The Becić Connection Read online

  Estelle Ryan

  The

  Becić Connection

  Art restoration. A sinister collector. Internet of Things.

  Doctor Genevieve Lenard is woken in the middle of the night with the news that a loved one has been kidnapped and forced to steal a masterpiece. Her world-renowned nonverbal communication skills are of no worth when her autistic mind can barely handle the distress and the mystery behind the kidnapping.

  Genevieve uses every tool she has not only to cope, but also investigate, and soon she and her team are on their way to Croatia on a rescue mission. Amongst Roman ruins and olive groves, they learn about an imminent attack by a mysterious art collector that threatens the lives of all the tourists and residents of a popular seaside city.

  Fast running out of time, Genevieve has to navigate the many obstacles this collector hurls at her and her team while they try to prevent a catastrophe that could result in the loss of thousands of lives.

  Contents

  Chapter ONE

  Chapter TWO

  Chapter THREE

  Chapter FOUR

  Chapter FIVE

  Chapter SIX

  Chapter SEVEN

  Chapter EIGHT

  Chapter NINE

  Chapter TEN

  Chapter ELEVEN

  Chapter TWELVE

  Chapter THIRTEEN

  Chapter FOURTEEN

  Chapter FIFTEEN

  Chapter SIXTEEN

  Chapter SEVENTEEN

  Chapter EIGHTEEN

  Chapter NINETEEN

  Chapter TWENTY

  Chapter TWENTY-ONE

  Chapter TWENTY-TWO

  Chapter TWENTY-THREE

  The Becić Connection

  A Genevieve Lenard Novel

  By Estelle Ryan

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any manner whatsoever, including internet usage, without written permission from the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

  First published 2020

  Copyright © 2020 by Estelle Ryan

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either a product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is purely incidental.

  Chapter ONE

  I JERKED AWAKE, MY heart pounding. For a frozen second, I didn’t know what to do. Then I felt Colin move next to me in bed.

  My romantic partner, an internationally renowned thief, sat up and turned on his bedside lamp. He looked at me, his phone in his hand. “Pink is at the door.”

  No sooner had he said that than the doorbell rang again. Pink was a member of GIPN—France’s elite emergency response teams, similar to SWAT teams in the US and SRG in Australia. He was also living with Nikki, the young woman who, over the last five years, had become like family to me.

  I jumped out of bed, grabbed my pristine white robe and tied it tightly around my waist. “Something is wrong.” There was no other reason for Pink to be at our front door at two in the morning.

  Colin didn’t bother with a robe. He strode out of our room only wearing the tracksuit pants he slept in, his posture alert.

  I wasn’t surprised when I saw Vinnie and Roxy also making their way to the front door. Even though they lived in the other half of our joined apartments, they would’ve heard the doorbell.

  As the self-appointed security expert of our small investigative team working under the direct supervision of the president of France, Vinnie took our safety seriously. Sometimes too much so—evident now in the handgun he pointed at the floor, his body language making it clear he was ready to shoot in a heartbeat.

  His romantic partner and specialist in infectious diseases, Doctor Roxy Ferreira, stumbled after him. She rubbed her eyes and pushed a cloud of messy curls off her forehead. “What’s going on?”

  The sound of keys in the front door stopped us all in our tracks. Vinnie raised his gun and aimed at the door. Colin lifted his hand, palm out. “Hold on a sec, Vin. Pink sent me an SMS. It might be him.”

  The door opened just as Roxy turned on the lights in the living area, flooding the large space in light. Pink stepped through the door and blinked a few times. Then he saw the gun Vinnie was now lowering and nodded. “Hey, guys.”

  I looked at the sleeping two-year-old in his arms and it felt like something wrapped around my chest, slowly constricting to the point of cutting off my oxygen. “Where’s Nikki?”

  “That’s why I’m here.” He looked at Roxy, then looked down at Eric. “Where can I put him?”

  “In Nikki’s old room.” She led him through the archway we’d created to join the two apartments towards the room Roxy had turned into a guest room, but mostly used as her home office.

  Colin touched my forearm. “Love?”

  I took a shuddering breath and realised I was keening. I cleared my throat. “Where’s Nikki?”

  “We’re going to find out.” Colin rubbed my arms and pulled me towards the kitchen. “Vin will make us coffee.”

  “On it.” Vinnie had already turned on the coffee machine and was taking coffee mugs from the cupboard.

  I sat down next to Colin at the kitchen counter and swallowed at the dryness in my throat. Nikki had come to us when her criminal father had been murdered while we’d investigated a case here in Strasbourg that had involved him. She’d been a teenager and for some reason had attached herself to me. In the beginning, it had been hard for my non-neurotypical brain to process her unrestrained affection. Even more so her need for physical closeness.

  I no longer struggled with her love for me or my deep affection for her. But the physical part of it was still a challenge. Only Colin’s touch didn’t cause me immediate and overpowering anxiety.

  I would give anything for Nikki to give me an unwelcome hug right now.

  Pink and Roxy rushed back, Roxy walking straight into Vinnie’s embrace. “She’s missing.”

  “What?” Colin, Vinnie and I asked in harmony.

  Pink cleared his throat. “She left to meet Martin at eight last night. When she didn’t come home or check in by eleven, I called her. Nothing. Her phone is turned off. I tracked her phone, but the battery has been removed.” His voice trembled. “I can’t find her.”

  Martin Bauer was Eric’s father. When Nikki had fallen pregnant, they’d both decided they were better friends than romantic partners. They had been impressively mature for their ages. From the moment Eric had been born, Martin had been an involved father. Whatever disagreements had cropped up between Nikki and Martin had been discussed and negotiated to find a healthy compromise that would always be for the benefit of Eric. I respected them for it. And I’d grown to like Martin.

  “Did you call Martin?” Colin asked.

  Pink nodded. “No answer. Same as Nix.”

  “Huh.” Colin’s frown deepened. “Do you know why he wanted to meet Nikki?”

  “No.” Pink narrowed his eyes. “You know, he almost never sends SMSes. He hates typing on his smartphone screen. If I think about it, he’s always phoned Nikki or sent her an email.”

  “But this time he sent her a text message.” Roxy scratched her forehead and pushed more curls out of her eyes.

  Pink rubbed his hands against his thighs, a typical self-soothing gesture. “I’m worried about Nix.”

  Vinnie put a tray of coffee mugs on the counter between us and sat down next to Roxy. He picked up his phone and tapped the screen a few times. He tilted the phone towards us and waited. A robotic voice told us the number he’d dialled was not available.

  He tapped the screen a few more times and again tilted the phone. Once more
we were told the number was not available. Vinnie let out a harsh breath. “Nikki and Martin. Something’s wrong.”

  “I’ve been trying since eleven. Non-stop.” Pink pinched the bridge of his nose. “I’ve put a trace on Nikki’s phone that will alert me the moment it’s turned on.”

  Pink was not only a highly trained emergency response officer, he was also their IT expert. His computer and hacking skills were not as advanced as Francine’s—my best friend and our team’s IT specialist—but he was a close second to her.

  Colin put both his palms on the counter and straightened. “Okay. Tell us one more time, in every small detail, what happened.”

  Pink’s quick smile revealed that he knew what Colin was doing. As a police officer, Pink was familiar with questioning and re-questioning witnesses to get as accurate a picture as possible. He inhaled deeply and held his breath as he visibly calmed himself. “We’d just bathed Eric when Nikki got the SMS from Martin. It was a simple message.” He took out his phone and tapped the screen a few times. “‘Hey, you! I need a quick chat. Tonight? Our usual spot? Eight if you can.’” He lowered his phone. “That is definitely Martin. They always talk about their spot. And almost always meet at eight.”

  “Um. Wait.” Roxy blinked a few times. “Why do you have that message?”

  Pink shrugged. “The contents of Nikki’s phone are uploaded to her cloud account. I have access to that and downloaded that message and all other messages from Martin for comparison.”

  “What happened after Nikki received the SMS?” I asked.

  “Nikki was a bit surprised about it, but didn’t make much of it. Martin had come over for dinner last Friday and we’d talked about sending Eric to kindergarten now or whether we should wait another year and leave him in daycare for the moment. Martin said his boss’ godson is the same age as Eric and he’d ask his boss for recommendations for the best kindergartens.”

  Martin had proven himself not only an emotionally mature young man, but also hard-working. He hadn’t needed much help from Colin and Phillip Rousseau—my previous employer and the closest I’d ever came to having a father figure—to find a very good job. His remuneration reflected his dedication and skill at being a successful lawyer.

  Nikki, on the other hand, had inherited substantially from her late father and was independently wealthy. They could afford the best education for Eric.

  Pink took a sip of coffee and shook his head. “I thought Martin was going to chat to Nikki about that. So naïve of me.”

  “Not naïve.” Roxy reached over and rubbed his back. “You had no reason to think that message was anything different than it seemed.”

  “I should’ve checked up on her sooner.”

  “There are many things you could’ve or should’ve done, but you’ve never had to do them before, dude.” Vinnie shrugged. “And second-guessing yourself is not helping the little punk.”

  Vinnie had had an immediate fondness for Nikki when she’d moved in with us. He’d adopted her as his baby sister, their affection for each other frequently bringing an uncomfortable, but now familiar, warmth to my emotions. Vinnie folded his arms only to unfold them again, placing tight fists on his hips. The scar running down the left of his face became more prominent as it did in moments of distress.

  It was quiet for a few seconds. Roxy put down her coffee mug. “What are we going to do now?”

  “We’re going to find Nikki.” Colin got up and lifted his phone. It started ringing before he did anything. He frowned, swiped the screen and held his phone for us to hear. “Millard? What’s wrong?”

  “Where the holy bleeding hell is Nikki?” Colonel Manfred Millard, the only law enforcement officer on our team, spoke so loudly, his question echoed through the living area.

  Colin’s eyes widened, Roxy gasped and Pink closed his eyes for a second. Colin’s grip on his phone tightened. “You’re on speakerphone. Pink, Vinnie, Roxy and Jenny are here with me.”

  “What the bloody hell is going on?” Manny’s voice was filled with worry. Usually, I needed to read someone’s nonverbal cues to understand their meaning, but after working with Manny for the last seven years, I was familiar with this tone.

  Colin briefed Manny on what Pink had told us. “He also tried to locate her phone, but—”

  “It is turned off and the battery removed.” Francine sounded wide awake. And worried. “Hi, everyone. Manny’s got you on speakerphone here. When he got the call, I immediately phoned Nix. When she didn’t answer, I tracked her. She’s off the grid.”

  “Wait. What?” Vinnie leaned closer to the phone. “What call did you get, old man?”

  A loud sigh came through the speakers. “The bloody police phoned me. The Chêne Gallery alarm went off last night. They responded and found that a painting has been stolen. Their security videos show Nikki entering and taking a painting from her lab.”

  “Impossible. That punk loves working at Chêne. And she’s no criminal.” Vinnie swore viciously. “She would never do that. Never!”

  Ten months ago, Nikki had been offered an incredible opportunity by the owner of the Chêne Gallery and Fine Arts Restoration. Before that she’d been working as an assistant restorer in a large museum, but with limited opportunities. The owner of the Chêne Gallery had handpicked her based on her work as well as her commitment and enthusiasm. She loved her new job.

  “She stole that painting, big guy. I saw it.” Manny’s words sounded like he spoke with his jaw clenched tightly. He cleared his throat. “I got them to send me the video clip.”

  “It’s true.” Francine didn’t sound worried. She sounded furious. “I saw it, but I know my girl wouldn’t steal. Something is very off here.”

  “This is against everything Nix stands for.” Pink raked his fingers through his light brown hair. “She would only do something like this under duress.”

  “We’ll find her, Pink.” Francine’s anger was strong. I could hear it in her voice as well as the loud, aggressive keystrokes as she was undoubtedly hacking her way around the city to find Nikki.

  “That’s what I told the police captain who phoned me,” Manny said. “He knows about our team and is friends with Daniel.”

  Daniel Cassel was the leader of Pink’s GIPN team. He was also a very good friend to all of us.

  “Did you speak to Captain Bouvier?” Pink asked.

  “Yes.”

  “He’s a good man.” Pink nodded as he spoke. “Fair. Strong ethics.”

  “Let’s hope so.” Manny didn’t sound convinced.

  “Francine?” It was a challenge to keep my thoughts focused on ways to locate Nikki. The darkness in my peripheral vision was pushing hard to take over and send me into a shutdown. I would be of no help to anyone then. Nikki needed me.

  “I’m here, girlfriend.”

  “Have you looked for Martin?”

  “I just uploaded images of him to run facial recognition on every system I can get my hands on.”

  “Bloody hell.” There wasn’t nearly as much exasperation in Manny’s voice as usual when he discovered Francine was breaking laws.

  Colin looked up at the ceiling, then leaned closer to the phone. “I know you’re likely doing this, but search for Martin on every block surrounding that restaurant before and after they were supposed to meet.”

  “Haven’t done it, but I will.” Francine sounded as if she’d shifted closer to the phone. “We will find her.”

  “What can I do?” Roxy tugged at her pyjama top. She was wearing cotton pants and a matching t-shirt with bunnies chasing smiling clouds.

  “Can you look after Eric?” Pink looked at Colin, then at me. “I need to look for Nikki. But I also need to know Eric is safe.”

  “Done.” The concern on Roxy’s face was unmistakeable. “Find her. Please, find our girl.”

  “Doc?” Manny’s voice was gravelly. Worried.

  “Yes?”

  “I need you at the police station with me. I want to watch all the footage of Nikk
i in the gallery and I need you to read her.”

  I nodded, then realised he couldn’t see me. “When?”

  “I told the captain we’ll be there in twenty minutes.”

  That barely gave me time for a shower. The anxiety of my ruined sleep and morning routine was feeding the paralysing fear I was feeling for Nikki. I shook my head once and couldn’t stop. Colin took my hand in one of his and with the other rubbed my forearm. “Love. We’ve got this. You’ve got this. We are going to find her together.”

  “Doc?”

  I focused on Colin and forced Mozart’s Piano Sonata No. 7 in C major into my mind. Mentally writing or playing one of Mozart’s numerous compositions nearly always calmed and soothed my autistic brain. Within seconds I managed to lock down the overwhelming incoming stimuli. I took a deep breath. “I’ll be there in twenty minutes.”

  “We’ll be there.” Vinnie nodded at Pink and Colin. “We’re going to bring the little punk home.”

  Chapter TWO

  “DANIEL.” COLIN SHOOK the hand of the man waiting for us by the police station entrance. Daniel was wearing jeans and a light jacket over his t-shirt, yet there was no mistaking him for a civilian. His posture showed a readiness to act, his eyes constantly roving, evaluating his environment.

  “Colin.” Daniel looked at me. “Genevieve.”

  I nodded back and walked through the door he held open. I didn’t like this police station. I didn’t like any police station. It didn’t matter that this was one of the more modern buildings I’d seen housing a law enforcement department. The subtle smell of unwashed bodies and knowing these people had touched the surfaces brought my anxiety about germs to the fore.

  I crossed my arms, my hands tightly fisted, and waited for Manny, Colin and Vinnie to join me. Pink swiped his keycard and held the door for us to enter the restricted area. I’d been here only eight times, each time with great reluctance. I looked towards the left as I passed Pink. “The conference room or the technical room?”

  “Tech room,” Daniel said from behind me. “They have everything set up for us there.”

 
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