But Swann’s face was a picture of annoyance. If Elea needed proof that he cared, she had it in spades.
“Come on now,” she coaxed. “Finnish women have control of everything. Our bodies, our minds, and our sexuality. It’s not as if we’re together. It’s been five years.” She glanced at the family photo on his desk. “How busy you’ve been. Twins and now marriage on the cards. And you’re pissed at me for having a one-night stand?”
“What you do in your own time is your business,” Swann grumbled. “But not with members of my team.”
“Fine,” Elea agreed. Anything to move things on. “When’s the briefing? I’ve got a kidnapper to bring in.”
Chapter 6
Liisa
Isit stiffly in the back seat of the little yellow car, refusing to bend my knees. “I can’t...” The man grunts. “Help me, Mama, I can’t get her out.”
The woman makes a low growling noise before shoving her son out of the way. The stillness of this place is crushing me and my blood swishes in my ears. I don’t want to leave the car, but the snow isn’t stopping and I’m so cold. There’s a promise of heat as a thin string of smoke rises from the chimney of the log cabin at the end of the cleared path.
“Hei. Listen to me,” the woman snaps. She’s not smiling, but nor does she seem angry. She’s a broad, thickset woman with strong shoulders and stale breath. She leans in close enough for me to see all the tiny broken red veins on her face. “Don’t be scared. We won’t hurt you, as long as you behave. There’s no point in running because we’re miles from civilisation.” She points behind her. “In an hour, that snow will be waist-deep. You’ll die from hypothermia long before you reach the road.” She raises a gloved finger to the weapon in the man’s hand. “Know what this is? It’s a Taser. It can give you a shock strong enough to stop your heart. That’s the last thing either of us wants, isn’t it?”
I nod furiously. She’s lying. It’s not a Taser; it’s a home-made stun gun. I clench my freezing hands into fists. I want to scream that my mother is a detective. That they’d better let me go, or else. Then I hear her voice in the back of my mind.Wait it out, she warns.We’ll find you.The last thing I need is for these creepy people to panic right now.
The woman’s strength frightens me as she scoops me up and out of the car. She lifts me like I’m made of air and talks softly into my ear. “My son just wants to be your friend. It gets lonely out here. He needs someone young to talk to.” But her words make no sense, as he is far from my age. She signals for him to join her as she drops me onto my feet. “Walk. You could do with the exercise.” She looks me up and down. “What has your mother been feeding you?”
My teeth click and chatter as I look up at them both. I’m too scared to stay still and too frightened to move. Will I ever see outside again if I go in? I inhale the forest air as my kidnappers stand on either side of me. They push me towards their cabin. My arms ache from being pulled across my back. A path has been made, but the snow is so deep, and the trees in the distance stretch on for miles. There’s no sign of anyone. No twinkling lights far away, no sound of cars. How much time has passed since I was taken? Where am I? Crumbs of snow work their way into my boots. I can tell, by the man’s heavy breathing, that his heart is beating as hard as mine. He keeps checking behind us, then staring up at the empty sky. Fresh tears brim my eyelids as my feet move, one in front of the other.
The cabin’s getting closer, and it’s giving me the creeps. There’s a window on either side of the front door, but the shutters on one are nailed shut. It’s like the cabin is winking at me, and not in a friendly way. There’s a sudden soft thud of snow falling from trees. Wind burns my cheeks, my damp tights freezing against my skin. Thoughts of my mother are making me cry all over again.
“Stop that!” the man snaps. “This is a happy day. I won’t have you spoiling it.” His nose is red from the cold, and his moustache is coming away. He peels it off completely and shoves it in the pocket of his coat. I notice the scar leading from his lip to his ear and I avert my eyes as he catches my stare. The chill snaps and bites at my skin, and the woman’s warning about hypothermia is in the front of my mind. Last year a hiker froze to death after camping in the Haltiala forest. Mama warned me about the dangers of the cold. I hesitate as we step on the creaky porch. Nails are battered into the wood in such a mishmash way, it feels like it’s going to give. They stamp the snow from their boots before raking them against a thick grate.
I’m pushed roughly forward and instructed to do the same. Panic rises up my throat. The woman opens a screen door before pushing me inside, and the sudden warm air makes my cheeks and the tips of my fingers sting. I’m told to kick off my boots, but I almost lose my balance, as my hands are still bound. The woman exhales a loud huff before roughly yanking off each one. The hall is dark and musty, and I blink when a light is switched on. “Go on, that way.” She pokes me in the back as she pushes me into a big open space. There is a small kitchen at one end, with a thick wooden dining table and chairs. The living-room section is bigger and there’s an open fire at the end. It is filled with mismatched furniture, books and old junk. A layer of dust covers every surface, and a smoky smell rises from the sofa that I am pushed onto. I scoot backwards as she produces a knife, and her son’s weird laughter fills the room. His moods are like a seesaw, and I don’t know how to react.
The woman smacks my legs sharply. “Look at me. I’m going to cut your restraints. You misbehave, you get another smack. You hear me?”
I nod.
“Quit nodding. Speak!” she says sharply. “Say, ‘Yes, Johanna.’”
Johanna. I draw in a cold breath. Is that her real name? Then I remember something my mother told me: it’s bad for the victim if they find out who their kidnappers are. A thought enters my head. “Are you my father?” I look to the man hopefully. It seems a safer option than them being complete strangers.
“No, sweetness.” He removes his glasses, then gives me a creepy smile as he peels off his wig to reveal cropped brown hair beneath. “But you can call me Daddy, if you like.”
The pair of them chuckle like it’s some kind of private joke. Johanna slices the blue binding as if she’s cutting through butter, and I rub my stinging wrists. I should have known he wasn’t my father. There is no way my mother would spend time with someone like him.
“You will call him Mikael,” Johanna squeezes my chin. “And you will be his friend.”
Now he’s staring at me with his cold eyes, and it makes me uncomfortable all over again. I hug myself as the world grows blurry from tears. Everything hurts, I want my mother, and I don’t know what’s going to happen next.
Chapter 7
Elea rolled her eyes as her mobile phone rang in her pocket. After checking she was on the right street, she walked towards the address and answered the call. “Yes?” she said, shouldering her way through a group of Lincoln College students chatting on the pavement.
“Where are you?” Swann’s words were laced with urgency.
“Why? Has a lead come in?” Elea waited for a number-fifty bus to trundle past before crossing onto Monk’s Road.
“Not yet,” Swann replied. “But we’ve a lot to get through.”
“And I’m making headway, but instead of staring at a screen I’m immersing myself in the evidence.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
