The Sirani Connection

by Estelle Ryan

  He muttered an expletive as she blew him a kiss. He picked up his magazine again. “You’re bloody annoying.”

  “You love me!” Francine bumped fists with Roxy again. “But not as much as Ivan’s bosses love him.”

  “Hmm.” Manny looked at me. “Did I tell you Ivan phoned me?”

  “No.”

  “He said his bosses are saying they were the ones who pushed to investigate Shahab and stop the opioid weapon. They are taking full credit for finding and securing fifteen devices.”

  “That isn’t what happened.” I remembered the stress on Ivan’s features as he’d navigated between our investigation and his bosses’ demands. I also remembered his—and our—relief when we’d received confirmation that fifteen devices had been disarmed. Roxy had used Doctor Novotný’s journal and other data to calculate that the weaponised opioid analogue Doctor Novotný had made would have filled no more than fifteen canisters similar to the one on Charles’ Bridge. Ivan had slumped on the sofa when his old team had phoned him with the good news. “Ivan’s bosses didn’t even want us there.”

  “That’s politics, Doc.” He shrugged. “But at least Shahab is out of the picture.”

  “Did Ivan say anything about Klára’s screwed-up parents?” Vinnie opened the oven and a mouth-watering smell filled the apartment.

  “Reza and Maryam are both under arrest and are being held in Finland.” The approval was clear on Manny’s face. “Klára helped the Finnish police, Interpol and the Czech police set this up. She phoned her parents and said now that Shahab was dead, she wanted to come home. That she’s in Helsinki, but too scared to travel to Iran. She asked that they both come get her. They were on the first plane out of Iran.”

  “What about the Iranian government?” Colin asked. “I can’t imagine they are happy about such a sting.”

  “They completely distanced themselves from Klára’s parents. As soon as they found out about Shahab’s plan to kill hundreds or thousands of people in Prague in what would’ve been a terrorist attack, they wanted nothing to do with them any more.”

  “Makes sense,” Colin said. “Iran is trying hard to maintain good relations with Europe to continue trading. This would’ve destroyed everything they’d negotiated in the last year.”

  The front door opened. “Ding-dong! We’re here.” Nikki and Pink walked in, Eric already wiggling to get down from Pink’s hip. Phillip and Daniel followed, Daniel closing the door behind them. The moment Pink put Eric down, he ran towards me.

  Colin caught him a moment before he reached me and lifted him high in the air. Eric squealed with laughter and kicked his legs. Colin lowered him and put him between us on the sofa. Eric immediately scuttled over to me and climbed on my lap, facing me.

  “Hello, Eric.” I loved looking at the unadulterated joy on his face. Pure emotions, as yet untouched by life.

  “Dohgee.” He leaned forward to kiss me and I pulled back. His smile dimmed and a small frown wrinkled his forehead. Then he threw his arms around my neck and hugged me so tight, I felt panic starting to rise.

  “Easy there, tiger.” Colin lifted Eric’s one arm and tickled his ribs until he giggled. It was enough distraction for Eric to lose interest in kissing and hugging me. He turned on my lap and sat down facing everyone else.

  “Look at him. Like a king on his throne.” Nikki walked to the dining room table. “Spoiled brat.”

  “Genevieve.” Phillip sat down next to Manny. “How are you?”

  “I’m well.” I studied him. “You look better. More relaxed.”

  “Well, that’s what happens when I’m safe in my own home and I can sleep without worrying about a daughter I never had and a madman’s revenge.”

  “True dat.” Nikki sat down with Roxy and Francine. “Hey, ladies. How’s the hand, Francine?”

  Francine slowly raised her hand and gave Nikki the now familiar gesture. Nikki’s laughter made us all smile. Francine lowered her hand and sighed. “It hurts, but the doctors said I’ll be as good as new in a few weeks. Until then, I can’t move the two fingers Shahab broke.”

  “Motherfucker.” Vinnie brought the oven dish to the table and put it on a wrought-iron trivet. “He got what he deserved.”

  “Totes.” Nikki stared at Francine’s hand, her concern real. “So it’s really going to be okay?”

  “I hope so.” Francine lifted her hand and turned it. “The doctors said there’s no damage to any nerves or tendons. I just have to keep it still. Which means I can now only hack with one hand. And I’m getting quite good at that.”

  “Bloody hell.” Manny shook his head, but there was no malice in his expression.

  “Talking about hacking”—Roxy twirled a curl around her finger—“did you find any more of Shahab’s hacking?”

  “I did.” Francine straightened and pulled her tablet closer. “I found his signature in a few places. He’d hacked the Czech immigration department and a few more Czech government departments.”

  “Looking for Sahar.” Nikki had insisted on hearing the whole story when we’d returned. I hadn’t wanted to relive it verbally, so Colin and Vinnie had regaled her with the outcome of our latest case. “Poor woman.”

  “I looked through my logs and saw that he’d tried a few times to get past my firewalls to get into our system.” Francine flicked her hair over her shoulder. “And of course he didn’t get in. But most of his hacking was done in the Czech Republic.”

  “Thank all the saints we’re out of that hell-hole.” Manny picked up his magazine.

  Nikki’s eyes were wide. “Why? Prague is beautiful. The whole country is gorgeous. Why don’t you like it?”

  “Ooh, now we’re in for it.” Francine lowered herself as if hiding from Manny.

  “Bugger off, the lot of you.” Manny got up. “Is dinner ready yet? I’m hungry.”

  “Yup.” Vinnie put the last dish on the table and stood back. “I hope this will be enough.”

  “This is enough to feed an army.” Daniel slapped Pink on his back. “You’re lucky that you get to eat here so often.”

  We went to the table and the teasing and joking continued. There was a higher level of relief than usual at the end of our cases. It took only one look at Francine’s hand to bring back the debilitating horror I’d experienced while speaking to Shahab. Controlling that fear, my expressions and the conversation had been one of the hardest things I’d done.

  It had affected all of us. Vinnie had always been physically affectionate towards Roxy. But since Prague, it seemed like he always needed to touch her. Even if it was playing with her hair or just sitting shoulder to shoulder.

  Manny and Francine appeared emotionally closer than before. They would often share looks, and it was clear there was deep emotion behind those gazes. It was hard to explain, but what I saw in their nonverbal communication made me think this had made them stronger as a couple.

  Colin was the same as before—supportive, quiet, present. But I was dealing with my inability to have stopped Shahab in time, to have prevented Francine from being injured and to have supported my friends when they’d needed me. No matter how much I wanted to learn how to do this or how much they needed me, when my brain was overwhelmed it would shut down. At the most crucial of times. I loathed being unreliable, yet unable to do anything about it.

  “Bree phoned me.” Phillip leaned a bit closer to me. “Her toes have been set and the doctors say she’ll be fine.”

  “Yeah, she phoned me too.” Francine took a large serving of the butternut lasagne Vinnie had prepared. “She’s seriously peeved that she can’t wear her hipster boots for six weeks. I found the best cupcake place in Düsseldorf and had them deliver a dozen cupcakes to her. She loves me.”

  Phillip smiled. “Her article will be published next week. She sent it to me to read.” He nodded in approval. “It’s exceptionally well-written. The research that went into it and the amount of information she has is impressive.”

  “She had some help.” Francin
e elbowed Manny, which caused him to drop a spoon of beetroot salad on his plate. Some of it spilled on the table cloth. It would take careful cleaning to get that stain completely out.

  “I just gave her a bloody email address.”

  “Oh, pah!” Francine leaned back in her chair to give Manny space to cut her lasagne into bite-size pieces. “You spent an hour talking to her on the phone. Don’t think I didn’t hear all your suggestions and advice. You like her.”

  “Hmph.” Manny pushed her plate back to her and focused on his food.

  “I’m still trying to wrap my mind around her dude-woman situation.” Vinnie jerked, then looked at Roxy. “Don’t kick me under the table. I know she’s a woman. But she...” He jerked again. “Okay, fine. I’ll just shut up.”

  “You better. Or next time I’ll buy that grated special parmesan.”

  “Roxy. No.” Vinnie’s whisper was filled with horror. “They put wood pulp in that cheese. And Swiss and cheddar and some other stuff. Did you know that?”

  “Wait. What?” Nikki put her knife and fork down. “Wood pulp? For reals?”

  “Yup.” Vinnie put a large forkful of lasagne in his mouth and nodded.

  “That’s just gross.” She looked at Eric in his high chair. “From now on, you’re only eating cheese Uncle Vinnie buys.”

  “Do we know what happened to Antonin?” Phillip dabbed his mouth with a white napkin. “I phoned him, but that number was no longer in use.”

  Daniel put his fork back on his plate and cleared his throat. “Ivan told me Antonin, his wife and his lover went into the Czech version of a witness protection programme. He’ll stay there until all the other arrests have been made and those people are in jail.”

  “How many arrests have been made?” Pink asked.

  “Seventeen so far.” Daniel looked at Manny. “Another thing his bosses are very happy about.”

  “It’s been a good week for them.”

  “And Tomas Broz?” Nikki asked.

  “Hmm.” Daniel frowned. “I forgot to ask. I had the impression that his expensive lawyer was going to get him a deal that would not include any jail time.”

  “That thief will land behind bars sooner or later.” Manny stretched to get more salad. He paused and looked at Colin as he put the salad bowl next to his plate. “Any word from your friend?”

  “Ty?” Colin raised one eyebrow. “He’s pissed off.”

  “And how.” Vinnie snorted. “The dude almost bled out in that car.”

  “Bled out?” Pink asked. “What happened?”

  “Shahab shot him, but missed his heart by less than a centimetre.” Colin was still troubled about this. “Ty is pissed off because he underestimated Shahab and almost got killed.”

  “Didn’t you tell him about Shahab’s training?” Nikki asked.

  “I did.” Colin shifted in his chair. “And I thought he was smart enough to listen to me. I’m just glad he pulled through.”

  “Maybe his bestest bestie will also give him a fab gift voucher.” Francine winked at me.

  “Not again.” Manny sighed.

  “What voucher?” Nikki leaned closer to Francine.

  “Doc made the bloody mistake of giving this one—” Manny gestured with his fork towards Francine”—a stupid spa voucher. If she’s not giving me the finger, I have to hear about how she’s going to love spending four hours being pampered. Who spends four hours in such a place?”

  “I do.” Francine leaned back in her chair, her dreamy expression exaggerated. “Oh, I do.”

  “Um, Manny?” Nikki’s innocent expression warned me. “Why don’t you like Prague?”

  “Oh, for the love of...” Manny put his knife down with a clunk. “It’s a bloody horrible place.”

  “Tell them.” Francine’s smile was both mischievous and understanding.

  “No.”

  “Then I will.” Francine rubbed her palms together and inhaled.

  “Oh, hell no. You’ll just add all kind of ridiculous details.” He sighed and glared at Nikki. “If you laugh, I’m disowning you.”

  “Ooh! I’m in your will?” Nikki bounced in her seat and clapped her hands. That made Eric clap his hands and laugh, which made everyone either laugh or smile. Nikki settled down and leaned towards Manny. “I promise to try not to laugh. Please tell us.”

  “I was arrested in Prague once.” Manny’s lips tightened and he closed his eyes as reactions exploded around the table. Vinnie’s booming laughter, Colin’s vengeful smile, Roxy’s giggles and Francine’s faux-sympathetic noises made him even more uncomfortable. “If you’re finished having your fun?”

  “Ooh, we’re finished.” Nikki tried to control her expression, but a smile kept tugging at the corners of her mouth. “Why were you arrested?”

  “Yes, Millard.” Colin’s tone and expression were filled with satire. “Why?”

  “Mistaken identity.” Manny waited again for everyone’s comments to die down. “I was there on an Interpol investigation and rented a car. But the damn rental company—which was recommended by a colleague, by the way—had a few stolen vehicles on their lot. And I so happened to be driving one when the police stopped me.”

  “Oh, this is beautiful.” Colin rested his hands over his heart and leaned back in his chair. “Millard. You are giving me a gift worth more than money could ever buy.”

  “They had him in cuffs and everything.” Francine raised her uninjured hand when Manny swung around to glare at her. “What? You’re not telling the whole story.” She looked back at us. “He resisted arrest and they wrestled him to the ground. He tore one of those horrid brown trousers he likes so much. He should’ve been arrested for wearing those.”

  “Bloody hell.” Manny rubbed his hand over his face. “I might’ve insulted the officer and he unfortunately spoke fluent English.” He looked at Colin. “They cuffed me, threw me in the back of their car and locked me up. I spent the night in a dingy little cell. Happy?”

  “As a pig in mud.” Colin bowed his head. “Thank you.”

  And so it went on. I took another helping of the butternut lasagne and watched the people around my table. Eric was making a mess on his high chair tray and Nikki kept cleaning up while glancing and smiling at me. The others were chatting, laughing and teasing each other.

  Observing them, I realised this was the reason I was willing to continue working on these cases. The last extremely distressing days had resulted in saving hundreds if not thousands of lives. There were families around a table similar to mine tonight that didn’t even know their lives had been in danger a few days ago when they were taking selfies on Charles Bridge.

  I took the last bite of lasagne and hoped that for as long as I could and as long as my autistic mind would allow, I would continue working with these people in my apartment to make a small difference in the world.

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  Look at Sirani’s Venus and Cupid, learn more about Elisabetta Sirani, Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Deep Leaning and Opioids at:

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

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  OTHER BOOKS IN THE Genevieve Lenard Series:

  Book 1: The Gauguin Connection

  Book 2: The Dante Connection

  Book 3: The Braque Connection

  Book 4: The Flinck Connection

  Book 5: The Courbet Connection

  Book 6: The Pucelle Connection

  Book 7: The Léger Connection

  Book 8: The Morisot Connection

  Book 9: The Vecellio Connection

  and more...

  For more books in this series, go to http://estelleryan.com/books.html

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