Helen looked her daughter in the eye. “I think you’re too young to get a tattoo, Sara. And you need to discuss things like that with us first.”

“What difference does it make? You’ll never see it.” Sara’s cell phone began to buzz. She took it out of her bag and looked at the screen.

“It’s not about us; it’s about you. You’re still too young to—”

“Yes, yes, I know already: I’m too young to understand the consequences of my actions,” Sara shot back. “What do you think I’m going to do? Get a tattoo right here saying ‘Boner Garage’?” She drew an imaginary line above her pelvis with her phone.

“Who knows?” grunted Werner.

Her perfectly made-up eyes burned with indignation. “Come on! I’m not stupid.”

“You aren’t an adult yet either.”

“Well, who is? Sorry, but I need to take this. Oh yeah, Jackie’s on her way over. She’s staying the night.” Sara held the phone to her ear and disappeared down the corridor.

12

12

The blue sky was growing darker and darker. Bats had emerged from their hiding places and were swooping noiselessly over the swimming pool, which emitted a blue-green glow.

Ralf squinted at the back of the house. There were lights on inside, both downstairs and behind a dormer window on the top floor. From time to time, he saw silhouettes moving around.

Brian hadn’t named any names. In fact, he’d told him nothing about the people who lived here; however, based on what he’d seen today, Ralf thought it was probably a husband and wife with three children. An average family, but rich. Maybe they owned a jewelry store or a car dealership. It didn’t look like a mafia hideout, anyway. All the same, three shots had been fired in there yesterday, and nobody had called the police. And Brian had been missing ever since.

The woodland soil was springy beneath his sneakers as he walked around to the front of the house. The garden wall merged almost seamlessly into the garage, and the short driveway was bordered by a neatly trimmed, waist-high conifer hedge. There were two cars: a dark-colored Mercedes and a light-blue Fiat 500. Ralf crawled to the corner and peered at the road.