The other colleague chimed in. “You’re blushing!”

Lex looked up from his phone.

“I didn’t do anything at all,” she said, and got up from her seat. “I’m going back to work.”

The chair fell to the floor with a bang.

4

4

The black duvet still lay rumpled in the same position at the foot of Brian’s bed, and the half-full glass of Coke still stood on the floor with the plastic bottle next to it. Ralf picked up a car magazine and flipped through the pages without really looking at them. He took a bottle from the sideboard, set it upright, and examined himself in the mirror. A charging cable lay on the shelf by the sink. He uncoiled it, found the socket by the bed, and plugged in Brian’s phone.

It felt strange to be poking around in Brian’s stuff when he wasn’t around. Brian had such a strong personality that he imbued everything around him with a strange charge. In his absence, the room actually felt rather mundane. Shabby, almost. For somebody who was so successful, Brian didn’t have many nice things. Apart from his clothes and his Golf GTI, anyway. Though the car was currently gathering dust at a garage until Brian got his license back.

Ralf opened a few cupboards, peered inside, and closed the doors again. He spotted a bag of potato chips and tore it open. Began devouring them where he stood. He hadn’t had any breakfast that morning; immediately after showering, he’d jumped in his car and driven away.

“What are you doing here?”

Ralf spun round in alarm. Potato chips crunched between his teeth, and crumbs fell to the floor.

5

5

Helen guided a cannula into the vein of a twenty-two-year-old motorcyclist. The man had been brought in by ambulance. He had internal injuries in addition to several visible wounds that had caused a good deal of blood loss. His body was covered in bruises and hematomas. She taped down the cannula and pulled back the covers to apply stickers to his chest. A large gray tattoo revealed itself, depicting two hands holding a rosary. Guess it didn’t protect you, she thought cynically. She worked swiftly.

Seeing the tattoo, she was suddenly reminded of Sara. Were she and Jackie currently getting tattoos of their own in Antwerp? Or had Werner gotten hold of her in time? They hadn’t discussed it any further. It had completely slipped her mind. Sara’s plan suddenly seemed so insignificant compared to everything that had happened.

6

6

Ralf knew the guy. He was called Mikey, though Ralf didn’t know whether that was his real name.