2 The Dante Connection (30 page)

“I’ll get Pink to check the cameras,” Daniel said. I hadn’t heard or seen him join us. He calmly spoke into his headset. Unlike me he had full control over his behaviour and reactions under this pressure. He finished his orders to lock down the perimeter and do a thorough search for Kubanov, and looked at me. “Tell us exactly what happened. As much as you feel comfortable with.”

Colin moved to my side, standing close enough that I could feel his body heat. I wanted to lean even closer. I cleared my throat, shook my head a bit and pulled my shoulders back. I was stronger than this. Stronger than a conscious blackout. I aimed for calm control and told them in a voice as steady as I could manage what had taken place. I also included my initial analysis of the situation. Later I would like to watch any available footage for further analysis.

“There is nothing more I can tell you.” I looked at Manny, Ian and Daniel and sighed. “I’m genuinely contrite that I failed you this badly. We could have had Kubanov.”

“Doc, you didn’t fail us.” Manny lifted his hand to touch me and dropped it again. “We failed you. I should never have left you alone here.”

The other two agreed heartily and tried in numerous sentences to make me feel better. They didn’t. All it did was highlight how perceptive and sensitive these men were. And how much I had failed them. When Daniel emphatically stated again how much I had helped them, I turned to Colin. I knew my eyes were wide with the panic I felt building inside of me.

“Okay, let’s get you out of here,” he said and put his arm around my shoulders. Manny scowled at Colin as he pulled me tighter under his arm.

“You can’t leave,” Daniel said. “I’m really sorry. We’ve locked down the grounds and a five-kilometre-wide perimeter. The families have been given permission to return to their cars, but have been asked to wait for further instructions. The Hazmat team is checking the main building for any signs of airborne pathogens. You’ll have to stay on the grounds.”

“Inside or outside?” Colin asked me.

“Inside. There are too many people outside.” Team members who were watching me. Who I had failed.

“The bus is empty right now,” Daniel said. “Pink is in the school’s security control room. Since it is in another building, he’s there checking the computers to see if it’s been hacked.”

I wanted to say that I believed one hundred percent that those computers had been hacked, but Colin was already leading me towards the side of the building. He lifted his free hand and showed Manny his middle finger when the latter shouted that he’d be checking in on us soon and that Colin shouldn’t get any ideas about escaping.

We reached the bus and Colin all but pushed me in and closed the door behind us. I walked to the back of the bus and stopped at the conference table, my back towards the door, towards Colin. Right now I didn’t want to face anyone, least of all myself. One of my failings had always been judging myself too harshly. As I stood here, I didn’t know if my self-judgement was too harsh or not enough. I had allowed an international crime lord to escape.

“Jenny, this isn’t your fault.” Colin was standing close behind me. He touched my shoulder and I shook my head.

“It is my fault, Colin.” I turned around, tears in my eyes. “He was standing right next to me. Three snipers had their weapons trained on me. How is this not my fault?”

He rubbed my arms as if I was cold. “This was never supposed to be your responsibility. Daniel, Manny and Ian are trained to do this kind of thing. To put themselves in the line of fire. You were trained to observe people from a distance. Not to engage. You can’t beat yourself up because your brain didn’t allow you to deal with a situation you never even should have been in. There is no way you could have been prepared for that.”

“Logically I know this, it’s just…” My voice was thick with unshed tears. I could no longer speak past the tightness in my throat.

Colin tilted his head, his expression one of care and affection. It was the very last thing I needed right now. Cold logic and reasoning would have empowered me to regain control over my emotions. Colin’s understanding and kindness brought more tears to my eyes.

“Oh, Jenny.” He blanched. If I weren’t so overwhelmed with these emotions I could have smiled at his micro-expression of male panic at the sight of female tears. That micro-expression gave way for sympathy and he opened his arms. He made it my choice whether I wanted physical nearness and comfort. For that I was more grateful than he would ever know. I chose the comfort.

As his arms folded around me and pulled me in even closer against his chest, I waited for the disquiet, the panic to set in. It didn’t. Instead I felt safe and it was my undoing. An unstoppable sob escaped and I pushed my face deeper into his coat. For the long time it took me to quietly weep, he held me. With each tear, the frustration I had felt next to Kubanov left me as did the powerlessness and the anger that had followed.

How long I cried on his coat I did not know, but there was a large wet patch on his designer outerwear. I felt both exhausted and exhilarated when my tears eventually dried up. He continued to hold me. It was comfortable leaning against his solid body. Comfortable, safe and warm. I sighed and reached for a tissue in my pocket.

“You know these were purely tears of frustration, right?” I asked into his chest, blotting tears. “An expression of my outrage that Kubanov had escaped.”

Colin’s soft laugh rumbled in his chest. “You sure it doesn’t have anything to do with you hating the loss of control?”

“That too,” I whispered, hoping he wouldn’t hear. He leaned slightly back and looked down at me until I looked up. The sharp forward tilt of his head gave him a double chin. I smiled.

“Feel better?”

I nodded. I knew I had to be looking fairly unattractive with the evidence of prolonged crying, yet I felt no embarrassment when Colin looked at me. That fact combined with the respect, the equality on many levels and ultimately the trust I had in him was exactly what I saw reflected on his face. All of the shelved observations I had made about my behaviour towards Colin came together to form a conclusion. Something I was too scared to name.

“You know, right?” he asked softly.

I nodded again. There was no point in pretending that I didn’t understand what he was referring to. We had had an unstable start to our relationship, but even six months ago there had been a connection superseding simple friendship. The last few days had solidified a unique bond, something I never thought I would have. Something that I was completely unprepared for.

Colin didn’t give me any more time to think and analyse. He lowered his head until our lips were a hairbreadth away. There was a moment’s hesitation to give me a chance to move away. I didn’t move and I felt the relieved exhalation of his breath softly against my face. His lips touched mine and it felt right.

The chaste kiss was not enough for me. I reached up with one hand, pulled his head closer and opened for a more intimate kiss. A shudder went through him as his arms tightened around me and he deepened the kiss. With my other hand I clung onto his coat, never wanting to let go. How was it that his closeness and the uncontrolled passion of this kiss made me feel so safe?

There was no panic, no desire to move away. Physical sensations overwhelmed me. The intimacy of our tongues duelling, exploring. His left hand lowering, curling around my butt and pulling me into him. I had never experience lovemaking so intense that I wasn’t able to analyse every moment of it. And this was only a kiss. I had no awareness of my surroundings, my past or any thoughts of the future. It was like losing myself in my work. Nothing could distract me. Only Colin and this kiss existed.

“What the fucking, bleeding, holy hell is going on here?” Manny bellowed a few feet away from us.

Colin’s body stiffened for a moment and then I felt him smile against my lips. He gave me one last kiss before straightening. I put my hand on his chest and shook my head. I didn’t want this to turn into an ugly argument. This day had been difficult enough for me.

“Come on, it will be fun,” he whispered. I emphatically shook my head and tried to pull out of his arms. He wouldn’t let me go, but turned slightly so we both had a side view of the front of the bus. He looked at Manny. “Millard.”

Manny ignored him and moved closer to inspect me. “Did he take advantage of you while you were vulnerable? Tell me and by God, I will arrest his thieving, criminal arse.”

“Manny,” I said reprovingly. “You can’t arrest Colin for kissing me.”

“Watch me.” He gave Colin a quick glare before narrowing his eyes on me again. “You wanted this?”

I didn’t answer him, but gave him a facial expression that I knew communicated that it wasn’t his business and that yes, I did want this.

Manny stepped back, his mouth pulled in a sneer. “I should’ve seen this coming. Why didn’t I see this coming?”

“You called him my boyfriend,” I pointed out.

“I was sarcastic,” he enunciated as if each word was a lone sentence. He threw his hands in the air and walked away. Staying true to his typical agitated behaviour, he quickly turned around and walked back to us, pointing a finger at Colin. “If you ever, ever hurt her, I will arrest your sorry arse and you will never see daylight again. Clear?”

Colin’s lips tightened with suppressed laughter. He glanced at me and sobered slightly at my expression. He cleared his throat. “As crystal.”

“Hmph.” Manny rubbed his hands over his face. Twice. “Well, if you’re done with your snogging, the president wants to meet with you.”

Chapter TWENTY-SEVEN

“
Vinnie,
”
I looked at the empty plate in front of me and the empty dishes on the table, “this was spectacular. Thank you.”

“Yes, Vin. You really outdid yourself this time.” Colin leaned back in his chair with a satisfied sigh. We had come home late afternoon to be greeted by an array of different mouth-watering aromas. And to witness another argument between Vinnie and Francine. They were still glaring at each other.

Once Manny had led us out of the bus, things had happened very fast. Colin had refused to leave my side which had resulted in a nose-to-nose standoff between him and Manny. Ian had intervened and within two minutes the three of us had been whisked away in a presidential security vehicle to meet with the president and his wife. It had been an enlightening and interesting two-hour meeting.

“I still maintain that was the worst idea ever.” Francine folded her arms.

“Francine!” Phillip, Manny and Vinnie spoke at the same time. Vinnie even shook a knife at her. He had insisted that we eat first before we had any discussion about what had happened earlier. I had thought it was a good idea. It had felt like days since I had eaten and this meal had bettered anything Vinnie had cooked before. Talking about me letting Kubanov escape would have destroyed my appetite.

Francine had been distraught to hear that we had met with the president and had not stopped with her paranoid ramblings about complete loss of privacy. She was convinced that we were all now owned. Like property. Phillip’s presence had been both a pleasant surprise and a comfort. Assessing his nonverbal cues, he was highly entertained by Francine’s paranoia.

“Just think about it like this,” Colin said to Francine. “For any further research into a conspiracy concerning the government, you now have direct access to the source.”

“Oh dear God help us all.” Phillip shook his head.

“I’m making coffee.” Vinnie stood up and looked between the table and the sitting area. “Here or there?”

“Let’s take it in the sitting area,” Colin said. He also got up and together with Francine helped Vinnie clear the table. I wanted to help, but there were too many people to bump into. My apartment was spacious, but I was not used to having five extra people in my space. It made the open areas feel cramped. Seven times already I had wished it had been summer so I could have opened the balcony doors for some illusion of extra space. And for fresh air.

Phillip and I walked to the sitting area and settled in the sofa facing the balcony. It was my favourite place. Manny joined us and fell into the other sofa. In the kitchen Francine was still making her case against the president having any knowledge of us whatsoever. She hated the idea that the president would know what she looked like, where I lived and a long list of other things she had been naming any opportunity she got.

“Why isn’t anyone telling Francine that she wasn’t the one who visited the president?” I asked Phillip. “She wasn’t even mentioned at our meeting.”

Phillip rested his one ankle on his other knee and dusted invisible fluff off his designer suit’s pant-leg. “It’s the principle with her. She is a well-educated woman with class and clothes to rival any of the rich people at the school you were at today. Outwardly, she would fit into any exclusive club. Yet she is more anti-establishment than I can honestly bear. She’s a study in contradictions and I think she works hard to maintain that image.”

Phillip’s observation was exactly what I had thought about Francine. She had proven to be not only all that, but also strong, resourceful and determined to stop Kubanov despite all her misgivings about conspiracies and the like.

The others joined us, Vinnie carrying a tray with coffee and Colin a tray with an assortment of cakes. Vinnie placed his tray on the coffee table and went to the reading area to bring a wingback chair for himself. Francine sat next to Manny and Colin settled on the armrest next to me.

“How will we be insured against being arrested?” Francine was clearly not finished with this topic. “You know that I don’t always colour inside the lines. How could you have met with those people?”

“Those people asked for our help, little girl.” Manny shifted slightly away from her. “Helping the president find Kubanov and bringing him to justice is not agreeing to any of the nonsense you’ve been spouting. Being asked by the leader of a country to be part of a small investigative unit is a huge honour. You should be honoured and not turn your nose up at it.”

Manny was not yet sarcastic and his body language also did not express anger. He was only mildly annoyed by Francine’s incessant arguments. I understood where she was coming from. I also knew enough to not completely dismiss her paranoid theories. But this instance I believed she was sorely mistaken. She had not seen the president’s body language when he had spoken to us.

“He was sincere both in his requests and his promise of secrecy,” I said.

“Okay, wait.” Vinnie sat up and frowned. “I’ve heard so many bits and pieces about this meeting that you guys had that I don’t know what’s what. Jen-girl, your version will be the most accurate, so tell us exactly what was decided.”

“Nothing was decided,” I said. “President Godard gave us the evening to think about his proposal and discuss it. The offer was simple. The president asked us, all of us in this room, to be part of a team to find Kubanov and make sure that he faces justice.”

“What kind of justice?” Vinnie asked. Small muscle contractions under his eyes shocked me.

“The kind that includes courts and prison time, criminal.” Manny glared at Vinnie. He must have also seen the murderous intent.

“What happened to that bastard? Do you know?” Vinnie asked in a challenge.

“A young police officer let Kubanov leave the perimeter line minutes before Daniel locked down the area. He had no reason to suspect that Kubanov was not who he pretended to be. By now he could be anywhere. And that is why we should be doing everything we can to find him and stop him.”

“Just the few of us? No sweat.” Francine was sarcastic. I recognised it from her curled lip and her hand waving around to include everyone.

I shook my head, still in slight disbelief at the strange turn my life had taken. “We were promised full access to any resources we need. That would include people and anything else. Ian and Daniel will continue to be our contacts in their respective fields. We’ll be working as we did in the last week, from my apartment and office if Phillip agrees. All we have to do is dedicate ourselves to finding Kubanov. Then we can all return to our normal lives.”

“And do you believe that?” Francine asked with wide eyes and a slightly open mouth.

“Of course not,” I said with disgust. “I was quoting the president there. My life will never be normal again. Not with all of you in it.”

The change in the body language around me clued me in that I had said something inappropriate. The laughter that followed meant it had amused them.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to imply that you are not welcome in my life.”

Phillip turned on the sofa until he was facing me straight on. “Genevieve, I need you to listen very carefully to me. Don’t apologise to us for being you. Your honesty is something unique. It is pure without any subtext. I think you brand of honesty is something that we all need in our lives. We are all here because of you, because of what you do and who you are.”

“I agree,” Manny said. He put his coffee mug down. “What Doc also didn’t tell you is how she was congratulated on stopping a potential disaster and was given the president’s wife’s personal phone number.”

I waved their compliments away. “This is not about me. It is about us. I could never have achieved any of this without you.”

“Maybe, but the president’s wife didn’t ask me to become involved in one of her charities,” Manny said.

“What’s that about?” Phillip asked.

“Nothing important.” I didn’t want to be talking about this. “She asked me to attend charity functions with her. She supports a few charities that educate and help non-neurotypical people and their families.”

“That’s fantastic,” Francine said. Gone were the conspiracy theories and paranoia. “Did you say yes?”

“I told her I would think about it. But that is not important now. We need to decide whether we are going to accept the president’s proposal.”

“Will they know where we live?” Francine asked, immediately shaking her head. “Scratch that. I’ll make sure that our information doesn’t get anywhere near the interwebs. Our data will never be found by anyone. I’ll make Rousseau & Rousseau’s system even more secure than it is already.”

I knew Francine had the capability to do this. Even though I didn’t feel the need for total obscurity, her paranoia was affecting me and made me grateful for any precaution she planned to take.

“What about Jonas?” Colin asked Francine. “Have you found him?”

“Of course I did. No one gets to hide from me. The little bastard was in Paris. Paris! I got Daniel on it and he got his people on it.” A satisfied smile lifted her lips. “The Paris police are particularly paranoid about cyber-terrorists. He’s not going to be writing any kind of code soon.”

“Care to tell me how you got Daniel’s number?” Manny asked. There was a warning in his voice.

Francine lifted her chin. “I told you I don’t always colour inside the lines.”

“What about the young thief you caught red-handed and Luc Alain?” I asked Manny.

“The detectives have kept their word and are helping the young thief out. He’ll have to pay for his crime, but it won’t take him away from school or caring for his grandmother. As for Luc Alain? He realised that this is no joke and that he’s going to a real prison. He’s currently trying his best to cut all kinds of deals, but it won’t help him. He’s going to serve out his sentence in jail.”

While enjoying Vinnie’s cakes we talked a bit more about the president’s proposal. Francine was making strong arguments against being the government’s little minions. Her body language consistently contrasted her words. Everyone had their opinions about working in such a team to ensure the capture of Kubanov.

I had no concerns about working with these people currently crowding my apartment. They had proven to not only be my peers on many levels, but also to be my friends. My main concern was to rectify a situation created by my lapse in control over my reaction to stressful situations. Indeed I was concerned about Kubanov’s threats against my life, but it was the threat he was to everyone else that had me tempted to forego desperately needed sleep and start working on it tonight.

“I’m knackered.” Manny pushed himself slowly out of the sofa. “You kids have a good night. I’m off to a shower and then to bed.”

“Want me to come and wash your back?” Francine gave Manny a sultry look and burst out laughing. “You don’t have to look so happy about it.”

I had not seen happiness in Manny’s micro-expressions. There had been shock and consideration, but not happiness. I was going to have to speak to Francine about that, to correct her. But it could wait for another day. The weight of the day’s events combined with a filling meal was pushing me past my physical limits. I was too exhausted to care about words and phrases I didn’t understand. By the minute other concerns lessened until my mind could solely focus on getting some much-needed sleep. It appeared that I was not the only one feeling thus.

Unlike our last case, I had no feeling of conclusion. We might have stopped Professor Tremont acting out psychotic fantasies of revenge, yet the satisfaction I derived from that was diminished by Kubanov’s disappearance. Not even stopping the burglaries, catching the young thief, Luc and recovering most of the stolen goods comforted me.

“Stop micro-analysing everything, Jenny. Let’s go to bed.”

My eyes flew open. Colin was standing in front of me with his hand extended. We were alone.

“I am not having sex with you.” My words reflected my outrage at his audacity. I became even more agitated when he pulled his hand back, laughing.

“It was not what I suggested at all.” He chuckled again and sat down next to me. “You were falling asleep sitting here, so everyone left.”

“I wasn’t sleeping.” It was the only response that didn’t embarrass me any further. “I was thinking about what to do next.”

“Yeah, I thought so.” Colin smiled. “You were pretty lost in your thoughts, so the guys said their goodbyes and left. Phillip said he’ll wait for your call tomorrow to tell him what you decided. He supports any decision you make. Vinnie will be in for breakfast tomorrow morning. Manny will be here early to talk about this whole president offer thing.”

“What do you think about it?”

He sprawled on the sofa, rested his head against the back and stared straight ahead. “I think that there are some changes that all of us are going to make. My unmentioned career will need some adjustments.”

We sat quietly next to each other for some time.

“Where were you born?” I asked.

Without lifting his head, he turned to look at me. He looked at me for almost a minute before he smiled. “Long Island, New York.”

“Oh. Okay.” I knew it was per capita income one of the richest areas in New York. Interesting. Again we settled in a comfortable silence, staring at the balcony and the darkness beyond.