Carlos scanned the courtyard carefully, then closed the terrace door. He turned the key in the lock and gestured for Esteban to follow him upstairs.
“What are you up to now?” Esteban asked.
Instead of answering, Carlos put a finger to his lips, signaling him to stay quiet. They crept up the carpeted stairs. Upstairs, Carlos checked the windows, then ran the detector around the bedroom and the bathroom, searching for bugs and hidden cameras. The device didn’t pick up anything.
“Okay,” he said with a nod. “Clear. Looks like they’re not monitoring us anymore.”
“Who exactly are you talking about?” Esteban asked.
“The Dutch, mainly. Though I’d bet my neck they’re not the only ones involved in all this.”
“In hunting Ted down?”
“Exactly. The problem is we have no idea how many people are after him besides the authorities.”
“The whole situation smells fishy to me,” Esteban said, shaking his head.
He sank into the armchair beneath the window and rested his head on his hand.
“They probably don’t have the full picture yet,” Carlos waved it off. “Too many people involved. Cases like this sometimes take years to unravel,” the elderly Canarian said, sounding self-important.
Esteban shook his head.
“Do you remember when the police showed up?”
“Who could forget that crazy night…”
“Well, if you really think about it, the whole thing’s more than a little strange.”
Carlos didn’t answer. He simply shrugged, thoughtful.
“Someone,” Esteban went on, “really didn’t want Ted kept captive. And that someone lives right here, in this complex.” He leaned forward, suddenly animated. “Don’t tell me it’s just a coincidence that in two out of the seven houses there are people who have it in for Ted. And if necessary, they’ll even call the police on each other.”
“Who could it be? Viktoria?”
“And that’s the other thing!” Esteban slapped his thigh. “I’d completely forgotten about her. There’s no way she would have called the police on herself.”
“What if it was a trap for the Dutch?” Carlos said. “Maybe Viktoria wanted Bernard and the others out of the way.”
Carlos began pacing the bedroom, arms folded across his chest.
“Viktoria could only pull something like that off if she wasn’t acting alone. Otherwise it’d be far too risky. Do you think she has a whole team behind her?” His nostrils flared with excitement.
“We would’ve figured that out by now. Viktoria showed up too suddenly, moved too fast. And with a very bold move,” Esteban mused. “The police showing up threw her whole plan off. Since then everyone’s been lying low. The Dutch, Viktoria… even Ted himself is acting like nothing ever happened.”