The Flinck Connection (Book 4) (Genevieve Lenard) by Estelle Ryan Page B
Authors: Estelle Ryan
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detail. We sat down on the other sofa.
“I never considered you naïve, Daniel,” I said. “You know my profession, you know that I can read your nonverbal communication cues and yet you lie. Frankly, I feel insulted.”
Daniel laughed. “I’ve been trying to hone my skills. Obviously, I’m failing miserably. I knew you were all living here. What I didn’t know was that there were so many weapons in this apartment.”
I also hadn’t known this, but that I could only blame on my lack of experience in and awareness of such matters. I shouldn’t have been surprised that Colin had a weapon at his immediate disposal. Not with all the physical danger we had faced in the last year and a half. Vinnie? Some of the people he called friends were arms dealers, so again I should have expected this. Sometimes my single-minded focus on the case at hand disabled my larger observation skills.
“Jenny.” Colin touched my arm and I realised that I had lost the thread of the conversation. “I’m going to get dressed. I won’t be longer than five minutes, so wait before you get Daniel to tell you all his secrets.”
“I don’t want to know all his secrets.”
“I know, love.” He squeezed my arm. “But please wait with your questions until I’m back.”
Colin looked towards the kitchen and I knew that Vinnie was going to join us to protect me from Daniel while Colin got dressed. “Daniel won’t hurt me. He’s here because he trusts me, but he doesn’t trust you.”
“Good.” Colin got up and looked at Daniel. “I don’t trust you either, so keep that in mind. Five minutes.”
I didn’t watch him walk to the bedroom, nor did I pay attention to Vinnie and his threatening body language as he fell into the far end of the sofa Daniel was sitting on.
“How do you know I trust you, Genevieve?”
“Logic.” I shrugged. “If you didn’t trust me, you wouldn’t be here. You are an intelligent man and have already calculated all the risks involved in being here. This leads me to presume that you are willing to trust Vinnie and Colin simply because I trust them. You wouldn’t be here otherwise.”
“Very astute.”
“I know.”
Daniel turned to Vinnie. “Don’t you want to get dressed?”
“Why? Do my scars offend you?”
It wasn’t often that I saw Vinnie’s naked torso and the many scars chronicling his violent past.
“Not at all. I’ve just never found the elastic in my pyjama pants to be a good holster for my weapons.” Daniel’s open body language and straightforwardness encouraged reciprocity. It was effective. Vinnie no longer looked ready to jump into action at the slightest provocation. Instead, he leaned deeper into the sofa.
We sat in silence for a while. Daniel didn’t appear uncomfortable while I studied him. I estimated his age to be early forties, but physically he was likely to be fitter than most twenty-year-olds. He held himself with the confidence of someone who had excelled at his job for a long enough period to eliminate any need to prove himself. From previous encounters, I knew he not only had received training in interpreting micro-expressions and other nonverbal cues, but he was adept at this.
There was nothing exceptional in his looks—medium height, cropped brown hair and brown eyes. I imagined it served him well when handling situations where he had to calm down a victim or even the perpetrator. He seemed harmless, most likely an image he had worked hard to perfect and project. I didn’t need the past experiences to know that Daniel was as dangerous as Vinnie, Colin and Manny.
We were still quietly observing each other when Colin returned, dressed in dark colours. He sat down next to me and took my hand. I didn’t know if this public display of affection was for comfort or a show of possession. Either way, it annoyed me and I pulled my hand out of his.
“Why are you here?” I asked Daniel.
“For all the reasons you already stated, but mostly I’m here
“I never considered you naïve, Daniel,” I said. “You know my profession, you know that I can read your nonverbal communication cues and yet you lie. Frankly, I feel insulted.”
Daniel laughed. “I’ve been trying to hone my skills. Obviously, I’m failing miserably. I knew you were all living here. What I didn’t know was that there were so many weapons in this apartment.”
I also hadn’t known this, but that I could only blame on my lack of experience in and awareness of such matters. I shouldn’t have been surprised that Colin had a weapon at his immediate disposal. Not with all the physical danger we had faced in the last year and a half. Vinnie? Some of the people he called friends were arms dealers, so again I should have expected this. Sometimes my single-minded focus on the case at hand disabled my larger observation skills.
“Jenny.” Colin touched my arm and I realised that I had lost the thread of the conversation. “I’m going to get dressed. I won’t be longer than five minutes, so wait before you get Daniel to tell you all his secrets.”
“I don’t want to know all his secrets.”
“I know, love.” He squeezed my arm. “But please wait with your questions until I’m back.”
Colin looked towards the kitchen and I knew that Vinnie was going to join us to protect me from Daniel while Colin got dressed. “Daniel won’t hurt me. He’s here because he trusts me, but he doesn’t trust you.”
“Good.” Colin got up and looked at Daniel. “I don’t trust you either, so keep that in mind. Five minutes.”
I didn’t watch him walk to the bedroom, nor did I pay attention to Vinnie and his threatening body language as he fell into the far end of the sofa Daniel was sitting on.
“How do you know I trust you, Genevieve?”
“Logic.” I shrugged. “If you didn’t trust me, you wouldn’t be here. You are an intelligent man and have already calculated all the risks involved in being here. This leads me to presume that you are willing to trust Vinnie and Colin simply because I trust them. You wouldn’t be here otherwise.”
“Very astute.”
“I know.”
Daniel turned to Vinnie. “Don’t you want to get dressed?”
“Why? Do my scars offend you?”
It wasn’t often that I saw Vinnie’s naked torso and the many scars chronicling his violent past.
“Not at all. I’ve just never found the elastic in my pyjama pants to be a good holster for my weapons.” Daniel’s open body language and straightforwardness encouraged reciprocity. It was effective. Vinnie no longer looked ready to jump into action at the slightest provocation. Instead, he leaned deeper into the sofa.
We sat in silence for a while. Daniel didn’t appear uncomfortable while I studied him. I estimated his age to be early forties, but physically he was likely to be fitter than most twenty-year-olds. He held himself with the confidence of someone who had excelled at his job for a long enough period to eliminate any need to prove himself. From previous encounters, I knew he not only had received training in interpreting micro-expressions and other nonverbal cues, but he was adept at this.
There was nothing exceptional in his looks—medium height, cropped brown hair and brown eyes. I imagined it served him well when handling situations where he had to calm down a victim or even the perpetrator. He seemed harmless, most likely an image he had worked hard to perfect and project. I didn’t need the past experiences to know that Daniel was as dangerous as Vinnie, Colin and Manny.
We were still quietly observing each other when Colin returned, dressed in dark colours. He sat down next to me and took my hand. I didn’t know if this public display of affection was for comfort or a show of possession. Either way, it annoyed me and I pulled my hand out of his.
“Why are you here?” I asked Daniel.
“For all the reasons you already stated, but mostly I’m here
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