Maria called after Elea as she left, her words fractured with worry. They rang in Elea’s ears as she watched the tracker on the mobile phone. “Find him,”she cried. “Bring my boy back home.”
Elea had no choice but to divert to the police station. She had made the decision to go alone, but she certainly wasn’t going unarmed. Anu’s location was static. He had no knowledge of the tracker, and it didn’t look as if he was going anywhere. Anu had run for a reason. He had something to hide. Elea prayed that she was wrong. She hated the ugly thoughts rising in her mind. The other Ice Angel might not be so angelic after all.
Chapter 57
Liisa
Johanna’s body was removed from the cabin. She was sick, so I guessed no questions had been asked by the authorities. Mikael sorted everything out. I spent a lot of time in my room. Mikael had cooked me a meal, but I was so woozy afterwards that I slept for a whole day. When I woke up there was dirt in my hair. I think he drugged my food and put me in the hole. I was glad I didn’t remember it. Glad that Johanna was gone. I didn’t think of home, because it wasn’t there anymore. Mikael never missed a chance to remind me that Mother had moved on. But I still yearned to be free. Free to study. Free to go to the shops. Free to choose my own clothes. Because there was nothing here for me. Nothing until, one day, Mikael told me that he had a surprise. He must have felt my uneasiness, now that Johanna was gone. “Tomorrow,” he said. “Sleep well. Because tomorrow will be a happy day.”
But I couldn’t sleep that night. Because Mikael’s idea of a “happy day” was not the same as mine. I thought through my options. Mikael was quietly cheerful now that Johanna was gone, but I didn’t know how he would react if I tried to run. Where would I go? It wasn’t as if anyone was looking for me. I ached to see my mother, wherever she was. I hadn’t given up on her yet.
Now it’s morning and I wish Mama was here to tell me what to do. I get dressed early so that Mikael won’t get to watch. I feel even less safe, now Johanna isn’t here to set down the rules. The cabin feels so weird without her. I expect her heavy footsteps to come thumping down the hall. To hear the drilling sound of her sewing machine at night. Mikael will need to leave me alone at some point, to get supplies from the shops. Milk, bread, butter, toilet rolls—we are low on everything. Maybe he will take me with him. Maybe that is my surprise. The thought of seeing other people lifts my spirits.
Mikael is smiling as he opens the door. “Come,” he gestures. He is dressed for outside.
“Are we going shopping?” I follow him out and pull on my boots.
“Better than that.” He hands me Johanna’s old gloves and thick knitted scarf. The smell of fish rises from the woolly material, bringing Johanna back into the room. I shudder as her memory wraps itself around me. Mikael stops at the cabin door. “Don’t run. You’ll be sorry if you do.” He stares, his blue eyes boring into me. “Really sorry.”
But I can’t see his stun gun. There is nothing but hope on his face. Hope that I’ll see this out with him, whateverthisis. I wonder if he misses Johanna or if he’s glad she is gone. I nod and take his hand. It doesn’t creep me out so much these days because I’m used to it now. He takes something from his pocket. It is a small brown pouch. His lips creep up in a smile as we trudge through the snow. The cold air feels like a blessing on my skin. And the sun is weak but wonderful. I blink, inhaling every precious second of the outdoors. In the distance a bird calls.
We turn a corner to the back of the house. There’s a building that I’ve never seen before. I hear movement in the snow. I see the hay first and almost lose my breath as a horse comes into view. I blink again. It’s still there. It whickers at the sight of us. This beautiful creature with a thick chestnut coat and gold mane. Mikael lets go of my hand and gives me the bag. “Sugar lumps,” he simply says, the smile on his face wide. “For Kukka.” The name means “flower,” but she is much more than that. It’s as if she stepped straight out of the pictures I used to draw. She is everything in this moment, and tears rush to my eyes.
“Kukka.” I breathe the name, too scared to ask the question,Who owns her? Is she mine?
“Go on, say hello to your horse.” Mikael nudges me forward as Kukka approaches the fence. Not a sharp punch to the back, like Johanna. She would never have allowed this.
I slip off one of my gloves and place a sugar lump in my palm. Kukka blows out from her nose, wanting to say hello, too. I blow towards her nostrils. Feel the blissful sense of her muzzle against my palm. Laugh at the tickle of her whiskers on my skin. “They’re called vibrissae,” I say, demonstrating my knowledge of my most favourite creature in the world. “Their whiskers help their senses. You must never trim them.” I’ve forgotten what it’s like to be this happy. It’s a warm, comforting feeling as a little part of my old self returns.
Kukka is impatient and hungry for more. I look at the water trough, hooked up to electricity so that it will never freeze. Then I notice that the stable has two sections. One for shelter, one for straw.
I have to ask, because I can’t bear it anymore. “Is she...is she really mine?” I swallow. Wait the agonising moments for his response. She is so beautiful; I can hardly bear it.
Mikael leans towards me, the familiar smell of liquorice on his breath. “She’s yours if you behave.” His voice drops to a menacing calm. “But if you don’t...” His face hardens, shadows darkening his expression. “I’ll put a bullet in her head.” He points a finger at her temple, mimicking the pull of a trigger with a sharp clicking sound. He blows out his cheeks, the sound of imaginary gunshot cutting through the air. “Ride her in the paddock, but not a step beyond.”
Then I understand. Johanna isn’t here to watch me anymore. But Kukka is enough to make sure that I never put a foot wrong. I know he is capable of doing it. Because when Mikael gets angry, he is not in control. Johanna did not die on her own.
“Thank you,” I say, before wrapping my hands around the base of Kukka’s neck and burying my head in her mane. I breathe in the scent of her and bask in the heavy weight of her chin on my shoulder. The moment is bittersweet. I know that I will never leave. At least not without my horse. She might be my only chance of escape.
Chapter 58
Swann pushed his phone against his ear, side-eyeing the toddler who was making a fuss. He gave her mother an empathetic nod, but hoped that the child who was kicking her would not be seated next to him on the flight. He knew he was micromanaging Mitch, but he couldn’t afford to take his foot off the pedal when it came to the case. He asked Mitch about timelines and the coroner’s early reports. They stated that Chelsea’s cause of death appeared to be an overdose of sedatives—the same way in which Jenny Flynn had died. Mitch talked about the fingerprints that had been recovered, but not yet identified. About the images of a man obtained from nearby CCTV, which matched the description of the male that Sophie, their only living witness, had described. He talked about the landlord who said the man spoke with a “foreign” accent, but had never met him in the flesh. Then Mitch told him about the breakthrough involving the human-trafficking ring, which would be hitting the news soon. And then he said exactly what Swann had been waiting to hear. “Sienna Thompson is talking. Your plan worked.”
Swann hadn’t forgotten about Sienna Thompson. He’d been dealing with her in the background. Just because he wouldn’t allow her to sell them her precious information didn’t mean that he had given up. Sienna had wanted to get away—at any cost. Which is why he and his superintendent had worked something out. Witness protection gave Sienna the new start she was desperate for. Her parting gift was her selling out the gang that had terrorised her and Ant. Ant wasn’t the angel she professed him to be, but he had lost his future wife and child. For Swann, that was punishment in itself. Sienna wasn’t stupid. She’d kept enough evidence to send the gang down. Ring-camera footage, photos, plans, iPhone recordings. All insurance in case one day the police came knocking for her. But nothing bad involving Ant. Nothing at all, apart from documented threats to his life.
“She’s given them all up.” The relief carried on Mitch’s voice. “You’ll get a commendation for this.”
“What about Chelsea? And Liisa? Or Sophie, for that matter? Have the gang anything to do with any of our girls?” The girls mattered more to Swann than any commendation. He rose from his seat, keeping an eye on his boarding time, wishing that Elea hadn’t taken off.
“Phil Hobbs lied through his teeth. It was his idea to sell Chelsea to pay off his drug debt.”
“Fuck!” Swann said, receiving a dirty look from the woman with the child. He delivered an apologetic smile before sidling away from them both.
“Sienna has a recording of one of his phone calls with Ant. We’ve got him banged to rights,” Mitch continued.
“So Ant and his cronies took Chelsea?” Swann frowned.
“No, according to Sienna, they weren’t interested. Chelsea’s disappearance had nothing to do with them.”
