“Carlos has switched to turbo mode,” Noud chuckled.
Whenever they needed to discuss something important, the two men would usually retreat to the kitchen, where the chances of being overheard were much lower. Bernard typically sat by the window, absentmindedly watching whoever was lingering around the pool. Noud, on the other hand, would always pull out a bag of frozen fruit and make himself a smoothie. This time was no different.
Noud poured frozen strawberries, raspberries, and blueberries into the blender jar, screwed on the lid with the blades, and placed the whole thing onto the blender base.
“What do you think that old rascal is up to?”
“No idea, but he’s dragged the whole retirement club into it. I bet Ted’s on the other side of the wall, laughing his head off with his hand over his mouth.”
“Shall we eavesdrop on their brainstorming session?”
“Why not? Maybe we’ll learn some amusing tracking tricks they’ve come up with.”
“I’ll grab the laptop and the headphones,” Bernard said, getting up from his chair.
Ted was in deep trouble. The only place his notes would be truly safe was in a bank vault—but for now, that was impossible. What really baffled him was how the container had ended up among the junk floating on top of the pool. Neither Carlos nor the Dutch couple could have done it. There had to be someone else in the complex who knew more about them than anyone suspected.
The first person that came to mind was Viktoria. It wouldn’t surprise him if the perfectly groomed and impeccably mannered mother was hiding some secret superpower from her family. Ted could easily picture the blonde beauty dressed in a black, skin-tight jumpsuit, gracefully leaping from one rooftop to another. The thought of the innocent-looking housewife secretly trained as a martial artist and a spy didn’t just fire up his imagination—it stirred something else in him, too. For the first time in his life, the man with the Coke-bottle glasses felt such a powerful physical attraction that he immediately had to take a shower. He stood under the ice-cold water for a long time and only turned it off once his teeth were chattering. He couldn’t think about Viktoria like that!
“What are they doing?” Noud leaned closer to the laptop screen.
“They’re making gestures.”
“I can see that—but what kind of gestures?”
“They’re not using sign language, that’s for sure. I understand a bit of that. This is something else.”
“You think they’re communicating?”
“That’s completely obvious. Look, the hand signals are repeating.”
“Military signals?”
“No. It’s something different.”
“What are they doing—and more importantly, why?”
Bernard impatiently drummed his fingers on the glass tabletop.
For a brief moment, Noud thought about how he’d probably have to clean the greasy fingerprints left by his partner from the delicate surface.
“We need to find someone who can decipher this,” Bernard muttered, pushing his chair back in frustration.
Thanks to the felt pads stuck to the chair legs, it slid quietly across the shiny, glittering grey floor.
“Do you have any idea who could help us?”
“I do,” Bernard growled. “But it’s going to cost us—a lot. And not just money.”
“Oh no, don’t tell me it’s…”
“Yes. Exactly.”
Noud collapsed onto the table like a ragdoll. Both his forearms and palms stuck to the glass. This time, the hassle of cleaning stubborn fingerprints didn’t even cross his mind.