The Gauguin Connection Read online

  Consciousness came to me slowly and painfully. First, I became aware of the pain in my face. My cheek was throbbing and the cut on my eyebrow stung. My eyelids were too heavy to lift. I assumed the drug had not yet fully worked its way out of my system. Fortunately, I had four more senses with which to assess my current situation.

  An attempt to lift my hand so I could inspect my injuries came to nothing. Even though I was awake and could feel pain, I was not able to move. I did not know where I was, but someone close to me was moaning pitifully. It took me a few seconds to realise that I was the one moaning.

  “Colin,” an unknown male voice very close to me called out, “she’s waking up.”

  My entire body jerked. Not another attack. Please. My panicked breathing sounded loud in my ears and did nothing for the pain in my face. I forced Mozart past the panic and felt its soothing effects within seconds. Then I started doing what I did best. Read and analyse.

  It took me only a few moments to realise that the deep, hoarse voice next to me had sounded concerned. And he had called for Colin. I opened my eyes with Herculean effort and was more than relieved to be looking at the walls of my own bedroom. My head felt like it was split open, but I forced myself to look around. I frowned slightly as I tried to remember whether there hadn’t been more devastation in my bedroom. It seemed as if someone had cleaned up. The last I remembered I was on the bedroom floor. Now I was lying on my bed.

  I took a bracing breath and turned my head to the left, towards the window. Next to my bed, on one of my dining room chairs, was a man large enough to cause concern for the legs of the chair. So this was the giant whose presence had chased away those thugs. His feet were firmly planted on the floor and he was leaning forward with his elbows resting on his knees. My eyes slowly roamed over his canvas pants, his loose fitting cotton shirt, all the way up to his face. An ugly scar starting from his left temple and zig-zagging to his jaw marred his strong features. His orbicularis oculi contracted, muscles causing him to squint. He was looking at me as if I were an unknown specimen in a Petri dish.

  My eyes were now wide open in a combination of surprise and interest. I was in an absurd scenario, lying half-paralysed in bed and scrutinising the giant just as he was scrutinising me. Further inspection showed me that his size was not due to overeating. He seemed to be one solid bulk of muscle. Combined with his shaved head, the ugly scar and his scarred hands, he made a very intimidating picture. Yet his upturned palms, relaxed shoulders and the concern in his eyes did not induce panic. This fear-inspiring man staring intently at me did not project a single non-verbal cue leading me to think that he was aggressive.

  “Colin?” I managed to squeeze the word through my vocal chords. It came out scratchy and for some reason caused more pain in my bruised cheek. My mind was starting to function at its usual speed and numerous questions were nagging at me. Who was this hulking man? Why had he called Colin? Was the thief here? If so, where was he and why was he here?

  “I’m here, Jenny.” Colin’s deep voice spoke from the doorway. I heard him walk in before I managed to turn my head. He stood by the side of the bed for a moment before he lowered himself gently onto the mattress next to me. “How’re you feeling?”

  “Lame.”

  “Did you say lame or pain?”

  “Both.” I only mouthed the word. Nausea was the latest addition to physical ailments pulling at me. I took four shallow breaths to keep the pain and nausea at bay.

  “I’m not surprised. It looks like you had quite the battle in here, young lady.” He smiled when I rolled my eyes at him. Since talking was proving to be too big a challenge at that moment, I looked pointedly at the large man silently watching me before I looked questioningly at Colin.

  “She was shooting the breeze with her eyes, dude. That’s sick.” I had no idea what the large man had just said, but I did take note of his voice. It was raspy, as if he had damaged it from overuse. That, and his unidentifiable accent, added even more to his intimidating image. He did, however, sound amused.

  “Jenny, I would like for you to meet Vinnie. Vinnie, Jenny.” Colin gave Vinnie a warning look that I noticed since I was still looking at him. “Vinnie is here to help us.”

  “Genevieve.” I was fighting a losing battle.

  “Nah, you’re a Jen.” Vinnie turned his attention to Colin. “She too small to be a Genevieve. Definitely a Jen.”

  “I’m not small.” Not only did I have more uninvited guests, they also insisted on insulting me. The annoyance with them gave me enough strength to try and lift myself onto my elbows. “What’s the time?”

  “Don’t get up. Just lie there for a moment.” Colin glanced at his wristwatch. “It’s just past six.”

  “In the morning?”

  “Yup.” Vinnie didn’t sound particularly happy with the time of the day. “You’ve been out cold the whole evening. Ol’ Colin and I housewifed a bit while you were catching your zees.”

  I stared at the large man sitting next to my bed. There was an uncomfortable silence and I turned to Colin. “I don’t understand a word he just said.”

  “Don’t mind Vinnie. He’s harmless.” He chuckled again when Vinnie snorted and I looked at him with obvious disbelief. “Vinnie here spent a few years with his family in America and he fell in love with the slang they use over there. He’s also created a few of his own special words.”

  “Why is he here?” I was feeling stronger by the minute and also increasingly annoyed. “No, why are you here?”

  “Like I said,” Colin said slowly as if talking to a child. “Vinnie is here to help us. I came as soon as I realised something was wrong. I phoned Vinnie and he managed to get here before me.”

  “Yes, I found you on the floor, out for the count,” Vinnie said. “The place was trashed and at first I thought you were pushing up daisies, but then I saw you oxygenating.”

  I looked at Colin.

  “He said he found you unconscious on the floor. Your apartment was destroyed and he thought you were dead, but then he saw you breathing.” His eyes narrowed. “Who was here, Jenny?”

  I lifted myself higher against the pillows. A big mistake. The room started to spin and the nausea returned in full force. It took me a full minute of working on a Mozart minuet to regain some level of normalcy. I opened my eyes to see Vinnie striding quickly toward me. In his hands were a few empty music staff sheets and a pencil. He handed them to Colin and stood back, looking unsure.

  “You told him?” My voice shook with fury and my eyebrow stung when I frowned. Writing Mozart as a way to cope was private. Only a handful of people knew about this and I resented anyone knowing unless I chose to tell them. I would never have told Colin, but he witnessed it. But this giant knowing? It was unacceptable.

  “Jenny, please don’t get angry. You’re still recovering. I’m just trying to help.” Concern and guilt strained his voice. “I should never have dragged you into this case.”

  “You didn’t ask me to help. Manny and Phillip asked me to work on this case.” I looked uncomfortably at Vinnie, who was leaning casually against the wall. This was not a topic for open conversation. “What you did was insert yourself into my life and into this case without giving me much of a choice. You did not drag me into this case, you cretin.”

  A muffled cough drew my eyes to Vinnie, but he had recovered from whatever caused his discomfort. I did, however, notice the relaxed lines around his eyes and the slight lift of the corners of his mouth. He thought this was funny. That annoyed me even more.

  “Jenny,” Colin held both his hands up, palms out, “before you get very angry and chase me out of your apartment again, we need to talk about this.”

  “What is there to talk about? You’ve once again broken into my apartment.”

  “I didn’t technically break in this time. Vinnie opened the door for me.”

  “That’s even worse! You brought another criminal,” I quickly glanced at Vinnie, “no offence, into my home.”
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  “She knows I’m a criminal?” Vinnie’s raspy voice was low in its threat towards Colin.

  “She guessed, but you’ve just confirmed it.”

  “Oh.” A warm smile transformed his face. “You’re good, Jen-girk. Colin told me you were a whiz, but I thought he was blowing smoke.”

  I didn’t even try to understand or respond to what Vinnie had said. I knew that aiming my anger at Colin and his friend was being irrational, but I hadn’t had enough time yet to deal with the remnants of the panic from the night before. And I ached all over. “I need to be alone.”

  “No.” Colin’s immediate answer surprised me in its vehemence. “You’re not going to be alone. I would love to talk you out of working on this case, but somehow I know that won’t be possible. Since neither Phillip nor Millard seem to realise how dangerous it is for you, I’ll take your safety into my hands. No, don’t you dare argue with me, Genevieve Lenard. Until we have closed this case nice and tight, you will not be alone for one second.”

  “Colin, I cannot.” The idea of constant company brought the suppressed panic to the fore. “You’re not even supposed to be on this case. And now this man also knows things no one else is supposed to know. This won’t work.”

  “Jen, hon.” Vinnie moved away from the wall, but didn’t crowd in on me. “My aunt Theresa is my father’s youngest sister. He has three sisters and two brothers, you know. Ah, his middle sister really makes a mean chilli con carne. Anyhoo, Theresa is agoraphobic. I have seen what it is like for people who are special like that when things get too much. I used to stay with her some holidays, so I know what to do and what not to do. I promise you won’t even know I’m here.”

  “He?” I was relieved that the large man had spoken normal English, but I didn’t want him in my space all the time. I didn’t want him in my space at all. “You’re leaving me with him?”

  “Hey. I’m not that bad. I can even cook.” Vinnie didn’t look in the least offended.

  “It’s true, Jenny. Vinnie is a killer-cook.”

  “A killer-cook?”

  “Just a manner of speaking.” The look that Colin gave Vinnie was one of apology and guilt. By using a euphemism, Colin had just unwittingly given a secret of Vinnie’s away. “He will be here when I can’t. He will make sure that nothing like this happens again.”

  There was no going back on my agreement to let Colin work with me on this case. I wouldn’t dream of breaking my word, even though I had regretted it a few times before and at least a dozen times in the last five minutes. What I didn’t want was a very large man in my apartment, messing up my kitchen, my neat world. That would distract me immensely. After last night I needed to focus on making connections. I wanted to hand Manny his case back as soon as possible. That would rid me of all these new complications in my life.

  My thoughts of how to avoid change were interrupted by Vinnie quite loudly clearing his throat. “I think I’ll go fix us all breakfast. What chow do you fancy, Jen?”

  “English?” I understood each individual word, but had no idea what Vinnie tried to communicate.

  “Will scrambled eggs and toast be okay for you?” Colin asked.

  “I don’t want breakfast.”

  “She’ll have scrambled eggs and toast. Thanks, Vin.”

  “No problemo, dude.” Vinnie was already half way to the kitchen, no doubt going to mess up any surface that the thugs last night hadn’t already spoiled.

  My thoughts returned to the previous night’s events and another question turned up. “Colin, how did you know that something was wrong last night?”

  “I’m psychic?” he offered, but grimaced when I glowered at him. He looked decidedly uncomfortable.

  “Just tell me. I know I’m not going to like the answer, but you knew to come and I am glad that you are here.”

  Colin’s eyebrows raised at my admission. Then he closed his eyes and sighed. “I planted a bug.”

  “A bug? What does an insect have to do with this?”

  Colin let out a long groan. “It’s a colloquialism for a small electronic listening device.”

  “A what?” I was horrified. “You’ve been listening in on me? That’s perverse. When did you put that device in my apartment?”

  “The first day when you were writing music,” he pointed to the music sheets that were between us on the bed, “I kept myself busy. Please don’t get up. You’re still too pale, Jenny. Just lie back against the pillows and I’ll tell you everything.”

  I glared at him, but dizziness combined with the nausea left me with little choice. I settled back stiffly and waited wordlessly for him to continue. If that heinous invasion of privacy had not been the reason that Vinnie had chased off the thugs, I would never have forgiven him for it.

  “While you were writing music I started looking around. At that time I only knew the basics about you and was curious. And I didn’t know if you could be trusted. I wanted to find out who this woman was that figured my poets out when no one else had managed to do so. You were writing for a very long time, you know. Do you know how much you can tell about a person by the books on their shelves and the art on the walls?”

  I didn’t answer this question, by now familiar with his technique to derail conversations. Of course he was right and I wondered what impression he had formed about me from my books and art. But I was too angry with him to say anything. I just pursed my lips tighter and continued glaring at him.

  “I suppose you do know.” He sighed. “Your books and art intrigued me. It showed a highly intelligent woman with varied interests. When I first came here, I had a whole plan to send you into a different direction. But your apartment, your music selection and especially your books convinced me that you might just be the one. No one else had been willing to listen to me before and I had no solid proof that I could convince them to take a closer look. But I knew that you would.”

  “How could you know that from my music, books and art?”

  “That all showed me that you are someone who likes to get the whole picture. You don’t have just one genre of music, nor do you only have books on one religion. It was clear to me that you try to understand the whole picture and that was what I knew we needed.”

  “But you don’t trust me. You planted a surveillance device,” I accused him.

  “Of course I didn’t trust you at first. That is only one reason why I planted the bug. The other reason was that I wanted to know whatever it was that you discovered and maybe talked about.” He held up his hands when I inhaled to argue. “I know, I know. It is a violation of your privacy and so forth. In my defence, I only planted devices in your living area and study. Not even I would go as low as listening in on your bedroom activity. But I am truly not sorry I did it.”

  “You heard the men in my apartment.” I chose to ignore the humiliating thought of him listening to me singing Happy Birthday while I brushed my teeth.

  “Yes. At first I was surprised that you got home so soon. I thought that you would’ve worked much later and then just accepted that you had come home earlier and were cleaning or something.”

  “They were breaking things and throwing things around. How could you think I was cleaning?”

  “People do all sorts of strange things in private.” He shrugged. “But it was when I heard you come in and speak that I realised something was very wrong.”

  “And you phoned Vinnie.”

  “When he got inside–”

  “Did he break in?”

  “He had to pick your front door locks. You can’t be angry about that. It was that noise that chased the guys away. So, when he got inside you were unconscious on the floor, but the bastards were gone. How many were there?”

  “Four.” A shudder went through me and I looked longingly at the music sheets. “They hit me, Colin.”

  “I know, Jenny. I’m very sorry about this.” He reached out and gently put his hand on mine. Never before did someone’s unsolicited touch not make me cringe. His hand was w
arm on mine and his touch light. I looked at his strong hand, his long fingers covering both my hands where they were clutched on my lap. Having this thief in my space at this moment made me feel safer. Even though I was still incensed.

  “Don’t think that I’m easily going to forgive you for planting a listening device in my living area.” I lifted my eyes to his and knew that there was not much annoyance expressed on my face. I was going to forgive the thief.

  “I’ll remember that.” He smiled and removed his hand. “Why don’t you have a shower? When you’re done we can have breakfast and you can tell us exactly what happened.”

  “Us?”

  “I’ve told Vinnie everything, so don’t bother fighting about this.”

  “Colin!” How many more horrors was he going to impart on me before breakfast? “You gave your word that you wouldn’t tell anyone.”

  “Vinnie isn’t just anyone, Jenny. And this is really an exceptional situation.”

  “I don’t care who he is to you. You shouldn’t have told him.”

  Colin was unrepentant. “There are very few people in this world worth trusting, Jenny. Vinnie is one of those people. We’ve walked a very long road together and I trust him with my life.”

  “Just because you trust him, doesn’t mean that he should know anything about this case. You know the kind of sensitive information we’re working with.”

  “And he will take that to his grave.” There was only implacable belief in his voice and face. “Please think about this in the shower. If you reason with yourself, I’m convinced that you will see the sense in having Vinnie around for protection.”

  I shook my head and swung my legs off the bed. A shower was so far the only acceptable suggestion Colin had made today. Most of the dizziness and nausea were gone and I was convinced a shower would take care of the rest. I ignored Colin’s pleas to consider everything he had said and walked slowly to the bathroom. As much as I hated to admit it, Colin did have a point. I locked the door behind me, then stepped out of my clothes and into the shower.

  A week ago I had had enough sense to realise that I was going to need Colin’s help. I had asked for it and he had proved himself helpful. Until last week I had thought travelling alone to foreign countries had been an unequalled achievement for me. It had taken months of planning, self-motivation and Mozart before I could even buy a plane ticket. Every leg of the trip had been a panic-laced experience, the completion of each an incalculably proud moment for me.

  But this? Yesterday I had been so proud of my open-mindedness to be co-operating with Colin. I had entered a new journey, one of travelling through a world of gray zones. The difference between this and my previous odysseys was that I hadn’t had time to plan. It constantly felt like I was catching up, not planning ahead. I was a planner.

  Just as I had caught up and accepted the reality of travelling through gray zones, I was thrown into another gray area. One that required me to entrust a giant of a criminal with my physical well-being. I tilted my head back to let the stream of water flow over my face and wash away the last grogginess of the drugs.

  Did I trust Colin? The answer came to me almost instantaneously. Yes. Did I trust him enough to take his word that Vinnie, the giant, was trustworthy? I shampooed my hair while sorting through every bit of physical, intellectual and psychological information to reach clarity in my mind. I had reached a turning point and I needed to decide in which direction to go. I wanted to make the right decision, but I wanted to make it before I went out to face the two men waiting for me.

  Chapter ELEVEN