CHAPTER ONE
AURORA SIGHED AND rubbed a hand across her eyes, then peered at the clock on the wall.Still another four hours left on her shift.She hated manning the front desk.It was a thankless task, filled with endless report-writing, fielding numerous phone calls fromconcernedcitizens about the dog that’d been barking for hours next door, or the teenager on the e-scooter riding without a helmet on the footpath right past their house, while also taking down a multitude of details from people who walked in off the street to report a lost phone or a stolen bicycle.But as the newest rookie in the Luleå police department, she didn’t get a lot of say in where she worked.Her only consolation was that Mårten, her older and supposedly wiser partner, was also taking the day to complete reams of paperwork under the chief’s orders.
She really shouldn’t grumble; the past six months had flown by, and now her probation was finally over, and as of two weeks ago, she was considered a fully fledged constable.Mårten had helped her get through it all, giving her a stellar evaluation report, and she was eternally grateful for his knowledge and calm presence.She knew some people in the force considered her a little too intense, a little too much of a perfectionist, and Mårten had helped her smooth out some of her“sharp edges”as he called them, and help her become more adept at taking things in her stride instead of freaking out at every little thing she couldn’t control.
Aurora dipped her head and stared at the document on the computer screen; an incident report form collating all the stolen cars in the area over the past month.Thrilling stuff.God, she hated paperwork.No one warned her there would be this much paperwork when she’d first signed on to the police cadet school.If they had, well maybe she would’ve… Nah.She gave a quiet laugh, because she knew she wouldn’t have listened if they had.She’d been all starry-eyed and so full of earnest excitement at how she was going to make a difference in this world that she would’ve waved any warnings away as a mere trifle.Paperwork, smakerwork, that’s what she would’ve said; a nuisance, yes, but an essential part of policing.Now, she wasn’t so sure.She wanted to be out there doing real policing.Maintaining law and order, solving crimes, guarding public safety, and all the other things it said on the police mission statement that she’d learned so early on by heart.
She tapped her finger restlessly on the desktop.If only she could be tracking down one of these stolen cars instead of listing their details on yet another interminable form.Her mind refused to focus on the screen, and she sighed heavily.She was so tired she could lay her head down right here on the desk, close her eyes and—
“Hi, Aurora.”She heard a door closing behind her, but didn’t need to turn around to know who was speaking.Her shoulders tensed as he came to stand at her elbow.
“Hi, Erik.”She pretended to be typing on her keyboard, not lifting her gaze to look at him.There was a moment of awkward silence as he continued to stand next to her.“What can I do for you?”she asked politely, disguising a sigh under her breath.He was staring at her, she just knew it, and Aurora wasn’t really in the mood for Erik this afternoon.He was one of the two IT specialists in the building and was harmless enough.Tall, blond, with strong Nordic cheekbones and bright blue eyes behind his frameless glasses.Erik had a crush on her; it was written all over his face every time he looked at her.It was in the way he fawned over her, bringing her coffee first thing in the morning, or walking casually past her desk at least ten times a day when he clearly had no reason to be there.It was kind of cute, but also kind of annoying.
“Oh, yes.”Erik seemed to shake himself out of his reverie.“Inspector Tuckburg asked if I could look into a job for him.He wants me to upload a file to the system, but it seems the video evidence of that gas station robbery he needs isn’t listed.”Erik shoved a stack of papers in front of Aurora.“You and Mårten supposedly logged the USB stick with the footage last week, so I was wondering if you know where it got to?”Aurora met his gaze at last and she studied him from below lowered lashes, her mouth forming a thoughtful pout as she considered his request.
Inspector Tuckburg was close to retiring, and while Mårten said he’d been a good cop back in his day, he was now spending more time in the office,putting his skills to other uses, as he put it.Tuckburg was great at doing the deep dive research, all that background checking that other cops detested.He could spend endless hours reviewing CCTV footage to track down an assailant, and had been known to spend days sorting through phone records to find a single incriminating text that helped to nail a criminal for fencing stolen goods.
Aurora knew Erik’s errand could’ve waited until she was back at her desk.They’d caught the guy who’d committed the robbery at the gas station weeks ago, and Tuckburg was just crossing the t’s and dotting the i’s to make sure they had an airtight case when it finally went to court.It was nothing urgent, and she had to tamp down a surge of irritation.She wished that Erik wasn’t so…transparent.Not that she wanted someone to play hard to get, not at all.But did he have to be so obliging?So gullible?
A reflexive stab of chagrin hit her in the gut.Back when she’d first started working here, she’d been the one to have a crush on someone.On Mårten.Now she looked back at that time and knew her feelings had been more to do with her insecurity at being the brand-new rookie trying to impress.He’d been assigned as her partner, and he was an absolute dish, with all that silver-flecked dark hair and the lightest blue eyes she’d ever seen—even if he was a bit older than her.She’d been drawn to his solid, rock-steady character; someone who was also a good man, a kind man, one with honor who wasn’t afraid to uphold the law.She learned a lot from him in those first few months and felt as if they’d become very close.
But then Summer had come onto the scene, and it was clear that Mårten had fallen hard and fast for her, even while he was helping to protect her from a crazed man intent on kidnapping her.And Aurora had got over her crush in a hurry; she wasn’t one to lust after another woman’s man.Now, Aurora counted Summer as one of her best friends.The two of them had so much in common.
She refocused on Erik, who was still waiting for an answer.
“Can I look at it later?”she asked.“I’ve got a pile of stuff to get through here.”She waved a hand in the direction of her computer.She was pretty sure she’d registered the USB stick correctly, but perhaps she’d punched the wrong storage number into the system.“I’ll go down to evidence tomorrow when I’m not on front desk and sort it out,” she finished, giving Erik a quick—hopefully mollifying—smile, before turning away.
“Oh, okay, that’d be great.”He was still standing there, and she silently wished he’d leave.But she knew what was coming next before he even opened his mouth.
“Oh, and, Aurora...”
Her shoulders hunched upward as her fingers thumped the keys a little harder on the keyboard.
“Have you had time to consider my request yet?You know, for dinner?With me?”
“Umm,” Aurora scowled at her screen before swiveling in her chair to face him.This was the second time Erik had asked her out, and she still didn’t have a definitive answer for him.Yes, Erik was good-looking, in that clean-cut, athletic sort of way.So maybe she should consider him.Maybe she was being too picky.Being uncharitable by hesitating.She’d dated his type before, back when she’d worked at the homeless shelter in Gothenburg.He was a safe bet, and with Christmas only two weeks away, it might be nice to have someone special to take her out on a few dates.She stared at him, hoping to feel some kind of spark, something that made her heart flutter.Damn it, why didn’t her heart flutter?
The main front door flew open, admitting a blast of arctic air and saving her from her predicament.A man with desperation written all over his face ran up to the counter.Panting heavily, he took a few seconds to gain enough breath to be able to speak.
“I need help,” he huffed.
“Yes, sir.Calm down.That’s what I’m here for.Can you explain what the problem is?”Aurora used her most soothing voice; she’d become used to fielding questions from near-hysterical civilians, and found the best way to treat them was with cool composure.Usually, there was an easy solution.Something about this guy had her adrenaline spiking, however.He wasn’t kidding around; he was truly scared, she could see it in his eyes.He spoke English with an American accent, clearly not a local then.
“My father is missing.He’s out there in the snow somewhere.I need help finding him.Quickly.”He tugged off his black beanie and ran an agitated hand through his hair.
“Okay.Can you tell me where he went missing?And how long ago?”Aurora began typing, even as she asked more questions, logging a new case and entering the details as he answered.
“We were on some Lapland tour thing.We came in on the cruise ship last night, and this was one of those extracurricular day trip things.”The man waved a hand in the direction of the harbor.“Oh, God.”He bent down and leaned his hands on his knees, sucking in more air.“It’s all my fault.I should’ve stayed at the lodge with him and drunk akvavit, and not gone out to do that stupid ice plunge.I should’ve listened to my gut and not to that idiotic tour guide, who told me my father was on the second bus and not to worry.”
The guy sounded legit.And if it was true, then something needed to be done sooner rather than later.An old man lost in the freezing Norrbotten County wilderness wouldn’t last long.
“You need to stay calm, sir,” she said, peering over the edge of the desk at the top of his head.A head full of thick, dark, wavy hair that curled enticingly over his forehead as he leaned down.
“I’m trying,” he replied, but it was obvious he was struggling to breathe.He was going to hyperventilate if he wasn’t careful.And that was the last thing she needed—a civilian passed out on her reception floor.
With what seemed like herculean effort, the man regained control and straightened up slowly, fixing her with eyes as dark as the bottomless ocean.Wow.A girl could drown in those eyes.
She was suddenly aware that Erik still hovered at her elbow.“Erik, could you ask Inspector Viskten to attend the front desk, please?”This case might need more than her rudimentary expertise, and Mårten had good knowledge of the local area, including all the tourist traps and activity centers.
