The Courbet Connection (Book 5) (Genevieve Lenard) (39 page)

“Shit, Jenny.” Colin shook his head
, his eyes wide.

Manny looked apologetic. “That’s
indeed what happened, Doc. Like I said, Hugo spilled his guts. Including telling us about aiding and abetting an international assassin.”

“Who is now in maximum security,” Vinnie said from the kitchen.

The doorbell rang again. Manny and Colin looked at each other and walked to the front door side by side. Colin looked through the peephole, straightened and opened the door.

“I’m hungry and I want a girlfriend.” Caelan walked into my apartment and immediately looked at Francine’s shoulder. “You promised me a girlfriend. I want one.”

“I didn’t promise you a girlfriend, kiddo.” Francine was smiling, the tension caused by our discussion gone. “I promised to teach you how to get one. Big difference.”

“Teach me now.”

“Do you need a girlfriend now or do you need to eat now?”

Caelan thought about this and turned to the kitchen. “Eat. But only green food. I’m not eating that.”

Vinnie narrowed his eyes on Caelan before turning his look to Nikki. She lifted both shoulders. “Sorry. I should’ve told you I invited him. He looked so lonely when we took him home. I told him that he’s welcome to join us for dinner.”

“You said there would be green food.” Caelan frowned at her shoulder. “Did you lie to me?”

“Hold on there, kiddo.” Vinnie stepped in front of Nikki. “There’s green food here. I’ll make you green food. Don’t go around accusing people of lying.”

“He didn’t accuse me.” Nikki tried to push Vinnie out of the way, but didn’t budge him. “He asked a question.”

“Sounded like an accusation to me,” Vinnie mumbled. “And you better dig through the fridge for green food, little punk. You invited him with promises. You better keep those promises.”

My apartment was overflowing with people. Bantering, insults, laughter and teasing that should confuse and frustrate me made me feel safe and at home. I leaned back in my chair and felt Colin’s arm around my shoulders. I shifted to lean against his chest.

The resilience of Vinnie, Nikki and Michael fascinated me. I felt like I was never going to recover from the horror of this case. Looking at them laughing, listening to Francine teasing Manny in her sexy voice and him growling back at her gave me hope.

I would never have normal in my life. I didn’t want normal in my life. But I had the safety of strong friends.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

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Listen to the Mozart pieces
,

look at the paintings from this book

and read more about Tor, the 2012 haul and Bitcoin at:

http:/estelleryan.com/the-courbet-connection.html

First in the Genevieve Lenard series

Murdered artists. Masterful forgeries. Art crime at its worst.

A straightforward murder investigation quickly turns into a quagmire of stolen Eurocorps weapons, a money-laundering charity, forged art and high-ranking EU officials abusing their power.

As an insurance investigator and world renowned expert in nonverbal communication, Dr Genevieve Lenard faces the daily challenge of living a successful, independent life. Particularly because she has to deal with her high functioning Autism. Nothing—not her studies, her high IQ or her astounding analytical skills—prepared her for the changes about to take place in her life.

It started as a favour to help her boss
’ acerbic friend look into the murder of a young artist, but soon it proves to be far more complex. Forced out of her predictable routines, safe environment and limited social interaction, Genevieve is thrown into exploring the meaning of friendship, expanding her social definitions, and for the first time in her life be part of a team in a race to stop more artists from being murdered.

The Gauguin Connection
is available as paperback and ebook.

Second in the Genevieve Lenard series

Art theft. Coded messages. A high-level threat.

Despite her initial disbelief, Doctor Genevieve Lenard discovers that she is the key that connects stolen works of art, ciphers and sinister threats.

Betrayed by the people who called themselves her friends, Genevieve throws herself into her insurance investigation job with autistic single-mindedness. When hacker Francine appears beaten and bloodied on her doorstep, begging for her help, Genevieve is forced to get past the hurt of her friends’ abandonment and team up with them to find the perpetrators.

Little does she know that it will take her on a journey through not one, but two twisted minds to discover the true target of their mysterious messages. It will take all her personal strength and knowledge as a nonverbal communications expert to overcome fears that could cost not only her life, but the lives of many others.

The Dante Connection
available as paperback and ebook.

Third in the Genevieve Lenard series

Forged masterpieces. Hidden messages. A desperate swan song.

World-renowned nonverbal communication expert Doctor Genevieve Lenard wakes up drugged in an unknown location after being kidnapped. As someone with high-functioning autism, this pushes the limits of her coping skills.

For the last year, Russian philanthropist and psychopath Tomasz Kubanov has been studying Genevieve just as she and her team have been studying him. Now forged paintings and mysterious murders are surfacing around her team, with evidence pointing to one of them as the killer.

Genevieve knows Kubanov is behind these senseless acts of violence. What she d
oesn’t understand are the inconsistencies between his actions and the cryptic messages he sends. Something has triggered his unpredictable behaviour, something that might result in many more deaths, including those she cares for. Because this time, Kubanov has nothing to lose.

The Braque Connection
is available as paperback and ebook.

The Fli
nck Connection

Third in the Genevieve Lenard series

A murdered politician. An unsolved art heist. An international conspiracy.

A cryptic online message leads nonverbal communications expert Doctor Genevieve Lenard to the body of a brutally murdered politician. Despite being ordered not to investigate, Genevieve and her team look into this vicious crime. More online messages follow, leading them down a path lined with corruption, a sadistic assassin, an oil scandal and one of the biggest heists in history—the still unsolved 1990 Boston museum art theft worth $500m.

The deeper they delve, the more evidence they unearth of a conspiracy implicating someone close to them, someone they hold in high regard. With a deadline looming, Genevieve has to cope with past and present dangers, an attack on one of her team members and her own limitations if she is to expose the real threat and protect those in her inner circle.

The
Flinck Connection
is available as paperback and ebook.

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