15. The Art of Deception
CHAPTER 15
THE ART OF DECEPTION
ZOE
A ll morning as we got ready in our small room and during the drive to Savovi?’s castle, Ledger has been listening to the live streams that Tobias Rennert , the man that he will be impersonating, has posted on social media. He’ll listen to a part, then repeat it back, trying to nail the speech patterns and cadence of Tobias . He has gotten pretty good. I might give him grief for not taking missions seriously enough, but I have to give the man credit— he puts in the hard work it takes to convincingly impersonate someone.
The mansion’s grounds are bordered by an eight-foot-tall fence. The bottom five feet are stone with cement pillars, and the top three feet are wrought iron. But just along the inside of the fence are enough trees and shrubs that it makes seeing the mansion itself nearly impossible.
Unlike last time, when we parked by the rear entrance, I drive to the front gate. As soon as it opens, we go up the curving cobblestone drive flanked by lush green grass and park in front of the mansion.
I can tell that Ledger is still sore from sleeping on the cot by the way he gets out of the car. He was looking especially sore as soon as he rolled out of bed this morning, but he hasn’t been willing to admit it. He just tries to cover it and says he slept great. But , expert in body language here, so it’s not like I’m fooled. And , I realize, I’ve become quite the expert in Ledger himself.
He was hoping to wear a t-shirt that said something like Hackers Gonna Hack . Or The Data Whisperer . Or I have connections , with the ends of HDMI , USB , and Lightning cables. Or something like Home is where the WiFi connects automatically . But since we are in Belgrade , all the local stores only had t-shirts with words written in Serbian . And since Tobias is from Canada , he opted for a medium-toned olive gray t-shirt with an artistic interpretation of a computer chip in gold. I think it fits today’s art theme better, anyway.
He’s wearing a navy blazer over the shirt, slim-fit charcoal gray pants, modern and expensive-looking leather loafers, and an ultra-stylized smart watch. He’s also wearing a pair of state-of-the-art smart glasses, and I have to admit that he looks rather attractive in them.
“ Before we head back to The Six ,” Ledger says as we walk toward the front doors, “stopping to drop a toonie or two for a double-double would be good, eh?”
I roll my eyes and try to hide a smile as we step up onto the intricately patterned marble tiles of the porch, where stone columns rising to an arch that covers the porch area lead to the heavy oak doors. Potted ferns and exotic flowers sit on either side of the door, adding a bit of softness. “ Before I knock, do you have any other Toronto -isms you need to get out of your system so you don’t hit them over the head with them?”
“ Just one more.” Ledger closes his eyes and tips his head up as he breathes in deeply. Then he opens his eyes and says, “ Now this is patio weather.”
I raise my hand to knock, but look over at him first. “ Are we good now?”
He gives a nod and says, “ Let’s go make history.”
I knock.
A moment later, Mila answers the door. Her face is welcoming at first and then shows a flash of surprise at seeing us before she puts her mask of hospitality back on. Ledger holds out a hand and she shakes it. “ Hello . I’m Tobias Rennert , and this is my administrative assistant, Kaila Sonnenschein .”
“ Hi . I’m Mila ,” she says in her Serbian accent and then shakes my hand. “ It’s nice to meet you both. Come in. You are here to meet Eliza Cholmondeley for your private showing, yes? Follow me.”
She leads us down a long hallway and through a doorway to a big gallery with paintings on the walls and four-foot-tall pedestals spread throughout that each hold a piece of art. My eyes immediately find the Trust piece on one of them— it’s a ceramic sculpture with seven figures, each holding up the next in a circle, creating a self-supporting structure .
I recognize the forty-something-year-old woman walking across the gallery toward us as Eliza , code name “ Mona Liza ,” from her picture in our briefing. From what I read, she has a military background, and it shows in the way she holds herself with refined authority and in her outfit choice. She’s wearing a navy blazer with embellished brass buttons, a cream-colored silk blouse, and tailored trousers with polished oxford shoes. Her medium brown hair is in a sleek, low bun, and she has a lightweight scarf in an abstract art print draped elegantly around her neck.
Mila says, “ Mr . Tobias Rennert is here, and his administrative assistant, Ms . Kaila Sonnenschein .” She trips over both the words “administrative” and Kaila’s last name, but otherwise is pretty amazing at speaking a language that is not her own. And then she turns to leave us alone with Eliza .
“ Tobias !” Eliza says in a British accent as she places her hand in his for a gentle handshake. “ It’s so good to see you again.”
I give Ledger a glance. We didn’t know they’d seen each other before. I suddenly wonder if this is going to go south. Ledger and the real Tobias look similar, but it’s not like they look like twins or even brothers.
“ It has to be what? Ten or twelve years since I last laid eyes on you?”
Okay , so long enough ago that she probably assumes that he looks different. Maybe she doesn’t remember him exactly. Or maybe they were just in the same room together but didn’t really get to know each other at all.
“ It feels like a lifetime ago,” Ledger says, totally nailing Tobias’s cadence. “ You are looking radiant, as always.”
Eliza takes a step back to take him in. “ And you are looking beefier than I remember. Have you been hitting the gym?”
“ Every day. I’m trying to make sure I’m more sculpted than the pieces I bid on.”
She laughs and playfully swats at his arm. “ Well , it is definitely working for you.” I am surreptitiously looking around the room and at the Trust piece, deciding on my plan of action for placing the tracker, when Eliza holds out a hand and says, “ I’d like to introduce you to Mr . Savovi?’s head of security, Flynn .”
I turn to see that a man has come up behind us without me even hearing him. It’s pretty impressive. Most people hire heads of security that are bald, look like tanks, and dress in black suits. This guy, though, is anything other than what I expected. He’s got light brown hair in unruly curls and is wearing a khaki sleeveless jacket over a long-sleeved polo shirt, cargo pants, and scuffed but sturdy boots. He doesn’t look like he can squash me like a bug, either— he’s only maybe an inch taller than me and is relatively thin.
“ Well , should we take a look at the art, then?” Eliza says, and she and Ledger start to walk toward the first piece.
Most people will place security guards around a room or at the exits when the room is filled with this many valuable things. It’s not always the most effective method, but in a lot of ways, it works. I like it because it’s easy to use distraction, smooth motions, and body language to my advantage, which is what I had planned to do. But this head of security apparently knows more than your run-of-the-mill heads of security, and he sticks to me like glue as Ledger is with Mona Liza .
I stop and take a look at a painting on the wall, and he stops next to me. I happen to glance down at his right arm, which seems to be missing a hand and has the sleeve pinned up. Flynn notices me notice it and says, “ I used to be in wildlife conservation,” he says in an Australian accent— also something I hadn’t expected to encounter here. “ This here is a reminder not to get too friendly with crocodiles or they’ll eat you for brekky.”
I wince. “ I’m sorry.”
“ No worries, mate.”
“ Huh ,” I say. “ Going from wildlife conservation to head of security doesn’t seem like it’d be the typical job progression.”
He laughs. “ It might not seem like it, but I think the animals are what trained me to be good at this job. They can be sneaky, cunning, adaptive, and have mastered the element of surprise.”
I walk to the next piece, really hoping he won’t follow so I can make my way to the Trust piece and place the tracker, but he follows me like an attentive puppy. I glance at him from the corner of my eye. “ Which animals taught you the most?”
“ You mean besides the crocodile?”
This time, I’m the one to laugh.
“ Because he taught me about patience and timing. Crocs can stay still, nearly invisible in the water for hours, just waiting for the right moment to strike. He also taught me about the importance of a good grip and never letting go once you’ve got hold of something. Dingos , though— they teach you all about stealth and adaptability. I saw one evade a trap for weeks on end. She knew how to change her route, timing, everything— she always stayed one step ahead.”
Based on the way he snuck up on me, it looks like the dingos taught him well. “ It sounds like wildlife conservation should be required training for heads of security.”
“ I’ve been saying that for years.”
We chat as I move around to look at different pieces because everywhere I go, he goes. But I keep watching for an opportunity to get away from him enough to go to the Trust sculpture that’s on a pedestal in the middle of the room and place the tracker.
And every chance I get, I also sneak a peek at Ledger and Mona Liza , making it look like I’m admiring a piece of art when I’m really admiring Ledger . It’s amazing how easily he connects with people. I have to admit that it draws me to him, too. He has even convinced Eliza Cholmondeley , the woman who we had trouble finding any pictures of online, to pose with him for a selfie in front of an abstract art painting so he can post it on social media.
I have been seeing him so differently the last couple of days, and not only because of the baby doll in the stroller thing. Partly because his comment at the fudbal field made me realize that maybe he wouldn’t have actually taken the win in Moldova . I still haven’t absorbed that bit of news in fully or figured out what it means for the two of us. What I do know is that I rather enjoy watching him work. It’s fun to watch someone who is an elite spy. It’s a thing of beauty.
And it’s partly because of the conversation we had last night. In some ways, hanging out with him as we ate and chatted on the bed reminded me of Moldova — of the Ledger I knew then. The one I had laughed with and joked with and shared things with that I hadn’t shared with anyone. The easy Ledger , not the one I’m in competition with.
But it also wasn’t the same as Moldova . Our connection feels different. Maybe because in Moldova , we had just barely met. We were getting to know one another in that cabin for the first time, and neither of us knew how good the other person was at being an intelligence operative. Now , after bumping into each other on missions eight times, we know exactly how good the other person is. So , now as we talk, it comes with an additional layer of admiration and respect.
Of course, it also comes with several layers of mistrust and rivalry that have been building for a year and a half. Plus , back then, I hadn’t thought through any implications of a relationship with Ledger . Now I have. So whenever I start feeling all warm and fuzzy about Ledger , I remind myself that getting attached to someone is a good way to make them step out of your life.
And I remind myself that he is an intelligence operative. I am an intelligence operative. Even if only one of those two things were true, we wouldn’t work. But with two? It’s an impossibility. Partly because feelings can’t be trusted. Mine or his. We are too good at faking.
Just like Ledger right now with Mona Liza . He sees that she’s responding to his flirting, so he’s giving her more of it. I know Ledger well enough now to spot his tells when he’s lying. Every spy has a tell that appears when they are telling part of a cover story. Manipulating the situation. It’s different for everyone, it’s subtle enough that operatives don’t usually pick up on the tells of other operatives, and usually, the operatives themselves don’t even realize they are doing it.
But if you study an operative well enough, you can spot it. Sometimes , it’s rubbing their chin, licking their lips, playing with a watch, straightening a tie, brushing lint off their shirt. For Ledger , it’s scratching his left cheek with the back of his middle finger on his right hand.
“ So ,” Flynn says in a quiet voice as we both stand next to a pedestal, studying an abstract sculpture of a spiral staircase that seems to ascend into infinity, “how long have you been in love with your boss?”