at me. “Did you promise? Your word, Jen-girl. We want your word.”

“I promised Colin that I would never put my life in danger like this again.”

“Did you promise that you would never go into another situation without one of us next to you?”

“Vinnie, that is an illogical promise to make. You can’t always be with me.” I pushed myself into a more upright position. “Why didn’t you guys come to my rescue earlier? Didn’t you get the video I was streaming to your phone?”

“We got it,” Colin said. “Manny and Leon decided that it would be better to send the professionals in to control the situation. We had to wait ten minutes for GIPN to get themselves organised over here.”

“Ten minutes of hell.” Vinnie’s groan barely rose above the ringing that was still loud in my ears.

“Doctor I-read-fucking-faces Lenard!” Manny’s angry voice drew my attention to the cellar door. He stormed to us and Colin’s arms tightened around me. Vinnie stood up, but strangely didn’t put himself between me and Manny. Instead he moved to the side. Manny stopped in front of us, glaring down at me long enough for my heart rate to increase. “What the fuck were you thinking?”

“Manny,” I said softly.

“Don’t fucking Manny me! I can’t talk to you right now. I’m so fucking angry with you.” He was short of breath from rage. On a growl he glared at Colin. “You talk to her.”

I blinked in astonishment as Manny swung around and stormed back to the basement. What happened to the dynamics between them while I was in the cellar? There was a sense of co-operation between them that I had not seen before.

“Jenny, are you okay? Really okay?” Colin asked when I looked at him.

“There’s a loud ringing in my head.”

“It’s the stun grenade they used,” Vinnie said. “It produces a loud blast and a flash of light to disorient the enemy.”

“It worked on me,” I said. “Did it work on the German, Piros and the other man? Oh my, do you know who Piros is?”

“We figured out that Dutoit is Piros while you were playing Nancy Drew,” Colin said.

“I don’t know who she is.” I shrugged off another meaningless name thrown at me. “How did you figure it out?”

“Manny phoned one of his old friends at Interpol to ask about Simon Brun. Seems Manny’s old friend is one of the big guys over there. Big enough to have answers to highly confidential questions. Apparently Simon Brun had made quite a name for himself in the covert world at that time. Enough for this friend to remember the alias and the agent. Bloody Chief Dutoit.”

My response died in my mouth as three men, dressed in black like the thugs who had broken into my apartment, escorted Piros through the cellar door. His face was beaten up, but he looked like he had won a prize rather than being caught. Behind them Manny followed, shaking his hand. My eyebrows lifted as I looked from Manny’s bloody knuckles to Piros’ battered face. I didn’t say anything until they left the room. “Why does Piros look so arrogant?”

“He probably thinks he is too valuable for any law enforcement agency to send him to prison,” Colin said. “He reckons he’s an asset who will be valued and given special witness protection status.”

“How do you know this?” I asked.

Colin stared at me until I realised his work for Interpol must have taught him a lot about these kinds of situations. My understanding must have been evident on my face. He shook his head at me when I opened my mouth to say something about this. I closed my mouth and bit down on my lips for good measure. Colin smiled for the first time since I had opened my eyes to find myself in his arms.

I was still in his arms. I tried to sit up, but he held on to me.

“Colin, let me up. I can’t sit on your lap.”

“Why not?”

I frowned. “I don’t know.”

“Well then. Stay here until you feel better.”

“I feel fine.”

“Not light-headed?”

“A little.”

“What about your cheek?”

My hand floated up to touch the sensitive swelling where I had been slapped twice. “I don’t think anything is broken. It really hurts though.”

“You will get checked by the paramedic.” Manny’s gruff order caught me by surprise. I hadn’t seen him come back into the library. He was standing with his hands on his hips a scant few feet away, the corners of his mouth pulled down. “What are you doing on Frey’s lap?”

“She’s lightheaded,” Vinnie said as if it would answer more than just that one question. He had seated himself in the adjacent chair. He looked exhausted.

“He’s touching you.” Manny looked totally put out by this. Colin looked smug. I wanted to change the topic.

“What about the German and the other man? Who is the other man? Where are all the guests?” I asked.

Manny studied me for a while. At least this time it wasn’t with intense rage twisting his facial muscles. I only saw inflexible determination. “This is how it’s going to be, missy. You will first allow the GIPN team doctor to check you. If, and only if, he says that you are okay, I will answer all your questions. You will not complain when he needs to touch you to determine that you are okay. Understood?”

There was only one correct answer. “Yes.”

Fifteen minutes later I was still on Colin’s lap, but had endured being prodded and touched by a dark-skinned doctor with dreadlocks and gentle hands. Colin’s hand rubbing small circles on my back had helped me focus on calming my breathing when the doctor pressed against my cheekbone. As soon as he said I was okay, but might consider x-rays just to be sure, I leaned away from him. Vinnie stood up and scowled at the doctor until he left. All the while Manny had been talking on his cell phone. As soon as the doctor left the library he dragged an antique chair closer and perched on it. He looked uncomfortable on the spindly-legged chair.

“Phillip will visit you at your apartment tomorrow. He sends his regards.” He gave a crooked smile. “He knew we weren’t going to leave you and he didn’t want to overwhelm you with too many people around.”

There were still a lot of police-type people walking around the house, but mostly we were alone in the library. I didn’t feel overwhelmed sitting on Colin’s lap, Vinnie less than a foot to my left and Manny sitting right in front of us. How my life had changed in less than a month.

“Will you answer my questions now?” I asked.

“Doc, you’re not good for an old man’s mental and physical health.” He ignored Colin and Vinnie’s snorts. “Okay, here’s the rundown. The other man was Piros’ lawyer. Had been for the last fifteen years. A crooked lawyer to boot.”

“Like all lawyers,” said Vinnie.

“His name was on the list of payments on the flash drives,” Manny continued as if Vinnie didn’t exist, their co-operation a thing of the past. “He’s in custody as is the German. Both of them immediately asked for legal representation.”

“Will they get it?” Colin asked.

“Maybe not immediately. This is an international case with terrorist roots. Piros and his associates have only the most basic of human rights after what they have done. Piros thought he would be able to cut a deal, but there is no chance of that ever happening. Not with the crimes he has committed.”

“And we have evidence,” I said proudly.

“That we do, Doc. That we do.”

“What about the artists?” I asked.

“After the ceremony they were put on a bus. GIPN intercepted them and took them into protective custody. They are all young people, at first arrogant, but started talking very quickly when they realised their freedom was at risk. We should get even more evidence from them.”

“And they’re safe,” I said.

“They are. If only you had enough sense to keep yourself safe, missy.” He frowned at me. “You, the rational, logical, level-headed, intellectual genius, followed a known mass killer into a basement. Have you no sense of self-preservation?”

Manny was getting agitated again, so I refrained from commenting on his habitual redundant use of adjectives. “You talked so often about catching him red-handed, I didn’t want to lose the opportunity. To be honest, I didn’t really think much about my own safety.”

“I swear to all that is pure and holy, Doc. You need a keeper.”

“I do not.” All three men made disagreeing noises. I was deeply offended. “I do not need a keeper.”

“Anyway,” Manny continued. “While you were busy giving us heart attacks with your mindless behaviour, the GIPN team moved all the guests to the other side of the house. They’re still vetting all the guests and have so far detained twelve men.”

“Those men I noticed to be military types?” I asked.

“Possibly,” Manny said. “I’m quite impressed with the GIPN team and the police helping them. They’re good. The whole cellar takedown was fast, efficient—”

“And saved my life,” I said. We were silent for a few moments. I didn’t know what they were thinking, but I was still trying to tie up loose ends. “What about Kubanov? We know that he has to be involved with this.”

“We have no evidence, Jen-girl,” Vinnie said.

“That doesn’t matter now,” Manny said. “He got away.”

Colin tensed. “What do you mean he got away? We know he must have been bankrolling Piros and this whole operation.”

Manny’s answer got interrupted by his cell phone’s annoying ringtone. He glanced at his phone and grimaced. “Give me a moment.” He walked away from us as he answered his phone. The call didn’t last very long. There was purpose to his steps as he moved back to us.

“What’s up, dude?” Vinnie sat up in his chair, looking concerned.

“Don’t call me dude. You have to leave.”

“Because I called you dude?”

“No, you simpleton. All of you have to leave now. Take Doc home.”

I pushed away from Colin. “Why?”

“I’ve kept most of this investigation under wraps and I think I’m going to pay for this within the next ten minutes. The Head of the EDA just told me that the Secretary-General from Interpol, the Chief of Police and a few other head honchos are all on their way here. I have no doubt that they are going to ask me about the help I received. Doc might be okay admitting to working with me, but I’m sure you two wouldn’t want all these guys seeing your faces.”

Vinnie jumped up from his chair. I wasn’t ready to leave yet, but didn’t have a choice when Colin stood, picking me up. “Hey! I still have questions.”

“They’re going to have to wait, Doc. I’ll come around tomorrow morning for
a debrief.”

I wanted to argue, but Colin and Vinnie were already moving to the back entrance. Only when we left the house did Colin listen to my near-panic pleading. He gently lowered me until my feet touched the ground. But I didn’t need to walk anywhere. We were next to the limousine that had brought us here, the driver patiently waiting for us by the open back door.

I woke up to the heavenly smell of roasted coffee and breakfast. A glance at the antique clock on my dresser made me groan. How could it possibly be three in the afternoon? I seldom slept in, but to sleep more than half the day away was a first for me. I left my room half an hour later, showered and feeling refreshed.

“At bloody last.” Manny stood up from the dining table with a welcoming frown. “I thought you would never wake up.”

“Leave her be, Manny.” My gaze swung to Phillip lounging on a sofa with the Sunday paper spread out around him. He got up and walked towards us. “You only got here fifteen minutes ago.”

“And he’s already eaten three servings,” Vinnie said from the kitchen. He picked up a mug of coffee and a plate laden with food and brought it to the table. “Here you are, Jen-girl. We’ve already eaten. Except for Millard. He’s still stuffing his face.”

“Oh, give me a break. I’ve been under the microscope for the last sixteen hours.” Manny sat back down. He was still wearing his tuxedo pants and white shirt. It looked like he had been wearing it for more than twenty-four hours. Manny looked worse than his shirt. His skin was gray from exhaustion, his stubble making him look even more bedraggled. We sat down at the table. The men stared at me.

“Well, aren’t you going to say something?” Manny asked me.

I took a sip of coffee. “Where is Colin?”

“In his room, taking a super-secret call,” Manny said.

“Why are you angry about it?” I asked.

“He just pisses me off.” He sighed heavily. “And I’m really tired, so everything is pissing me off. Except the food. It’s really good.”

Vinnie wasn’t fast enough to hide his surprise at the compliment, or his pleasure. “Um, thanks. There’s more.”

I spent the next five minutes assuring them that I was feeling okay, despite the horrid bruise on my cheek. Phillip needed extra convincing. I spent another five minutes reassuring Colin when he joined us.

“Enough.” I raised my hands in a blocking motion. “Tell me what happened after we left, Manny.”

He pushed away his empty plate with a satisfied grunt. “There was almost a riot with all those VIP guests. They didn’t want to be vetted. A few were even under the impression that La Maison Russie was part of the Russian embassy and thus not under French jurisdiction. That was soon cleared up. Altogether fifteen men were taken into custody for questioning. It seems that they were all working either for Piros or for the lawyer.

“Piros is being held in extra-secure holding and very likely will be tried for war crimes, amongst others. The bastard quickly lost his smile when he realised that no one was interested in cutting a deal with him. Interpol will launch a thorough investigation together with the law enforcement agencies of all the countries involved. Another investigation will be undertaken into all the forgeries. I swear that the head of the art crimes division was giggling like a teenager when I told him about all the evidence we have. I wouldn’t want to be someone whose name is on the cruise list or art buyers’ list. The Foundation is also going to be investigated and, of course, Kubanov.”

“What about him? Has he been found?” I asked.

“He landed in Russia today, claiming that he has no knowledge of any wrongdoing. He issued a statement at the airport that he was going to demand a full investigation into the Foundation and find the culprits who used his charity to fund their illegal activities.”

“Son of a bitch!” Vinnie slammed his hand on the table. “He’s behind it all and he’s going to get away?”

“We have nothing to tie him directly to anything. It disgusts me, but we will need concrete evidence before anyone would even consider going after a man as powerful as Kubanov.” Manny waved his hand to change the topic. “That can be a fish we catch on another day. As it is, we’ve caught a whale. After so many years reigning in terror, Piros will pay for his crimes. And I’ve been fired.”

“What the fuck?” Vinnie was the first to react after five seconds of stunned silence. “They can’t do that. Can they?”

“Why, Manny?” Phillip asked. “Is it because of co-operating with us?”

Manny smiled. “You mean co-operating with these criminals?”

“Watch your mouth, old man,” Vinnie said.

Colin was strangely quiet.

“No, it was not about working with you,” Manny said to Phillip. “Or working with them. It’s actually a decision that the Head and I had been discussing since the beginning of this case. The EDA is not the type of place to be involved with investigations like this.”

“But this is what you do,” I said. “This is what you are good at.”

“I thought that a change in career at the EDA would be good for me, but I can’t seem to get away from the detective in me.”

“Now what?” Colin asked.

“First I need to get back to Interpol’s headquarters. We only took a break after the sixteen hours of discussions about the case. It will take a while to tie this up and hand all the different investigations over. Then I’m going fishing.” He scowled when Colin and Vinnie laughed. “I need to get away for a while. I’ve had a few offers and need to decide what I want to do. What about you two criminals? Ready to change your ways?”

“Not in this life, dude.” Vinnie took obvious pleasure goading Manny. True to form Manny responded with an insult and it took ten minutes before Phillip stepped in to calm everyone down. I simply sat back and enjoyed the familiarity of the personalities around my dining table.

“I will miss this,” I said softly.

“I think we all will, Jenny.” Colin touched my forearm. “This was a unique time for me.”

“For all of us,” Phillip said. “Genevieve, would you like to take some time off?”

“Oh, no, please. I need to get back to work. To my viewing room.” To safety.

Phillip stood up. “Then I’ll see you tomorrow. I have to go to a family dinner and need to do a few things before then. Colin, it was a strange experience meeting and working with you. Vinnie, the same.”

We all stood up and walked to the front door. Phillip left and Manny took his tuxedo jacket from the coat tree. “Doc, I’ll be in touch about some of your lists, but you should be rid of me soon.”

“I don’t want to be rid of you, Manny.” I felt sad. This seemed so final. “I’ve grown quite fond of your disapproval and frowns.”

He gave a tired laugh and took a cautious step forward. “I’m going to kiss you on your cheek, but I don’t want you to go all weird on me.”

“I won’t go all weird on you,” I said and offered my cheek. He placed a gentle hand on my shoulder and pecked me softly on my cheek.

“Look after yourself, Doc.” He stepped back and shook Vinnie and Colin’s hands. “Crime really doesn’t pay. Next time we meet I might have to arrest you.”

“In your dreams, Millard,” Colin said.

“I’ve done it before, Frey,” Manny said as he stepped through the door. “I will do it again.”

The door closed and it was just me, Vinnie and Colin.

“Jen-girl, I’m going to abuse your hospitality for a few more days before I fly to visit my auntie Helen in New York. Is that okay?”

“It’s very okay, Vinnie. Stay as long as you like.” I couldn’t keep the relief out of my voice. I had grown used to having people in my space. Not just people. These two men. Vinnie walked to the dining table and started cleaning up. Colin and I stood in silence looking at him work.

“Jenny,” Colin started, but stopped when I raised my hand. I took a few deep breaths to enjoy this moment before the inevitable took place. Change. Life was all about change. Something I didn’t like. I sighed my acceptance.

“You have to go,” I said.

“Yes.”

“Was it the phone call earlier?” I asked. “Just after I woke up?”

His lips lifted in a half smile. “Did you see it on my face?”

“No, your shoulders. They were tense.”

He took my hand in his and played with my fingers. I thought of a documentary I had watched about specialists who work with traumatised or sensitive animals. Through touch they desensitised the creatures until they were able to function normally in their environment. I wondered if Colin’s touch was desensitising me. For the first time in my life I enjoyed another person’s touch.

“Jenny?” Colin squeezed my hand to get my attention. “Are you listening?”

“Sorry. Yes, I’m listening.”

“I don’t know how long I’ll be gone, but it shouldn’t be longer than a week. Maybe two.”

“It’s okay. We all have to get back to our lives.” I sounded sad. I was sad. I pushed my shoulders back and raised my chin. “When you get back and Vinnie is back from New York, he can cook dinner for us and we can catch up.”

“I might be back before him.”

“Can you cook dinner?”

Colin laughed. “I’ll bring a pizza. Is that okay?”

“I prefer Chinese takeaway.”

“Good to know.” He pulled at my hand. Slowly, with enough time for me to pull away, he leaned closer. I took a shaky breath and closed my eyes. Soft lips gently rested on my forehead for a long moment. I opened my eyes as Colin pulled back. “Till next time, Jenny.”

I did not respond. I just stood back while he picked up a black travel bag next to the sofa and opened the door. One last smile and Colin closed the door behind him.

I didn’t know how long I stood there looking at the door. Thinking. About life, about change, about touch, about people.

I had new people in my life. New people who would complicate my life, but also enrich it. They might leave, but they would be back. I knew I could trust them. I knew I could trust Colin. Even though he was a reputed thief, known for breaking and entering.

On this thought I frowned at my front door and said, “He used the door.”

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