The relief hit him like a freight train, and he let out anoofsound of release.Thank the Lord.Taking Aurora into his arms, he hugged her hard.“Jesus Christ, Aurora, that’s the best news.”But then reality hit him.“Where is he?Can we go and see him?”
“Yes, he’s in hospital.That was Tuckburg.He discovered your brother and the man who took him about an hour ago.The kidnapper is also in hospital.Tuckburg shot him.Those are all the details I have for now; we’ll find out more when we get there,” she said, the look on her face telling him not to ask silly questions that she had no answer for right now.
Okay, that was a lot of information to take in.But he was already clambering out of bed, eager to get going.
“Except for one more thing, Jiro.”Her serious tone stopped him with one leg half-way out of the bed.“Taro has been tortured, and it’s not a pretty sight.”
“Shit,” he breathed, the news bringing him back down to earth with a bang.“But he’s going to recover.He’s not going to die, is he?”
“No, I believe most of the wounds are superficial, aimed at causing the most pain, but not necessarily life threatening.”
“Right.”Jiro dragged in a deep breath.“I guess the quicker we get there, the quicker we find out how he is.”
“Yep.”But Aurora seemed to hesitate, not clambering out of bed in a hurry as he had done.Instead, sitting propped up against her pillows, staring at him with those big brown eyes.It wasn’t until later that Jiro figured out the cause of her hesitation; this was the last time it would be just the two of them together.She’d worked it out already, but he hadn’t yet.She was despondent because she knew she was probably going to lose him, and he was acting like a complete imbecile, only thinking about one thing—his brother.He wished he hadn’t been in such a rush, had taken the time to thank her for the night they’d spent together.
Instead, he’d asked, “Are you coming?”as he searched the floor for his clothes.
“Yes, yes,” she sighed, moving more slowly than he’d hoped.But by the time he was fully dressed, she’d picked up speed and was pulling on the shirt of her police uniform and doing up the buttons; she was going to be an official cop today.
“I need to grab something to eat quickly,” she said, leading him out of the bedroom.He was starving as well, and welcomed the hunk of dark rye bread and slice of cheese she pushed into his hand.The last thing they’d eaten was a couple of sandwiches and some hot coffee back at the cabin while they’d been waiting for Dalström to finish his inspection.
Then they were in the car and driving to the hospital, a route that was becoming familiar to Jiro now.Jiro had to hand in his phone to the inspector as it was now considered evidence, so he had no means of communication.The plan had been to get a new phone this morning, but that would have to wait.
“Have you had any messages about your father?”he asked through her mouthful of bread.
“No.And nothing about yours either.”She’d given her phone number to the nurse as a contact if anything changed about Kenichi.
That was not good.It was now coming up to three days that his father had been in a coma.The doctor said the longer he stayed unconscious, the worse the potential prognosis.Karl was also in a coma, but it was an induced coma so they could monitor his fractured hip and worrying concussion.Jiro wondered absently whose father would wake up first.It was a touch ironic that both of their paternal parents were in the hospital together, only a few rooms apart.
They made it to the hospital in record time, Aurora not breaking the speed limit, but flying close to the maximum, negotiating the icy roads with skill.She led him into the building, asking at the front desk for Senior Constable Tuckburg, and they were shown down the long corridor and into a private consultation room, where three other officers waited for them.Aurora greeted them all, and then did the introductions for him.
“Senior Constable Andreas Tuckburg, this is Jiro Nashimori.”He shook the man’s hand heartily.He’d never met Tuckburg, but right now he wanted to take him in a huge bear hug and thank him over and over again.He refrained, however.Tuckburg didn’t look like the sort of man who welcomed hugs from strangers.He was about the same height as Jiro, heavyset, but with the once-straw-colored hair—now going gray—and Slavic cheekbones of a Swedish local.Aurora had said he was close to retirement and preferred to spend most of his days behind the desk.But he had done her a special favor by following up on her requests.It seemed like the old guy still had it in him when it was needed.
He’d already met one of the other young constables in the room; Moreau had been at the initial search for his father on the reindeer farm, and so he shook his hand in a warm greeting as well.Lastly, he was introduced toPoliskommissarieRunar Staaf, who was built like a bull, bald, with a thick neck and very large biceps.This case must be bigger than he thought if the commissioner was involved, and judging by Aurora’s face, she hadn’t expected him to be here either.He noted with interest that Dalström was missing.
“I don’t know how to thank you,” Jiro said after all the introductions were made, looking longest at Tuckburg.He was itching to get in and see his brother, but it seemed there was more to be said first.
“We were just doing our jobs,” Tuckberg finally answered with a modest shrug.
“Well, you did a great job,” Jiro confirmed.
“Hmm.”The commissioner made a sound that had all eyes turning to him.“Inspector Viskten will return to Luleå later today.And we will organize a video linkup with Agent Utsi soon after.As long as you are agreeable?”Staaf said, getting straight down to business while peering at Jiro from behind round glasses, which he kept resettling on his nose.
Jiro looked to Aurora for confirmation that this was the FBI contact she’d mentioned.When she nodded, he let out a stream of relieved air.“Of course I am,” he acknowledged.“I hope he can help us.I know Taro is in a lot of trouble, but anything the US government can offer us has to be better than possible death.”Jiro mentally noted that he’d just saidus.Taro was the one in trouble, but Taro was also family, and he would stick by his brother for as long as he could.He’d draw the line at going to jail for him, but he’d do everything in his power to make sure Taro received as much leniency as possible.
“Yes, he’s in a lot of trouble.It seems you have brought a very large problem here with you.We take gun-smuggling very seriously.Even if the crime didn’t originate in our country, we are a global force when it comes to trafficking of weapons or explosives,” Staaf replied gruffly, his tufted eyebrows waggling solemnly.
Jiro wanted to argue that tarring him with the same brush as his brother wasn’t fair, and that he and his father weren’t responsible for any of it, but held his tongue.The commissioner didn’t want to hear it.Instead, he turned to Tuckburg and said, “How did you find my brother?”
Tuckburg gave a wry smile.“It was Constable Karlsson’s suggestion that gave us the clues we needed.”
“Oh?”He turned toward Aurora, but she just shrugged to show she was as much in the dark about how they’d rescued Taro as he was.
“She asked me to follow up with an eyewitness.A staff member at the farm who remembered seeing your father sitting with another man.”
“Yes, that was Tory.We never got around to interviewing her,” Aurora chimed in.
“No.But yesterday morning, I managed to track her down, and she gave me a very good description of the man she had seen.So good, it led us to one of the tourists who was on the same cruise ship as you.”
