In Bad Company (Sandhamn Murders)

by Viveca Sten

  “Call an ambulance and the police!” Thomas yelled to the onlookers as he began to run.

  CHAPTER 116

  Nora stopped behind a thick tree trunk around fifty yards from the white gate leading into Freya’s Haven. “That’s it,” she whispered, pointing to a large wooden house surrounded by several small cottages. Everything looked peaceful. There were no lights showing in most of the rooms. Thomas narrowed his eyes, trying to spot anyone moving around inside.

  “Stay here,” he said to Nora as he drew his gun.

  “Be careful!”

  Thomas was well aware that Kovač was dangerous. He was certainly armed with a sharp knife, at least; presumably he was carrying a gun as well.

  Dino Herco had been shot dead.

  Nora grabbed his arm. “It’s too risky to go in on your own—can’t you wait for backup?”

  There was no time, and they both knew it, given Mina’s situation.

  “Please?”

  Thomas gently loosened Nora’s grip. “Call Leila again and find out what’s happening,” he said. He climbed over the low fence, then crept across the damp ground hidden by the lilac hedge that ran along one side of the lawn, its bare branches outlined starkly against the gray sky. The hedge was sparse, but he crouched down and hoped he would blend in with the darkness.

  Was Kovač in there? Had he gotten hold of Mina?

  He couldn’t hear a sound—did that mean Kovač hadn’t arrived yet? Or was it all over?

  He avoided the gravel paths and stuck close to the wall until he reached the front door. He pushed down the handle, hoping that the door was locked and that Kovač hadn’t been able to get in.

  It opened smoothly into a dark hallway.

  Thomas held the gun in front of him as he turned his head from side to side, scanning his surroundings with jerky movements. A sudden glint in the corner of his eye made him jump, but it was only his reflection.

  He could hear his own breathing, and the hum of a refrigerator somewhere nearby—nothing else.

  He moved on slowly, every muscle tensed and ready for action. The kitchen was empty, as was the next room, which must be the office. There was a computer in one corner, and a phone charging on the desk.

  Something broke the silence and Thomas stopped.

  A baby crying.

  He followed the noise along a corridor. He turned a corner and saw light seeping out of a half-open door. He edged closer; a woman was sitting in an armchair, about to feed a baby with a bottle.

  It had to be Mina.

  At that moment she became aware of Thomas outside the door. She dropped the bottle and clutched the baby to her breast.

  Thomas put a finger to his lips and mouthed “Police” to reassure her. He stepped into the room and closed the door. “Is your husband here?” he whispered.

  Mina’s hand flew to her mouth. “Andreis? Is he on the island?”

  “You haven’t seen him today?”

  She shook her head.

  “Come with me.” He took her hand and pulled her to her feet. “Is there anywhere in the house where you can lock yourself in?”

  “No. Yes—the bathroom.”

  “Go and lock yourself and the baby in there. Don’t open the door until you hear my voice—promise.”

  Thomas waited until he heard the key turn, then he continued searching the house. When he’d gone through the ground floor, he crept over to the stairs, but paused on the first step. The upper floor was in darkness; it was impossible to see anything. If Kovač was waiting up there with a gun, Thomas would be an open target.

  But if he switched on the light, Kovač would know that someone was coming, and that would give him the chance to get away.

  Thomas hesitated, then released the safety catch and continued up the stairs.

  Bosnia, May 1993

  Dario was driving. Blanka was in the passenger seat with Nermin, their five-year-old son, on her lap. Selma, Zlatko, and the children were jammed together in the back.

  Selma gradually began to grasp the extent of the tragedy as they passed one burned-out village after another. The fields that should have been turning green at this time of year were blackened and ravaged by shell blasts. The fruit trees were nothing but charred stumps, and there was no sign of the cattle that would normally be grazing peacefully in the pastures.

  Dead bodies rotted in water-filled ditches.

  Bearded soldiers in mud-stained uniforms trudged along the ruined roads. Every time Dario had to bribe his way through yet another roadblock, Selma was filled with terror.

  They drove past columns of people with empty eyes walking in the same direction as they were traveling, carrying bundles of their possessions on their backs. Men with gray, haggard faces, mothers with babies in their arms. Someone was pushing a sick person on a two-wheeled cart, while others carried the elderly wrapped in blankets.

  Every step was laborious, as if it were their last in this life.

  The first time Selma saw a corpse, she was horrified and tried to stop Andreis from looking. After a while she learned to turn her head away, and in the end she didn’t even notice anymore. Fear already had her in its grip; she couldn’t feel any worse.

  The boys stayed astonishingly calm.

  Time passed. Selma didn’t have a watch, but it was beginning to get dark. They’d been on the road all day; soon they would reach the border.

  Both Andreis and Emir had fallen asleep from sheer exhaustion. Selma’s legs ached from sitting in the same position for hours—the back seat was hot and cramped. She needed to pee, but knew that stopping the car was out of the question.

  The sun was setting when they reached the last roadblock before the border. Several military vehicles barred their way. Four soldiers with machine guns were monitoring the single-track passage, which was lined with thick rolls of barbed wire. Each had a knife dangling from his belt.

  They appeared to be drunk; one staggered sideways and fired his gun straight up into the air, laughing out loud.

  Selma had never been so terrified.

  Dario slowed behind a blue Volkswagen and stopped the car.

  CHAPTER 117

  Thomas made his way up the creaking wooden staircase as quietly as he could; every step sounded like a gunshot. He stopped when he reached the top and tried to orient himself. It was hard to see, even though the sun hadn’t yet gone down.

  There was a narrow corridor to the left, while a small landing opened out on the other side, with two closed doors opposite each other. Straight ahead lay an empty balcony with a couple of lounge chairs and a table.

  Kovač could be waiting for him behind any one of the doors, ready to shoot him dead.

  Thomas tried to listen for strange noises, something that didn’t fit in, but he couldn’t hear a thing, in spite of his best efforts.

  Wait—was that a shuffling sound from the end of the corridor?

  He waited for a minute or so but couldn’t decide whether it was real, or just his imagination. He broke out in a sweat as he stared at the doors, holding his breath.

  Maybe Kovač hadn’t found his way to Freya’s Haven?

  A sudden clattering outside the balcony doors made Thomas jump, then he realized it was only the halyard lines on the flagpole, flapping in the wind.

  He crept over to the nearest door and flung it wide open. Empty. He did the same with the one opposite and found himself staring into another empty room.

  The old Mora clock in the corner was ticking much too loudly.

  He decided to make himself known. “Police!” he roared. “Drop your gun and come out!”

  Nothing. He listened for a few seconds, then yelled again:

  “Police! Come out with your hands up!”

  CHAPTER 118

  Mina was still shaking when Nora walked into her room. She had a blanket around her shoulders, but it didn’t seem to be helping. There was an untouched cup of tea on the table in front of her.

  “How are you?” Nora said, sitting down in
the other armchair.

  “He’s going to find me and Lukas. He’s going to kill me.”

  Nora took Mina’s hand. Thomas had searched the whole place. Andreis Kovač wasn’t in the building. Backup had arrived; the island was crawling with cops. The air ambulance had picked up Anna-Maria some time ago.

  “That’s not going to happen,” Nora assured her. “You don’t need to be scared. I promise we’ll protect you and Lukas.”

  “He knows where I am.”

  Nora hated the fact that Mina was right. “You can’t stay here,” she said. “We’ll find another place where you can feel safe.”

  Mina pressed her clenched fist to her lips and turned her head away.

  Nora had given her a brief account of what had happened to Anna-Maria, but hadn’t mentioned Herman Wibom. The situation wouldn’t be improved by making Mina feel even more afraid. Knowing that two people in her immediate circle had been attacked could easily make her give up.

  Nora’s phone rang: Leila. She excused herself and left the room.

  “How’s it going?” Nora asked. “Have you found somewhere for Mina and Lukas?”

  “I’ve spoken to the witness-protection team, and they’re on the case.” Leila muttered something inaudible. “I mean, how hard can it be?”

  Nora went over to the window and rested her head on the cool glass. It was dark now, with clouds hiding the stars. She could hear the barking of the police dogs searching for Kovač. “She can’t stay here, Leila.”

  “I know. She’ll probably end up in some crap hotel over the weekend.”

  “A hotel?”

  “If they can’t find room in a safe house, they usually go for a hotel as a temporary measure. They said they’d call back as soon as possible.”

  A movement behind Nora made her turn around. Mina was standing there.

  “Will you come with me? To the hotel?” she whispered. “I don’t want to be in a new place all by myself. Please?”

  Nora didn’t even know what she was going to say until she said it. “I’ll take her to Sandhamn. She can stay the night in my guest room. Or she can have my old house—I don’t have a tenant at the moment. No one will find her there.”

  Leila didn’t say anything.

  “Hello?”

  “Are you sure that’s a good idea?”

  “Do you have a better suggestion?” Nora took a deep breath. “I can ask Thomas to take us over there in the Buster when he’s finished; he can stay the night, too. No one will see Mina leave the island, or find out where she’s gone. Besides, I’m sure they’ll find Kovač before long. There are cops everywhere, and a warrant has already been issued for his arrest.”

  “Do you really want to take on the responsibility?”

  Nora saw Anna-Maria’s unconscious face in her mind’s eye. The vicious cut on her cheek, the broken fingers.

  Herman Wibom was in the hospital, seriously injured.

  If only she’d managed to persuade the court to keep Kovač in custody in February, no one would have been hurt. This situation, all this suffering, was her fault.

  The silence grew.

  “It might work,” Leila said hesitantly. “If you’re really sure . . .”

  Mina waited for Nora’s answer with tears in her eyes.

  “Let’s do it,” Nora said. “I’ll go and speak to Thomas.”

  CHAPTER 119

  Nora found Thomas on his phone outside the TV room, where an agitated hum of conversation could be heard from the other women who had returned from their excursion and been told what had happened.

  “I’ve spoken to Leila,” Nora informed Thomas when he’d finished his call. “They can’t find a place for Mina tonight, so I’m going to take her to Sandhamn.”

  Thomas frowned. “To your house?”

  “She can stay in our guest room, or in my old house—just overnight, until they can organize somewhere safe for her.”

  “Why would you do that?”

  “She doesn’t want to be alone. She’s terrified and desperate; she’s gone through hell over the past few days.”

  “She certainly has.” Thomas sighed. He leaned on the wall and shook his head. “You’re getting in way too deep. Mina isn’t your personal responsibility.”

  “She asked me to stay with her. She’s too scared to go to a hotel with Lukas by herself.”

  “You’re not a police officer, you’re not trained in the use of firearms, and you don’t even have a gun.”

  Nora couldn’t argue with that. “I thought you could take us over in the Buster,” she said tentatively. “No one will know where we are. How would Kovač find out?”

  “It’s a terrible idea.” Thomas pressed his palms together in front of his face and breathed through his nose. “Kovač is still out there, and he’s extremely dangerous. Until we pick him up, the threat level against Mina and anyone who helps her must be taken seriously. Look what happened to her parents. What are you going to do if he tracks you down?”

  There was a fresh burst of barking from the search dogs outside.

  “Mina needs police protection,” Thomas concluded.

  Nora didn’t need reminding of Kovač’s brutality, but she wasn’t prepared to give up. The thought of telling Mina that she had to leave Runmarö alone was unbearable. “If you come with us and stay the night, we’ll have police protection . . .”

  Nora knew she was pushing the boundaries of their friendship. She didn’t want to see the disappointment in Mina’s eyes, but the look on Thomas’s face was almost as bad.

  She couldn’t cope with telling him why she felt so guilty about Kovač, yet she hated the position she’d put him in. “It’s only for one night, Thomas. Kovač will never find out where she’s gone.” She placed a hand on his shoulder. “Please?”

  CHAPTER 120

  The wind was blowing straight in Nora’s face as they set off from Runmarö, with the lights of Stavsnäs sparkling directly opposite. A little voice whispered in her ear that they were going in the wrong direction, that she should be heading home to her own family instead of sitting in a freezing-cold boat with a knot in her stomach.

  Mina was crouched in the stern in a borrowed sailing jacket, staring blankly into space with Lukas in her arms. Nora could see the tears dripping onto the baby’s head.

  In the end Thomas had agreed to let Mina spend the night in Sandhamn. With a bit of luck, they would pick up Kovač before dawn. There was a warrant out for his arrest, and dog teams were searching for him all over Runmarö. As soon as he was in custody, the danger would be over. It couldn’t take long.

  Everyone realized that Mina couldn’t stay at Freya’s Haven, but Nora had almost fallen out with Thomas before he gave in.

  They had just passed Eknö, where the illuminated sign on the jetty made it possible to orient oneself in the pitch darkness. The Buster was moving fast, and Thomas was concentrating hard, with the help of the lighthouses.

  The boat jolted, and Nora shivered in the cold. She hoped she wasn’t putting herself in danger by taking Mina and her son to the Brand villa, but there was no way she could leave Mina to her fate when she had failed so spectacularly to protect her from her husband.

  Her throat contracted. If Kovač had remained in custody, none of this would have happened, she thought for the hundredth time. Her failure was too great to bear without attempting some form of recompense.

  Jonas was due to land in Stockholm early tomorrow morning. Nora wasn’t intending to tell him what had gone on until he arrived home. She thought it was best to avoid a discussion until Mina was safely installed in the house.

  The children were in the apartment in town, so she wasn’t exposing them to any danger.

  Everything will be fine, she told herself. She knew she’d acted impulsively and compromised her professional integrity, but it was too late to change her mind now.

  The islands whizzed by, dissolving into dark silhouettes against the night sky. The wind lashed her cheeks.

  At lo
ng last the lights of Sandhamn came into view, and Nora allowed herself to relax a little. They would be safe on the island. There was no way Kovač would be able to track them down.

  Thomas slowed to eight knots as they passed Västerudd and entered the zone where the speed limit applied. In a few minutes they would reach Kvarnberget and Nora’s own jetty.

  Her neighbor’s exterior light showed them the way.

  “Can you take the bowline?” Thomas shouted over the roar of the engine. Nora made her way forward and got ready. She could feel his displeasure; he’d hardly said a word since they left Runmarö.

  This is for Mina. I have to do this for Mina.

  And for myself.

  CHAPTER 121

  Nora put down her knife and fork. She hadn’t had much of an appetite, but had put together an improvised meal of spaghetti with a jar of pasta sauce. Mina had only poked at her food, but at least Thomas had cleared his plate.

  It was almost nine o’clock; she was so tired that her head was spinning.

  “Shall we figure out where you’re sleeping?” she said to Mina, who looked utterly exhausted. Her face was gray, and her head was almost drooping over the table. Lukas had fallen asleep long ago.

  Nora hesitated. On the one hand it felt safer to have Mina under the same roof, but on the other, maybe the girl would prefer to be left in peace after the day she’d had.

  “It’s up to you,” she said. “You and Lukas can have the guest room here, right next door to me, or we have another house just across the street. You can see it from the kitchen window.” She gave an encouraging smile. “If you want to stay there, that’s fine. Thomas will come with you, so you’ll be perfectly safe. It’s entirely up to you.”

  Mina rubbed her forehead. “I think I’d prefer the other house, if that’s OK?”

  “Absolutely. Whatever suits you.” Nora got to her feet. “In that case I suggest we go over there and get you settled.”

  Nora unlocked the door and led the way in. She switched on the lights and turned up the heat.

  She’d lived here with Henrik throughout their marriage. For almost ten years, the boys had spent their summers under this roof. Then she’d moved into the Brand villa, which she’d inherited from Aunt Signe; Jonas had rented this house, and they’d become a couple.