“They’ve stopped,” he said.
She slowed down. There was forest on all sides.
“How far away are they from here?”
“Two, perhaps three hundred meters,” Danilo answered. “We’ll go by foot the last bit so that they do not hear us.”
“Where have they taken him?”
“We’ll have to find out.”
Fifty meters down a gravel road they found a discreet place to park the car. Jana turned off the engine and looked at Danilo who grasped the backpack.
“Perhaps it would be right to thank you,” she said. “For helping me.”
“Thank me later,” he answered, and climbed out of the car.
*
The high gates were opened slowly.
A uniformed police officer waved with one arm and a police car slowly drove into the gravel drive. After it came a black minibus with tinted windows and finally yet another police car.
Phobos had butterflies in his tummy. He would get a new home. He looked quickly up at Papa who sat next to him on the backseat and then turned his head toward the large white house that towered up in front of them. A wall went all round it with bushes along the side. There were several scraggly trees and a fountain in the form of a mermaid where the rippling water had at some time formed brown lines on the light ceramic surface. Now the fountain was turned off. And ugly.
The house resembled a country mansion with two storeys and large windows. The front door was red and the fa?ade was well lit-up by strong spotlights as well as weaker wall lamps. And there were pillars too. With cameras.
Wow, what a place.
Phobos squeezed the brown teddy bear he had in his lap. He was pleased with it. This was the first time Papa had given him a present. But he was absolutely not allowed to show he was pleased, that’s what Papa had said. No smile or anything silly. He wasn’t allowed to talk about the teddy bear either, only hug it. Like it. Like ordinary little boys did.
Now the house was close and the car drove up to the front door and stopped. Two uniformed policemen came forward and opened the car doors. Phobos climbed out on one side, Papa on the other.
“Shall we check the son too?” one of the policemen called to the other who was busy frisking Papa.
“No, he’s only a kid,” came the answer.
“Come along here,” said the policeman to Phobos and led him toward the front door.
The chilly air pinched his cheeks. He walked with small steps beside the policeman, the whole time looking expectantly at what was to be his new home.
Phobos had butterflies again. He squeezed the teddy bear hard, and even though the teddy was well padded he could feel the hard steel inside it.
*
Jana stood leaning with her back against the high wall that ran around the house. The grass under her was damp. She felt how the cold found its way in through her tight black sweater. On her legs she was also wearing black and close-fitting leggings. She had chosen a pair of lightweight shoes, running type, for her feet.
Danilo was also wearing dark clothes with a large hood. He crouched down and dug out a Sig Sauer from his backpack. Danilo checked it carefully, then pulled out a silencer and screwed it onto the pipe with a practiced hand.
“You’ve still got the technique,” said Jana.
Danilo didn’t answer. He handed the gun over to her.
“I don’t need a pistol,” she said.
“What are you going to kill him with then? Your hands?”
“I prefer a knife.”
“Believe me, you’re going to need this. If nothing else, to get inside the house.”
“Where did you get it from?”
“Contacts,” Danilo answered briefly.
He put his hand into his backpack again and pulled out yet another pistol. This one too with a silencer. A Glock.
Then he got up and pulled the mask over his head.
“We’ll wait until the police cars have left the area. Then we must work quickly. The quicker the better. In, shoot, out. Do you remember?” he said and smiled.
It was the first time in ages she saw that smile.
*
The police cars started and slowly rolled across the gravel back toward the gates. Four plainclothes but well-equipped policemen remained by the house. As soon as the gates had been closed, they moved to prearranged positions.
“You two on the sides, you in front of the house, and me at the back,” said one of the policemen to his colleagues. “Understood?”
“Yes,” they all answered in chorus.
“Right, to your posts. Report back exactly two hours from now.”
*
And exactly two hours had passed before the wardens discovered her. The braided strips of cloth had tightened round her neck, cutting off the respiratory passages. Her first thought was a feeling of relief. Then came the panic but it was too late. You couldn’t change your mind.
She had taken her final decision and there was no going back. It was impossible to get out of the noose. She knew that. Even so, she struggled. She kicked out, stretched her naked toes, put her hands against the strip of sheeting and pulled. She struggled to the very end.
When the wardens pushed into the cell they just stood there and stared at her hanging from the bars on the window.
Lena Wikstr?m hung there without moving and stared back at them, lifeless.
CHAPTER
FIFTY-FOUR
“OKAY,” SAID DANILO, and let go of the top of the wall. The cars had left the area.
He landed in front of Jana and pushed the backpack under a bush.
“You first. Here.” He cupped his hands. “I’ll lift you up.”
She put her pistol inside her waistband at the base of her spine. She put her right foot in Danilo’s hands and her hands on his shoulders.
“Ready?” he said.
She nodded in answer.
“Okay, one, two, THREE.”
Danilo pushed up her foot and she got hold of the top of the wall with both hands and swung herself over. It was a long way down to the ground, and she made a hard landing. She crouched down beside a couple of almost bare bushes and made herself as invisible as she could, immediately tried to get an overview of the area, listened for sounds and looked for any movement.
Danilo landed with a thud. He immediately crouched down beside her and drew his pistol.
“Can you see the camera?” he whispered and pointed at a surveillance camera up on a pole opposite the entrance to the house.
“It’s an IP camera which can see at a very long distance, roughly like a telescope. Never show your face for one of those, it registers details and facial characteristics at more than one hundred meters. So you must always knock out the cameras first. We didn’t use to have to think about that, but it’s new times now,” said Danilo.
Then he pointed at the policemen who surrounded the house.
“There’s one in front, one behind, two on the sides. Watch out for them. If they see you, you’ve had it, understand?”
She nodded.
“When I shoot at the camera, run to the house. Keep in the shadows.”
“I know what to do.”
“Okay, okay.”
Danilo got up and pulled the hood further down over his face. He took a deep breath and then stepped right out onto the lawn with the gun aimed at the surveillance camera, and fired.
When Jana heard the shot, she quickly ran across the grass up to the house. Hardly out of breath she stood up against the fa?ade and with a couple of steps disappeared into the shadows. Then she heard yet another muffled shot, followed by another two, then there was silence. She listened to her own breathing for a few moments, looked right and left. Peered toward the front and the back of the house. Listened again. Crouching down, she took a few steps forward, stopped at the corner of the house and looked out.
That same moment, a policeman came running. He had evidently reacted to the shot and ran with a drawn pistol toward the front. When he disappeared from view, she heard a pistol being fired again. And again. Then silence.