She told Iris about his increasing obsession with her, his wish for her to be his mother, but she didn’t mention the kiss or his comment about her not being allowed to fuck anyone else. She couldn’t.
“Why didn’t you report him?”
“It’s not that simple, Iris. You can’t just shuffle children around the system. It has to end somewhere, someone along their journey has to care.”
“But does that have to be you?”
Those words were all too familiar. “You sound like my husband,” she said.
“Sorry.” Iris looked genuinely concerned. “I’m just worried about you.”
“So what do we do?” Anna said. This was surely a joint problem?
“You could tell Erik and I will tell Rolf. That way no one is in the dark and there is no one to blackmail.”
Iris made it sound so simple.
“I guess that would suit you,” Anna said.
She felt angry, not necessarily with Iris, but with the whole situation and she wouldn’t be in this mess if she hadn’t met Iris.
Iris retracted, looking as if Anna had physically hit her.
“I’m sorry,” Anna said, wishing she had kept her mouth shut. “I’m just stressed out.”
She stretched her arms out, reached for Iris. They would find a way.
“You make me sound like a predator,” Iris said, staying where she was.
“It’s just,” Anna said, trying to find a way to explain herself. “There have been so many others for you. I mean, Lena? She was with you as well, wasn’t she?”
She realised that this was actually part of the problem, that perhaps she was going through this pain only to lose Iris down the line. Would she be able to overcome her insecurities about Iris’s past?
“The important thing for you to know, Anna, is that it’s just you now. You and me.”
She looked sincere and Anna leaned into her arms, wanting to believe that Iris meant it.
Chapter 57 – Erik
May 2016
Anna is awake but doesn’t remember Erik or her children. The police have already been to see her but it appears that she can’t remember anything about the night she was attacked.
Erik spends limited time in her hospital room, needing to keep the children away from her. It’s a battle: she might remember more if she sees them but it’s too upsetting for the boys.
On top of that, Mum has announced that she is going home at this most critical time. And when he thinks it can’t get worse, Linda Johansson calls and says she is on her way to see him. He begs Mum to at least stay for that. If he really is a suspect like Tina said, then he will need Mum’s support.
“Okay,” she says. “I’m sure there is no need to worry but I will stay and see the officer with you. Then I have to go home. Dad needs me.”
Apparently his father cut himself the day before; he was bleeding profusely and Mum feels that something worse could happen if she’s not there.
“At least Anna is awake now,” Mum says. “Things will only get better from now on.”
“Anna’s mother is on her way,” he says. There is nothing better about that. But he realises he needs to be grateful that his wife is awake even if she doesn’t recall that she has a husband.
“That’s good,” Mum says.
“Yeah, great. Her husband agreed to grant her a week’s freedom.”
“Surely it’s not that bad?”
He looks at her, with total disbelief. “I’m sorry, were you not at the wedding?”
Mum nods. “They’re just old-fashioned,” she says. “At least he’s not coming along.”
“But, Mum. She’s not going to be any help. I’m going to have to babysit her!”
Speaking of babysitting, he needs to talk to Pernilla about her – their – baby. She has stopped sending him messages now that he actually needs to be in contact with her. With Anna being awake, it’s essential that he’s viewed as someone who takes responsibility for his mistakes. He will tell Pernilla that he can’t leave his wife but if she could perhaps move elsewhere, he can visit her and the baby regularly. Not seeing his child would be devastating but he also has a reputation to think about. He will also agree to pay child support. If only the jobs were more frequent. Recently, people have been complaining about him being distracted.
Unfortunately, Tina has also disappeared. Not even Rob has heard from her.
“She’s probably busy with some investigation,” Rob says.
Or she doesn’t want to be in touch with a suspect, Erik thinks.
When the doorbell rings, Erik expects it to be Linda Johansson and he puts his best smile on. Except it’s that boy…
“David?”
“You said to come by?”
“Oh, yeah. Sorry, I completely forgot.”
Shit. He should send him away.
“I’ve really looked forward to seeing Sebastian and Lukas,” David says. “I only have an older brother so it’s like they’re my little brothers.”
Maybe he could let him play with the boys while he talks to Linda Johansson? It would be better if Mum doesn’t tend to the children when the police arrive, she could be by his side one hundred per cent.
“The boys are in the basement,” he says. “They’re playing with their train set. Maybe you could hang out with them for a while? If you could just you know… keep them occupied. I have an important meeting.”
“Sure, no problem.”
David takes his shoes off, something Anna would appreciate.
“If you wouldn’t mind closing the door,” Erik says. “I’ll get you all some cordial and buns when we’re done up here.”
“Sounds great.”
Is it odd that a teenage boy wants to hang out with two five year olds? No. He shakes it off. He remembers playing with his younger sister, how great it was that he could use her as an excuse to still play.
*
When Officer Johansson arrives, Mum is overly friendly, offering coffee and newly baked cinnamon buns. He just wants to get it over and done with.
“We have tried to interview Anna but her memory loss has made it difficult,” she says.
“I know.”
He’s fidgeting with a napkin and tries to stop.
“A witness has stepped forward,” Officer Johansson says.
“Really?”
Someone saw something at the school? It amazes Erik that the inhabitants of their town have been talking to the police, sharing their sightings of her, as if they were spies. He wants to move away so badly in that moment, go far away from this small-town nonsense.
“Does that mean you know who attacked her?” Mum asks.
“We’re not sure. If we arrest him, we only have four days to charge him.” Officer Johansson looks at Erik intently. “Did Anna really never mention being frightened of anyone?”
He thinks hard, wishing there was someone he could mention, but Anna wasn’t easily intimidated by anyone.
“No. I don’t think so,” he says.
“Did Anna ever have any guest speakers at work?”
He has no idea. “Maybe. You would have to check with the principal.”
“Okay.” She makes a note. “I also need to ask you… was Anna interested in art or did she do any art modelling?”
“What?” He racks his brain for anything that could vaguely be relevant but comes up with absolutely nothing “No.”
Who are they talking to? Is it based on actual suspicion? Especially after Tina’s comments about the police now suspecting him, he would really like to know.
“I know you can’t tell me who it is,” he says. “But do you think he or she is guilty?”
“We’ll see. Anything you can think of would help.”
“He’s an artist?” Mum asks.
Officer Johansson looks at her apologetically. “I have already said too much,” she says.
“Fuck, that’s sick,” Erik says. He can’t wrap his head around this news.
Mum strokes his back.
“At least they’ve found him.”
“I guess that means I’m no longer a suspect,” Erik says.
“I’m sorry?”
“Yeah, I heard you might have it in for me,” he says, forcing himself to laugh.
Officer Johansson arches her eyebrows.
“Why would you think that?” she asks.
“Just someone…”
“It’s that woman, Tina,” Mum says, her voice shrill.
He looks at Mum and tries to kill her with his eyes, his lips a whisper: “She’s put her job on the line for me, Mum. You can’t expose her.”
“Who’s Tina?” Officer Johansson asks.
He shakes his head to Mum. “No one,” he says.
“For God’s sake, Erik. She can’t tell you things like that without any evidence!”
“Who are you talking about?”
Officer Johansson looks as if she’s demanding an answer and Mum is all too willing to provide one.
“Tina something. She’s with the police. One of your colleagues.”
Officer Johansson shakes her head. “I don’t know of any Tina and I’m familiar with most staff.”
Mum sighs. “Erik?”
He gives up. “I don’t know. Tina. Big hair, green eyes, very pink lipstick although perhaps not when she’s on duty.” Officer Johansson still looks like a question mark. “I’ve only met her once… eh… small gap between her front teeth.” That’s all he’s got.
“Tina Olsson?”
That sounds familiar. “Think so.”
The officer gets her phone out and scrolls through some pictures before she shows him a Facebook photo of Tina. It appears to be from a party and Tina has her arm around a man, a drink in the other hand. “Yes, that’s her,” he says, relieved. For a second, he thought she was some psycho pretending to be someone she’s not.
“She’s not a police officer,” Officer Johansson says. “She’s a cleaner at the police station.”
“Oh…”
There’s brief eye contact with Mum who seems to be saying ‘I told you not to trust her’ but he’s too busy racking his brains. What did Tina actually tell him? She knew about Pernilla and she mentioned Anna’s student, and also Kent. She insinuated that Anna had an affair with Kent? Was it all lies?
“This is very serious,” Officer Johansson says as she makes a few notes in her notepad. “What exactly did she tell…?”
“Did you ever speak to Anna’s colleague, Kent?”
He knows it’s rude to interrupt but he has his own thought process and he needs to go back to the beginning.
“I don’t understand how that’s relevant”
“It’s just… I need to know if she was telling me the truth.”
“I’m more concerned about her telling you anything.”
Right. He needs to play this differently.
“I understand but she… Did you speak to Kent? Did he seem to like Anna a bit too much?”
“Look, she’s had no insight into our investigation. It’s possible that she has seen some paperwork on someone’s desk but…” Officer Johansson rubs her temples. “This is very serious.”
She’s clearly not going to tell him anything.
“At least you seem to have found the attacker,” Mum says. “Just one question. Is there a motive?”
Chapter 58 – Rolf
March 2016
Rolf usually got what he wanted. He wanted a wife who accepted that he slept with other women and he found someone who didn’t value herself highly enough. He wanted a baby and he replaced the birth-control pills with sugar pills. He wanted press and he stirred up a storm. He wanted a woman and he read her like a book and found her weak spot.
Now, he wanted Anna gone. He had tried talking to Iris but she had built a wall around herself.
Instead, he went to see Frida, bringing a couple of bottles of cheap red wine.
“Where’s the party?” he asked and held up the bag.
“Babe!” She was all over him, hungry for his attention.
“I need to see your kid,” he said.
“Dan?”
“Unless the other one is out of prison?”
She didn’t find that amusing.
“He’s out in a couple of months,” she said.
Rolf would be gone by then; that one was even more trouble than the young one.
“He’s in his room,” she said. “Happy as can be. Don’t ask me why!”
She too was in an excellent mood.
“Be a dear and open the wine and I’ll be right back,” he said.
He knocked on the kid’s door before he opened it. It was sparsely furnished with only a bed, a chair and a badly built wardrobe. Frida wasn’t exactly an interior designer.
“Get out,” the kid said, not even giving him a chance.
As much as that pissed Rolf off, he maintained a friendly tone.
“Hang on,” he said. “I have something that you want.”
The kid, who had been lying down on his unmade bed, sat up.
“I’ve got everything I need,” he said.
He looked a bit too cheerful. “Are you on drugs?” Rolf asked.
“Fuck off, I’m not stupid.”
“Sorry,” Rolf said, holding his hands up like a bad guy caught by the police. He entered the room while talking. “You know your teacher friend?”
That zapped the good mood right out of him. “What about her?”
“I know you want to fuck her.”
“What? No!”
He was a useless liar. Rolf inched closer to the kid’s bed and sat down.
“You see, your desire will solve a problem of mine. I need you to tell social services that she made advances on you.”
“No way.” He laughed at Rolf. “You’re insane. She will never talk to me after that.”
Rolf leaned against the wall, making himself comfortable despite the room’s overpowering smell of dirt and sweat. It really needed to be aired out. He picked up a book, a notebook of sorts with a hard cover, and threw it at the window. A small windowpane popped.
“What the hell are you doing?”
“You love your mother, don’t you?”
“What’s going on?” Frida was at the door. She looked at the window. “What happened?”
“Just an accident, babe. I was talking to Dan here about you, and how much he must love you.”
Her face contorted into a grimace. “What?” A second later, Rolf got up and held her by the neck, pushing her up against the wall. His life was falling apart, his perfect marriage of over twenty years was coming to an end, and he needed these lowlifes to help him restore it.
“You love your mother, don’t you, Dan?” he said. “She’s all you’ve got. That teacher friend of yours couldn’t care less about you. You know that, right?”
The conflict within the boy was obvious. He would pick his mother though, all boys did. If Rolf’s mother were still alive, he would pick her any day.
“Your teacher is fucking someone else,” Rolf said. “My wife, to be precise.”
The kid didn’t look as shocked as he thought he would, or perhaps he was used to keeping a straight face. Frida was more upset.
“You’re married?” she asked, letting out a sob.
“If only you read the papers, babe, you would know that.”
The kid stood up. He didn’t even try to reach for Frida. He simply stared at Rolf.
“Get the fuck out of our house,” he said.
Rolf tightened his grip on Frida’s neck.
“If you honour your part of the deal.”
Chapter 59 – Erik
May 2016
David is back. He puts his trainers next to the door and hangs his denim jacket on one of the hooks in the narrow entrance hall. Erik notices his jeans are short and his T-shirt has seen better days. Perhaps he can dig out a few old shirts for the guy? Unless that would offend him? Or perhaps it’s just the fashion? He wishes Anna was there to clarify.
�
��The boys are in there somewhere,” Erik says.
Erik isn’t quite sure why David is here. Did they agree for him to come back and play with the kids? Or is he babysitting? Is he supposed to pay him?
“You’ve got a really nice house,” David says.
“Thanks. It still needs quite a bit of work.”
It really does. They had underestimated how much maintenance it needed, a source of endless arguments since Anna didn’t favour his DIY skills.
“If you need help with anything, let me know,” David says. “I’m good at carpentry.”
“Good to know.”
Anna must like this student, he’s polite.
They locate Sebastian and Lukas. Always together: different but inseparable. They’re building a puzzle but the pieces are not quite sticking together the way they want them to.
“Careful,” Erik says. “Or you’ll break them.”
“Here, let me help you,” David says.
He patiently shows them what goes where.
“Boys,” Erik says. “We’re leaving for the hospital in half an hour.”
Hopefully David understands that he will need to leave by then.
Thumbs up from the boys. Great. Erik goes back to the kitchen and pulls out Anna’s laptop. He hasn’t received any emails from Black Adam in about two weeks. He looks at the last email he sent. I’m sure she did love you. The question is, in what way? She was, and still is, married. Why had that upset him so much? Was he harbouring feelings for Anna?
His phone rings. It’s Rob.
“Hey, I heard Anna woke up?”
“Yes, it’s great.” He says that to everyone. Great. Fantastic. What a miracle. No one understands that it’s not his wife who’s woken up. It’s a woman who looks like his wife.
“Look, Erik. I’m calling because… I mean, I know you have a lot going on, especially with Anna being awake and everything but I don’t want you to feel excluded, so… would you be up for a gig?”
“We haven’t practised in ages.”
“It’s like cycling! There’s an opening tonight. Lead singer of the other band is ill and they refuse to do it without him. Total amateurs, obviously!”
He laughs and Erik can’t deny he feels a stir of excitement. It would feel good to bring the guitar out, to be a musician for the night.
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