The Flinck Connection (Book 4) (Genevieve Lenard) (10 page)

I was considering shouting back at him when my mobile phone rang. I recognised the ringtone and uttered a sound of relief. I took the phone from my coat pocket and swiped the screen. “Manny.”

“What’s wrong, Doc?”

“Vinnie’s been attacked. I’m taking him to the hospital.”

“What happened?”

It was against the law to speak on one’s phone while driving, but I considered these extenuating circumstances, and told Manny what had taken place.

“You went there on your own?” His voice reached the same decibels as Vinnie’s had earlier. “What the bleeding hell were you thinking?”

“I phoned you and you didn’t answer.”

He was silent for a few seconds. “Take Vinnie to your apartment. I’ll get a medic I trust to come check him out. If there is the slightest concern, we’ll get the criminal to a hospital. Go home and wait for me. I’m going to phone Daniel and see if his team can get to those guys while they’re still down.”

We argued for a few more minutes before Manny convinced me that taking Vinnie home was the best course of action at the moment. Any hospital I was going to take him to would have to report Vinnie's injuries. Police would come and this could become something we didn't want it to be. I hated that Manny had presented such a reasonable argument, but I conceded. With great reluctance. I did not like the situation. Vinnie's silence concerned me more than I liked.

As I turned into our street, Vinnie pushed himself up in his seat. “Where’s Colin? Why did you come?”

“Can you hear me?” I didn’t want to shout.

“If you can speak just a bit louder, I’ll hear you just fine. The ringing in my ears sucks monkey balls.”

“Colin wasn’t home when you phoned.” I chose to ignore the reprehensible visual image he had created. The parking space I had left thirty minutes ago was still available and I manoeuvred the truck into it. “I don’t know where he is and I couldn’t leave you without any help.”

“You are a stupid, brave woman.” He turned to me and waited until I pulled the key from the ignition and looked at him. “Thank you, Jen-girl. You’re a kick-ass friend.”

“Is that a compliment?” I couldn’t accurately read his facial expressions, not with the amount of swelling.

“The best kind.” He tried to smile, but winced when his lip started bleeding again. “You rock.”

“Okay.” Sometimes Vinnie would start with his slang and euphemisms, and would continue until I left the room. “Let’s get inside the apartment and wait for Manny.”

I got out and walked around the truck to help Vinnie, but he was already outside, leaning heavily against the side of the vehicle. At a loss on how to act in such a situation, I stood motionless. I had learned that men were very sensitive about portraying their strength. I didn’t know if Vinnie would be offended if I offered to help him again.

“I don’t think my legs are going to hold, Jen-girl. I just need to lean a bit on you for balance.” He lifted one arm as if to give me a one-sided hug and I moved in under his arm. He wasn’t ashamed of admitting his need for assistance. I focussed on my breathing to help me to deal with the panic that threatened to overwhelm me.

Feeling as if I was physically surrounded by Vinnie when he put his arm around my shoulders and leaned on me was definitely a trigger that needed Mozart. Yet I knew that I would shut down the moment I focussed on the usually calming music. Vinnie still needed me. He seemed stronger than in the side street though and we arrived at my front door in due time. While I unlocked the door, Vinnie leaned against the hallway wall. A glance at him told me he was struggling to hide his pain and to remain conscious.

“You really should go to a hospital.” I opened the door and walked to the small panel disguised as a key holder to turn off the alarm.

“They will phone the cops and I don’t want to talk to those idiots tonight,” he said a bit too loudly. He walked into the apartment. “It’s just a few bruises, Jen-girl. I’ll be fine.”

“Vinnie!” Nikki ran from my room and stopped in front of Vinnie. Without hesitation, she pulled his arm around her slender shoulders. He towered over her, dwarfing her slight frame in what looked more like a hug than a young woman assisting a muscular man into one of the dining room chairs. “What happened to you?”

“You should’ve stayed in my room, Nikki.”

“I heard it was you when you came in, Doc G. I was worried.” She leaned in to look at Vinnie’s swollen eye. “We have to get some ice on that.”

This was not the first time I had an injured person in my apartment. It appeared that I was not becoming desensitised. The sight of the blood on Vinnie’s face and his badly bruised and bloody knuckles bother me even more than it would have a year ago. Was it the blood itself, or my emotional connection to this man? Annoyed with myself for even asking this inane question, I went to the guest bathroom to get the first-aid kit. That was another addition to my apartment I had never considered essential before.

When I came back with the large bag filled with more than the basic home first-aid kit, Vinnie was leaning his head back, holding one of my dishtowels to his eye. I assumed it was filled with ice. Fortunately, I replaced my dishtowels every three months. This one would just be disposed of much sooner, together with everything I was wearing.

I put the black bag on a thick towel on the dining room table and unzipped it. As I reached for the disinfectant, the doorbell rang and Vinnie’s body tensed. He lowered the bag and started pushing himself out of the chair. “Are you expecting anyone?”

“It must be Manny.” No sooner had I said it than Manny impatiently called for me to open the bloody door. I waved Vinnie back to the chair. “I won’t open it unless I’m sure it’s Manny.”

A quick look through the peephole confirmed to whom the voice and insistent knock belonged. I opened the door and let Manny in.

“What the bleeding hell are you people up to?” He walked to Vinnie and took a moment to inspect him. “Nah, you’ll live. Who did this?”

“Three men,” I said.

“I didn’t ask you, missy.” Manny turned to me. “The next time you leave this bloody criminal to fight his own battles. No more driving in on your white horse.”

“You can’t drive a horse. It doesn’t have an engine.”

Manny’s face turned red. “You wilfully enter a dangerous situation and now you are correcting my grammar?”

“Not your grammar. An illog—”

“I don’t want to hear it. You should’ve phoned the police. Holy hell, the more I think about it, the angrier I get at both of you.”

“I told you exactly what happened, Manny. What would you have done differently?” I welcomed the anger. It pushed away the panic just enough to make it manageable. “I have seven years of self-defence training, but I know that I am not faster than a bullet. That was why I took the flash grenades. And the pepper spray.”

“That’s another thing. Where the hell did you get those things from? It’s illegal for civilians to have them.”

“Shut up, old man.” Vinnie sat up, but immediately leaned forward with a grunt. “You’re speaking so loudly that I have no problem hearing you. Give Jen-girl a break. She most likely saved my life and I think she rocks. Those flash grenades were mine. And I’m not telling you anything else.”

Manny glared at Vinnie, turned to me and glared for a few seconds. Then he walked towards the front door, turned around and walked back to us. He repeated this a few times until he
stopped in front of me, a bit calmer. “Doctor Face-reader, I don’t want anything bad to happen to you. When you do things like this, it drives me crazy with worry. I most likely would’ve done the same you did, but it doesn’t mean I like that you were in danger.”

“I wasn’t really in danger. I had enough flash grenades, stun guns and pepper spray with me to incapacitate ten large men. And I didn’t leave the car until they were on the ground.”

“You’re going to be the death of me, Doc.” Manny sighed and rubbed his hand hard over his face. He shook his head at me and looked back at Vinnie. “Who attacked you?”

“I don’t know. Really, I don’t. I got a call from a contact that he had some info on Dukwicz and that I was to meet him at Club X. When I walked into the place, I got a bad feeling, man. I didn’t wait around, but they jumped me as soon as I left.”

“Do you have any suspects?”

“Dukwicz?” Vinnie lifted one shoulder. “Seriously, man, I don’t know. All I know is those guys were military trained. Their moves were too practiced for them to be street fighters.”

“Daniel is sending his team there, but I’m not holding my breath that we’ll have someone to interrogate.”

“Oh, they’re long gone.” Vinnie accepted another dishtowel filled with ice from Nikki and placed it on his eye.

“Did you get anything from them? Description, height, nationality?”

“Dude, they were beating the fucking shit out of me. I wasn’t taking down notes.” Vinnie looked at Nikki. “Sorry, punk.”

Nikki rolled her eyes.

“Daniel should be here soon.” Manny pulled a chair out and sat down. “He told me that he’s bringing a medic and he’s also got a surprise for us.”

“I don’t like surprises.” Actually, I despised surprises. The thought of it brought back the panic. That made me angry and I grabbed onto the anger, hoping it would keep me from shutting down.

“I know, Doc. I’m not too fond of them either.” He looked around the apartment. “Where the bleeding hell is Frey?”

Vinnie shifted and I glanced at him. Because of the swelling in his face, I couldn’t be sure, but I thought I had seen guilt. Just as I wanted to confront him, the doorbell rang again. In two seconds Manny went from slumping in the chair to standing, his gun in his hand and his body in combat alertness. “Stay here.”

He walked to the door, peered through the peephole, his whole body tensing as if he had seen something shocking. He leaned back, shook his head and looked through the peephole again. I could only see his body language from behind and didn’t know how to interpret the strange stiffness I saw as he opened the door. He was blocking the view and I got up to see who was causing this behaviour. What I didn’t expect was Manny bursting out in laughter.

I realised that in the eighteen months I had known Manny, I had never heard him laugh. A few times he had smiled, but never what could be defined as a grin. He sometimes chuckled, but it was short-lived and never as joyful as this. He was not a man with a great sense of humour.

His belly laughter made me therefore even more curious to see who was at the door. I walked closer, captivated by Manny bending at the waist, his one hand pressed against his stomach, the other one hanging to his side loosely holding his gun. His laughter was so contagious that I was smiling when I reached the door. When I saw what had triggered Manny’s uncharacteristic mirth, a frown replaced my smile.

In the hallway, Daniel was standing next to Colin, their body language a thrill to read. The
zygomaticus
muscles around Daniel’s mouth caused his lips to twitch in combinations of enjoyment and victory. His posture was relaxed despite the strong grip he had on Colin’s elbow. It was Colin’s situation causing Manny’s continued laughter and Daniel’s nonverbal cues of triumph.

Appearing unperturbed, Colin looked at Manny wiping tears from his cheeks. Colin lifted his handcuffed hands. “You better enjoy this moment, Millard. You might never see it again.”

“I…it…oh…” Manny shook his head and started laughing all over again.

Despite Colin’s outward appearance, I could see he was livid. I didn’t know whether it was because he was in handcuffs, because Daniel was clearly in control of this situation or because of Manny’s laughter. Combining my nonverbal analytical skills and my intimate knowledge of Colin, I knew the situation was very close to escalating into something much worse than the last seven weeks’ animosity.

I pulled on Manny’s sleeve and he easily moved out of the way. “Come in.”

I stood to the side and waited for Colin and Daniel to enter. A tall man was standing to the left of the front door, observing us. He was dressed in the same uniform as Daniel, the GIPN badge an additional clue that he had come with Daniel. This was yet another situation that I knew Phillip with his exceptional mediation skills would’ve handled much better than me.
Especially with my own state of mind being volatile after what had just occurred.

Self-awareness alerted me that I was seconds away from shutting down, so I centred all my energy on analysing the stranger’s nonverbal cues. I studied the tall man until he lifted both eyebrows. There was nothing indicating malicious intent or that he posed a danger. Yet I didn’t want this outsider in my home. I felt too vulnerable at present. But the last eighteen months have taught me that there were other needs aside from my own. I sighed. “Please come in.”

He nodded his thanks with a smile and walked past me. I took note of his lack of discomfort at the strange situation. He didn’t seem concerned at all as he stopped just inside the apartment and readjusted a large black bag slung over his shoulder. The red and white cross on it explained his presence in the room. He was the paramedic. Colin in handcuffs was the surprise. I closed and locked the door.

“Dude!” In normal circumstances, I was sure Vinnie would have spoken louder than usual seeing Colin in cuffs. With his ears still affected by the flash grenade, he was shouting. “What the fuck is going on?”

Daniel and Colin had not moved deep into the apartment when Colin held out his hands. “You made your point. Take these things off.”

“Please don’t,” Manny managed to say through his chuckles. “This is too enjoyable.”

“Enough, Manny.” I made sure my voice carried enough authority and annoyance for Manny to pay attention. “Daniel, unless you plan to put Colin in jail, I suggest you take those cuffs off right now.”

Colin shook his hands at Daniel, lifting his eyebrows. The flush on Colin’s skin, the tremors in his hands and his tight fists
were unlike anything I had observed in him before. He had never exhibited such rage.

Daniel must have noticed the lack of humour in my tone and face. His eyes narrowed briefly and he looked at Colin. It took him only two seconds to reach a decision and he uncuffed Colin, much to Manny’s disappointment. Fortunately, the older man was calming down. He sighed happily. “Daniel, my friend. You’ve just given me the best gift ever. For that I thank you.”

Colin rubbed his wrists, took the backpack from his back and walked to me. He stared at the blood on my nightgown, his face losing colour. “Are you okay?”

“I’m not hurt. It’s not my blood.” I suppressed the overwhelming desire to rip off my nightclothes and scrub my skin under a hot shower. “Vinnie was attacked.”

His eyes widened and he walked the dining room table. “Vin, you look like shit. What happened?”

“What does it look like? I got the crap kicked out of me. Why didn’t you have your phone with you?”

Colin shook his head. “I forgot it. I actually forgot to take my phone with me.’

“Your turn.” Vinnie pointed his chin towards Daniel. “What happened?”

Daniel and Manny started talking at the same time Vinnie and Colin continued their conversation. This was too much for me. “Stop!”

Instant silence filled my apartment. I closed my eyes and inhaled deeply as I sought to control the numerous emotions attacking me. Three breaths later, I opened my eyes to find everyone still looking at me. “We all need to know what happened to each other. I suggest we sit down at the table and debrief while the man with the large medical bag takes care of Vinnie.”

As one, everyone turned to the front door where the tall man was watching us, amusement around his eyes and mouth. His gaze turned to me and understanding replaced his relaxed expression. “Of course. Yes. I’ll take care of the injured man.”

“Vinnie, his name is Vinnie,” I said. “Who are you?”

“Martin Proulx.” He walked towards me with his hand out, but dropped it to his side when I crossed my arms.

“Martin’s part of my team.” Daniel walked to the table and sat down at the far end. “He transferred in a few months ago. I’ve known him for more than eleven years and I trust him implicitly. Nothing said here will ever leave this room.”

Martin winked at Daniel, leaned over until he was eye-level with Vinnie and started asking him questions about his injuries. I was grateful that no one continued conversations or argued with me. Within a minute we were all seated at the table, Martin was tending to Vinnie’s injuries and Nikki was making coffee. I didn’t wait for anyone to take charge of the discussion, but immediately gave a concise report on what had taken place before Colin had returned. Taking control like this was helping me.

“What are you thinking,
Vin?” Colin asked when I finished.

Vinnie winced as Martin cleaned another cut on his face. “Dude, you have to speak up. My hearing is still not right.”

Colin repeated his question, a bit louder.

“I’m thinking
it’s Dukwicz. He knows me from my days with Hawk.” Vinnie had considered Nikki’s criminal father a close associate, if not a friend. I had seen how Hawk’s death had affected Vinnie. “What bothers the hell out of me is not that I got beaten up, but that they didn’t kill me.”

“How could that bother you?” My voice shook and my fists tightened on my lap.

“Jen-girl, I got jumped by three big-ass dudes. They could’ve killed me seconds after I left the club. They didn’t. Someone had given them orders to hurt me, maybe even put me in a coma, but not to kill me.”

“A message,” Martin said. He put a second butterfly bandage on the long cut on Vinnie’s temple and nodded to himself.

“Who is sending what message?” Manny asked.

Vinnie sighed and pushed Martin’s hand away from his face. He straightened in his chair. “I have a feeling that someone has spread the word that I’m a rat.”

“What makes you think that?” Colin asked.

“A rat?” I knew Vinnie didn’t mean this literally, but I hadn’t come across this euphemism before.

“An informant for the police, Jen-girl. Don’t ask me how I know this, but I’ve been suspecting this for a few days now.”

“And you think that is why Dukwicz got you beaten up?”

“Shit, I don’t know.”

I was glad Vinnie admitted not knowing, else I would’ve felt compelled to point out the numerous weaknesses in his argument.

“Your turn, dude.” Vinnie sat back and nodded to Martin to continue tending to his face. “How did you get made?”

Colin looked at Daniel. “Some smart bastard followed me. I didn’t see him, not until I left the house.”

“Back up, Frey. What house and what were you doing there?”

The fleeting expression on Colin’s face warned me that he was about to say something that would infuriate Manny. Colin looked happy about it. “I broke into Savreux’s house to get that clock.”

“You what?” Manny shot out of his chair, walked to the kitchen, glared at Nikki, walked back to his chair and walked away again. Nikki placed the last coffee mug on a tray and brought it to the table. When she had seen Manny’s anger the first time, she had reacted with fear. Now there was only a marginal increase in her muscle tension. She left the tray on the table, excused herself and went to her room. She was smart enough to know when her presence might hinder the freedom of our discussions.

Manny walked back to his chair and fell into it. He glowered at Colin. “Why on this bleeding, frigging,
damned earth would you do something so moronic?”

“I had a gut feeling it might give us a break in this case.”

I looked at Daniel. “You are good at reading body language. Did you see something in Colin’s nonverbal cues when we were looking at the crime scene photos?”

Daniel nodded. “I knew he had seen something and I had a feeling that he was going to follow up on it. So I tailed him. I know this case is a forest of mirrors, and I thought it might be a good thing to let Colin do what he was doing. Something is very wrong with Henri Fabron ordering us off the case. I’ve never liked politicians or cover-ups. And I’m all for exposing the truth of whatever sensitive situation the bigwigs want to keep under wraps. I wanted to make sure nothing went wrong while Colin did the heavy lifting.”

“Why did you arrest me then?” Colin’s jaw and neck muscles were tight with tension.

“I didn’t arrest you. I just handcuffed you. Big difference. You have some serious skills. I almost lost you a few times. If you hadn’t gone to Savreux’s house, I would’ve lost you two streets before. When I saw your car pulling into the next street, I assumed that was your destination. I was convinced that I’d got to the house before you, but I never saw you go in. It was pure luck that I caught you coming down the wall.”

“He came down the wall?” Manny asked.

“Like a spider.” Daniel’s face revealed his admiration as he looked at Colin. “You and I have to go rock climbing one day. Even better, do it with my team to teach them some humility.”

A slight frown drew Colin’s eyebrows together. I had to admit that I was also not clear on how a law enforcement officer could be so approving of Colin’s criminal skill set.

“Yet you felt the need to slap cuffs on me.” There was a particular reason this action disturbed Colin. I wasn’t one hundred percent sure, but in context and processing Colin’s micro-expressions, it seemed like he felt betrayed.

“I know your history with Manny and incidentally agree with him that you take too many chances.” Daniel shrugged. “Thought it would give Manny a kick and make a point with you at the same time.”

Colin’s lips tightened. “That was above and beyond just to make a point.”

“But it gave me such joy, Frey. Would you please tell me now why you broke into a sealed crime scene and stole evidence?”

Ignoring Manny, Colin lifted his backpack from next to his chair onto his lap and unzipped it. He opened it as wide as possible and carefully lifted a form out of it. He removed the soft cloth covering it to reveal the clock we had seen on the crime scene photos.

“Why didn’t you tell me you were going to steal the clock?” I asked softly. My breath stuttered at everything the clock represented, at the person this clock implicated.

He looked away from the timepiece, giving me one of his uncompromising stares. “What would you have done if I had told you?”

I thought about this. “I would’ve phoned Manny.”

“And that is why I didn’t tell you.” There was no anger or censure, just his observation.

“That’s a good girl, Doc.”

“Don’t be smug about this, Manny. I wouldn’t have told you in order for you to stop Colin. You had said that you cannot
protect us if you don’t know what we are doing. I would’ve phoned you to help Colin.”

Both men took exceptional offence at my words. There were so many conflicting messages in their expressions that I felt lost. Generally, I felt that I had a good understanding of the people in my life. Times like these proved how erroneous I was in this presumption.

“We can discuss this later, Jenny.” Colin’s tone was sharp. I bit down on the insides of my lips to prevent the many questions causing turbulence in my mind from escaping. My compulsive need to understand was difficult to suppress in favour of maintaining a certain level of equanimity around the table.

“Frey.” Manny waited until Colin looked at him. “You know this was borderline stupid, right?”

“There is something about this clock, Millard. You would never have agreed to let me get it.”

“You sure about that?”

I studied Manny’s expression, wondering if he would’ve helped Colin if I had phoned him. Manny’s career in law enforcement, interviewing suspects and dealing with political issues had honed his deception skills. Eighteen months of observing him gave me an advantage in reading his expression. I smiled. “He might have agreed, Colin.”

“Don’t read me, Doc. Oh hell, what am I saying? Of course you’re going to read me.” He leaned towards me. “Then I hope you can read how pissed off I am.”