“I don’t know.I’m as confused as you are.Look, I’m just about to board the plane,” Jacob said.“I’ll be out of touch for the next ten hours, but you can contact Miller; she’ll answer any questions.We’re throwing all our resources at finding Summer,” he added.“She’ll be okay, I promise.”
Mårten knew the assurance was a hollow one, and so he didn’t reply.
He might not know the exact reasons behind the EIC abduction of Summer, but one thing was for sure.Mårten was heading out to this abandoned farmhouse to find her.And if she was there, he was damn well going to rescue her.The rest could be sorted out later.
* * *
Mårten was pretty sure he was lost.Actually, he knew he was lost.The map app was no longer helpful because this myriad of narrow roads and dirt tracks were not even registering anymore.This was the fourth driveway he’d taken in the past two hours, but he was determined not to give up.He was in the right area; the map told him that much at least.He was close to the lake, but he just couldn’t find the correct house.
A couple of the driveways had led to two occupied farmhouses—the inhabitants of which had come out of their doors to stare at him as he pulled up in the front, wondering who could be calling on them at this late hour.But they’d all shook their heads when he’d asked if they’d noticed any suspicious behavior in the area, and then pointed him further north, confirming the Neilsson place was in that direction, but he wouldn’t find anyone there, the farm had been deserted for many, many years.The third driveway had taken him to a ruined building, and for a second his heart had leaped in expectation.But even from his car, he could see the property was totally empty and falling to pieces.He’d got out of his car and walked the perimeter anyway, just to make sure.But it’d been a dead end.
The light was failing now.It was after ten, and the gray Nordic twilight swathed the sky.Almost exactly six hours since he’d talked to Summer on the phone.A lot could happen in six hours.The most urgent question was, where was Summer now?Was she still wandering around in the dark, lost in the forest?Or did the abrupt end to her phone call mean that she’d been recaptured?Because they were two very different scenarios.And if she had been caught again, had they punished her for her escape attempt?Hurt her?Or even killed her?
No, he refused to let his mind go there and focused all his senses on the road in front.The only lead he had at the moment was the Neilsson house, and that was where he was going.Everything else would hopefully be revealed in time.
He slowed his car as the dirt track turned a corner, becoming even more overgrown the further in he went.Long grass bowed before his front bumper, and shrubs scraped each side of his car.But he could see that a vehicle had been down this lane recently.There were fresh tire tracks in the damp earth, and the grass was bent and broken.He sat up straighter, his senses coming on high alert.
This could be the place.
He decided to continue the rest of the way on foot.If the kidnappers were here, he didn’t want to warn them of his presence with the bright headlights of his car.Finding a small gap in the undergrowth, he parked and got out, closing the door quietly behind him.Then he stood for a few moments, allowing his eyes to adjust to the semi-darkness.
He could just make out a light in the distance through the encroaching wilderness, which was fast taking back the derelict pastures.He stalked closer, eyes straining to make out the building, right hand resting on his gun holster at his hip, his body tense even as he tried to make no sound.The light suddenly disappeared, and Mårten stopped.What did that mean?If it were simply one more farmhouse stuck way out here in the isolated forest, then maybe the owners had just gone to bed.Jacob could be right, and he was on another wild goose chase.But he was here now, and he was determined to check it out, so he kept going.
After five minutes of brisk walking, the track opened up, revealing a large gravel area with the main house nestled at the back and a couple of scattered outbuildings to the rear.Mårten hunkered down behind a copse of small shrubs to survey the scene.
Tall weeds grew up around the building, and all the windows were boarded up.A large red barn stood off to the left, but part of the roof had caved in and one wall leaned precariously inward.It certainly seemed deserted.This could be the farm he’d been looking for.Then he saw it.The rear bumper of a car protruding from behind the dilapidated barn and his heart rate spiked.It was a modern vehicle, bright and shiny.Had he found the place?Was this where they’d been holding Summer?Was she inside?He’d taken two steps forward, fingers flicking open the catch on his holster, before he could stop himself.No.He needed to slow down can make a clinical assessment of what he was seeing.He couldn’t let his emotions—which were screaming at him to charge in and break the door down, guns blazing—take over.This thing had to be done right, or Summer may die.
Mårten went back to kneeling in the dirt, weighing up his options.He should probably do a perimeter search first, check to see if there were any signs of life around the front of the property, as well as other exits.Make sure there was no one guarding the area, including the outbuildings.
But the decision was taken away from him when, suddenly, the rear door of the house swung open and light spilled out.A male figure stepped out carrying a couple of bags and stalked angrily across the gravel to where the car was parked.Could this be Nathan Cole?It was hard to tell in the near-dark.The guy was smallish, almost skinny.Mårten watched as he dumped the bags on the ground and then popped the trunk up.He was muttering to himself.
“Wait, Nathan, can’t we just talk about this?”The plumpish figure of a woman appeared silhouetted in the doorway.That could well be Paige, if Summer’s description was correct.He was on the right track.In the right place.Now he needed to confirm Summer’s whereabouts.
“Please,” Paige added with a pleading whine.
“No,” Nathan shouted over his shoulder, clearly not worried about being overheard by any neighbors or staying quiet.“You heard Tyrone.We need to get out of here.We were compromised whenyoulet her escape.”
They were on the move then.It seemed as if he’d arrived just in time.They must know about the phone call Summer made, and it spooked them, forcing them to leave their hideout.He should call this in.But he was too close; they might overhear him, and he wasn’t backing away.He needed to hear what they had to say.
“Me!That wasn’t my fault,” Paige countered.“You started it.You were the one who decided to call Tyrone and tattle on me.”Paige put her hands on her hips in the age-old action of a woman scorned.The pair were arguing like a married couple, and Mårten turned his thoughts to working out if it was possible to get closer without being seen.He needed to find out if Summer was indeed inside the house.If she’d escaped into the forest, then he would have a decision to make.Stay and try to arrest the abductors, or retreat and try to find her instead.If he ducked back into the scrub, he could circle around behind the barn and come out near where the car was parked.But beating his way through the long grass and bushes was risky because of the noise he might make.
“If you hadn’t been such a goddamn pussy and tied her up like I told you to, none of this would’ve happened,” Nathan shouted back, picking up both bags and jamming them into the trunk.“And if it weren’t for me, she might’ve actually escaped for good.And I made bloody sure that Tyrone knows that as well.He knows what a fuckup you are.”
Mårten stopped his perusal of the area and stared at Nathan’s dark form.The dilute light filtering from the open doorway barely reached him, so it was hard to make out his features.At least Nathan had just answered his question.They had recaptured Summer.Which hopefully meant she was inside the house.
They were still fighting like cat and dog, and so Mårten dived into the long grass, ducking down low and making a beeline for the rear of the barn, attempting to navigate as quietly as possible through the overgrown pastures.
Fuck!He swiped at his face while trying to stay quiet.He’d just walked right through an orb-weaver spiderweb.He tried not to think about whether there’d been an actual spider in the web and kept going.The pair bickering in the background was still audible, a good thing as he hoped it was masking any small noises he made.
But then something Paige said caught his attention.
“You promised you wouldn’t kill her.”
What?That made him stop in his tracks, straining to hear.
“I never promised you any such thing,” Nathan fired back.“I said we needed to keep her as a hostage until Tyrone had completed his mission; that was all.”Mårten’s palms were suddenly damp as a cold sweat broke out between his shoulder blades.Did that mean Nathan meant to kill Summer before they left?Or take her with them and then dump her body in some other secluded spot?Either way, he had to move.Now.He doubled his speed, not bothering about keeping his head low this time as he continued to listen to them argue.
“No, you said we’d let her go.You said we’d let her go unharmed after we finished with her.You can’t just change your mind.”Paige was panicking now, her voice rising almost to a screech.And so was Mårten, the adrenaline spike at the thought he might be too late making it hard to remain still.
