Bernard paced the bedroom in frustration, his eyes repeatedly scanning for hidden cameras and bugs. He no longer knew where he could feel safe. Carlos, that crafty old fox, kept ruining their plans—sometimes on purpose, sometimes by sheer coincidence.
Impatiently, he knocked on the bathroom door.
“Give me one more minute,” Noud called out from the shower. “I really need to cool off.”
Bernard threw the door open.
“Do you think he’s telling the truth?”
Noud turned off the water. He shook his head to get his wet hair out of his eyes. He pulled a face and shrugged.
“I’d like to believe he’s just messing with us. But…”
“But what? Spit it out!” Bernard barked.
Noud glared at him, offended. He yanked the towel off the metal rod.
“Don’t talk to me like that! Not even if you’re upset,” he snapped back.
Bernard rolled his eyes and walked out of the bathroom without another word. He didn’t even bother closing the door behind him.
He knew Noud was right—but Noud could’ve been a little more understanding too. If what Esteban said was true, and he really had known Ted from before—Ted, who had since completely changed his appearance—then that changed everything. This was no time for hurt feelings. Now was the time to act. To follow the trail while it was still hot. Before it was too late.
He would’ve preferred to head to the beach alone.
“Bernard…” Noud’s hesitant voice called from behind him. “I know you’re tense. So am I.”
He gently placed a hand on Bernard’s shoulder. “But we can’t talk to each other like that. We can’t let the tension dictate our tone. Right now, more than ever, we need to keep our cool so we can think clearly.”
Bernard gave Noud’s hand a quick pat, then set off down the stairs without a word. He wanted to get to the beach as quickly as possible. Partly to hear the soothing sound of the ocean up close, and partly because he couldn’t wait to go over everything they’d just heard from Esteban.
For a while, they stood silently, ankle-deep in the water, letting the retreating waves repeatedly push smooth black pebbles against their ankles. The stones clinked and rolled against each other in the current, sometimes knocking sharply against their skin.
Neither of them minded. They needed something to quiet their minds. Even the pebbles knocking against their legs were easier to bear than the gnawing doubt.
“So?” Bernard asked wearily.
“That comment slipped out of Esteban too quickly, too unguarded. He simply realized he knew Ted from somewhere—and that he’d never liked him.”
“The way they sat there with Carlos, looking like they were carrying the weight of the world… I have to believe it wasn’t some carefully staged remark.”
“And yet,” Noud added, “we know Carlos. He’s a completely unpredictable old fox.”
“That’s exactly why I’m not sure.”
“It’s just…”
“Yes?”
“What he said about the sleeping pills…”
Bernard let out a heavy sigh.
“Don’t even remind me. That really made me feel ashamed. Especially when he almost teared up.”
“Exactly,” Noud pointed at him. “That’s what made me suspicious.”
“Why?”
“Because he knows perfectly well that we were careful. That we’d never willingly put them in danger.”
“Noud… you can’t say that so categorically. What he said made it perfectly clear that you can never be absolutely sure. There’s always a chance of complications. We just wanted this so badly… we convinced ourselves nothing could go wrong.”
“So what, now we’re just going to accept that he caught us and move on?”
“At least between us, there’s no point denying it. He saw you at the airport. You can’t talk your way out of that to an old pro like him. We screwed up.”
“Not necessarily,” Noud said with a slight nod. “If it worked to get him off our backs, then maybe it was worth it.”
“Yeah… sure… just nearly cost two innocent people their lives.”