Chapter 9
The previous day had been a total bust, but I had a better feeling about today, especially since I was on my way to rummage around in Victor’s villa. To avoid being seen, I decided to bypass the main path and instead walked through the thick jungle behind the villas.
I knew exactly how I was going to get in: the small private garden at the back of each villa made entering and exiting easy. I crept into the garden where the outdoor shower was and moved quickly to the bedroom. I was in luck. He hadn’t locked it.
His room was identical to mine. I’d already decided on the best spots for my bugs and cameras.
I didn’t want to waste precious time, so I worked quickly.
I placed one of the cameras on the light above the bed, and then hid the microphone next to the bed too.
The camera and mic connected to my phone, and I was just about to set that up when I heard a noise.
It was coming from the small garden outside. Shit, someone was coming. I could hear footsteps and they were definitely getting closer. There was only one place to hide: the large closet against the wall. I darted across the room, opened the door as quietly as I could and threw myself inside.
Who the hell was coming in through the back?
The only scenarios I could think of were that Victor had locked himself out at the front, or that someone was trying to get in unseen, just like I was.
I pressed my eye to the keyhole, but all I could see was a small sliver of the room.
And then I heard the familiar sound of a bag being unzipped, followed by the unmistakable sounds of Velcro straps being pulled open.
It didn’t take a spy to figure out that someone entering from the back entrance, with what sounded like a large duffle bag, was up to no good.
I quietly shuffled to the other side of the closet and pulled my knees up in an attempt to make myself as small as possible.
It was rather lucky for me that Victor owned a long black leather trench coat, so if someone did look in here, they wouldn’t see me straight away.
I heard footsteps shuffling around, then a faint squeak, as if someone had just climbed onto the bed.
What the fuck? Then I heard something else – voices.
One voice at first, then a second. The first voice I recognised immediately as Victor’s, I’d watched enough videos of him on YouTube to know it anywhere.
The second was a surprisingly shrill sound of a woman giggling.
The voices suddenly turned into an even worse sound: the sound of the villa’s sliding door being opened, and a second later, the closet door being opened too as someone climbed inside.
I pressed myself into the wall. Shit! Shit!
Shit! This was not good, not good at all.
But there was no avoiding it: whoever had just climbed into the closet was going to see me, not to mention probably feel me at any moment now.
Sure enough, as the door closed, a leg shot out and collided with mine. There was a moment of silence, and in that instant, I knew they knew I was there, and they knew I knew they were there too. I could hear them breathing and I was pretty sure they could hear me.
All I had to do now was pull the trench coat aside to see who I was sharing a closet with.
No time like the present. I wrapped my fingers around it just as I saw someone else’s fingers wrap around from the other side. There was a pause, and then as if we’d both agreed on it, we pulled the coat back at the same time. And when we did, my stomach dropped.
I knew this man.
The moment I slipped into the closet, I knew I wasn’t alone.
It wasn’t a sound. It was a feeling. A shift in the air. A presence. Then the faintest scrape. Breathing. Movement. And a shin.
My leg had definitely collided with a shin. I froze.
And then I saw it: fingers. Wrapping around the edge of the coat. Wait . . . familiar fingers. The kind of vague familiarity that makes your stomach clench with an almost-memory, waiting for your brain to catch up and fill in the gaps.
We pulled the coat back at the same time.
And there she was.
Lizzy.