“Yes, I can confirm that,” Lars threw in. “In September, Elin and I tried to find out the selling price but without success. We didn’t try all that hard, and there are better sources than the Internet, but still.”
“Right. So maybe the kidnappers got wind of the amount and now believe they could siphon off the money,” Martin mused.
“Do you think they’re unaware of the canceled deal?” Lars asked.
“Either that, or they imagine that Liv can somehow realize the value of the business,” replied Martin
Liv gave him a despairing look. “But how?” she asked.
For a while, there was silence. Finally, Lars asked: “Is selling the company still an option?”
Liv looked off into the distance. “I have no idea. Maybe the buyer has set his sights on something else in the meantime. I can check, though. Do you both think I should?”
Martin nodded. “As far as I can see, that’s your only chance to come up with the ransom amount. And since a draft of the contract already exists and has already been signed, you could finalize the deal pretty quickly.” Finally, a topic he knew well. “You just remove the passage about the objection period, change the signatures and the date, and it’s done.”
Lars agreed. “Yeah, at least ask about it.”
Liv stood and walked to her desk. “All right, then I’ll call the agent right away.”
Martin turned to Lars. “What else was in the email? They said they’re sending a video?”
Lars nodded.
“What do you think it’s about?” Martin asked.
“I’m reasonably sure it will be a video with Saga in it,” Lars replied. “If not, then we should insist on some sign of life, regardless. But let’s wait for the email to arrive!”
Liv was talking on the phone with someone. She had apparently managed to reach the agent. After several more comments, she ended the call.
“The agent will get in touch with the buyer,” she told them. “I made it clear to him that it’s urgent.”
44
Elin was getting bored. Even the office was more exciting. She had driven past the house another two times, but there was nothing happening. The BMW was still parked on the same property, although she could see that from the GPS program on her laptop. She wanted to avoid driving past it too often since that would definitely stand out—assuming the guy was in fact watching Liv’s house and whatever was going on there. Then again, why else would he be sitting in his car for hours end?
Maja had just called. She wanted to know if Elin was interested in seeing a movie that evening.
“I don’t think so, love. I’m on assignment, and it could take a while.”
“What? And you’re telling me this in passing? That’s great!”
“Yeah, I’m seriously happy about it. Lars asked for me again.”
“Your ‘Splosion Man?”
Elin chuckled: “Exactly! Now I’m his sidekick.”
“I had no idea there even was one …”
“There isn’t in the video game, but for Lars, there is.”
“That’s great! Good luck! You’ll tell me all about it tonight, right?”
“Well, yeah, but it might be pretty late.”
“OK, I’ll see you then.”
Elin always felt so good after talking to Maja. She was so supportive of her goals. But right now, Elin wanted to see some action. She called Lars.
“Hey, Elin.”
“Hey, ‘Splosion Man.”
“Elin, chill on that.”
“Yeah, I know, but there’s no one listening, is there? I just wanted to ask you what we’re doing next. There’s nothing going on here. And I can’t just keep trudging around the place.”
“Yeah, hang on a sec! I’m going outside.”
Elin could hear footsteps and then a door.
Lars was back. “OK, now I can talk. So there’s nothing new on your end? What about the car at the neighbor’s?”
“Same as before. Hasn’t budged.”
“OK, then come on over here. We just got an email, and we’re waiting for the second one.”
“Oh? What’s in it?”
“I’ll tell you when you get here.”
“OK, see you soon.”
Elin hung up. This sounded interesting. She put the car in gear and started it. She was itching to learn more but decided to observe the speed limit.
A half hour later, Elin pulled up at Ulldahl Bygg, Liv’s construction company. Lars was standing in the doorway. He had his jacket on and came down the steps. He had apparently been waiting for her, and now he sat down in the front passenger seat and shut the door.
“Do you want me to drive?” Elin asked.
“No, no, you can turn off the engine. I just wanted to give you a quick briefing before we went in.”
Elin turned off the ignition, and the sound of the engine died down. She looked at Lars expectantly.
“Shoot, ‘Splosion Man.”
Lars rolled his eyes. Elin giggled.
“So the first email came in an hour ago. In that one, the kidnappers were demanding 100 million kronor.”
“Holy moly!” Elin’s eyes opened wide.
“Yeah, exactly. We’ve already discussed how Liv could come up with that amount. She doesn’t have much cash—it’s all tied up in houses and businesses. There are partial mortgages on some of the houses, and selling them would take a while. The only viable solution we’ve come up with so far is to sell the construction company, assuming the previous buyer is still interested. We’re looking into that now.”
“OK.”
“A couple of minutes ago, we got the second email with a video attached. It shows Saga with a copy of today’s paper.”
“Did she say anything?”
“Only that she was fine and that she wanted to go home. That upset Liv a fair amount. Martin is doing his best to comfort her. That’s why I wanted to give you a heads-up so that we don’t stir things up again.”
“When do they want the money?”
“Liv is supposed to let them know when she has it all together, and then they want it transferred to their account.”
“That’s odd, isn’t it? Usually, they want cash.”
“Yeah, that’s right. They seem awfully sure of the situation. Although from a purely logistical standpoint, delivering such a large sum in cash could present a real problem. It wouldn’t fit into a suitcase and would also weigh a decent amount.”
“True. Especially if they wanted it in smaller bills.” Elin chuckled. She could just see some guy using a shovel to unload a luggage compartment full of bank notes at the delivery site. “So what do we do now?” she asked.
“We’re waiting to hear from the buyer and also from Carl about his findings. But we should still keep an eye on the BMW near Liv’s house—I mean through the GPS program.”
“Yeah, no problem. Should I do that from here in the car, or are we going inside?”
“We’re going inside. I hope Liv has gotten a hold of herself in the meantime.”
Elin took her bag and laptop and followed Lars inside, past the reception desk, and into the large office. Martin waved at her. Liv was sitting at her desk, staring at the computer screen. Lars motioned to Elin to sit down at the big conference table. She decided to keep her mouth shut for now and immediately opened her laptop and went to the GPS program. The blinking dot was still in the same spot, which in itself seemed suspicious. Who would sit alone in a car for hours on end, and in that area?
Martin came over to the table and whispered to them: “She’s watched that video five times already. But at least she’s not crying anymore. Any news?”
“No,” Lars said. “Now we just have to wait.”
45
The first messages came an hour later. The agent called to say that he had spoken with the buyer, who was interested in finalizing the deal, even on short notice. But now he only wanted to pay 90 million. Liv was already on the phone with her bank to procure the rema
ining 10 million for the ransom.
Lars’s cell phone rang. It was Carl. Lars took his phone and went outside. After a few minutes, he came back in. Liv was still on the phone.
“Any news?” Martin asked Lars.
“Yes, but no progress. I’ll tell you both once Liv is done with her call.”
Martin went to get himself another cup of coffee. In spite of all the excitement, he couldn’t help noticing that he was starting to feel tired. It had been a long night.
Liv had just hung up as Martin reentered the room. Lars and Elin were both sitting in front of the laptop.
“How are things looking?” Martin asked Liv. “Will you be able to get the money?”
“Yes, I can take out additional mortgages on the two houses in Stockholm, so together with the money in my account, it will be enough. I spoke first with my contact at the bank and then with the head of the loan department. He hasn’t yet confirmed it 100 percent, but he was optimistic. In any case, I have to go to the bank to sign the application forms. If I do that today, I can have the money tomorrow, assuming everything goes smoothly.”
“All right, that sounds good! If we can finalize the sale tomorrow, then you may also be able to deliver the money tomorrow.” Martin was trying to cheer Liv up. He turned to Lars. “Lars, you had news?”
“Yes, but nothing that gets us any further—unfortunately. My IT expert Carl called me. Saga’s cell phone was never turned back on, so there’s no way we can get a location. We also can’t trace yesterday’s email. Carl has tried everything, but he’s only been able to get as far as an elite server in the Seychelles. I don’t know how much of this you understand—I can’t say that I fully understand it myself—but that’s apparently a server that … how can I explain this …”
“I can do it.” Elin had a mischievous smile on her face. “An elite server,” she went on, “is a totally anonymous proxy server. A proxy server acts as an intermediary server between the Internet and your own personal network or computer. You can use it to cloak your IP address.”
Liv and Martin appeared to not be completely following her, so Elin expanded on her explanation. “The IP address is the address that identifies your computer and through which you do all your communications. An anonymous proxy server replaces that address so that you can’t be identified, although the server identifies itself as a proxy server. An elite proxy will also make you anonymous, but you would need a specific type of special software to identify it as a proxy.”
“Thanks, Elin. I couldn’t have explained it better myself.”
Elin rolled her eyes.
Lars continued. “Anyway, Carl has this special software and was able to identify the server as an elite server. But that’s where it stops. The only way we could get any further is by getting the server operator to release both the communications and the IP addresses. Of course, you can forget about that for the Seychelles, which means that we won’t get any further with this. Elin also sent Carl the headers for both new emails, but I’m not too hopeful that tracking them will reveal anything new.” He looked at Elin. “What else have we got? Oh, yeah, the BMW in front of your neighbor’s house is still parked in the same spot. So unfortunately, there are no further clues for us to pursue.”
“I’ll pay. I’ve already confirmed with the buyer of my company, and he’s ready to sign the contract tomorrow. The sooner I pay, the sooner I’ll have Saga back. Anything else will jeopardize that.” Liv placed her hands firmly on the table.
The room was silent for a moment. Then Martin turned to Lars with a worried look.
“Are we doing everything right here? Will they actually free Saga once Liv has paid this enormous sum?”
Lars grew very serious. “There’s no way we can know for sure, Martin. There are unfortunately no guarantees. But I’m encouraged by the fact that, so far, everything has been done very professionally. The kidnappers haven’t let their guard down at any point, either in their communications or with the actual kidnapping. That gives me hope that they’ll also behave professionally when it comes to keeping their word.”
Once again, there was silence. Then Lars said: “Liv, earlier, we talked about Saga’s friends. Shouldn’t we at least call them to see if they’ve noticed anything?”
Liv furrowed her brow. “I still have to go to the bank. I don’t want to do that too late. Otherwise, the loan may not go through until tomorrow.”
“Yes, I understand, although it wouldn’t take long to talk to Saga’s friends, and you could head out right after that. I also suggest that one of us drive you to the bank.”
“All right, then let’s try it!” And Liv immediately reached for the phone.
46
Martin was steering the car through the intersection on the way to Liv’s house. Liv was sitting in the passenger seat beside him, slumped down and totally exhausted. Who could blame her? It had been a nerve-racking day. The phone calls with Saga’s friends had yielded little. Only one of the girls had seen Saga being approached by a man during the break in the schoolyard. Saga had vanished with him into the school building and had not shown up for her next class after that. The girl could give no further description of the man except that he was wearing a long coat and a hat.
After the phone calls, Martin drove Liv to the bank. Elin had driven ahead of them and shown Martin the way. Now she was ahead of him again.
At the bank, everything went smoothly. Liv had signed the mortgage agreements, and the money was expected to be in her account by the next day. The sale of the company would also take place the next day at 11 a.m., and by then, the notary would have made the relevant amendments to the text. In other words, everything would be ready.
In spite of that, Martin still felt anxious. Would the ransom payment get Saga back? And then there was that huge sum. He himself had never possessed even remotely that much money—he hadn’t even paid off his condo yet. That was why he had trouble thinking on that scale. Liv seemed to have no doubts. She would do everything in her power to get Saga back. Nothing else mattered. And the consequence would be that she would lose the company, after all.
Elin pulled off to the right. They had agreed beforehand that she would not be accompanying them all the way to the house, and from here it was easy to find. Martin drove past her and waved. She waved back energetically and grinned. It was nice having Elin on board. She never seemed to lose her good mood. Then again, she wasn’t directly affected. Still, her good cheer was something they all could certainly use.
Martin didn’t know what they would do between now and the morning. He hoped that Liv would be able to calm down and get some sleep. Then he would also have a chance to lie down for a while.
Liv’s new cell phone rang with its old-fashioned ringtone. Lars had given the phone to Liv and Martin so that they could communicate with him by some other means than Liv’s number. Liv picked up. Lars wanted to find out how things had gone at the bank. After a few comments, Liv hung up again.
“Lars says hello. He thinks I should take a sleeping pill so that I’m in good shape tomorrow. Might be a good idea.”
“Yes, do you have any here?”
“I think so. There was a period last year when Thomas was having a hard time sleeping. There are probably still some left in the box.”
Liv thought back to that time. Back then, the world was still in order—at least, compared to now. Thomas was alive, and Saga was at home. They hadn’t had any major arguments yet, although Thomas had become more distant. Liv never did find out why he had so much trouble sleeping. Something was troubling him, but he insisted that it was nothing. Was that when their problems had begun? She didn’t know. She wondered whether her life would ever be normal again. She tried to beat back the tears—self-pity just wasn’t appropriate right now. Her sole purpose was to rescue Saga. After that, everything else would sort itself out.
Liv looked over at Martin, who was concentrating on driving. She was glad he was there. And he had been right about bringing in a p
rivate detective. Discussing the whole matter with other people had been good. They were all so capable, too. Liv couldn’t imagine how she would have handled that day by herself. She reached over and placed her hand on Martin’s. He turned his hand over and squeezed hers. He smiled at her. It felt good to be by his side.
47
Elin was staring at the screen. The red dot was moving. She immediately called Lars.
“The BMW is leaving.”
“OK, in which direction?”
“He should be passing you soon.”
Lars was sitting in a roadside parking spot on the other side of the school. “OK, just as we discussed, you tell me where he’s driving, and I’ll tag along behind him.”
Lars’s car also had a GPS tracker, which showed as a green dot on Elin’s map. The red dot was passing it right at that time. If Elin did a good job guiding Lars, he wouldn’t need to drive too closely behind the other car and could still follow it without attracting attention.
Elin kept Lars informed as to how the BMW was moving on the map. First, it went to Mörby Centrum. From there, it proceeded onto the freeway to Stockholm and turned onto Route E18 heading west. Then it went under the E4 bypass. For a little while, Elin questioned whether the BMW would be turning onto the ramp, but it soon became clear that the car was staying on the E18. It kept driving straight until County Road 279, where it turned left into the Bromsten district. The car then stopped midway on Duvbovägen. Elin let Lars know.
“OK, I’m driving past it now,” Lars told her. “Yeah, I see the BMW, and the driver is getting out of the car. Wait, I need to find a parking spot.”
Elin heard the car sounds in the background. Finally, Lars came on again.
“So I’m parked on a side street. The driver is crossing the street as we speak. He’s going to No. 122a. There’s a pub on the ground floor of the building, and he’s now in the entryway to the apartments and is plugging in a door code.”
In most multi-family dwellings in Sweden, the main entrance door was always locked but could be accessed through a four-digit code. This code was known to all residents and naturally also to the mailman and the building management. Normally, there was no doorbell for the individual apartments. Visitors would either receive a code in advance, or they would need to use their cell phone to call the apartment once they were down at the main door. The resident could then press a button inside the apartment to let them in.
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