by Estelle Ryan
Colin held out his palm towards Manny when the latter inhaled. “Let me. We’ll take this one thing at a time.” He leaned forward. “Who is this ‘we’ you are talking about?”
Armando tilted his head, his smile playful. “You’re not worried that your covers are blown?”
“No.”
“Hmm. And you’re also not responding to me using the plural. As in ‘covers’.” The white cat joined the black one on his lap, the two felines spilling over onto the sofa. He stroked the white cat from head to tail. “We know you’ve been going around as George Herbert, John Milton and Andrew Marvell. Aren’t you worried that we’ve already told everyone?”
“No.” Colin narrowed his eyes. “Who is ‘we’?”
“Hmm. I prefer you like this. George Herbert was so...” He tapped his index finger on his lips, then snapped his fingers. “Snobbish. You? Like this? You’re real.”
It was interesting to observe relief entering his micro-expressions. He was trying hard, but Armando was deeply worried about something. And I suspected he was placing a lot of hope in Colin’s cooperation.
“Armando.” Colin raised both eyebrows. “We?”
Armando swallowed and nodded. “Inge, Jake and Paulo.”
Colin frowned. “Jake Cahan?”
“No. Jake Langford.” He paused. “And Paulo Ornelas.”
Colin’s eyes widened and he didn’t even try to hide his surprise as he leaned back in the sofa. “Wow. That’s quite the crew you put together. Inge, I understand. Jake, I’m a bit surprised. But Paulo? Are you sure you want to hitch your wagon to his?”
“We have no other choice.” Armando’s distress was moving closer to the surface, overriding his faked confidence and sensuality. He looked around the room and for a moment I thought he would employ his sexy half-smile again. But then he closed his eyes and shook his head. When he looked at Colin, his expression conveyed true concern and there was no trace of his accent. “We need your help.”
“With what?” Colin glanced at Pink as he took out his tablet and started swiping the screen. “Pink, you want to look for Inge Weiss, Jake Langford and Paulo Ornelas.” He looked back at Armando. “What do you need our help with?”
“The Collector.”
“Bloody hell.” Manny pulled a dining room chair closer and sat down. “Speak.”
Armando shook his head. “I need immunity first.”
Manny’s lips thinned. “Immunity for what?”
“From all prosecution. What we have will be worth it and more. Our little crimes pale in the face of what we can give you. Who we can give you.”
“The Collector.” Colin studied Armando. “You’re really worried, aren’t you?”
“I’m here.” Armando’s glance shifted to Vinnie and the other two. He leaned a bit closer until the white cat huffed. “Immunity and I’ll tell you everything.”
I straightened as another thought came to me. “When did you arrive here?”
“Huh?” Armando blinked, then frowned as he looked at his watch. “Four hours ago. Whatever you’re thinking of pinning on me, don’t. I didn’t do it. You can check security cameras at both airports. I even allowed the cameras to catch a nice view of my handsome mug.”
I looked at Manny. “He’s being truthful. He couldn’t have burned down the consulate general.”
“The what now?” Armando looked at Colin. “The Collector?”
“We think so.” Colin glanced at Manny, then returned his attention to Armando. “You’re going to have to give us a moment.”
Manny gestured at Thierry. “Take this nitwit to the other room and make sure he doesn’t try anything.”
Armando petted both the cats and gently lifted them off his lap before he got up. He kept his hands in front of him, his posture non-threatening as he walked to the hallway that I assumed led to the bedrooms.
Manny waited until he heard the click of a door, then looked at Daniel. “What the holy hell happened?”
Daniel chuckled. “I think you’re angrier about this than me. Like I said, he got me with a Taser.” He grew serious. “He had no problem breaking in and that is definitely something I will be fixing immediately. I got to bed late and was still sleeping when Armando broke in. He’s really good, but I still heard him. Unfortunately, he was already in my bedroom.”
“He zapped you in bed?” Vinnie clenched his fists, his knuckles whitening.
“Yup.” Daniel glanced towards the bedrooms. “In his defence, I had my gun in my hand when he tried to wake me up. Turns out he only wants to talk.”
“Talk, my ass.” Vinnie sat down on the sofa with the cats. “Dude. Cats?”
Daniel smiled and shrugged. The conversation was about to be derailed. Again. I took a step closer, clutching my handbag against my chest. “What did you see? Why do you trust him?”
“Honestly?” Daniel’s smile was rueful. “My cats. They usually run to hide in the bedroom when I have visitors.”
“They only started coming out to greet me after the third visit.” Pink pushed the black cat towards Vinnie and sat down. His attention immediately went back to his tablet, his fingers swiping and tapping the screen.
“You bloody better have something more solid than your cats’ opinions.” Manny slumped in his chair, glaring from Daniel to the white cat now sitting on Vinnie’s lap.
“I do.” Daniel looked at me. “Body language, expressions, tone of voice. When Armando is not trying to be charming, I can see his fear. Hell, I can see the fear even with all his pouting and sexy smiles.”
“Did he give you anything concrete?” Manny asked.
“No. He only insisted that I contact George Herbert’s boss and tell him to bring Herbert and whoever else Herbert trusted.” Daniel looked at Colin. “I have the impression that he knows about you and Genevieve.” He grunted and shook his head. “After he zapped me, he tied my hands and helped me to the sofa. That was pretty much when I realised he didn’t mean any physical harm. If he knew where I lived and that I was connected to Colin, he also knew that I could take him down before his cheap Taser was able to recharge. Binding my hands with a tea towel? Yeah, that was symbolic more than anything else.”
“Symbolic of what?” I asked.
“I would have to ask him to confirm my suspicions, but I think he did it so I would know I had more power than him. He threw the Taser in the rubbish bin and sat down on the other sofa. He knew I could get out of the tea towel at any moment and overpower him.”
“Instead, you decided to sit there like a pansy.” Vinnie shook his head, his lip curled in disgust as he scratched the cat behind its ears. “Hmph. Tea towel. That’s just plain embarrassing, dude.”
“No.” Manny’s zygomaticus muscles pulled at the corners of his mouth, not quite forming a smile. “You allowed him to play his game.”
Daniel nodded. “But he plays it very well. He didn’t give me anything. We talked about carpentry and birdwatching. That man has varied interests.” He looked at Vinnie. “He loves cooking as well.”
“Asswipe.” Vinnie looked down at the cat. “If you weren’t so soft, I would not allow you to use my lap as a throne. Not after cuddling up to that—”
“Ready to hear what I found?” Pink pointed at his tablet.
“Inge and the others?” Colin asked.
“Inge looks like a soccer mom.” Pink’s eyes were wide as he stared at his tablet for a moment. “I mean, seriously. I can’t believe this photo goes with her rap sheet. She’s been implicated in two diamond heists, but there’s never been any evidence connecting her to the crimes.”
Colin laughed softly. “Don’t let her looks deceive you. That woman is a master in stealing jewellery. Those two heists are a drop in the bucket of what she’s stolen. An emerald worth over three million euros, a pink star diamond ring worth seventy-two million euros, a Cartier jade necklace worth upwards of twenty-seven million euros. These are the most reported thefts, but she’s stolen a lot of jewels and precious stones in he
r life.” He looked at Manny. “And you’ll never find anything concrete tying her to these crimes.”
“Then there’s Armando.” Pink looked down at his tablet. “The arrest warrant he was talking about was for the theft of a Picasso. As it was, the police had very little evidence against him, so when he produced that video, they just dropped the case.”
He swiped his tablet screen. “Jake Langford looks like the least successful criminal of the four. He’s been arrested seventeen times and has spent quite a few years in jail. He definitely doesn’t have the best of luck. His crimes include drug smuggling, high-end auto theft and the like.”
Colin leaned back on the sofa and looked at the ceiling for a moment. “Jake is more dangerous because of his cartel connections. How he got involved with those people, I don’t know, but I do know he has cartel royalty on speed dial.”
“Is there a reason you’re keeping Paulo for last?” Daniel smiled when Pink nodded. “Okay, what’s so special about Paulo?”
“Paulo Ornelas is one sick dude.” Pink squinted at his tablet. “He’s connected to more than a dozen suspicious deaths. All vicious accidents, so bad that there was little to no evidence to determine the cause of death. But I can’t find anything about him stealing stuff. Colin?”
“Paulo is evil.” The muscles around Colin’s eyes and mouth tightened, his voice strained. “He steals secrets. That’s his speciality. He worms his way into the lives of powerful people, sets them up in sickeningly compromising situations and makes sure it’s all on video and audio in full HD.”
“What does he do with it?” Vinnie asked. “Blackmail them?”
“Not immediately. And not in the traditional sense. He tells his victims he has these videos or whatever evidence he collected and that he’ll call in a favour one day. Then he leaves it. After a while his victims get comfortable, because he hasn’t contacted them. That’s when he sends a five-second clip of that video to remind them that he has power.”
“And when he finally calls in these favours?” Daniel asked.
“It’s almost always for something really big.” The corners of Colin’s mouth turned down. “Inside-trading information, asking for evidence to get lost or damaged, getting someone on a board of a company. He’s been at this for twelve years. Before that he was a thief. Brutal and violent. But then he became what he now calls an ‘information merchant’. He has many powerful people in his pocket. Some of them became powerful because he used favours owed to him to get them a parliament seat, or a CEO position, or a membership of an exclusive club. And every time he does something for someone, that person is pulled even deeper into his web of sick power.”
“This sounds like something the Collector would do,” Daniel said.
“I know.” Colin nodded. “For a minute I wondered if Paulo could be the Collector, but no.”
“Why not?” Vinnie asked. “The Collector has also been blackmailing people.”
“Criminals,” Colin said. “I think it’s an important distinction. The Collector has been manipulating people already neck-deep in their own criminal careers to commit crimes of his choosing with a defined result—to steal specific works of art. Paulo has been blackmailing white-collar folk by finding their vices and using it against them. Not once did he order a criminal to steal any artwork. He has not changed his method for twelve years.”
“You really don’t like the dude,” Vinnie said softly.
“No, I don’t.”
“These are not the kind of people we can give immunity to all willy-nilly.” Manny pushed his hands into his trouser pockets.
“But what if they can really give us the Collector? Would immunity be worth it?” Daniel asked.
“There’s only one way to find out.” Manny’s lips tightened as he glared towards the hallway.
Chapter THREE
“NEVER IN MY WHOLE LIFE have I ever served coffee in such dainty cups.” Vinnie put the tray on the coffee table between the sofas. He straightened and frowned as Daniel walked into the living area. “Dude, are these your granny’s cups? I can’t even fit my pinkie through those tiny little ear-thingies.”
Daniel was tucking in the back of his GIPN uniform shirt. He’d left us discussing Armando’s proposal to get dressed. He smiled at Vinnie. “Actually, those cups come from my great-grandmother. She bought them the day after my grandmother got married. She thought that was the ideal time to finally have something expensive in her house—safe from my clumsy grandmother.”
We’d all taken a seat somewhere. Colin was still sitting in the same place on the large sofa, Pink now next to him. I’d chosen to sit on a dining room chair in the hopes that there wouldn’t be as many cat hairs on the wooden chairs as I’d seen on the sofas.
“That’s... I don’t know whether that is sweet or just plain weird.” Vinnie sat on the dining room chair he’d pulled next to Manny’s. “Do you come from a weird family, Dan?”
“Define weird.” Daniel winked at me and sat down on the sofa opposite Colin and Pink. The white cat immediately got onto his lap, purring loudly. He rubbed the cat behind its ears and looked at Manny. “What do you think? Should we hear Armando out?”
Manny scratched his chin, then sighed. “Ask Frey.”
Colin blinked in surprise. “You always shout at me that I’m not the law. Now you want me to make this decision?”
“No, I don’t.” Manny slumped in his chair. “I don’t want anything to do with those lowlifes.”
“But sometimes we have to look at the bigger evil.” Daniel shifted in his seat and sighed. “I hate it as well. Every time we give a drug dealer freedom from prosecution when he gives up a big-time supplier, I’m sickened.”
“But that’s how the game is played.” Pink rested his tablet on his knee and looked at Colin. “So?”
Colin leaned his head against the back of the sofa and looked at the ceiling for a few seconds. His lips tightened as he straightened. “If it were only Armando, Jake and Inge, I would have far fewer reservations.”
“What’s the deal with Paulo?” Pink asked.
“He can never be trusted.” Colin’s words were strained, his jaw stiff with anger, his levator labii superioris muscle curling his top lip.
“Can any of those criminals be trusted?” Manny snorted and shook his head, then looked at me. “Doc? You’ve been too quiet. What do you think?”
“Armando showed genuine fear of the Collector. I have no way of knowing what his true motivation is, but I saw desperation to be safe from the Collector.” I was still feeling distressed by the intensity of the fear I’d witnessed on his face. That kind of terror usually came from trauma.
“I need more than that, Doc.”
“The only way I can give you more is if we listen to what Armando wants to tell us.”
“And he won’t do it without a bloody guarantee.”
“Let me speak to him.” Colin looked towards the hallway where Bianca and Thierry were still watching over Armando. “Maybe we’ll get something else to go on so we can make a more informed decision.”
“You will do it here. I want Doc to watch him.” Manny nodded at Daniel. “Bring that criminal here.”
Daniel called out to Bianca. A door opened and a few seconds later Armando walked into the room. His bravado was well-polished. To the average person it would be believable. His swagger, the sureness in his demeanour, it all pointed to a man who was certain of his position. But his elbows tucked close to his torso gave away his insecurity. I filed away that bit of information.
He headed to the sofa and sat down next to Daniel. Armando stretched out his legs in front of him and crossed his ankles. Even this was practiced, calculated to communicate comfort, confidence. “So? Do we have a deal?”
“No, we don’t have a bloody deal.” Manny’s scowl deepened.
“What Colonel Millard is so eloquently trying to convey is that we need more before we agree to anything.” Colin ignored Manny’s grunt, his posture also relaxed, mirroring A
rmando’s poise. “You knew we wouldn’t agree to your proposal outright. What do you have for us?”
A smile lifted Armando’s cheeks and crinkled the corners of his eyes. “You’ve always been the smartest in the room.”
“But not the smartest in the world.” Colin’s lips twisted in a self-deprecating smile. “You figured out who I am and how to contact me.”
“The first part was easy.” Armando raised one shoulder in a half-shrug. “Well, it was easy-ish. You remember the time we met in Monaco?”
“Nine years ago?” Colin was impressed. “It was for a minute.”
“I don’t forget a face. Ever. You were in Monaco as George Herbert. Then we met properly seven years ago. You introduced yourself again as George Herbert. But five years ago, that was when I realised you weren’t who you said you were.”
“Five years ago? I don’t remember seeing you.”
“Because you didn’t.” This time, Armando’s smile was genuine. “You were speaking to Louise Jourdain, who called you Andrew. I was in the back room and thought I recognised the tone of your voice even though you spoke with a different accent. I peeked around the corner and saw you. Your disguise was good, but”—a mischievous smile pulled at both corners of his mouth—“just like me, you are blessed with good bone structure. I would never mistake that jawline.”
“His jawline?” Vinnie uttered a sound of disgust. “That’s how you recognised him?”
“We all have our ways.” Armando shrugged. “At first, I thought I couldn’t be right, but I’ve learned to trust my gut, so I checked. It took quite a bit of checking, but I finally figured out you had a few aliases that you used. That made me very curious and that was when I figured out that there was always an arrest after you had been in the area. Long story short, I learned you are Colin Frey and that you work with the law.”
What he didn’t say was quite telling. The slight narrowing of Colin’s eyes told me he also noticed this. “Yet you didn’t know who I was working for and you didn’t know how to contact me.”
