The Uccello Connection (Genevieve Lenard, #10)

by Estelle Ryan

  “You don’t know us,” Nikki said when Amélie didn’t finish her sentence. “But that’s no biggie. You’ll get to know us and realise that we’re like totally fabulous and you can trust us all.”

  This time Amélie’s smile was smaller, but just as genuine as the first time. “You remind me of my daughter.”

  “See.” Nikki threw her hands up. “You’re already seeing the fabulous in us.”

  “It’s all you, little punk.” Vinnie sat down and ruffled Nikki’s hair, then looked at Amélie. “I get that you find it hard to trust a bunch of strangers, but if you trust Daniel and he brought you here, that should already tell you something.”

  “I’m trying to tell myself that.”

  “Okay. Enough.” Daniel put his hand out towards Amélie, blocking us from her. “We can deal with trust issues as soon as we’re debriefed.”

  “Where did they take you?” Manny asked.

  “Once we landed, two of the thugs used me some more as a punching bag. I blacked out for a few minutes and when I came to, they were dragging me to an SUV. That’s when I saw they also had Amélie.”

  “I wasn’t really surprised when they came for me when we landed,” Amélie said. “They even allowed me to take my handbag, but they did take my phone. I wasn’t threatened or beaten, but being the size I am, I think they knew that there wasn’t much I could do against their guns and muscles.”

  “They took us across the border into Belarus.” Daniel pulled his plate closer when Vinnie got up and went to the kitchen. “We drove for about four hours to a farm surrounded by woods. In the car, I blacked out a few more times.”

  “Each time he came to, they would punch him again to make sure he wasn’t gaining strength.” Amélie’s depressor anguli oris muscles pulled the corners of her mouth down. “I’ve never been in such close proximity to that level of viciousness. The violence. I don’t know. Those people are not normal.”

  “Oh, they certainly enjoyed punching me.” Daniel rubbed his hands when Vinnie put the serving dish with the second chocolate-banana pancake casserole on the table. “When we got to their compound, they threw me in a bare room. There was a mattress on the floor, so at least I had something softer than the floor to sleep on.”

  Amélie nodded when Vinnie offered the casserole to her and watched him dish two spoonfuls onto her plate. “In the car, they told me what my role was to be. They had polonium-210 and they wanted me to weaponise it. I put up the token resistance and they threatened my family and everyone I had ever met. I agreed to their demands in less than ten minutes.”

  I held up my hand. “Stop. Explain what you meant with ‘token resistance’.”

  “Oh, I was never going to do anything they wanted me to do.” Her nonverbal cues revealed her horror at that thought. “I’m one of the best in my field. I know how to weaponise anything nuclear-related. I worked on their polonium-210 and made them think that I’d weaponised it. I made sure that the scientist they had there to supervise me was convinced that I had weaponised it, but it’s mostly harmless.”

  “Ooh, I like you.” Francine pointed at Amélie.

  “Yeah, she can be our new best friend.” Roxy nodded at Nikki and Francine, her curls bouncing. “Then I will have two genius friends.”

  Amélie smiled, but I didn’t want to be distracted. “What do you mean by ‘mostly harmless’?”

  “Polonium-210 is the most poisonous substance available. Even though it needs to be ingested or inhaled to have any effect, it’s still extremely dangerous. A microgram can mean death.”

  Her expression gave her away. “What did you do?”

  “Chelation.”

  “What’s that?” Nikki asked.

  “Ooh, that’s brilliant.” Roxy leaned forward. “Chelation therapy is used to remove heavy metals from the body. It binds to the metal and prevents its absorption and is then eliminated from the body.”

  “A short and sweet explanation.” Amélie smiled at Roxy. “My method to do this outside an organism wasn’t very elegant, but it is one hundred percent effective. Not only did I do that, but I made sure that it would be even harder for the polonium-210, which is now chelated, to travel more than two centimetres when airborne.”

  “What?” Manny held up one hand. “Airborne?”

  “Yes. I was told to make sure the polonium-210 will travel when airborne and will cover as large an area as possible.” She shrugged. “I was lucky that the scientist watching over me is not as big an expert as Fradkov thinks. He thought what I was doing was a miracle. The stupid man should know that polonium-210 loses energy the moment it travels through air. It would never travel further than a few centimetres.”

  “That’s it.” Nikki moved her chair closer to Amélie’s. “You’re my hero.”

  Amélie’s expression relaxed. “I didn’t have much time to do what they wanted, but it’s amazing what one does when surrounded with guns. As soon as we got to the compound, I asked them to take me to their lab. They did. It has top-of-the-range equipment, completely unused. I think Fradkov must’ve bought it just for this event. That’s when I was told that I had twenty-four hours to weaponise the polonium-210. That was thirty-six hours ago.”

  “We think this is because Fradkov is planning something this weekend,” Daniel said. “If Amélie had finished on time, he could’ve shipped it out to any corner of the world and it would be there by now or within the next few hours.”

  “I thought you finished.” I had surmised that from her retelling.

  “Oh, I finished everything I needed to. But I told them the polonium-210 needed forty-eight hours before it was ready to be airborne. I used all the right terminology and the scientist believed me.”

  “Do you have a timeframe in mind?” Manny asked. “Did you get any inclination of when Fradkov is supposed to use this polonium-210?”

  Daniel shook his head. “Like I said, I would not be sitting here if I’d known. That being said, I think Fradkov is planning something for this weekend. Possibly even tonight.”

  “Motherfucker.” Vinnie pushed his chair back. “We need to do something.”

  “We’re doing it, big guy.” Manny lifted one eyebrow. “We’re debriefing, putting our heads together to get to the bottom of this.”

  “Listen to what else Amélie has to tell.” Daniel nodded towards the older woman.

  She took a sip of coffee and put the mug down. “I spoke to Fradkov on a video call. He became scary quiet when I told him that I’d already been told what was expected of me. When he spoke again, I realised he was livid that I’d interrupted him. He wanted to repeat all the instructions to make sure that I knew exactly what he expected of me. And he was very precise with his instructions. I was to weaponise the polonium-210 in a way that would magnify its reach. Those were his exact words.”

  Icy fear brought goose bumps to my skin. I’d heard that quiet anger. I’d tried my best to put that phone call out of my mind in order to focus on the case. Amélie had brought Fradkov’s soft-spoken threats back with great intensity. I rubbed my upper arms and tried to pay attention to what she was saying.

  “Fradkov knows quite a lot about polonium, but not as much as I do. He was arrogant and even boasted how he expertly got Daniel, me and the paintings all on one flight. He said something about how gullible neurotypicals were. I asked him what he meant by that and again he went quiet. He stared at me for what felt like hours, then repeated in an almost-whisper how he would torture and kill everyone I know if I didn’t follow his instructions to the letter.

  “I tried to calm him down and asked where he got the polonium-210 from. It kind of backfired. He went quiet again and I had to explain very quickly why I needed to know. Polonium-210 has a half-life of a hundred and thirty-eight days, which means that in a bit more than four and a half months it will be at half its strength. Four and a half months later it will be half of that and so on. If I was expected to create dirty bombs, I needed to know what I was working with. Well, I needed to kn
ow how old it was. That would determine how powerful it is. Fradkov told me that the polonium-210 was twenty-seven months old and that it had proven very potent seven months ago.”

  “That’s confirmation that he has the leftover polonium-210 that was used to kill Gallo and poison the Italian president and the German chancellor.” I was relieved that this was the same batch. At least we didn’t have to look for even more of this dangerous nuclear material.

  “Fradkov repeatedly said he wanted the polonium-210 to go wider than it normally would. He had this sick half-smile when he said he was going for mass casualties.”

  “Bloody hell!” Manny scowled. “That means any public place. Train stations, shopping centres, concert halls, schools, office buildings. This is impossible.”

  “Amélie is not done.” The concern on Daniel’s features brought a tightness to my chest.

  “Fradkov didn’t say much more during our video call, but I overheard a lot of conversation between the two men who were in the car with us.” She picked up her coffee mug, then put it down again. “It was a long drive to the compound. Daniel was unconscious for most of the trip, so I pretended to sleep. I was hoping they would relax and start talking. Then maybe I could hear something that would help us escape.

  “I wasn’t disappointed. They were stupid enough to buy my act. They were talking about Fradkov being uncharacteristically paranoid. It sounded like they’ve worked for him a few years and knew his behaviour. The driver said that he’d heard rumours that this was Fradkov’s last job. Apparently, the payment is millions and Fradkov didn’t want to fail. He was reeling after he failed his last job.”

  “That would be when he tried to kill a few world leaders with his polonium-210.” Roxy shook her head. “Now he’s trying to kill masses the same way.”

  “What else did they say about Fradkov?” The more I knew, the more accurate my analysis would be.

  Amélie looked to her left, recalling a memory. “They talked about the art that was taken from the plane. They’d heard that Fradkov was using this as a delaying tactic, but some of them believed that he had these guys take the paintings because it was part of some bigger plan. They were joking about taking the art for themselves, but since there were no naked women in the paintings, they didn’t see the value in it.

  “They also said that this was the first time he got different people to work together. Usually, none of the people responsible for different parts of his plan ever met. No one knew who did what. That way he had more control and no one could conspire against him.

  “This was another reason why they thought the rumour about this being Fradkov’s last job was true. He was breaking his usual way of working. He never worried about people asking questions. If someone got too close to his operation, he would make them disappear by setting them up for some crime. Not this time.”

  Daniel reached over and put another serving of the casserole on his plate. “Listen to this. Very interesting.”

  “The driver said Fradkov had killed a Volyntsev person,” Amélie said.

  “Aleksei Volyntsev.” Daniel looked at me. “Do you know about his death?”

  “Oh, do we ever.” Roxy straightened in her chair, her curls bouncing. “He died in my hospital from radiation poisoning.”

  “Polonium-210?” Amélie asked.

  “The one and only. When I heard there was someone in the hospital with symptoms exactly the same as the victim seven months ago, I just knew. But he’d waited too long before seeking medical help. He died a few hours after being admitted to the hospital.”

  “The strange thing about this is that Volyntsev contacted me six weeks ago.” Daniel rubbed his chin. “I still don’t know what he wanted. His email only said that he wanted to set up a meeting with me regarding an urgent matter. I replied and gave him my number and told him that I was available any time. He never got back to me, so I left it at that.”

  “How did he contact you?” I was most disappointed that we had not known this. “We didn’t find any connection between you and him.”

  Daniel’s eyes widened. “Oh, God. You investigated my life. Of course you did.”

  “Yup.” Francine leaned forward and whispered loudly, “Puppy videos? Seriously?”

  Daniel closed his eyes for a second and pinched the bridge of his nose. He inhaled deeply and looked at her. “With all the shit I see on a daily basis, I need a palate cleanser. Watching puppies playing and being cute makes me smile.”

  “Volyntsev.” I didn’t want to waste time with bantering now. “How did he contact you?”

  “Did you guys find my second work email?” He nodded once when Francine shook her head. “That explains it. I have a second work email that is only used by my superiors. It’s for highly classified or sensitive communication only.”

  “Fradkov was watching Volyntsev and must have figured out that he had contacted you.” Francine tapped her manicured nail on her lips. “That’s how he saw that email address. And then he, or Joe, most likely hacked GIPN and he got all your other info.”

  “Shit.” Daniel interlaced his fingers and rested his hands on his head. “Fradkov hacked into GIPN? Wait. Who’s Joe?”

  “We’ll get into that later,” Manny said. “First, tell us everything you know about Volyntsev.”

  “That’s it.” Daniel lowered his hands and shrugged. “Before my trip, I was busy and didn’t think to check out this stranger who contacted me. Until Amélie told me his name came up in the conversation between Fradkov’s thugs, I’d forgotten about him.

  “But this would explain why I was targeted. I was trying to figure out why on earth they would kidnap me. Not once did they ask me anything about anything related to GIPN”—he glanced at Amélie—“the president or his security. They didn’t ask me anything.”

  “The president?” Amélie lowered her chin and stared at Daniel. “Which president?”

  Daniel didn’t hide the regret on his face when he looked at her. He turned to me. “Can we trust her?”

  I studied Amélie. “Do you intend to kill people?”

  “What?” She jerked back. “No.”

  “Do you work for Fradkov?”

  “No!” The corners of her mouth pulled down in anger. “What is this?”

  I looked at Daniel. “She’s being truthful. You are very astute in your observations of people and you spent the last few days with her. Do you trust her?”

  “Yes.” Daniel turned to Amélie. “I’m truly sorry I didn’t tell you and I’m counting on your work on many confidential projects to help you understand. I didn’t tell you that I consult with President Godard on his security and that these people don’t only investigate art crimes. They work directly under the president and work with many sensitive cases like this.”

  “That’s why she didn’t trust us.” Francine threw her hands in the air. “Art crimes. Pah! We do so much more.”

  “But really?” Daniel rubbed the back of his neck. “Fradkov got me beaten up for an email this Volyntsev person sent me? I don’t get it.”

  “We also don’t know how Volyntsev fully fits into this,” Colin said. “We do know that he worked with the Russian Consul General to organise the exhibition and that they were good friends. They started Unity Through Art, a foundation trying to unify countries by exchanging artists and organising art exhibitions like the one in Belarus.”

  “Man, I have a lot of questions. Since we’re talking names, have you guys come across a Markov?” Daniel narrowed his eyes. “Clearly you have. Tell me about him.”

  “What do you know about him?” Manny asked.

  Amélie cleared her throat. “The two men in the car were worried about not finding him. It sounded like he was on the top of Fradkov’s hit list and Fradkov was losing patience because his people couldn’t find Markov. They made it sound like Fradkov was desperate to have this man killed.”

  “What intel do you have on Markov?” Daniel asked.

  “Lev Markov is pals with the Belarussian p
resident despite being sent into exile many years ago. He’s also one of the biggest sponsors of the art exhibition.” Manny rubbed his hand over his short hair. “How the bloody hell does he fit into this?”

  “Tell me what you have so far.” Daniel picked up his coffee mug and leaned back in his chair. Manny and Colin spent the next thirty minutes telling Daniel and Amélie everything that had happened so far. They started with Joe Pasquier sending Otto to Francine, Otto’s assassination, the paintings sent to Alain, the numbers on the Fibonacci spirals, Justine’s intel on Fradkov’s strange behaviour and the meeting with Russian Consul General Nikolei Guskov.

  Daniel was horrified to find out that he had been connected to first lady Isabelle Godard through transfers that made him look not only corrupt, but also like an assassin and traitor. “This is not true. You know this is not true.”

  “We’ve already proven it.” Francine waved impatiently. “All those transfers had been added to your account and backdated when you were in the air. It was a bad hack job, but would’ve been enough to cast you and Isabelle in a bad light.”

  “To what end?”

  “I’m leaning towards destroying your and Isabelle’s credibility, which would directly affect the president,” Colin said. “If his wife and a trusted security advisor conspired to his benefit it would make him look incompetent at best and corrupt at worst.”

  “This all has to do with the bloody peace talks between Russia and the EU.” Manny grunted. “For some reason, Fradkov is trying to set Russia up for these dirty bombs and also to make President Godard lose credibility and honour. We are trying to find that reason.”

  “But we knew those transactions were bullshit, dude.” Vinnie slapped Daniel on his uninjured shoulder.

  “Thanks, guys.” Daniel swallowed. “What else?”

  Colin and Manny continued retelling everything we’d uncovered. When Colin talked about the paintings found in the panic room in Fradkov’s house, my throat felt as if someone was strangling me. Colin hadn’t had time to study the artwork and determine how many of the sixty-one paintings were authentic. Colin looked at Vinnie when he talked about our arrival at the Fradkov’s flat.