The Courbet Connection (Book 5) (Genevieve Lenard) Read Free Page A

was rocking in the chair.
    It disturbed me greatly to watch someone so young in such emotional anguish. I was equally horrified that Manny and Phillip hadn’t stepped in. Just as I leaned forward, Caelan jumped out of the chair. He took a step towards Vinnie, glaring at his shoulder. “It’s not true, you… you… big man! You only wish you had an IQ as high as mine. At least then you could see that I am at the very least sixteen years old, but because of my smaller build, you would know I am seventeen. But your average IQ is not allowing you to see this, is it?”
    Vinnie shrugged. “I don’t believe you. Your teachers will confirm my suspicions, I’m sure.”
    “Teachers! Hah!” Caelan wiped his mouth on his grimy sleeve. “My teachers were so scared of my intellect that they avoided me. I was teaching them math. They couldn’t teach me anything else, so I left.”
    “And ran to Mommy?” Vinnie rolled his eyes. “Loser.”
    “My mom only cares about her gin, my dad about his football. I’m sure they didn’t even notice I was gone until a week after I left.”
    “So you’ve been on your own for a whole week? Like I would believe that.” Vinnie’s method was becoming clear to me and I felt conflicted. It was commendable that he had managed to gain so much information from Caelan in such a short time. I just didn’t feel comfortable with his technique.
    “You really are stupid! I’ve been on my own for three years now. See! You don’t know anything. I’ve been living alone, without parents and teachers who didn’t care and knew nothing.”
    Vinnie leaned back, smirking. “Hey, at least I can switch on a computer. More than you can do, I’m sure.”
    “I can drain your bank account faster than you can write an SMS on your antiquated cell phone. How do you think I found you? I will agree that my hacking skills do not equal those of Francine, but I’m good enough to know her name. And to know that you should do an extra spell check when you send emails.” Caelan turned to me. “How do you work with such imbeciles?”
    I felt uncommon sympathy for this young man. “Take a moment and think about the last few minutes before you call Vinnie an imbecile. What has he achieved?”
    For two minutes I observed Caelan processing his conversation with Vinnie. His nonverbal cues were not the same as neurotypical people’s, but it was easy to see when realisation came to him. He looked up at Vinnie, his eyes large, this time with respect. “Brilliantly devious. Teach me to do that.”
    “Oh, no, bucko. You’re a menace enough as it is.” Vinnie pulled out a chair and sat down.
    “Now that we know a little more about you, tell us why you are here, lad.” Manny’s tone was as relaxed as his slouched posture. Yet I saw the calculation around his eyes and mouth.
    Caelan stared at the wall behind me for a few seconds before he sat down, his posture not as confident as before. “Promise you won’t kick me out.”
    “I can promise you that,” Phillip said. “We don’t kick people out.”
    “You are the big boss who deals with stolen art, right?”
    “Yes, I own this company.”
    “And you let a thief work for you.”
    “Don’t be rude.” Vinnie’s fierce loyalty towards Colin elicited a gentle feeling in my chest. Colin didn’t call himself a thief. He insisted that he merely reappropriated art and other objects. I maintained taking something that didn’t belong to you was stealing.
    I returned my focus to Caelan. “What do you want to tell me?”
    Caelan pulled his shoulders back. “In the last fifteen months, I’ve seen fifteen paintings being sold on the dark net. I’m not as good an expert as Colin, but I feel confident that they are superior forgeries of paintings that are listed as stolen.”
    Phillip’s body tensed. “What paintings?”
    “If I tell you, you’ll let me stay?”
    “What do you mean by ‘stay’?” Vinnie asked. I had explained to him about the literal thinking