Before I opened my mouth to refute what he was suggesting, I gave it some thought.She did ask if she could send the other kids and stay to wait for Jensen.
“Do you think she’d have reason to stay?”
“I do not know her motives or intentions.” Daniel took a long sip from his mug. “But I will tell you that her husband has his hands in all sorts of things that you Americans would find to be…” Daniel looked upward as if he were trying to think of the right word to use. “Atrocious. Shameful. Heinous.”
I narrowed my eyes as I looked at him.
“What do you know, Daniel?”
“I do not know all the specifics… yet.”
“Yet?”
“Yet. I am sure I will soon, because I have a feeling you will want me to look into it. But I do know that a few of the men Sorenson has met with also meet with mafia members in Moscow.”
Daniel looked down at the picture of Jensen again.
“Do you think the nature of Wade Sorenson’s business is related or in connection with the Russian mafia? And what the fuck would the Russian mafia be doing meeting with some fucking whack who lives in rural Sweden?”
“Again, I do not know yet.” He took another sip of coffee and then set the mug down as he leaned forward. “Let me ask you this…” He paused and pointed to my cell phone and the picture of Jensen. “Is there something about this boy you are not telling me?”
“I have no idea what you could be referring to. All I know is that he’s the third Sorenson child and is missing.”
“Could he be worth more?”
Worth more?
I glanced down at the picture of Jensen. He looked like any other moody teenager.
“What are you getting at?”
“Could he have information? Could he have witnessed something? Could the wrong kind of people find value in him?”
Jensen?
“What?”
I was trying to piece together what Daniel wasn’t saying. Was there, or could there be, truth to what Daniel was insinuating?
“Could the mother know of his value? Perhaps that is why she was not keen on leaving.”
“Do you think she wanted to stay back to protect him? To protect him from the wrong people?”
“No. What if she wanted to stay behind to keep him close and then be the one to cash in on him?”
Even without any evidence of truth to what he was saying, I despised Anna even more. I hated her lack of care with Alek, Bowden, and Aurora. Was she really oblivious to what had been going on around her? Or was she actually playing a part in it? I looked down at Jensen’s picture.
“Look, Sawyer, I’m going to level with you. I like you. I like Michael. You guys have always paid me well.” He looked down at my phone and pointed to Jensen. “This boy is not just wanted by you. There is more to him than you think. Others are looking for him.Ihave been looking for him.”
“Who else is looking for him?” I asked. Daniel only stared at me. “Are you going to tell me?”
“Sawyer, please understand that I cannot divulge that information.”
“So let me get this straight. I’m trying to get the little brother away from his horrible father, and you drop a bomb on me that others are looking for him. Including you. Then you won’t even give me so much as a hint of what I’m up against?”
“It is very complex.”
“I promise you that I’m quite bright. Are the people who are looking for him here in Stockholm?”
