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MANNY SPENT THE ENTIRE journey on his phone, coordinating with Pink, Francine’s counterpart in the GIPN team. Pink’s knowledge of cybersecurity had been helpful in numerous cases. He was also a very capable law enforcement officer. And he was family.
He’d married Nikki, the young woman who’d recently told me I was the mother-slash-sister she’d never known she needed in her life. I had no maternal feelings for her, but my affection ran deep. For her and Eric, her three-year-old son.
We reached Daniel’s five-storey apartment building in record time and Vinnie stopped the SUV in the street behind the black GIPN truck. Pink and two other team members were already in the street, waiting for us. The female officer glanced up at the building and said something to the male officer next to her. Both had joined Daniel’s team in the last two years, but we hadn’t worked with them often.
Bianca was taller than the average French woman, her athletic body hidden under her uniform and gear. The tension in her posture and frequent glances at a specific window on the third floor revealed her concern for Daniel.
Thierry was a jovial individual, his dark skin often darkening even more as he broke out in loud guffaws at his own jokes. Yet he turned into a consummate professional when needed. Like now. He was focused, his hand resting on his handgun holstered on his hip.
We got out of the SUV and made our way to them.
“Hey, guys.” Pink’s smile softened when he saw me. “Genevieve.”
I nodded, my facial muscles too tense to form unnecessary words.
“Ready?” Manny nodded at the other team members.
“I have spare keys, so breaching will be easy.” Pink looked at Colin. “Stay behind us. We’ll clear everything, then you can join us.”
Colin nodded. He trained with Daniel’s team, but not twice a week like Vinnie did. Colin’s experience as a burglar made him exceptionally good at being stealthy, but he never enjoyed handling weapons. I offered no argument against letting the trained officers ensure everything, including Daniel, was safe before I joined them.
We followed them to the front door of the building. Pink was standing with a key card ready in his hand. Manny took position by the door, his hand on the handle. The moment Manny nodded, Pink held the card against the panel and Manny opened the door, holding it for the other two officers to enter.
Pink and Vinnie followed, their weapons raised, their body language alert and focused. Manny didn’t enter, but watched them closely, all the while holding his hand out to the side, palm facing us—keeping us back.
It didn’t take them long to clear the elegant, minimalist foyer of the modern apartment building. Pink waved us in and turned to the others. “Dan’s apartment is on the third floor. Vin and I will take the stairs. Colin, you and Genevieve can follow us, but stay at least one flight of stairs behind us.” He nodded at Manny. “Okay to take the elevator with Bianca and Thierry?”
Manny nodded, then turned to glare at me. “Hold yourself together, Doc.”
“Millard.” Colin squeezed my hand. “You’re an arsehole.”
Manny didn’t acknowledge Colin’s reprimand, just continued staring at me. The tightening of the muscles around his eyes and mouth gave away the concern for me he was trying to hide behind the blustering.
“I’ll do my best.” I couldn’t promise anything more. My non-neurotypical brain was unpredictable in how it processed stimuli. I could only hope that I would be there for Daniel today the way he’d always been there for me. And that my brain wouldn’t give in to a shutdown.
“You do that.” Manny nodded once and walked to the elevator with Bianca and Thierry, the three of them moving as a unit.
Vinnie opened the door to the stairwell and Pink went in, his weapon raised. Vinnie gave Colin a look that communicated caution and followed Pink. I took a deep breath and walked through the door, Colin behind me.
We hurried up the stairs, the only sound in the stairwell the squeak of my boots against the tiles. I winced with each step.
Pink held up his fist and stopped in front of the door leading to the third-floor hallway. As before, Vinnie opened the door for Pink.
Vinnie turned his head towards us, but didn’t take his eyes off the hallway as Pink disappeared to the right. “Wait here until we call you.”
I focused on taking three slow breaths. Then I straightened my hunched shoulders and relaxed my grip on Colin’s hand. A quiet ping came from the hallway and my eyes widened, my hand tightening around Colin’s again.
“The elevator, love.” Colin leaned closer and kissed my temple. “They’ll be fine.”
He couldn’t guarantee that, but I didn’t confront him about making empty promises. Instead I listened. I didn’t hear anything.
I counted twenty seconds and still nothing. My heart rate increased and it felt as if a heavy weight was resting on my chest when I heard footsteps coming our way.
Vinnie’s head popped around the hallway entrance, his facial muscles relaxed, a genuine smile lifting his cheeks. “It’s clear. You’re gonna wanna see this.”
I exhaled in relief and rushed up the stairs with Colin. Vinnie led us down the hallway to the last apartment door. It was open, revealing a small, but sleek entrance hall. I followed Vinnie past the floor-to-ceiling mirror on one wall into a large open-space living area.
And froze.
Colin stopped next to me, his muscle tension increased. But only for a moment. On a silent exhale, he relaxed and raised one eyebrow.
Thierry and Bianca had their weapons trained on an unfamiliar man sitting on one of the two black leather sofas. He appeared to be in his mid-forties, tall and fit. His black hair was long enough to look messy, combined with a few silver streaks that added to his appeal. His posture was relaxed and confident, his left arm stretching along the back of the sofa, one ankle resting on the opposite knee.
I realised that Manny and Vinnie were not staring at the stranger himself, but rather at the large black cat sprawled on his lap. An equally large, but white, cat had draped itself on the back of the sofa and was rubbing its face against the back of the man’s head, purring loudly.
Daniel was on the other sofa. He was wearing only pyjama bottoms, his hands tied in front of him with a tea towel. He displayed no sign of distress or concern. His expression confused me. Why was he amused?
“Who the bloody hell are you?” Manny took a step closer to the intruder, then swung around to Daniel. “Who the hell is this? And why the hell are you still tied up?”
Daniel wriggled his wrists and shook off the tea towel.
“Oh, dude.” Vinnie shook his head, pretending to be disappointed. “That’s just embarrassing.”
Daniel chuckled. “In my defence, I was tasered.” He pointed at two red dots on his muscular abdomen.
“The fuck!” Vinnie stalked over to the stranger, reaching for his holstered handgun. “Who are you?”
“Ask him.” The man’s left cheek dimpled in a sensuous half-smile as he nodded at Colin. “Good to see you again, George. Or do you prefer Colin?”
“Armando Curvelo. It’s been a long time.” Colin’s controlled response didn’t give away the shock I’d observed in his micro-expressions when he’d first seen this man. Nor did Colin use the Irish accent that accompanied his George Herbert alias. For that I was grateful. It was perturbing to see how smoothly he moved into a different persona and how convincing he was. “How long has it been? Seven years?”
“Hmm. I wish it was longer.” The more Armando spoke, the more pronounced his Portuguese accent became. My expertise was in nonverbal communication, not accents, but his exaggerated accent didn’t sound true to me. He raised one shoulder in a half-shrug. “Yet here we are.”
Colin made a point of looking at all the people in the room before he looked back at Armando. “You went through a lot of trouble to meet me.”
Armando shrugged again and the white cat shifted, stretching its leg out to rest its paw on Armando’s shoulder. This time, the stranger’s smile was genuine and soft as he tilted his head and rubbed his cheek against the cat’s head. That sincerity lasted a second before he schooled his features into another sensual half-smile and straightened. “The phone number you gave me seven years ago no longer works.”
Colin nodded slowly—the way he did when he was working through numerous strategies. I knew he’d settled on one when he squeezed my hand before letting it go and walked to Daniel’s sofa. Colin took his time sitting down next to Daniel and straightening the sleeves of his jacket. Finally, he settled his gaze on Armando. “I’m here.”
“So you are.” Armando sighed and lifted his chin towards Bianca and Thierry. “Think we can ask them to stop aiming those monster guns at me?”
Vinnie’s hand was still resting on his holstered weapon and he widened his stance. “You have no idea how much I want to shoot you right now. So no, the guns are not going anywhere.”
“It’s okay, Vin.” Daniel nodded at his two team members, who immediately lowered their weapons, but didn’t relax their postures. “Armando and I have been chatting for almost an hour. He’s not going to do anything stupid.”
I rolled my shoulders as most of the tension left my body. I trusted Daniel. He was exceptionally skilled in reading people. In all the time I’d known him, he had not once been wrong in his assessment of a person or situation. If he deemed this situation safe, it was.
“A bloody hour?” Manny glared from Armando to the cats. “Why the hell did you bring those beasts with you?”
“Um...” Daniel chuckled, colour creeping up his neck into his cheeks. “They’re my Maine Coon cats.”
“Dude!” Vinnie threw both hands in the air. “No way. Two cats? Oh, man. How did I not know this?”
Manny pushed his hands into his trouser pockets. For a moment, he stared at Armando, then turned to Colin. “Who the bleeding holy hell is he?”
Colin raised an eyebrow, then looked at Armando, who nodded and waved his hand. “Go ahead. Tell them.”
“Everything?” Colin asked.
“Of course.” His tone was glib, but the way he swallowed and the orbicularis oris muscles around his mouth contracted betrayed his tension.
“Meet Armando Curvelo.” Colin held out his hand towards Armando as if presenting him to an audience. “An accomplished thief. He specialises in modern art—paintings as well as sculptures. He’s responsible for the thefts of Charing Cross Bridge by Monet and a Meyer de Haan self-portrait as well as three Picassos, to name only a few.” Colin narrowed his eyes at Armando stroking the black cat. “Do you still have a warrant out for your arrest here in France?”
“Hmm?” Armando blinked as if he had not been paying attention. He was not as skilled as Colin in pretence. I’d observed him flinch each time Colin mentioned one of his crimes. His half-smile increased. “Oh, the warrant? No. That silly investigation went up in smoke a year after they suspected me. There was no arguing with time-stamped security footage of me in a different country.”
Colin smiled. “They fell for that?”
“Hook, line and sinker.” Armando looked at Manny, his expression beaming innocence. “Of course, the security footage was real.”
Manny lowered his chin and scowled at Armando. “Do not make me ask you again why you are here.”
For a moment, Armando’s smile was genuine as he studied Manny. “I like you.”
“Talk.”
Armando scratched the black cat behind his ears, taking his time. Then he looked at Colin, his expression sober. “We know you’re working with the law. We can help you, but we need immunity.”
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 her 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.
