by Estelle Ryan
“Morning, dude.” Vinnie pointed at the sofa. “Sit. I’ll bring your coffee.”
Colin walked to the living area. “Is nobody in this house sleeping?”
“He is.” Nikki pointed at her stomach. “And he’s lying on my bladder. I have to pee.” She pushed herself up, then stopped, glaring at Colin. “Don’t take my seat. I’m sitting next to Doc G.”
Colin chuckled. “How about I keep your seat warm for you?”
“Deal.” She walked towards her side of the apartment. Her gait had changed in the last week. She was walking with considerably more effort.
“Did we wake you?” Roxy’s eyebrows pulled down in concern. “We tried to be quiet.”
“No. No, you didn’t.” Colin sat down next to me and took my hand. “I wasn’t sleeping well in any case, but didn’t hear you until I came out.”
“They have that mother of a door that keeps their bedroom safe, Rox.” Vinnie put the casserole in the oven and straightened. “Three locks and all.”
“Seriously?” Roxy stared at my bedroom door. “Not a bad idea.”
Vinnie took his smartphone from his sweatpants’ pocket as he walked to the living area. “Huh.”
The change in his posture was instant. Dread tightened around my heart. “What?”
“I just got this really strange SMS from Francine.”
“What does it say?” Colin asked.
“She wants me to check the apartment for bugs. And she says that they’re leaving her place now. They’ll be here soon.”
Adrenaline surged through my body and my mouth went dry. “You told me you frequently check for surveillance devices. Have you not been doing so?”
Vinnie put his phone back in his pocket. “I check twice a week. The last time was two days ago.”
“Better get to it then, Vin.” Even though Colin hadn’t moved from his relaxed position on the sofa next to me, his muscle tension had increased exponentially. He was ready to jump up and take action.
From experience, I knew that Francine would explain in detail when they arrived. She loved conspiracy theories and creating the most outrageous scenarios, but she would never send an alarmist SMS at this hour in the morning. Not if she didn’t have concrete evidence that necessitated a search.
We sat in silence for the seven minutes it took Vinnie to go through every room in our extended apartment. He was proud of the device he used looking for devices that didn’t belong in our apartment. Security teams of numerous world leaders used exactly the same device. Vinnie had invested in it not only to ensure our safety, but also because it was fast, thorough and reliable.
He came out of my room, relief and concern evident on his face. “There’s nothing that shouldn’t be here. Now I’m really worried why Franny would send this SMS.”
A ping from the front door alerted us that someone had entered the security code at the front door of the building. A limited number of people knew the complex code. “Didn’t Francine say they were leaving her apartment?”
“Yup.” Vinnie took his phone from his pocket and looked at the screen. “It’s been nine minutes since her SMS. There’s no way they’re here already.”
“Unless it’s something that would get Millard to drive like the devil is chasing him.” Colin got up. “Even then, that’s a stretch.”
Vinnie and Colin shared a look and nodded. They both walked to the front door, their arms away from their torsos, their body language communicating their readiness for confrontation.
Colin stopped next to the small coffee table flanking the second sofa and reached under it. I knew they stored a weapon there. I didn’t like it, but appreciated the possible need for it. Vinnie took a gun from behind one of my books on the shelf closest to the door. He nodded at Colin. “Ready?”
Colin nodded once and rolled his shoulders. A soft knock at the door brought added tension to both his and Vinnie’s muscles. Francine and Manny had keys to our apartment. They wouldn’t have knocked.
Vinnie leaned forward and looked through the peephole. He jerked away. “Motherfucker!”
Colin raised his gun, but frowned when Vinnie pulled the door open. I couldn’t see past their bodies and got up in time to see Colin lower his weapon, the muscle tension in his body disappearing. I stepped to the side so I could see between Vinnie and Colin. I gasped, my hand flying to my throat.
Daniel was standing in the hallway.
“Dude! You look terrible.” Vinnie pulled Daniel in for a hug, but gentled his hold when Daniel groaned. “You’re hurt.”
“Come in, come in.” Colin put his weapon on the side table and pushed Vinnie away from the door. “Both of you, come in.”
Both? I wanted to move to get closer to the door, but my feet didn’t obey the signals from my emotionally overwhelmed brain. My strong reaction to Daniel’s kidnapping had surprised me, but this surprised me even more. Feelings of happiness, relief, deep concern and fear warred for dominance in my mind.
Vinnie stepped to the side and Daniel walked into the flat, followed by a petite woman. She looked to be in her mid-fifties. Her black hair was cut in a short bob with a straight fringe. I wondered if the wrinkles surrounding her eyes were exacerbated because of the stress clearly visible in her micro-expressions or whether she was older than I estimated.
Daniel exhaled deeply as Vinnie locked the door behind them. “God, it’s good to be home.”
“Daniel!” Nikki came from her side of the apartment and waddled as quickly as she could to where everyone was still standing close to the door. “You’re back. Oh.”
She burst out crying the moment Daniel folded his arms around her. He rested his cheek on her head, tears running down his face as well. “I’m okay, Nix. I’m here.”
Still my feet wouldn’t obey my mind. Roxy got up and held out her hand to the woman. “I’m Roxy.”
“I’m...” The woman glanced at Daniel, but he was reassuring Nikki that he was well. She glanced at me, at Colin, then took Roxy’s hand. “Amélie.”
“Oh, my God!” Roxy grabbed her hand and pulled her into a hug. “We were so worried about you. I’m so glad you’re okay. Oh, my God. I’m hugging Amélie Didden. The Amélie Didden.”
Roxy’s enthusiastic welcome affected Amélie. Most of the fear and stress on her face disappeared as she hugged Roxy back. “It’s good to be safe.”
Colin introduced himself and herded everyone to the table. Roxy ran off to Vinnie’s room to get her medical bag and Daniel waited until Nikki was settled before he walked towards me. I still hadn’t moved. He stopped in front of me and I inhaled sharply at the numerous bruises and lacerations on his face. His expression softened as he looked at me. “Hey.”
It took three tries before I could push any sound past my lips. “Hey.”
He waved his hands down his body. “I’m here. Apart from a few cuts and bruises, I’m fine.” He narrowed his eyes. “How are you?”
“Relieved.”
He chuckled, then winced as he held his ribs. “You and me both. It’s been a hard few days.”
“You’re dirty.”
He laughed again. “Yes. Yes, I am. I don’t know what I want more right now. To sleep for a month, to have an hour-long shower, to find the bastard who orchestrated all of this or to eat whatever is baking in that oven.”
A soft ping sounded from the front door as someone entered the security code. Three seconds later keys scratched in the door and Francine rushed into the apartment. Manny followed behind, his expression relaxing slightly when he saw Daniel. “You made it.”
“That I did.” Daniel groaned loudly when Francine threw her arms around him and hugged him. “The ribs, the ribs.”
“Ooh, sorry.” Francine leaned back and held his face in both her hands. “I’m so glad you’re here. Oh, God.”
“Doctor Roxy’s in the house.” Roxy pointed at the large black leather bag on my wooden dining room table. “Who’s first?”
“Daniel.” Amélie shook her head when Danie
l inhaled. “Don’t argue with me. They didn’t see how you could barely walk straight when we escaped.”
“Come to mama.” Roxy looked ridiculous in her pink onesie waving Daniel towards her. Had I not known her, I wouldn’t have trusted her to give anyone medical care.
Daniel winked at me and walked to the table. I wondered if I’d ever told Daniel that I appreciated the respect with which he treated me. He never acted as if I was an inconvenience or impolite. The fact that he’d come to talk to me without any of the emotionality surrounding his return not only made me respect him even more, it also calmed the chaos in my mind. I walked to the table and sat next to Colin.
“Your bag is going to damage the wood.” I raised an eyebrow when Roxy blew through her lips.
“No worries, Jen-girl.” Vinnie walked to the kitchen and came back with three dishtowels. He lifted the bag, then put it down on the open towels. “Fixed.”
“You’re going to need stitches for this one.” Roxy’s soft comment drew my attention away from my table. Daniel had taken off the ill-fitting winter jacket and his shirt. He was muscular, similar to Vinnie, which indicated a lot of time with gym equipment. Roxy was busy cleaning a wound on his shoulder.
My heartrate increased when I looked at his torso. In three places, large bruises confirmed the rough treatment he’d received. The worst was his entire left side. I narrowed my eyes to confirm that in one place what I saw was indeed the outline of a boot print. It was likely the place where his ribs were hurting most. Roxy put the bloodstained wipes in a plastic bag Vinnie had put next to her medical bag. “Are you sure this is the worst laceration you have?”
“Yeah. It only stopped bleeding a few hours ago. The cuts on my face stopped days ago.”
“Well, this is going to leave a nasty scar.”
“Pah!” Francine widened her eyes in a way that warned me she was going to say something inappropriate. “Nothing sexier than battle scars. You’ll score with the ladies.”
“Gee, thanks.” Daniel winced when Roxy injected close to the wound.
“Where were you?” I needed to know data, not listen to their bantering. “How did you escape?”
“I’ll tell you everything. Can I just have a glass of water first?”
Vinnie jumped up. “I’ll get it. Amélie, would you also like water? Tea? Would you like something to eat? I’ve made enough for one helping for all of us, but will put more in the oven now.”
My question went unanswered for the next ten minutes while Vinnie moved Roxy and Daniel away from the table, thoroughly cleaned it and got Nikki to help him set the table and make sure everyone had something to drink. By the time the chocolate-banana pancake casserole came out of the oven, Vinnie had prepared another one to go in. Roxy had finished stitching Daniel’s shoulder and cleaned all the other injuries that required attention.
I could see on the faces of everyone around the table how important the bantering, food and sense of normality was. I wanted to respect that, give them all what they needed. Yet I could only wait seven minutes into the meal. “What happened?”
Chapter NINETEEN
“Amélie has quite an impressive list of acquaintances,” Daniel said. “It only took her two phone calls to organise a plane to get us here.”
I shook my head and held both hands up to stop him. “No. No. You have to do this chronologically.”
His smile was genuine. “No problem.”
“Just a moment, Doc.” Manny lifted one finger, then looked at Daniel. “On the phone you said you didn’t know Fradkov’s end target. Do you have any intel on when he plans whatever he’s planning?”
“I would not be sitting here, eating this divine food if I knew.” Daniel leaned back in his chair. “I didn’t hear much and I definitely didn’t hear any deadlines.”
Movement caught my attention and I looked at Amélie, but was too late. Whatever her reaction to Daniel’s words had been was gone. I studied her closer, looking for any warning signs that she should not be trusted. There were none.
“Okay, let me start from the beginning.” Daniel took a bite of his food and swallowed it after chewing only twice. It was not healthy. “I knew something was off as soon as the seatbelt signs went off after we took off from Paris. It was maybe ten or fifteen minutes into the flight. I was sitting in business class in the front of the plane.”
“As was I.” Amélie looked at Francine. “Did you find out that both our tickets were bought by Paporotnik?”
Francine nodded. “Yes, we did. I also found out that Paporotnik is the Russian word for ‘fern’. But that’s not important now. Just interesting.”
“Tell them what else you found about the Papa company,” Manny said.
“In between the plane, the paintings, Fradkov’s house and”—Francine paused and swallowed—“everything else, I only got to hacking Paporotnik’s account late last night. I’ve managed to create quite a profile on it. Even though I couldn’t find concrete proof that it belongs to Fradkov, there are so many fingers pointing to him that even Genevieve would agree that Paporotnik is all Fradkov.”
“I would not agree to any such thing.”
Francine looked askance at me. “Really? Well, explain to me how the money in the account with Isabelle’s name—which was opened only two weeks ago, by the way—came from Paporotnik. Or how this account is over a decade old and has countless transfers to criminals in all fields, from drug dealers to hitmen to government officials in countless countries. Or how it has a gajillion transfers from these criminals. More than sixteen million euros have passed through this account in only the last twelve months.”
I inhaled when she paused, but held back when she raised both index fingers. “I’m not done yet, girlfriend. I was able to trace payments in the last months to four known forgers. I bet those are the people who did these Renaissance paintings. I also traced payments to all the names Nikolai gave—the names of the hijackers.
“But that’s not all. Once I was on a roll, I figured out that Paporotnik, or actually Fradkov, organised both Daniel’s exchange as well as Amélie’s symposium. We already know Paporotnik paid for the tickets, but not that he organised the events. Now tell me all of this is mere coincidence.”
I couldn’t. She was right.
“Amélie and I compared everything we knew to try to figure out the who, what, when, where and why.” The smile Daniel gave Amélie was small, but sincere. This event, the time they had spent together had forged a bond. “It’s good to know we were right in thinking that the company belongs to Fradkov. Amélie received the invitation to speak at an event the same week I received my invitation. He had somehow set it all up and bought our tickets to make sure we were on the same flight. Her seat was two rows behind mine.
“Three of Fradkov’s thugs were sitting in business class as well. I’d noticed them when we’d boarded and kept an eye on them for a while, but they appeared as bored and uninterested as everyone else, so I started going through my notes. When the seatbelt sign went off, all three of them got up.” He looked at me. “The change in their body language was significant.
“It was clear that they were about to take some form of violent action. My phone had been in flight mode and I turned it back on. But they’d already blocked all signals, which told me that that the plane had also lost contact. These thugs had everyone in the plane under control within a few minutes. A group of teenage girls gave them a hard time, but that only lasted a minute before they were crying quietly. Once the passengers realised that they were not going to be murdered and that they would possibly live through the experience if they were quiet, the flight continued quite smoothly.”
“At first Fradkov’s men ignored me.” Amélie put her knife and fork down. “For a moment, I had thought they were there for me, but when they grabbed Daniel and didn’t even look in my direction, I was relieved.”
“They grabbed you immediately?” Vinnie looked at Daniel with wide eyes.
Daniel nodded. “They ti
ed me up and put tape over my mouth. I didn’t resist at all. They had assault weapons and I wasn’t going to risk the lives of everyone on the plane by putting up a fight and having a bullet puncture the body of the plane.”
“But they still beat him up, even though he was just standing there,” Amélie said. “Only the five other business-class passengers saw this. The flight attendants had closed the curtain between the two classes a few minutes earlier. I was very upset to see them hit Daniel so brutally and I was not the only one. The other people in business class were very scared. Fortunately, the people in the back didn’t see this. I think they would’ve been less co-operative.”
“And we think this was all part of Fradkov’s plan.” Daniel leaned over to look at the empty serving dish. “Damn, this was really good.”
“Another ten minutes and you can have more, dude.” Vinnie took the empty dish to the kitchen. “The second casserole is bigger than this one, so there’ll be enough for Eric too.”
“Who’s Eric?” Amélie asked.
Nikki pointed at her stomach and smiled. “He likes chocolate-banana pancake casserole.”
“Ah.” It was the first time Amélie smiled. “When I was pregnant with both my kids, I ate enough chocolate for seven PMS-ing women.”
“Oh, my God. Do your kids know you’re okay?” Nikki leaned towards Amélie.
“I phoned them as soon as we phoned Francine.” Amélie lifted one shoulder. “They know me well. They know I’ll tell them everything as soon as this crisis is sorted out. For now they’re just happy that I’m safe.”
Her voice hitched on the last word. I studied her expression for two seconds. “You’re not convinced that you’re safe.”
“I am.” She stopped when I shook my head, and inhaled deeply. “Look, I’ve been dealing with threats my whole career. When I chose nuclear science at university, I never anticipated that I would be such a great commodity to the world’s psychopaths. Then there is the work that I’ve done in numerous countries—countries that have enemies.
“I’m used to distrusting everyone. I’ve been with Daniel for the last three days and since we’ve survived a plane hijacking and kidnapping together, I trust him. But I don’t know you. Daniel has assured me that I can trust you, but...”
