The Becić Connection

by Estelle Ryan

  “Food.” Vinnie put a large pot on the table. “I didn’t find large enough dishes, so we’re dishing up from the pots. Oh, look who decided to join us. Welcome, old man.”

  Manny grunted and sat down next to Colin. He put his phone on the table. “Francine is in the air. She’ll be here in less than an hour with our luggage.”

  “Ooh, yay!” Nikki clapped her hands. “I’m so gross. Really gross. Like disgusting gross. I want to get into a shower and stay there for a week.”

  “I recommend it.” Martin’s hair was still wet from the shower he’d taken. Between Zork and Bruno, they’d found clean workout clothes for Martin. His had been destroyed and bloody from all he’d been through. He’d taken the room across from ours and Vinnie’s and had immediately closed the door. His shower had lasted only a few minutes. I suspected he’d spent the rest of the time on the tablet Zork had loaned him.

  If I hadn’t personally spoken to Francine and then to Roxy, I would’ve been much more distressed by someone else going into my wardrobe and disturbing my carefully arranged clothes. But because these two women were my close friends and I knew they would respect the order my clothes were in, I’d accepted their offer to pack clothes for a week.

  Irrationally, I hoped we would be here for only another day.

  Realistically, I knew it could be much longer.

  Nikki had spent much of the last hour on the phone with Phillip, then with Roxy. For the duration of our absence, Phillip was moving into our apartment. He would be staying in the guest room on our side of the shared apartment and Eric would move back into his old room on Vinnie and Roxy’s side. Nikki had been on video call with them and spent a lot of time chatting to Eric. It was fortunate that he was an easy-going child and didn’t mind the change in his routine. I envied the child.

  Pink had not left Nikki’s side. Even now, he was constantly touching her as if to reassure himself that she was next to him. His nonverbal cues were predominantly relaxed, but every now and then his expression showed his deep concern for Nikki. He’d shown none of that when he’d joined the video call with Eric. They’d made it into a game and Eric had sounded happy.

  Vinnie brought the second pot and we started dishing up spaghetti with his aunt Helen’s secret bolognese sauce. Without meat. Luka had told him that Zork didn’t eat any meat and Vinnie had accepted the challenge. He waited until everyone had dished up before he helped himself to a generous portion. “This is a first for me, but I think it came out okay.”

  “Oh, my God,” Zork said around a mouth full of food. I shuddered. He closed his eyes and sighed happily, swallowed and then looked at Vinnie. “This is the best vegetarian spaghetti bolognese I’ve ever had.”

  Vinnie’s chest pushed out and he gave a one-shoulder shrug. “It can be better. Next time.”

  Zork’s eyes widened. “I want next time. I want a lot of next times.”

  Everyone laughed and Nikki elbowed Vinnie in the ribs. “You’re okay for a big punk.”

  “Hmph.” The scar on Vinnie’s face became more prominent as colour flooded his cheeks. He winked at Nikki and focused on his food.

  Zork opened the wine and for the next few minutes, kidnappings, and stolen artworks with unknown changes were not mentioned.

  I assumed Martin didn’t eat much because of the pain that was evident every time he moved. He finished two thirds of his plate before he put his knife and fork down. “I’ve done some research.”

  “Bloody hell.” Manny lowered his brow and glared at Martin. “So help me, if you did something stupid...”

  Martin’s smile was filled with affection. “You mean I shouldn’t have posted on Facebook that Goran Radja was involv—” He chuckled, then winced and pressed his palm against his side when Manny’s scowl deepened. “You’re too easy, Manny.”

  “Don’t torture the old man, dude.” Vinnie frowned at Martin’s unfinished meal. “You’re not hungry?”

  “He’s in pain.” Which often suppressed hunger. But I was more interested in what he’d found. “Where did you get the information and what did you learn?”

  Martin’s expression sobered and he looked at Manny. “I used the secure browser Zork showed me and logged into my company account. I didn’t go anywhere that could lead to trouble.”

  “Oh, man.” Pink leaned back in his chair. “I have so much to teach you.”

  “I know, I know.” Martin lifted one hand, palm out. “Nothing is secure, yadda, yadda. But I’m pretty sure our servers are secure.” His faux-arrogant smile was clearly ironic. “Francine helped us set up our online security.”

  “I have to meet this goddess.” Zork laughed when Manny turned to him with an angry glare.

  It took a lot of effort to keep the annoyance out of my voice. “What did you find?”

  “Sorry, Genevieve.” Martin’s apology was sincere. He knew how much neurotypical conversational detours exasperated me. “I’ll try to give bullet points and in chronological order.”

  “Thank you.”

  “As we know, Goran Radja died five months ago. We have a copy of his death certificate and it states that he was murdered.” He looked at Manny, then at Pink. “I didn’t want to set off any alarms, so I didn’t Google his death or murder or anything. I’m telling you everything I know.”

  Manny only nodded. “Good.”

  “Goran’s father died two months before him. Slavko Radja. He was an engineer until he retired. I don’t have any more information about him. Not even a death certificate to tell me about the cause of his death.”

  “How old was he when he died?” Nikki asked.

  “Eighty-nine.”

  “That’s old.” She wrinkled her nose. “It might just be natural causes.”

  “I’m not jumping to any conclusions,” Manny said. “Not with what we have at the moment. What else?”

  “Goran has a brother,” Martin said. “Rene Sobin.”

  “A different surname?” Luka asked.

  “Yup.” Martin nodded. “The mother’s maiden name. She died many years ago. I don’t have much on her. Or on Rene. Just his name. If I was going to start working on Goran’s estate this week, I would’ve looked for him. But for now I only have his name. I’m sorry I can’t give you more.”

  “Oh, that’s plenty.” Zork looked at Pink and both nodded. “I’ll be able to find a lot on our national system since they were all Croatian citizens.”

  “And Francine and I will look for anything international.” Pink leaned forward to focus on Martin. “Sometimes, you’re not too bad for a lame lawyer.”

  “Screw you, pretty boy.”

  The familiar ringtone of Manny’s phone interrupted everyone’s laughter. Manny lifted his phone and frowned. He swiped the screen and held the phone in front of him. A video call. “What do you want?”

  “Manny! My favourite grump.” The familiar voice made me narrow my eyes in curiosity. “Is Genevieve with you? I’ve been phoning her and she’s not answering.”

  I’d left my phone in my handbag upstairs. I leaned closer to Manny. “I’m here, Bree.”

  We’d met the investigative reporter a year ago when we’d investigated a case in Prague. She’d impressed me with her intellect. But it was her general approach to life that had made me accept her friendship.

  “Genevieve! Manny, give the phone to my girl.” She waited until I had Manny’s phone in my hand and was looking at the screen. Today she was wearing a blue fedora and a multicoloured scarf loosely arranged around her neck, her smile as genuine as usual. Her face moved closer to the screen and she frowned. “Wait. Where are you? That’s not your house or your office. Please, please, please tell me you’re in Croatia.”

  Chapter ELEVEN

  “WHAT THE HELL?” MANNY moved to grab the phone from me, but I leaned away from him.

  “Why are you asking?” I’d grown to trust Bree, but this was a very peculiar coincidence.

  “You are in Croatia!” Her facial muscles relaxed in relief. “I knew t
his was the kind of thing you guys would be involved in.”

  “For the love of all the holy saints and their mothers.” Manny pushed the words through his teeth, his glare moving between the phone and my face. This time when he moved to grab the phone, I didn’t stop him. He brought the phone close to his face. “Video call in five minutes.”

  He stabbed his phone screen hard with his finger to end the call and turned to Luka and Zork, but didn’t get a chance to speak.

  “Who was that?” Luka crossed his arms, his muscles tense.

  “I was about to tell you, lad.” Manny took a deep breath and lifted his phone. “Bree Reuben.”

  Vinnie crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair, his smile wide. And mischievous. “Oh, this is going to be good. Tell them what she does for a living, old man.”

  “Put a sock in it.” Manny sighed heavily, then faced Luka. “She’s an investigative reporter.”

  Luka’s eyebrows shot up and Zork’s expression closed down. Luka placed both his hands on the table. “I need much more information before I can allow this.”

  “Allow?” Manny narrowed his eyes.

  “Let’s all take a deep breath.” Colin looked pointedly at Manny, then turned to Luka and Zork. “We met Bree a year ago when we worked a case in Prague.”

  “Yeah, we heard about that one,” Zork said. “You stopped a bombing on Charles Bridge, right?”

  Colin nodded. “And we closed that case with a lot of help from Bree. Her brother is high up in Scotland Yard. But what made us trust her was her integrity. Yes, she’s a reporter, but her investigations are not at the cost of the law. She does this to bring justice to those who have been failed by the system.”

  “But?” Luka looked at me. “What aren’t they telling me?”

  “A lot.” That seemed obvious to me, but Luka’s nonverbal cues implied that his question was very specific. I tilted my head and studied him for a few seconds. “You know Bree. No. You know about her. Yes. That’s it. Why wouldn’t you admit that?”

  “I need to know what you know.”

  “Dude!” Vinnie leaned forward, his expression one of disgust. “Is this about her being trans? I mean, I struggled with it in the beginning, but she’s a chick, man. Like Jen-girl and the little pu—”

  “Vin, stop.” Colin pinched the bridge of his nose, his soft laugh one of resignation. “Every time you try harder, it sounds worse.”

  “It does?” Vinnie frowned. “I didn’t think so.”

  Luka quietly observed them, then turned to me again. “What aren’t they telling me?”

  “Asking the same question is not going to result in a different answer. Bree has been vetted by us. If you have any specific questions, ask. If not, it would be prudent to discontinue wasting time with this inane discussion and speak to Bree.”

  Vinnie pointed at me. “What she said.”

  Zork snorted and Luka looked at Manny. “You understand why I’m suspicious?”

  “Of course I do.” Manny lifted his phone and swiped the screen. “We’re not in the business of trusting people. In this case, I hope you will though.”

  As soon as Luka nodded, Manny tapped his phone’s screen. The video call rang only once.

  “You’re back!”

  “And I’m with a lot of other people.” Manny looked at Pink. “Get her on your tablet so she can see us all.”

  Pink nodded and within a few seconds, Bree’s face was on his large tablet at the end of the table. Her eyes widened. “Guests?”

  “These are trusted friends of Daniel’s.” Colin smiled at the tablet. “Hi, Bree.”

  “Hey, you.” She frowned as she studied whatever she saw on the video. “Please introduce your guests. And, um... can Blondie please move a little to his left so I can see his full face?”

  “My name is Zork.” He moved his chair to his left and smiled when Bree nodded.

  “That is Anton Zorko and I’m Captain Luka Dalić. We’re with ATJ Lučko. Think of us as SWAT.”

  “Ooh.” Bree leaned away from the video. “Okay. SWAT. Hmm.”

  “You can trust them, Bree.” Colin ignored Manny’s glare. “We do.”

  “Genevieve?”

  It placed a lot of responsibility on me to be the one to declare someone trustworthy or not. I thought about it for a few seconds, because I wanted to give Bree the best answer I could. “I met them a few hours ago. You know that I trust Daniel. In this case, I trust them because Daniel told me they can be trusted. And to be completely honest, whatever you will tell us now, we’ll share with them in any case.”

  “You people all have such trust issues!” Nikki threw her hands in the air and rolled her eyes. “Can you just like get over yourselves for a minute? I was kidnapped and Martin tortured. Isn’t finding these guys more important than”—she waved her hands at us—“this?”

  “Tortured?” Bree’s tone was strained. In Prague, she had suffered greatly at the hands of the criminal we’d been investigating.

  “First you, lass.” The softening of Manny’s expression showed his affection towards Bree. “Why did you ask if we’re in Croatia?”

  “Um. Well. Yeah.” She grabbed the end of her long braid and twirled it around her fingers. “You see, I’m looking into this thing.”

  “Bree, please use specific terms.” I found neurotypicals’ vagueness most exasperating.

  She smiled. “I’ll be as specific as I can without compromising privacy. So... I’m looking into... a case that is really hinky. Um... I mean, something is very strange about this case.”

  “I know what ‘hinky’ means. You use it all the time.”

  “I do, don’t I?” Her smile widened. “Well, there’s a lot that’s hinky with this case.” She shifted in her seat, excitement lighting up her eyes. “I met this source who told me she heard from someone that there’s a person looking for a treasure map.”

  “Bloody hell.” Manny’s frown deepened. “A treasure map?”

  “Yup.” Bree laughed softly. “Like an Indiana Jones-style treasure map.”

  “What is the connection between this treasure map and your case?” I didn’t see any connection.

  “My source hinted that there’s a painting connected to the treasure map. A landscape painted by a Croatian painter. Becić.” She paused. “Did I pronounce it correctly?”

  “No.” Zork smiled. “Try bed-sitch. That would be much better than the way you destroyed it before.”

  She laughed. “Bed-sitch. Okay, got it. Anyway. As soon as my source told me about this painting, guess who came to mind?”

  “Who?” I hated such questions.

  “You did, you fabulous woman. Well, actually it was Colin who came to mind, but since you’re a package deal, I naturally thought of you and then tried to phone you.” She leaned closer to the camera and whispered, “Where are you?”

  “Why are you whispering?” When everyone, including Bree, laughed, I realised she was being her usual melodramatic self. I sighed. “We’re in Rovinj.”

  Luka’s smile disappeared and he frowned at me. Manny grunted. “Where are you?”

  “Zagreb, but I’ve rented a car, so I can pop over for breakfast tomorrow.”

  “Hold your horses, lass.” Manny looked at me, then at Luka. “We’ll need to discuss this first.”

  I watched Bree’s face. We were losing her trust. In the last year, I’d spoken to her at least once a month on a video call and had become familiar with her micro-expressions. I got up, took Pink’s tablet and walked to the staircase. The distrust in Bree’s smile was quickly replaced with a genuine smile as she heard the loud complaints coming from the table. I ignored them and continued up to the bedroom Colin and I were sharing.

  Only when I closed the door behind me did I focus on Bree’s face again.

  She was relaxed. “This is why I like you so much, Genevieve. You don’t have time for bullshit.”

  “I know this is hard for you.” In one of our earlier conversations, she’d revealed h
ow someone close to her had broken her trust by making it public that she was transgender. It had been damaging to her career, but even more so to her personal life. I sat down on the bed. “If you were to employ logic instead of emotion, you would deduce that I would not cooperate with anyone I didn’t deem trustworthy.”

  She closed her eyes for a second. “I know. You’re right. I’m being a brat.” She snorted. “Just never tell my brother I admitted to this.”

  “I don’t know your brother.”

  “That is true.” She took a deep breath and exhaled loudly. “Okay. Let me tell you one more thing about this thing.” Her smile told me she was teasing me. When I raised one eyebrow, her smile widened. “My source is in Pula. I came to Zagreb for the day to do some research, but I was planning on returning to Pula tomorrow. Which means it will only take me a minute to drive to Rovinj.”

  “Rovinj is thirty-six kilometres from Pula. It will take much more...” I sighed. “You were being hyperbolic. Again.” I shook my head. “Is your ‘one more thing’ the information that your source is in Pula? No. Okay. What else?”

  She grew serious. “I’m still trying to sort through all the information I have to make sense of everything. I don’t know how much is people’s unreliable memories and how much is a true recall of events. But for the moment, I’m sure about some kind of treasure map that is connected to a Becić landscape painting.”

  “Do you know exactly which Becić painting?” I would have to ask Colin how many landscapes Becić had painted.

  “No. Sorry.” She twisted her mouth, her regret clear. “The thing I am sure about is that this treasure map leads to a treasure that was stolen in Croatia.”