The Malhoa Connection Page 16

  Vinnie laughed and finally ended his call. He threw the cushion back at Manny. “You’re just jealous, old man.”

  “No, he’s not.” Francine rested her chin on her palms and fluttered her eyelashes. “I’ve already kissed his booboos.”

  “Holy Mary. Would you people stop.” Manny’s face was red as he glared at me. “Where’s Frey?”

  “In the shower.” As soon as we’d entered the hotel, Colin had insisted that I shower first. I had been grateful. While waiting in the car, he’d cleaned my hands, but I had shuddered at the thought of all the soot and dirt on my skin and clothes. It had been a long and hot shower. I felt much more in control now. But my brain still felt bruised by what I’d witnessed.

  “May I have a look?” Daniel pointed at my wrist and I immediately pulled my hand close to my torso. His expression softened. “I might have something to ease the burn.”

  I followed his glance to the medical kit unpacked on the coffee table. None of us had come out of that church unscathed. The burn on the inside of my wrist was the least of the injuries the others had sustained. Vinnie’s and Manny’s hands were also wrapped in bandages. I looked down at my wrist and winced at the throbbing coming from the long red burn. I had no idea when or where this had happened.

  It took three deep breaths before I could hold out my wrist and nod at Daniel. He put his coffee down and kneeled in front of me. Very gently, he took my hand in his and turned my wrist to see better. “Not too bad.” He reached for an ointment on the coffee table. “This will dull the pain and will help heal the burn much faster. Okay if I put it on?”

  I nodded again and watched as he put a generous layer on my wound. He opened a sterile bandage and expertly wrapped it around my wrist. He paused before he secured it and looked at me. “Too tight?”

  “No.” I swallowed. “It already feels better. Thank you.”

  He smiled at me and finished up. “All done.”

  “How’re ya doin’, Jen-girl?” Vinnie leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees and studying me. “It was a close call in there. You okay now?”

  “No.” It was going to take time to come out on the other side of watching someone being murdered.

  “Yeah. Me too.” He sighed and straightened. “We have to end this.”

  “And we have to end it soon.” Colin walked towards me, dressed in dark blue slacks, his tailored shirt untucked, his hair still wet from the shower. His gaze caught the bandage around my wrist and he frowned. “Everything okay?”

  “The ointment is helping.” I looked at Daniel. “Bandage his hands again. Please.”

  “Oh, dude. Ouch.” Vinnie looked at Colin’s hands and lifted his own bandaged hands. “I feel your pain. Soaping myself was a bitch.”

  This was one of the very few times I wished I was neurotypical. But I wasn’t. I simply couldn’t bring myself to joke about our injuries. It devastated me that we’d got injured. Even worse, that we’d got injured escaping a fire that could’ve killed us.

  I took a breath and looked away from Daniel working on Colin’s hands. Seeing his raw wounds would not help my mind stay calm at this moment. Instead, I focused on Francine as she joined us. She sat down next to Manny, her movement controlled. She was not successful in hiding the pain in her torso as she lowered herself onto the sofa. Yet she maintained her sense of humour. She snorted a laugh. “Aren’t we just a beaten-up bunch.”

  “Speak for yourself, Franny.” Vinnie raised his fists as if he was ready to box. “I’m wrapped and ready.”

  “Shall I tell Roxy that?” She laughed, then touched her swollen cheek gingerly when Vinnie quickly dropped his fists, his expression one of mock dread. “I’ll keep your secret, Vinster.”

  “Did you learn anything useful over there?” Manny nodded towards the dining room table.

  “Did I ever.” She looked at me. “Your girl Inge gave us a bit more than I’d expected. I was working my way through the stuff on her cloud account and came across some videos. She’s been downloading the security feed of the church. Since it’s a closed network system, I can’t access the security feed from the outside, so this is great.”

  “Did you get footage from the basement?” Colin asked.

  “Hmm, no. So far I only found video of the camera above the outside door.”

  “The one we used to get into the church?” Vinnie asked.

  “Yup. Pink’s been watching the footage.” She looked towards the dining room table and cleared her throat loudly. When Pink didn’t react, she rolled her eyes. “Ahem.”

  Pink looked up. “Huh?”

  “Tell them about the video from Inge’s c—”

  “Oh, yes!” Pink put his tablet down and pulled his laptop closer. “A lot of boring stuff. Mostly just Inge, Armando, Paulo and Jake coming and going. Until two days ago.” He paused, his eyes wide. “Jake arrived with a woman around five in the morning. I compared this footage with the drone recording and would stake my reputation on it that she’s the same woman Jake met just before the fire started.”

  “His so-called bloody source?” Manny slumped against the back of sofa. “Hellfire.”

  Pink nodded. “Same hat, but I can’t see her face. I compared her height and posture. It’s her. I’m sure of it.”

  “And?” Vinnie asked, drawing out the word.

  “And nothing.” Pink shrugged. “They enter the church and thirteen minutes later they come out.”

  For a few seconds no one spoke.

  “So? What are we thinking here?” Manny asked.

  Daniel secured the bandages around Colin’s hands and sat back on his heels. “I would say we should look at the patterns the Collector has left for us. We know he—or now maybe she—likes to burn places down. I don’t think it’s too far-fetched to come to the conclusion that the Collector, or Wraith, or this source woman put some accelerant in the basement.” He narrowed his eyes. “That could be what Inge was smelling.”

  I closed my eyes for a moment, recalling the fire in the basement. I had no expert knowledge on burn patterns or anything related to arson, but the way the fire had started seemed too organised to my mind. “The fire department should be able to find evidence of the accelerant, correct?”

  “Definitely,” Daniel said. “And likely, they’ll also find whatever it is that caused the first spark.”

  “Yeah, but...” Vinnie frowned and shook his head. “I just can’t see that Jake was in on this. Did you see the dude go in full panic mode? Nah. He didn’t plan the arson. And if he didn’t do this, how the fuck did that woman manage to do it with Jake in the basement with her?”

  “You’re assuming he was with her the whole time.” I thought about this some more. “If this woman is the Collector, she’s smart enough to find a way to manipulate Jake so she could have enough time to set up an incendiary device.”

  “So you agree with me that Jake wasn’t in on it?” Vinnie asked.

  I thought about it some more. “It’s highly unlikely. His reaction gave no indication that he knew what was about to happen.” I frowned and looked at Pink. “How far back did you search the footage for anomalies?”

  “A week. Should I go back further?”

  “No.” I didn’t think the Collector would’ve left something that had any kind of scent for such a long time before igniting it.

  Again, we were quiet for a few seconds. Colin took my hand, his bandaged grip tense but not tight. “What do we know about Jake? Did the fire department get there in time?”

  “Sorry, Colin.” Francine shook her head, her depressor anguli oris muscles turning down the corners of her mouth. “They were sent to the wrong address twice before they reached the church. And by then it was too late. They’ve only recovered Jake’s burnt remains.” She looked at Daniel. “I was wondering why the fire department took so long to arrive at the church. I mean, I phoned them the moment Inge smelled smoke.”

  “They were stalled.” Daniel’s jaw tightened.

  “Yup. I hacke
d their system and Wraith was there. She wreaked havoc with their comms. They had to resort to calling each other on their private phones.”

  “And that’s how you know about the wrong addresses, the panic room and Jake.” Colin’s face paled as his lips tightened into a thin line. “Paulo?”

  Francine shook her head. “Not there. The panic room had another door on the other side. Both doors were open and the room also burned to a crisp.”

  “He needs to pay.” Colin’s tone was low, his words clipped. “The fire? This? Our injuries? It’s on the Collector. But Jake? That’s on Paulo. He can’t walk away from it. Not again.”

  “Again?” Manny asked in an almost-whisper.

  Colin’s nostrils flared and he shook his head. “Not now. I swear I’ll tell you, but not now.”

  Manny stared at Colin through narrowed eyes. Then nodded once. “Soon.”

  “But I can tell you something else I found.” Colin looked at me. “While we were in the SUV, Francine sent me a list of artworks.”

  “Ooh, yes.” Francine’s uninjured eye widened. “Did you get anything from it?”

  “From what? What list?” I asked.

  “Ty did a deep dive into the chat rooms of the five White Elephant accounts he linked to Wraith.” Francine was talking faster in excitement. “In two of the accounts, she received a few emails from people wanting to buy artworks from her. Ty reckons these people knew which museums and galleries she robbed and also what was taken.

  “They were asking for specific artworks. Most of those she’d already put up for sale, but there were a few she hadn’t. So Ty wondered why she wouldn’t want to sell those specific paintings and made two lists. One with the artworks she’d sold on White Elephant and another list with the artworks she told people in her chat rooms she didn’t want to sell. And I gave both lists to Colin.”

  “I compared it to the works we already knew she’d taken.” Colin was more relaxed now, his bandaged hand no longer holding mine as tightly. “I eliminated all the artworks she’d sold and added the leftovers to the list of works she refused to sell.”

  “What conclusions did you come to?” I asked.

  “Not much, I must say. I couldn’t find any connection in the medium of the paintings. Some were watercolours, others oil. Also, there is no theme running through the paintings. Some are landscapes, some portraits, some still lifes. No style connection or anything else.” He shook his head. “Not even the same country or continent. The paintings were stolen from Brazil, India, Morocco, Myanmar and Sri Lanka. The only possible clues are that all the artworks are paintings and all the artists were born in the eighteen and early nineteen hundreds.”

  I frowned. That connection that had been lingering in the back of my head was nagging at me.

  “I also didn’t find anything earth-shattering from checking the manifests.” Pink leaned his elbows on the dining room table. “All it did was confirm what we already knew. Looking back six years, I found shipments by Conhecedor to the port here that coincided with the bombing or arson of a museum or gallery. And those shipments came from the countries where the bombings took place. All of those came here.”

  Colin tilted his head back to look at the ceiling for a moment. “So the Collector gets someone to steal specific works of art, then bomb the museum and send the art here via Conhecedor. Hmm.”

  “Why here?” Vinnie asked.

  No one answered Vinnie. We didn’t know yet how it all connected, but it did.

  Manny rubbed both his hands over his face and swore. Vinnie started teasing him and Francine joined in. I used their distraction to think about the implications of Wraith preventing the fire department from reaching us.

  I straightened with a sudden realisation. “Where’s Thierry and Bianca?”

  “Keeping watch.” Daniel looked towards the front door. “We’re safe here.”

  I didn’t know if I would feel safe again until we stopped the Collector. “What about Inge and Armando? Where are they?” I gasped. “Are they injured? Are they okay?”

  “Small scratches and burns, love.” Colin rubbed my forearm. “Armando’s hands are also skinned from breaking through that wall, but nothing worse than we have. Inge has a few more burns than you, but nothing that needed hospitalisation.” He looked at Daniel. “Right?”

  “I checked them out before sending them to get cleaned up.” Daniel looked at the medicine on the coffee table. “And here I thought I was being overly cautious when I packed the med kit.”

  “So...” Francine leaned towards me as if she was going to tell me a secret. “We’re thinking of keeping them on.”

  “What does that mean?”

  “It means”—she lowered her voice to a melodramatic whisper—“Manny thinks they are helpful.”

  “For the love of all the saints.” Manny pushed her back into the sofa. “What do you think about Inge and Armando, Doc?”

  I took a moment to study Manny’s expression. “You already decided they’re trustworthy.”

  “And I asked you what you think.” He raised both eyebrows at me, his expression annoyed.

  “They didn’t know about the fire, they never liked or trusted Paulo. Inge is much more than she pretends to be. Armando is cunning and mostly self-serving, but I suspect it is a defence mechanism.”

  “To protect what?” Francine asked.

  “I won’t speculate.”

  “Most likely a mushy inside.” Pink chuckled. “I think I just channelled Nikki.”

  Francine smiled and looked at Colin. “What do you think about Armando and Inge?”

  “Jenny is right. Armando is full of bluster and always does things that will benefit him. But I’ve never heard of him doing something to the detriment of someone else.”

  “Frey.” Manny sighed heavily. “Stealing someone’s property is to that victim’s detriment.”

  Colin shrugged. “To their insurance company’s, maybe. I hear what you’re saying, but hear what I’m saying. Armando has never hurt anyone in the commission of his crimes. At least not what I’ve heard.”

  “And Inge? That woman was impressive in the church.” Vinnie winked at me. “Not like our Jen-girl, but she didn’t wave her hands in the air and scream to high heavens. No, sir. She got down to business and helped us.”

  “I don’t know Inge well.” Colin glanced at me. “But again, I agree with Jenny. There is much more than meets the eye. She’s a master at blending in and walking away with a jewel or gem that could bankroll a small nation.” He thought about it for a moment. “I never heard about any deaths or violence involved in her jobs. And the little that I got to know about her in the last two days, I like.”

  “Hmm.” Manny looked at Daniel, then at me and Colin. “I’m glad you two think that. You were busy, so we discussed it at length and decided—”

  Cold flooded my system when a loud knock sounded against the front door of the suite.

  “It’s them.” Daniel got up, but looked at me. “Thierry and Bianca wouldn’t let anyone else through, Genevieve. You’re safe here.”

  The door rattled with another knock. “Let us in, my lovelies. We come bearing gifts.”

  Chapter SEVENTEEN

  “WELL... UH... COME on in.” The surprise in Daniel’s voice intrigued me. He stepped aside for Armando to enter our suite. Everyone went silent when the woman followed Armando into the living area. Now I understood Daniel’s surprise.

  Inge was almost unrecognisable. Gone was the oversized sweater, ill-fitting jeans and worn sneakers. The woman walking towards us was wearing tailored charcoal pants and a fitted black linen shirt with wide cuffs and collar. Skilful make-up enhanced her features, showing off her high cheekbones and drawing attention to her deep brown eyes. The trendy short brown hair suited her much better than the overly long ash-blonde from before.

  “Ooh, thank God!” Francine waved both hands up and down Inge’s body. “I love this you. The other you had a horrid, terrible, awful, sad sense of style.”<
br />
  Inge laughed, colour creeping into her cheeks. Her posture was also different. She was standing taller, her shoulders back, her chin raised to face the world. She stopped next to me. “How are you?”

  “Not surprised.” I wasn’t. This confident, professional-looking woman in front of me was who I’d hoped to see.

  She nodded. “Not many people get to see this.”

  “It’s the first time I’ve seen this.” Shock was clear on Armando’s face as his gaze kept returning to Inge. He shook himself and put a large confectionery box on the table. “Cupcakes, lovelies. This is from a new place that opened and their stuff is really good.”

  I leaned back. I hadn’t yet had dinner and was hungry, but I wasn’t going to eat anything from an unvetted place.

  “No worries, Jen-girl.” Vinnie got up, his eyes widening when Armando opened the box to reveal artfully decorated cupcakes. “Huh. This will be a good dessert.” He looked back at me. “We ate earlier and I saved some lasagne for you two.”

  “I’m Arma—”

  “Armando Curvelo.” Francine tilted her head. “I know.”

  His charming half-smile faltered for a moment when he noticed her swollen cheekbone. But he recovered quickly. “And who might you be?”

  “The person who will bloody well make you disappear online if you smile like that again.” Manny’s scowl deepened when Francine snorted a laugh.

  “I’m Francine and that’s Pink.” Francine waited until Pink raised his hand in greeting. “We’re on the computers.”

  “Um...” Inge sat down on one of the empty chairs and looked at Francine. “You know the Collector is a really good hacker, right?”

  “Good, shmood.” Francine flicked her wrist, her bracelets jingling. “She’s not the best.”

  “Hmm.” Inge narrowed her eyes, but didn’t say anything else.

  Armando sat down in the chair next to Inge. “Thank you for allowing us to join you here. We are no less committed than before to stopping the Collector.”

  “Oh, really?” Colin crossed his arms. “And commitment means what to you? Bailing the moment things get a bit tough like at the gallery?”