‘I can tell you.’
His eyes lit up with a spark of interest, but there was something awfully creepy about his crooked smile.
‘Tell me what?’
He was distracted enough to loosen his grip on her arms slightly.
‘About when we first met. You wanted to know, right?’
‘You think about it all the time, huh? Fuck, you get wet when you think about it, don’t you?’
He let go of her arms and sat up in bed. All ears now.
‘You can start with the first time. At the lecture,’ he said.
So he did remember.
‘You popped up behind me. Really close. You gave me that card with your number, but at first you wouldn’t let go when I tried to take it from you.’
‘How did you feel?’
‘I guess you turned me on.’
‘Describe how you felt.’
So she told him, selecting various memories at random. Filling in extra details here and there. It was easier than she’d expected. She had to use events that had really happened because his memory was so sharp, but she could certainly exaggerate her feelings. And as she spoke, she saw the rage in his eyes ebb away. She emptied her last reserves of false prudishness.
‘It really wasn’t okay for me to feel like that,’ she managed to say.
‘You can say that again. When all is said and done, you’re nothing but a little slut. Now we both know why you flipped out and escaped. Well done, Sofia. A step forward today.’
He patted her knee and yawned loudly. Already bored with her docility.
I’ll be goddamned, she thought. A tiny dose of flattery and he’s already satisfied.
‘Tomorrow you and I will have the whole place to ourselves,’ he said as he stood up. ‘The zombie club is going on a hike, well out of earshot. Because this time I want to hear you scream. Really loudly.’
She mumbled something inaudible, but deep inside her something whispered: He’s going to kill me next time.
‘And afterwards we can sit here in your cosy little corner and have a nice glass of wine, romantic as hell,’ he said, heading for the door.
As soon as he locked it behind him, she took out the family history and read it again from cover to cover. She thought of Sigrid von Bärensten’s last words and how everything had gone so wrong. Would it be possible to set it right again? Amelia, the countess, had tried. But wasn’t it always the case that as soon as you got rid of one devil, a worse one took his place?
A fresh kind of fear enveloped her: what if he strangled her with a leather belt? She could already feel the air rushing out of her lungs, the start of a panic. But the worst part was thinking of his face above her own as he choked her, the power he would have over her then. The thought was so painful that she couldn’t stand it. She tossed and turned in the bed, biting her lip until she tasted blood, screaming and beating her fists against the dull surface of the mattress. Then she made up her mind to fight back, to resist with all her strength. What was left of it. She had to find some weapon she could use to defend herself. Why hadn’t she thought of that?
She got out of bed, turned on the light, and went to the little closet. Although she searched high and low, the closest she thing she could find to a weapon was a screwdriver from the half-empty toolbox. So complacent of him to leave the closet open. It was like it hadn’t even occurred to him that she would try to attack him. Sofia went back to the bed and put the screwdriver under the pillow. Again and again she pictured herself thrusting it into his eye, and each time she shuddered. But at last she managed to fall asleep, drifting into a dense, ravenous darkness.
She woke with a start to find his hands on her body. Disoriented and still half asleep, she tried to turn her back on him, but his hand encircled her throat. Roughly holding her in place. She bent her head back and felt the shaft of the screwdriver through the pillow. She tried to free an arm, but he was sitting on one and the other was caught under the blanket. She had no strength. The air was draining from her lungs. His other hand slipped between her legs. One finger pressed inside. She was still so sore that she screamed, but his grip on her throat tightened.
‘I just want to remind you that I’m still angry. You can tell me whatever you like, but I’m not going to forgive you yet. Tomorrow we’ll see what you’re made of.’
He removed his finger and let go of her neck.
Suddenly he stood up and was gone.
She couldn’t fall back asleep. She was restless, trembling uncontrollably and covered in a cold sweat. For the first time she wondered if it might be preferable to die.
54
It was early morning. The sun was rising, but the manor was still in darkness. Simon thought it was a good time to stop by. There was a guard in the booth and a light on in the kitchen, but otherwise the property was deserted.
Jacob was waiting for him inside the gate. Simon could sense his eagerness right away.
‘I saw her, Jesus Christ, I saw her!’
‘Shh, Jacob, you’re shouting! Who did you see?’ Simon asked.
But Jacob seemed incapable of lowering his voice.
‘Sofia. She’s in the cellar. She’s on a bed down there!’ he cried.
‘What the fuck?’
Simon realized that he, too, had raised his voice. His ears began to buzz. I knew it, I knew it!
‘At first I was going to call the cops, but obviously I don’t have a phone, and then I thought I should talk to you first. Could she be there of her own free will?’
‘No, definitely not.’ Simon felt dizzy; there was a bitter taste in his mouth. Got to get Sofia out of there right away. But how? ‘No, don’t call the police. Oswald will hide her, or… shit, I don’t even want to think about what he’ll do to her if the police show up. Look, I have to come up with a solution and talk to Benjamin. Are you coming with me?’
Jacob shook his head.
‘I have to let the animals out to pasture today. If I’m going to leave, they’ll be better off outdoors. They can survive for a long time out here. But the whole staff is going out to clear land in the woods tomorrow. Only Oswald and a guard are staying behind. Elvira and the babies are going to the mainland. I can escape then.’
‘Make sure you are able to stay behind when the others leave. We’re going to need you here. Take my phone so we can talk. I’ll get another one somehow.’
Jacob stared at the phone Simon had placed in his hand.
‘I mean, you can’t just call any old time. If someone were to hear…’ he said.
Simon took the phone back.
‘I’ll put it on silent. Just keep it in your trouser pocket and you’ll feel when it vibrates. We have to get Sofia out tonight somehow.’
‘That’ll be tough. He’s got two guards at night. And the cameras are on – they’re always aimed at the front of the manor house.’
Simon thought for a moment, but each idea ended in some impossible problem.
‘I need some time to think… Let’s do this: you stay here and let out the animals and find out if the cellar window is big enough for us to pull Sofia out. Then we could get her when the staff are gone tomorrow. I’ll call you when I’ve figured something out. When’s the best time?’
‘Right after evening assembly. I’m always alone in the barn then.’
‘Here, take my key for the gate,’ Simon said. ‘In case you need to get out before then. And then you can open it for us when we get here.’
Jacob stared at the key, then squeezed it as if it were the key to the mystery of how the universe had begun.
Simon jogged all the way home to the pension. He found Inga and asked if he could borrow her phone to make a call because he’d lost his own in the fields.
‘Of course, Simon. Keep it for the day. Hardly anyone ever calls me anyway.’
Simon hurried into the cottage and dialled Benjamin’s number. He got the voicemail three times before a sleepy Benjamin answered.
‘Hop in the car and start driving.
You have to get the nine-thirty ferry. I found Sofia.’
Benjamin showed up at Simon’s cottage panting and sweaty. It seemed he had run all the way from the ferry. Simon was already at the computer, working on a plan. He told Benjamin about his encounter with Jacob. When he was done, Benjamin sank onto the sofa and slapped his forehead again and again.
‘This is insane! We have to go to the police, Simon. We can’t handle this on our own.’
‘Yes we can. We have to. Oswald knows the police on the island and won’t let any officers through that gate until he’s hidden Sofia somehow or another. We can’t take that risk. I have a plan, and I want to run it by you. It feels like I’m overlooking something.’
Benjamin’s forehead creased in despair. He looked overwhelmed. He hadn’t been on the island in over two years, and now here he was in Simon’s cottage, thoroughly nonplussed. But Simon continued his monologue.
‘If we just run up to the manor and try to get Sofia out, whatever guard is left will be there in under a minute. And then there will be a row. We could probably get past him, but he or Oswald would call the police and say we’re trespassing. It would be chaos, and I don’t want to take any risks. We need to get a head start somehow.’
Benjamin nodded eagerly.
‘What if I go to the booth and distract the guard? I can argue with him for a while as you and Jacob get Sofia out. Benny did contact me once. I can say I have information about Sofia.’
He paused for a moment to think. It was a good plan, but it wasn’t watertight. The guard had a motorcycle. He could catch up with them. And Oswald had contacts. Simon mentally reviewed his favourite action films and – bullseye.
‘I’ve got a better idea. We’ll set off a smoke bomb or a fire bomb in the cellar once we’ve got Sofia out. Or something that makes a hell of a bang, to attract the attention of the guard. You don’t think the guard would come after us if there’s a fire at the manor house, do you? He and Oswald will be the only ones there. Jacob said Oswald was sending the whole staff into the forest first thing tomorrow morning.’
‘Shit, wouldn’t that be arson?’
‘Nah, it would only be a bang. Maybe a tiny fire in the cellar. They’ll put it out. There are sprinklers everywhere. I’ll argue with the guard and give you time to get Sofia out, and then I’ll come around and set off the bomb before we escape. So you don’t have to suffer the guilt for the rest of your life,’ Simon said dryly.
Benjamin stared at Simon and shook his head.
‘Simon, you’ve really changed since we last saw each other. I like this plan. Just think of how disappointed Oswald will be when Sofia vanishes right under his nose. But won’t the security cameras be on the whole time? How do we know they won’t catch us that way?’
‘Jacob has sneaked into the guards’ booth a few times. He sent me an email from their computer. Around three in the morning, the guards go to the kitchen for a sandwich. They leave the booth unmanned in the meantime. Jacob can go in and turn off the cameras so they won’t be recording. It will freeze the image.’
‘How do you know all that?’
‘I helped out with the electrical stuff once in a while when I was there. And listen, we can make sure Edwin Björk will attest that you haven’t set foot on the island. He always knows everyone who’s on the ferry.’
‘What about Jacob?’
‘We’ll say Jacob escaped to the Björks’ just like Sofia did. And that he’s been hiding there since early this morning. Björk and his wife Elsa will say so.’
‘Have you talked to Björk?’
‘Yeah, before you got here. It gets even better: he has a small motorboat, and he’ll be waiting for us so he can take us across the sound with Sofia.’
Benjamin’s eyes were full of doubt.
‘Shouldn’t we just go to the police?’
‘It’s not that simple. There are pictures and emails to prove that Sofia isn’t here. We can’t take the risk that Oswald will try to hide her.’
‘But the police know what they’re doing.’
‘Sure they do. Here on Fog Island? Don’t be so naïve, Benjamin. You always believe the best of everyone. Do you even know whether that Östling character is still chief of police? Don’t forget, he was super tight with Oswald. I’m not taking any risks – we have to get Sofia out. Then we can go to the police.’
Benjamin’s gaze turned inward.
‘Shit, just think of her, down there, all alone. She must be fucking terrified.’
‘Exactly. And that’s why we need a fool-proof plan. Don’t you see that?’
‘Of course. I just want to get Sofia out.’
Simon sat down at the computer and surfed for a bit, mumbling to himself.
‘What are you doing?’
‘I think I found the solution. We don’t have time to go to the mainland for supplies, but we can make a small bomb by ourselves, a Molotov cocktail. Listen to this: “A glass bottle filled with flammable liquid, usually petrol or alcohol, which is touched off by an ignition device, often of make-shift construction, such as a rag stuffed into the neck of the bottle. The flame spreads quickly. Makes the sound of an explosion.”’
‘Jesus, Simon, that sounds lethal. We don’t want to set the whole manor on fire, do we? I mean, arson… you can get years in prison for that.’
‘You know what, Benjamin? I don’t care. That bastard has ruined so many lives. I don’t give a shit if his nasty manor burns down, as long as we get Sofia out. There won’t be anyone there but Oswald and a guard. As long as they don’t run straight into the flames and commit suicide, no one will die. Can you think of a better way?’
Benjamin shook his head.
‘This is nuts. You don’t have a crush on Sofia or something, do you? You seem even more desperate than I am.’
‘I don’t like her like that, Benjamin. I would go insane if I spent more than a week with Sofia. She’s way too impulsive, too messy. We’re just friends. Really good friends. Anything else?’
‘No, it was just a thought.’
‘Great, then let’s get to planning. First I have to talk to Jacob – he needs to stay until tomorrow and freeze the security images during the night, and let Sofia know we’re coming. And open the gate for us.’
Simon fished Inga’s phone from his pocket.
‘Jacob has a phone?’
‘Yeah, for the moment he does. Smart, right?’
Benjamin scratched his head and wondered what had gotten into Simon.
He decided he would never again underestimate someone who seemed a little slow and liked to poke around in the dirt.
55
Jacob shared a dorm with five other men. The room couldn’t have been much larger than twenty square metres, so there wasn’t a lot of space between the beds. At first Jacob had enjoyed sharing a room – the camaraderie, having someone to talk to after the long workdays. But that was before all the punishment, discord, and forced sleeplessness. These days the place looked more like a room in a ghetto, and the odour of unwashed bodies was often intolerable.
Jon, who slept in the next bed, was so close that Jacob would only have to reach out a hand to touch him. The bed creaked mercilessly. So Jacob had to lie perfectly still.
He squeezed the phone tight, listening to the heavy breathing and occasional snores of the others. It was midnight. He had to stay awake for three hours. At three o’clock, the guards would go to the kitchen for their sandwiches. Then he would freeze the security images and warn Sofia. If only she was still in the cellar.
He was worried that Simon would decide to call. He hadn’t dared to turn off the phone – he didn’t know how to start it up again.
Jon flipped onto his stomach and let out a long sigh that smelled of the kale and beans they’d had for dinner. Jacob turned to face the wall. His eyelids were drooping; his body was crying out for sleep.
Just then he heard steps from the hallway. Quick, heavy, purposeful. Exhausted staff members dragged themselves to their dorm
s for the night; Jacob had learned to recognize their shuffling steps. This was different. Still, he jumped when a knock came at the door, which soon flew open. There was Benny, shouting that they had to gather for assembly in the dining room right away.
Dazed faces squinted in the light. But, like firefighters or soldiers, they were used to this. It was an exercise they had mastered: bouncing out of bed, throwing on their clothes, urging their bodies to be fully awake within minutes. No one speculated on who had called the meeting – there was only one person who did so in the middle of the night. Instead, each person ransacked their conscience. Jacob hoped no one would notice that he had been fully dressed under the covers. But the others were too busy stumbling around, grabbing their clothes, and looking for their shoes in the mess.
He lingered for a moment after the others had left the room, pretending to have trouble with his shoelaces. His cheeks were hot and his heart was pounding. That goddamn phone – he couldn’t let go of it, but it would seal his fate if there was a body search. He had no idea what was going on, but he had an unpleasant hunch that whatever it was it somehow involved him. He hoped the meeting would be short. If everything went well, there was still time. If everything went to hell, he would have to try to sneak to the barn and call Simon – unless the meeting ended with him under orders to dig the ditch with Erik, under guard.
Oswald wasn’t standing by the lectern; instead he was in the middle of the room with his arms crossed over his chest. His face was a mask, impossible to read. As Jacob walked by, he thought he felt Oswald’s gaze on him. He shuddered and tried to look unconcerned and, above all, innocent.
The staff seemed unsure what was expected of them; they stood around in small clusters, waiting for directions.
Lina popped up beside Jacob and tugged gently at his shirtsleeve.
He looked down at her and smiled but didn’t dare say anything.
Shadow of Fog Island Page 32