Cold Fear

by Mads Peder Nordbo

  Matthew placed his hand on the arm of a police officer. ‘Hello, Frederik,’ he whispered close to the young officer’s ear. ‘Don’t let them go near Ottesen’s car.’

  ‘Okay.’ Frederik looked towards the car and nodded. A man was sitting in the passenger seat. He had black hair and had his back to the airport terminal.

  Matthew smiled to the female journalist he knew from KNR. Then he continued inside the small waiting area.

  Ottesen was sitting on one of several moulded grey seats overlooking the road. Briggs was next to him. Matthew stamped his feet to get the snow off his boots and smiled to himself, knowing that they had probably seen him arrive by car with someone in the passenger seat.

  Tom was waiting at a table in the cafeteria along with Arnaq and a police officer Matthew didn’t know very well.

  Matthew waved to them and then rushed over to Briggs and Ottesen. An older officer was sitting opposite them and Matthew took a seat alongside him and placed a shopping bag from Brugseni on his lap.

  ‘I’ve got Abelsen in the car,’ he said, patting the bag lightly. ‘And I found this at Tom’s place.’

  Briggs shot up and rushed over to the windows. He peered through the windowpane, then took out his mobile.

  ‘That can wait,’ Ottesen said sharply.

  ‘I can call whoever I want whenever I want,’ Briggs retorted angrily.

  ‘And we can continue this conversation down at the station,’ Ottesen said, looking at Briggs.

  Briggs shook his head and sat down.

  ‘Why don’t you put that back in your pocket,’ Ottesen said, pointing to Briggs’s mobile.

  Matthew was aware that Briggs was staring at the shopping bag on his lap. On top of the bag there was now a buff file with the words US NAVY and CONFIDENTIAL stamped in purple on the cover, and TUPILAK in red.

  Matthew opened the file and selected a couple of pages. ‘Your signature is on an awful lot of these, Briggs. Except you told me that you had pulled out of the experiment, didn’t you?’

  Briggs stared stiffly at the windows.

  ‘You certainly never mentioned that you were still involved,’ Matthew went on. ‘And strictly speaking, it was your experiment, wasn’t it, Colonel Briggs? That’s what they call you, Abelsen and Tom. The Colonel. Is that your actual rank now? That HR job was just a front. You never left the army, although Tom and the others thought you did…You were in the background the whole time, ratcheting it up more and more, isn’t that right?’

  Briggs shook his head. ‘Why would I do that?’

  ‘Tupilak,’ Matthew said, searching through the papers in the file. ‘The experiment was just a small part of something much bigger. Ultimately it was about US security policy and power in the Arctic. And then there was the financial aspect, which Abelsen got so enamoured with. I’m guessing that you kept him sweet by letting him think that he could one day become filthy rich from the drug that Tom and the others were developing?’

  ‘I’ve no idea what you’re talking about.’

  ‘You don’t? Well, that’s not what Abelsen says, but that’s probably a job for the police. Abelsen was undoubtedly a stooge for you, given his position in the Greenlandic government administration, but you should have killed him this summer when his house of cards collapsed.’

  Briggs glanced furtively at the car and shook his head. ‘What a load of nonsense. Which decade do you think you’re living in?’

  ‘I’m going to give this to the police,’ Matthew said, flicking through a few sheets in the file. He looked up at Briggs. ‘You ordered a hell of a lot of drugs back in 1990.’

  ‘Nothing unusual about that. It was all part of my work.’

  ‘Yes, but it would be fun to check with them up in Thule if their lists match yours. There are a lot of banned substances here…looking at it from a civilian point of view.’

  Briggs glowered at him with contempt. ‘You’re bluffing.’

  ‘And these readings!’ Matthew heaved a sigh and frowned. ‘The blood pressure is rising steadily. 157/97. 163/101. 172/105. ECG. Homocysteine figures shooting up well over 200.’ He looked straight at Briggs. ‘I’ve spoken to a couple of doctors and they say that this looks like medical murder.’

  ‘Medical murder?’ Briggs snorted and rolled his eyes. ‘You’ve no idea what it takes to keep the world in one piece while the rest of you sleepwalk. Fucking hell.’ He glared at Ottesen. ‘Tell me we don’t have to sit here listening to some upstart? A failed journalist who couldn’t even hack it in Denmark.’

  ‘We’ll let the man finish,’ Ottesen said patiently. ‘I’m becoming increasingly interested…purely from a civilian perspective, of course.’

  Briggs’s shoulders slumped and he muttered something unintelligible. His face was growing paler.

  Matthew closed the file. ‘When you gave Tom’s pistol to Abelsen so that his prints would be on it, you forgot to make sure that he actually fired the pistol, rather than just put it in a box.’

  ‘What the hell are you on about now?’ Briggs exclaimed, narrowing his eyes.

  ‘Yours are the only prints on the trigger, so my question is: did you kill Bradley and Reese?’

  ‘What?’ Briggs shouted, and leapt up from his seat. ‘That’s enough of this farce!’ He turned to Ottesen, who had also stood up. ‘He’s a bloody journalist, that’s all. Ignore him. You told me yourself that Abelsen’s prints were on top?’

  ‘He lied,’ Matthew said quickly.

  ‘Not that it matters anyway,’ Briggs went on. ‘They…They…’

  ‘They were never shot?’ Matthew ventured. ‘Is that what you’re trying to say?’

  Briggs shook his head with a groan and Matthew sized up the tall man with the short blond hair. ‘Why don’t we take a DNA sample from Briggs as well? He looks like Símin, doesn’t he? Perhaps he killed Jakob?’

  ‘Are you out of your fucking mind?’ Briggs screamed furiously, and took a step towards Matthew.

  Ottesen loosened the top of a small pouch in his belt. ‘I think it might be better if we continue this conversation at the station after all.’

  Briggs nodded wearily and looked at the floor. ‘Yes, we might as well get to the bottom of that idiot’s conspiracy theories.’

  The moment Ottesen took Briggs’s arm, Briggs’s fingers pinched the soft tissue between Ottesen’s neck and shoulder. He squeezed so hard that Ottesen collapsed on the floor immediately. Briggs bent over his victim and snatched the service pistol from his belt.

  ‘This is where we go our separate ways,’ he sneered. ‘I’ve had enough of this shithole and all you bumbling idiots.’

  He pulled Ottesen up from the floor and grabbed him by the throat, while pointing the pistol around the waiting area.

  Matthew and the other police officer both raised their hands. Tom and Arnaq had thrown themselves onto the floor.

  Briggs retreated through a staff exit near check in. He kept his hand firmly locked around Ottesen’s throat.

  66

  ‘Is that yours?’ Briggs demanded, pointing to a dark blue SUV with POLICE in white on its side.

  ‘Yes,’ Ottesen squawked. He was struggling to breathe because of Briggs’s grip on his throat.

  Briggs nodded, then hit Ottesen hard right where his skull met his neck vertebrae.

  Ottesen’s legs buckled; Briggs released his hold on him and let him fall onto the compacted snow on the tarmac.

  ‘What the hell are you doing?’ Frederik shouted.

  The KNR reporters had sought cover behind a car, while the cameraman from Nuuk TV turned his tripod so his camera was pointing at Briggs and Ottesen.

  Briggs aimed Ottesen’s pistol at Frederik, but then fired a shot into the air before pointing the muzzle back at Frederik and the cameraman.

  Frederik grabbed the cameraman’s shoulder and dragged him to safety behind a car.

  Briggs turned and pointed the pistol at the side window on the passenger side of Ottesen’s car. ‘Get out, Abelsen!’ he roare
d.

  Nothing happened. A moment later he tore open the door himself. He stared at the old Inuit. ‘What the…you’re Leiff from the newspaper!’ Briggs turned to walk away, then had second thoughts, spun around and shot Leiff in the thigh.

  Leiff screamed in pain and clutched his leg while pushing himself out of the car. He tried to put weight on his leg, but collapsed onto the snow, which turned red from his blood.

  Briggs continued to aim the pistol at him, but then let it fall to his side and turned his attention back to Ottesen, who was trying to get up.

  He waved his pistol at Ottesen. ‘Keys! Now!’

  ‘Matt has them,’ Ottesen croaked, clutching his neck.

  ‘I’ve just about had enough of this,’ Briggs said, and pressed the pistol against Ottesen’s forehead while he shouted for Matthew.

  Ottesen looked at Leiff, who had managed to get himself into a sitting position up against the SUV. Leiff was pressing both hands against the gunshot wound to his thigh. His trousers were soaked in blood.

  ‘Robert!’

  Everyone turned to the airport terminal, from where Tom had emerged.

  ‘No,’ Ottesen called out. ‘Go back, Tom.’

  Tom began walking towards them. He was holding up his hands.

  Briggs pointed the pistol at Tom instead, while brutally pushing Ottesen aside.

  Ottesen retreated a short distance and looked towards the double doors leading to the airport terminal. Arnaq and Matthew had come outside, as had many other people. ‘Keep the public back,’ he called out to Frederik and another officer. ‘I’ll look after Leiff.’

  Tom continued moving until he was so close to Briggs that the muzzle of the pistol touched his coat.

  The two men stared at one another. Briggs was clutching the pistol so hard that his arm was shaking.

  ‘You owe me a life, Robert.’

  Briggs shook his head. ‘You know better than that, Tom.’

  ‘Twenty-four years,’ Tom said. ‘That was the price I paid when my brother threw me under the bus.’

  ‘We both knew the terms from the start,’ Briggs said. ‘Nothing’s bigger than Tupilak.’

  ‘My children,’ Tom shouted, staring Briggs in the eye. ‘You cost me my children.’

  ‘Matthew,’ Briggs hissed without taking his eyes off Tom. ‘I want the keys to Ottesen’s car, now!’

  ‘No,’ Tom called out. ‘Matthew, stay where you are.’

  Briggs moved the gun to Tom’s forehead. ‘The keys, now!’

  ‘Is that what you’ve been reduced to?’ Tom said with forced calm. ‘Are you willing to shoot me for pills and money?’

  ‘Pills and money?’ Briggs exclaimed. He shook his head. ‘Are you kidding? The pills were just to distract Abelsen. This is about power in Greenland, you know that!’

  To the right of the two men, Ottesen had managed to get Leiff standing and was helping him around the other side of the SUV.

  ‘A lot has changed since 1990,’ Tom said, catching Briggs’s eye. ‘I believe the Soviet Union has collapsed.’

  ‘Yes,’ Briggs said. ‘But if you think that was good news for us, then think again. The balance of power in the Arctic has never been more unstable than it is now. Trust me. The day the Danish army leaves, we’ll take over Greenland. The US can’t risk or accept Greenland being exposed to other nations; we’ll seize power in the country from day one, if Denmark goes and Greenland gets independence.’

  ‘Thank you, I do remember what Tupilak was all about,’ Tom said.

  ‘You do? Doesn’t seem like it. Look about you. There are too many voices clamouring for independence today. They just don’t get it, do they? This island can’t lie unprotected, and the US won’t accept any other troops here than its own and Denmark’s. China is knocking at the gate. They very nearly bought the Grønnedal naval base.’

  ‘Ah, so it was you who killed the Chinese man,’ Tom interjected. He had noticed that Briggs was slackening his grip on the pistol.

  ‘You’ve grown older, but not wiser,’ Briggs said, shaking his head. ‘The Chinese military keeps trying to get a foot in the door, but so far we’ve managed to stop all Chinese acquisitions.’

  ‘And the politicians?’

  ‘The politicians?’

  ‘Those who call for independence.’

  ‘What about them?’ Briggs said wearily. He looked towards the group of people standing some distance from them. ‘Lyberth and a few like him have gone too far in their demand for independence and they’ve heard rumours of Tupilak, but they’ve no idea who they’re dealing with. They live in a bubble with no understanding of consequences. They just don’t get that independence isn’t an option. We would never permit it. Denmark shouldn’t permit it, especially as the world is now, with unstable military powers such as Russia and China hungry for the Arctic.’

  ‘You’re not telling me anything new,’ Tom said, holding his breath for a moment. ‘I already know this. And that’s not what pushed you over the edge. That was your job, after all.’ He hesitated for a moment. He looked at Briggs’s fingers around the handle of the pistol. ‘You went for the money,’ he exclaimed. ‘You bastard! You spotted an opportunity and you went for the money.’

  ‘Do I look like a rich man?’ Briggs said.

  ‘Well, we’ll soon find out, won’t we?’ Tom went on. ‘You’ve been playing both sides for years, haven’t you? Tupilak provided you with information as well as protection. Abelsen was your eyes and ears behind the closed doors of the Greenlandic government, and you supplied pills from the base, because Bradley and Reese running around the ice cap must mean that Tupilak succeeded.’ Tom frowned. ‘You moved the whole operation to Færingehavn after my disappearance. Bradley, Reese and the whole caboodle? Did you go with them?’

  ‘You’re just guessing now,’ Briggs said, letting the hand with the pistol drop. ‘You’re not even a threat anymore.’

  ‘Were you involved when Abelsen threatened to kill Matthew in the bunker in 1990?’ Tom asked, pressing his lips into two thin white lines. ‘Answer me! Were you?’

  Briggs closed his eyes and exhaled heavily.

  ‘You had just given me your word that you would protect him,’ Tom said. He flung out his arms in anger and glowered at Briggs. ‘For God’s sake!’ He pulled up his left sleeve and shoved his wrist with the scar right up in Briggs’s face. ‘Do you remember this?’

  Briggs flinched and instinctively closed his eyes.

  At that moment Tom reached out his other hand and snatched the pistol from Briggs, while at the same time pushing him hard in the face and taking a step back.

  Frederik and the other officer moved in. Both of them were training their weapons on Briggs.

  Tom looked into Briggs’s eyes. There was so much more going on behind the grey blue than he could read.

  Briggs nodded briefly and looked at the officers’ outstretched arms with the pistols. ‘If I remember? For fuck’s sake, Tom! I saved your life!’ He closed his eyes again and shook his head slowly. ‘When you said you wanted out, when you threatened to go to the papers because you had realised what sort of missions our unit would be carrying out, you should have been killed. That day with the mask dancer, the plan was that Bradley and Reese would officially die so they could disappear completely into Tupilak, but then JJ suggested a last-minute change. You would die for real and take the fall for the two fake deaths.’ Briggs jabbed his finger angrily at Tom. ‘You were supposed to get killed, you bloody fool, and I was meant to kill you because it was my job to stop you from exposing the whole operation. You just didn’t get it, did you? You never realised that the cold-resistance drug was only a small part of the mission, while the elite units were the end goal that justified all means.’

  ‘How the hell could you accept that we were going to be hired killers?’ Tom said angrily. ‘That’s not how the world works.’

  ‘That’s exactly how it works,’ Briggs said, staring hard at Tom. ‘And it has got nothing to do with being hi
red killers. It’s all about the balance of power. At times I really wonder if you’ve ever understood what it truly means to defend America’s interests.’

  ‘No,’ Tom said in a controlled voice. ‘If it’s in America’s interest to kill civilians who speak out, then no! I don’t get that. And now you’re telling me that JJ wanted me dead? Jesus Christ. Can’t you see that’s insane?’

  ‘And I fixed it,’ Briggs said with a shrug. ‘By killing you all on paper I gave you a life, I sent you away with Abelsen without anyone but the three of us knowing about it. Everyone thought you were dead and in one of the three coffins, but all they contained were reindeer. I gave Bradley and Reese some extra pills that day, which explains why they went berserk.’

  Tom tightened his grip on the pistol without raising it. His fingers just locked around the steel more tightly. ‘You’ve known all along… You knew about Færingehavn.’

  Briggs’s shoulders drooped. His gaze became resigned. ‘I had no idea that Abelsen was a full-blown psycho with his own little underworld, and when I realised the extent of it, it was too late. There’s no way back when you’ve done the things I’ve done. I could either let you live in secret or have you killed. I chose the former because I had already buried you once and JJ was unlikely to let me live, if he discovered the truth.’

  ‘You’re an officer, for fuck’s sake! Who would JJ get to kill you?’

  Briggs gave Tom a tired look. ‘You still don’t get it. None of us is bigger than Tupilak.’

  ‘Except JJ.’

  ‘That includes JJ.’

  Tom narrowed his eyes and scanned the sloping, snow-covered mountain opposite the airport. ‘How much time do we have?’

  ‘Until I raise my arms in the air.’

  ‘We can help you.’

  Briggs clenched his jaw and shook his head slowly. ‘We’re finished.’