”I don’t know…I mean…I think so.” Theo almost whispered the words. ”I’ve got another mail…from Vladimir.” He nervously pushed his sweaty hand through his grey, thick hair, waiting for Pauline’s reaction which came as a shot.
”Vladimir! You promised me that all that shit would be over.” All worked up she went into the kitchen so the children wouldn’t hear her but most of all for them not to see how shaken she was. ”What does he want now? How much? How much money does he want?” Pauline started crying softly, banging her head against the shiny fridge door. She soon had black streaks running down her pale face as the tears rolled down her cheeks.
”One million”, Theo whispered and felt how the shirt was sticking to his back. ”One million euros the pigs want.” He had big sweaty spots under his arms and the whole room was tense with anguish. If there was an alternative to rewind the tape or flee, he wouldn’t have hesitated even a second. At the same time he knew there was no point. The Russian Mafia had a strict control and their network was all over the world.
”One million.” Pauline slid down the fridge door and sat sobbing on the floor. Her white blouse was spotted black with tears & makeup. She wiped away the snot from her nose with the back of her hand and removed some hair that was stuck on her lip. ”How the hell are we going to get hold of that amount? I thought the Mafia had left us alone, Theo. How come Vladimir is contacting you again?” Pauline felt - she was getting angry. ”Have you done something I don’t know about?”
Theo stopped his brooding stride, shrugged his shoulders and sighed heavily. ”Sweet-heart, I’ve done nothing at all. I haven’t heard from Vladimir since December last year.”
The phone went quiet. Pauline slowly got up and looked in the kitchen mirror. Her eyes were red but she didn’t’ think the children would notice. They were too small and too busy with playing the TV-game. She took out a wet wipe from her bag hanging on the kitchen chair and wiped her face. Then she crept back to the living room where Julia and Thomas were busy playing, happily unaware of what was going on around them.
”When does Vladimir want to have the money?” Pauline despondently wondered while feeling how their plans for the future were going down the drain.
”Within three days.” Theo could hardly speak. His tongue was stuck to his palate. He held the glass bottle with his unsteady hand and finished what was left. His throat cleared a bit, but he felt far from fine.
They finished the conversation and Theo made a security copy to the external hard-disk. He locked the safe carefully and put back the folders. His brain was working hard. Where would he get a million euros from? The market was still and sales were unusually slow. Theo couldn’t even remember how many times he had regretted letting the Russian Mafia finance his latest build, the Golden Coast. But had he had a choice? A fantastic opportunity had come up and the rest was history. Now the Golden Coast was built on the perfect beach property that he had longed for since he was a teenager. But his dream had now become a nightmare.
Two years had now passed since Theo, proud and happy,in his newly bought plain suit had dug the first hole . Pauline had carefully chosen a red and white striped tie to match his dark blue jacket and he had felt like a winner. The contract had been signed in front of all of Cyprus’ journalists and the Mayor from the city of Pafos had also been present. Everybody had eagerly wished him good luck. The party lasted the whole night long with food and champagne flowing. It was an important deal and it had been noticed by everybody in the Mediterranean who were part of the construction business. Thirty luxury villas and several apartment complexes with a total of 75 condos had been ready last Christmas. The complex had been named the most luxuriant in the whole of Pafos and the prices were consequently high. Aphrodite Hill had even had to leave the throne as number one in favour of the Golden Coast. Unfortunately, sales hadn’t gone according to plans as Cyprus right then had been hit by a tough financial crisis, with devastating consequences. Today a villa with three bedrooms would cost four million euros. The price included a berth for a luxury yacht close to the property as well as free membership of the fitness facility in the area, with both a gym and a tennis-court. Seven villas had been sold to rich Russians who had laundered their money by buying a house. Vladimir had helped with the contracts since they were his friends in Moscow who quickly needed to get money out of their home-land. Sales had been a bit better with the apartments but it was still empty at the Golden Coast.
Three days. Theo had three days to gather up a million euros.
Thursday June 6th
In the evening Patrik had booked a table at the hotel’s Asian restaurant situated on the top floor. With his persuasiveness he’d managed to get a really good table with a view over the sea on the large, luxurious outdoor terrace. The restaurant was divided into two parts. Inside the actual restaurant the décor was Japanese and the chefs put on a show while cooking the food at the guests’ tables. Out on the terrace it was more austere and elegant. The restaurant was decorated with an Asian flair where the bamboo trees stood next to white orchids and a faint fragrance of incense was mixed with the fresh air. Small round rice-lamps lit up the terrace with their dim light together with a number of oil lamps standing on the black, square, glass tables. The restaurant was more or less full. A muffled buzz of different languages was being heard from the hotel’s guests of which Russian was the dominant language.
The waiter dressed in white, showed the way to Nikki and Patrik’s table. He politely pulled out their chairs, placed white linen napkins over their knees and left them both with a menu, written on a beautifully hand-crafted white sheet, with the restaurant’s black and red heading printed in the middle.
”Posh place”, Nikki said looking out over the bay. The lanterns on the yachts were reflected in the sea and the evening was starlit. The palm trees were slowly swaying in the wind and Nikki felt relaxed. She and Patrik had had a long talk and had agreed that their relationship was over. She had also had a long conversation with her sister. Charlie felt a bit better but could still not remember that she had been sexually abused . Which was both good and bad. On the other hand she’d been told that Goran had some positive news. The police had been able to get finger-prints off a water glass and a toothbrush in her apartment, but unfortunately there had been no hit in the police’s registry.
”If I’m going out with a beautiful woman it has to be to a posh place”, Patrik returned with a flirty smile. ”What would the lady wish to drink? White, red, champagne or maybe you’d like to have a drink before the food arrives instead?”
”Maybe I’ll spice it all up with a passion fruit mojito.” Nikki smiled and her brown eyes shone . She felt attractive and played on all of her sexuality. She only had Patrik at her side for a few more days and then she would be back to square one again. A life as an insecure single, thirsting for love.
After an orgy of lavish dishes with sushi and sashimi, which was some of the best she’d ever eaten, they were sitting sipping the last drops of a local bottle of white wine. As did most of the guests they remained sitting there enjoying the band playing an Asian touch of Buddha Bar music.
”What will happen when you go back to work on Monday?” Patrik knew he was in deep waters when asking but he wanted to know.
Nikki was fiddling with the glass’ stem with her index finger and then put the wineglass down. ”Well, I don’t quite know. Probably I still won’t be involved with the investigation and will get something else to sink my teeth in or I might get moved to directing traffic.” Nikki laughed a bit and tried joking about it. ”Why do you have to talk about my work? I really don’t want to think about it.”
”But you love your work. It means everything to you, except for Gustav and Axel. You’ll see it will work out.” He touched her diamond ring and was tempted to hold her soft hand.
”Yes, now I know what I’ll do…make sure I find the man who raped Charlie.”
”I wouldn’
t like to be in his shoes when you find him”, Patrik said and watched Nikki’s pensive face. He saw that she was suffering by what had happened and knew that she looked forward to going home again.
”By the way, how was the meeting with your accountant?” Nikki changed topic and heard somebody laughing out loud in the bar.
Insecure, Patrik moved his eyes here and there, feeling the anger well up within him. He swallowed hard and tried putting on a smile before answering:
”Ah, not quite as I had planned .”
”Really, what happened?” Nikki noticed how uncomfortable he became when she asked but she couldn’t understand why.
”Let’s say he didn’t show me his best side. I kind of didn’t recognize him.” Patrik consciously chose not to tell her about the argument which was still gnawing somewhere in the back of his head. And he also chose to keep quiet about Anna and his illness.
”Maybe he just had a bad day?”
Patrik didn’t hear Nikki since his thoughts were with Anna. Damn it, he thought. I need to know the truth before I leave the island. What if it’s all a fake? I don’t even remember having been with a girl with the surname Fransson and did I really have a daughter when I was 20 years old? He continued thinking of it all, and was frightened.
”Which world are you in right now?”
”Sorry. Are you finished or would you like something else?”
”I wouldn’t mind having dessert in the hotel room”, Nikki said in a seductive way. She wasn’t going to apologise to him for her feelings and there was only a few hours left before she would be left on her own. Patrik paid and at the same time as they were pushing the chairs toward the table Nikki saw a well-known face in the mirror of the bar. She froze, almost screamed and felt as though her entire body was wrapped in a blanket of ice.
”What’s wrong?” Patrik looked around and then looked at Nikki again, who now had a face of stone.
”Hush, you don’t want to know”, Nikki whispered in shock.
Without hesitating she caught Patrik’s arm and literally pushed him out of the restaurant. With an iron grip she got him quickly to the lifts and jumped into the first one where the doors were already wide open. She masked her claustrophobia for a moment but still felt panic rising in her stomach as the lift doors closed. Nikki didn’t know if it was because of the cramped space or the well-known face she’d seen in the bar. The knot in her stomach grew stronger, at the speed of lightning, and she was breathing heavily. All the colour drained from her face and she just wanted to scream.
Thursday June 6th
”Linn, it was bloody Linn at the bar!” Nikki was shouting, hiding her face in her hands. Her words echoed around the mirrored walls of the lift.
”What the hell should we do?” Her wide open eyes were screaming with panic and she was hysterically tugging at Patrik’s shirt.
”Linn? You must have made a mistake, damn it Nikki. Tell me it was a mistake.” Patrik heard himself sounding hysterical and tried to calm down. ”Listen, you can’t have seen Linn….” He held Nikki’s face and looked into her eyes which were filled with fear.
”Damn it, can’t you hear me? It was your wife standing at the bar.”
Nikki could see her relationship with her childhood friend falling apart and ending for good. She tugged off her shoes and held them desperately in her shaking hand when the lift doors were opened. They ran as fast as they could to the hotel suite and quickly locked the door with the key-card. Nikki put on the safety chain and carefully locked it before neurotically beginning to pace to and fro in the living room.
”What the hell is she doing here? In Cyprus?” Patrik was breathless as he asked the questions while going to the mini-bar. Upset, he poured the content of one of the miniature bottles into the glass standing nearby and took a good swig of the whiskey. The brown liquid burned hot in his body and soul. ”Are you really sure, Nikki?” Patrik felt the panic spreading like an evil virus through his body.
Nikki collapsed crying on the big pastel coloured sofa cushions. The feelings of guilt were welling over her like big, angry waves. Her brain was working overtime. What the hell was Linn doing in Cyprus? Why hadn’t she told Patrik that she was flying down to the island? Did she know about their relationship? With eyes full of tears and a snotty nose she looked up from behind the mint green cushion. Her chin was quivering and she went to the corner of the sofa.
”Damn it. Hell hell hell. Yes Patrik, I’m completely sure. It was Linn. She knows. She knows about us, she has to. Otherwise she wouldn’t be here at the Grecian Hotel.” Nikki suddenly got up. She grabbed the light pink cushion and threw it as hard as she could straight into the white washed living-room wall. A painting fell down.
Patrik was pacing around the room with his second glass of whiskey. Unconsciously he was putting his cold, sweaty hand through his blond mop of hair whilst trying to think straight. Had he left the hotel confirmation visible in their apartment’s office? Moments later he remembered it was Linn who gave it to him a couple of minutes after he had printed it. Unfortunately she had been using the printer at the same time as him.
”I have to leave, sorry. I can’t possibly stay here.” Nikki manically pulled down all the dresses hanging neatly on velvet hangers in the wardrobe and threw them in her wide open suitcase. The toiletries she collected in no time as well as the beachwear she had used earlier during the day. With an experienced eye she quickly looked around the suite to make sure she had packed everything. She nodded in agreement and quickly closed the black suitcase. Patrik stood watching motionless.
”Nikki, damn it. I had no idea Linn was able to come here on her own. She can bloody well hardly take care of herself and the kids at home.” The children, his thoughts went to Céline and Klas. He nervously wondered who was looking after them. And who had actually taken care of Anna all these years?
”I’m leaving now”, Nikki panted breathlessly. She tiptoed over to kiss Patrik a quick goodbye before closing the door. She hoped that she could leave the hotel before Linn decided to go to his room. Quickly she pulled her heavy suitcase into the lift while she herself ran as fast as she could down the elegant marble staircase, barefoot with her sandals in the hand. A couple of minutes later Nikki was sitting, breathing heavily, in a taxi. The sweat was pouring down her spine and she felt cold and uncomfortable. As usual when stressed she was biting the cuticle of her little finger while the taxi driver asked where she wanted to go.
”Go where-ever you wish, as long as it’s out of here”, Nikki whispered with a hoarse voice. She didn’t know where to go.
Friday June 7th
Drowsily Nikki rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and tried to get her bearings. A little lost she sat up in the large double bed, looking around in the shadowy darkness. Making a face she removed the elastic from her hair and remembered the night before like a shot. Once again the heavy knot of lead came back to her stomach. She looked at her mobile lying on the side-table but there were no new messages. Wonder if Linn found Patrik yesterday? Yes, she must have done that, Nikki thought worriedly and naked got out of bed. Feeling the soft carpet under her feet she went to the large window, opened the white curtains and gazed at the scenic view. The strong sun shone in her eyes and lit up the beautiful room. Outside the window there was already a lot going on. People were having breakfast and some were having a cool swim in the mosaic tiled pool. The hotel’s towels were already placed on the deckchairs on the beach and a couple of white pedal boats could be seen out on the sea.
Even though Nikki had slept the whole night thanks to a sleeping pill, she felt completely exhausted. Paralyzed. Yawning she went into the hot shower and her thoughts returned to Linn. Why? Why was I lured into this bloody mess? My own fault of course. I could have said no. Damn it. How could I be such an idiot to start fucking the husband of my childhood friend? She started sobbing uncontrollably. Salty tears were mixed with the s
hower and she felt several years of guilty feelings leave her knotted stomach. The knot in her stomach shrank a little while she cried but she still felt like the lowest creature on earth as she wrapped herself in the towel.
Nikki put on a bikini with a leopard pattern and felt her stomach churning worriedly. She checked the time and could see there were three hours left of the regular fast which had become everyday life for her since watching a program on TV last winter. She found a few tea-bags in her suitcase, chose a spicy tea with chocolate flavour and switched on the electric kettle. Her mobile whistled and Nikki froze. The message wasn’t from Patrik but from her son Axel who wondered if she was awake. You’re so sweet, she thought while scrolling down her contact list until she saw his name.
”Good morning, how are you?”
”Fine, finally it’s the weekend. What about yourself?”
”Well, I’m quite fine.” Nikki realized she wasn’t lying. She smiled and continued.” I was just going to have a cup of tea and then I’ll relax on the beach, reading a little.” She didn’t feel she had to update her son on what she had escaped from the night before in another hotel in another town. In addition, Axel thought she was in Mallorca. Nikki hadn’t wanted to reveal she was in Cyprus in case Linn decided to call their house. ”What’s on the program today?”
”Me and AT are going to find out if we can go to Australia to work. My old class-mate, you remember Lina, she went down to Melbourne. Now she has a myriad of friends and a really good job. Mum, we’re talking about a lot of money.”
”You’re too sweet”, Nikki laughed. ”It’s good you have some plans for the future. If you think Australia sounds good, go for it. Little Sweden will still be around if you get home-sick. Surf around a bit on travel blogs, there’s a lot of information there.”
”I’ve already been surfing around quite a bit. You know, Lina says they are paid the same salaries as in Norway. Do you get it?”
Blue Blue Eyes: Crime Novel Page 5