Artistic Differences: The Van Helsen Series, #6

By L Tait

It's not over yet...

Having overcome another element of the Van Helsen Curse, Kris makes an unexpected, and unpleasant discovery, possibly connecting the mysterious disappearance of his future Brother-in- law, Henrik, to the disappearance of some valuable works of Art, set to be displayed at a prestigious exhibition. But...that's not the only problem Kris encounters. In their quest to find Henrik and the stolen works of art, he and Hazel run into trouble with someone who will stop at nothing to get their long awaited revenge...

• Language: English
• Publisher: L Tait
• Release date: Nov 15, 2015
• ISBN: 9781519924643

Book preview

Artistic Differences

The Van Helsen Series, Volume 6

L Tait

Published by L Tait, 2015.

This is a work of fiction. Similarities to real people, places, or events are entirely coincidental.

ARTISTIC DIFFERENCES

First edition. November 15, 2015.

Copyright © 2015 L Tait.

ISBN: 978-1519924643

Written by L Tait.

Also by L Tait

The Van Helsen Series

Frenemies

Home Truths

The Reunion

Loose Cannon

Satan's Game

Artistic Differences

Keeping Secrets

Identity Crisis

Undecided...

Standalone

If Only!

School Daze!

Random Quest

I'm Not As Green As I'm Cabbage Looking!

The Work Experience

Table of Contents

Title Page

Copyright Page

Also By L Tait

Artistic Differences (The Van Helsen Series, #6)

There was once an expression that my mother always used to say to me, when I was younger, whenever I had any questions about life in general, 'What's for you does not go by you.'

And, I understood, in theory, why this was the case.  I mean, how many people lead identical lives?

But, lately, I'd had reason to seriously question this particular piece of wisdom over the past year, when my life was completely changed forever, along with my previously held beliefs about it.  How could my mother, or even me, for that matter, have predicted that the recent events in the life of her seventeen year old daughter, Hazel Van Helsen, were destined to happen? I, for one, certainly didn't believe, for one moment, that, in the short space of a year, I'd fall in love with a man almost double my age, and marry him.

Kris Van Helsen and I had met when I had been a pupil in his English class, but, unlike the conventional teacher/student situation, we'd been able to stay together due to a series of exceptional circumstances, and we had a six month old daughter, Jana.  I'd only been married to Kris for a few weeks, but events beyond our immediate control had prevented us from tying the knot sooner.

Kris's family were as wonderful as my own.  Like Kris, I had a sister too, only, Holly was older than me, by a year, and Anoushka, Kris's sister, and my sister-in-law, was a few years younger than him.  His father, Vincent, was a famous, well respected gardening expert, and, his brother, Edvard, my husband's favourite uncle in the whole world, was a celebrated art expert, and was coming to visit us, in Oslo, and would be attending our party, which was to be a combination of celebrations, our marriage, and Kris being appointed the new Chief of Police.  We had even more cause to celebrate, as Kris had emerged the victor in a recent court case which had challenged, and stretched his abilities to the limit in his new, more demanding job.

How Kris went from being a teacher, to Chief Of Police, and how I went from being an average sixteen year old schoolgirl, to the famous seventeen year old wife of Norway's newly appointed Chief Of Police, takes a lot of explaining, but, along the way, I'd escaped death far too many times to count, had fought with Kris's evil and acrimonious first wife, Cassandra, a drama queen of the highest order, and almost lost the opportunity to bring my daughter, Jana, into the world, seduced a prominent, high profile rock star, Norway's most famous one to date (and a great rival of Kris's), and had discovered just how low people would be prepared to go, to get what they wanted, namely, revenge.  Many wanted to see Kris and I rot in Hell, but, we'd overcome all the adversity, and, more to the point, we'd done it in style.

The court case that Kris had won still continued to dominate the media, and proved to be of endless fascination to the public.

However, the one thing that was, at present, preying on our minds, apart from the party, was the whereabouts of Henrik Wegersland, Anoushka's fiance, and head curator of Oslo's Art and Artefacts Museum.

For all the obvious reasons, Anoushka was sick with worry.  The last we'd heard from him was when Anoushka had seen him go out on an emergency call of some sort, and he hadn't returned.

That had been two days ago, the day before the court case, and Kris had been devoting all of his available time to finding out where he could possibly be.

It was only when I woke up, early, on the morning of the third day, the day after the court case, when Edvard would descend upon us, and heard my husband stomping angrily around the kitchen, that I realised just how seriously stressed out he actually was over Henrik's disappearance.

So, I went downstairs to investigate, thinking that I might be able to help him calm down.

Or, at least, I thought I could.

When I entered the kitchen, I was greeted by a tirade of angry sounding Norwegian, and the familiar (but always welcome)sight of my husband.

But, it was his peculiar mannerisms that worried me slightly.

I could tell, at once, that he was absolutely furious, or annoyed about something, as he banged his fist on the kitchen table, muttering to himself.

This was quite literally a side of Kris I'd never seen before, and I knew that I had to say something, find out what was troubling him.

I opened my mouth to do so, but Kris had acknowledged my presence by nodding in my general direction, with an unreadable look in his crystalline eyes.

Uh oh, I thought, I don't like the look of this.

Perhaps, if I was cheerful, he'd snap out of it.

'Good Morning Dearest!' I exclaimed, greeting my husband with forced cheerfulness, and crossing the room to get closer to him.

'Morna, Haze, but, what's so good about it?' he replied, a little too abruptly, I thought.

Definitely not a happy bunny then, I observed silently.

'Kris...dearest,' I said soothingly, encircling my arms around his waist, and kissing his neck, 'What's the problem? Maybe I could help.' I suggested.

'You're helping me already, Haze.' Kris returned, his previously angry expression giving way to a softer, more tender look.  Im sorry. he apologised, turning, and kissing me gently.

'So...do you want to talk about it? Kris, you were very quiet last night.'

'Ja.  Haze, would you believe that you're married to a very stupid man?' he stated, plainly.

'What? Kris, you're not stupid! Anyone with your qualifications could never be classed as stupid! What are you talking about, Dearest?' I demanded, confused, and angry that Kris would ever think so negatively about himself.

'Haze...you do realise that I've been working so damned hard trying to locate Henrik over the past couple of days, putting in a lot of extra hours and so on.'

'Yes, and...?'

'And, Haze, there have been other things...well, one important thing I hadn't thought about.  Until this morning, that is.' he revealed, before swearing explosively under his breath.

I reluctantly disengaged myself from his comforting, secure embrace, and busied myself by tidying up the kitchen a little, while Kris resumed his previous activity of stomping around the room like a mad raging bull.

'Okay...Kris, What did you do, or, not do?' I amended, exhaling deeply and placing my hands flat on the worktop, looking out of the kitchen window, with my back to my enraged husband.

'Haze...darling,' he asserted, sighing, pausing to gather his thoughts.

Through the reflection of the kitchen window, I could see that he was running his hand through his hair, a mannerism of his that usually warned me of some kind of unpleasant revelation.  This physical quirk of his always preceded bad news of some description.

I had an overwhelming sense of deja vu.  This did not look good.

'You do remember why I was offered the job of Chief Of Police, don't you?' he went on.

'Yes, of course I do, Dearest.  Because...you're smart, you showed great courage in the face of adversity in Holmenkollen, you care about your work, and the country's security, and you were confident enough to know that mistakes and corruption would no longer exist in the police force once you took charge.  Why do I have to remind you, Kris? You know all this.' I pointed out.

'Because, Haze, as I said before, I overlooked one very important thing.'

'Which was?'

'Thomas Berg.'

'What about him? He's back in hospital, isn't he? We saw him near enough keel over in the witness box, and the court was crawling with paramedics.  He's no real threat to us now, is he?' I reasoned logically.

But Kris just stared back at me, an expression of intolerance mixed with cynicism etched across his face.

'Hmm.  Unfortunately, Haze, I made the mistake of simply assuming Thomas had been taken to the city hospital.  I've enough to worry about without bothering about formalities like following up matters that I thought had already been dealt with.  I foolishly let my guard down by focusing my attention on locating Henrik.'

'How is that so bad, Dearest? Anoushka is your sister, and you love her, just as I do, and, naturally, you'd do anything for her, even keep secrets about her last boyfriend, even though he was your best friend, just to protect her.' I reminded him.

'Sant, Haze.  Karl was a real piece of work.  To think that my best friend could turn on me like that.  It still hurts, even now, after everything that's happened.' Kris mused, recalling the turbulent time wed had concerning Karl Janssen, Kris's best friend turned drugs baron, who'd had it in for the two of us, but, ironically, had brought the two of us together.

'That doesn't explain why you're so annoyed now, Dearest.' I said, still slightly puzzled.

'I did some background checking of my own, as I felt that, once Thomas had recovered, I could have him officially charged for attempting to pervert the course of justice by bribing a high ranking police officer in order to get charges dropped against him.' Kris explained.

'But...Richard was already corrupt, Kris.  How would you be able to convict Thomas over bribing a police officer, if the officer in question was more than happy to accept the bribes that were given to him?' I challenged.

'Good point, Haze, but, I did find some evidence against him.  Clearly, Richard was a very clever man.  He'd saved files on Thomas Berg, and his past...how shall I put it? Misdemeanours, obviously, with the sole intention of blackmailing him at some stage, in the ultimate double cross situation.  I discovered them by accident, as I inherited Richard's office, and everything that went with it.'

'So...if Richard didn't get the book...'

'He'd have enough to get Thomas Berg worried anyway.'

'Right.  How, exactly, did you come across the files, Kris?' I ventured.

At this, I could have sworn that I saw Kris redden slightly.

'I...er...found a computer disc, taped to the inside of one of the desk drawers, entitled Fun And Games, and,