Vanished?

by Christer Tholin

  “The good part,” he said, “is that it’s finally over. The company has been sold. The Russians have what they want, and the two Linds can no longer do you any harm. You can now look to the future.”

  Liv nodded her head, but without any great conviction.

  Lars looked around the group.

  “Well,” he said, “we have nothing more to tell you. The case is now closed. If anything else comes up, we’d be happy to discuss it with you. You probably also don’t need anyone guarding the children, do you?” He watched Liv carefully as he said that.

  “Actually, could we please continue that for a while? I won’t have any peace otherwise.” Liv had a pleading expression on her face.

  “Of course,” Lars replied. “We’re glad to do it. It’s totally up to you.”

  That was a relief to Liv.

  “Then we don’t want to keep you any longer,” said Lars. “And we want to go home, too. My family is waiting for me.”

  They all rose from their seats, and Lars and Elin said goodbye as Martin and Liv thanked them both for their efforts and their excellent work.

  Liv and Martin were sitting by the fireplace, each holding a glass of wine. This time, Martin had managed to light the fire on his first try, and it was blazing. Liv’s hair glowed like gold in the firelight. She was relaxed, but she also seemed pensive.

  “What are you thinking, my love?” Martin asked.

  Liv took a sip of wine. Her free hand was playing with a strand of hair. “I’m thinking about what you said.”

  Which statement was she referring to? Martin gave her a questioning look.

  “You know, that I should look to the future,” she said. “I haven’t processed everything yet, but it seems to me that my entire life has fallen apart. Nothing is now as it was before. My husband abducted me, and he’s dead now. The company that I was so involved with has been sold. And since Saga’s kidnapping, I no longer feel safe here. I think I need a new start.”

  Liv paused and took another sip of wine. Then she looked into Martin’s eyes with an earnest expression.

  “What would you say if the children and I moved to Berlin?”

  The question took Martin completely by surprise. He hadn’t figured on this at all.

  “That would be wonderful!” he answered. “I would love that. But are you sure you could leave Stockholm?”

  Liv nodded. “Yes, I’ve thought about it a lot lately. There just isn’t much keeping me here anymore. I’ve already told you that the house and the surroundings give me an eerie feeling now. I no longer feel safe. My parents are dead. I have nothing to do here, and there’s no chance that I’ll lose my female friends—I don’t have that many, anyway. And Stockholm won’t go anywhere. I can come back here whenever I want, and I’ll keep the place in the Archipelago.”

  Liv seemed to have thought this through in detail. In fact, Martin was having trouble believing it.

  “I didn’t expect this at all,” he told her. “This is a huge surprise. Well, would you like to move in with me? You’re all more than welcome.”

  Liv edged over and took him in her arms. They kissed.

  “Yes,” she said, “of course, it’s about you, too. I feel so much better when I’m with you. And I like Berlin. It’s so different from Stockholm.”

  “And when did you want to come?”

  “As soon as possible. If I can make all the children’s school arrangements by then, as early as January.”

  “That would be great!” Martin responded. “I’ll help you with all of it.”

  “And you don’t feel that I’m pressuring you in any way?” Liv asked. “I mean, it’s all happening so fast, and I’ve dropped this on you all of sudden.”

  “No—stop it. Not at all! This has been my deepest wish. I love you, Liv.”

  “I love you, too, Martin.”

  And Liv put her arms around him.

  Epilogue

  Two months later

  66

  Martin was on his way to the office. The traffic was crawling, and he had to stop once again. But none of that bothered him. His thoughts were somewhere else.

  Martin’s life had totally changed. It was less than half a year ago that he had traveled to Sweden for the first time to reflect on his life and on how to deal with his failed marriage and maintain contact with his daughter Lara. He had barely had time to think when his new adventure with Liv began, that whirlwind of events that he at first chose to be involved in but that then increasingly drew him in beyond his control.

  And now, he had a family. Liv and her two children were living with him, even if only for the time being. Lara was naturally also a part of it, even if only every other weekend.

  Still, none of it had been easy. The Swedish police had spoken with them multiple times and also reopened the subject of Liv’s kidnapping. And Erik Lind’s girlfriend, who had taken part in Saga’s kidnapping, had evidently come clean and told them everything she knew.

  Erik, it turned out, had already previously been in close contact with his brother Thomas, who had piled up a lot of gambling debts. Thomas had first frequented a number of casinos in an attempt to increase his capital, with the intention of reinvesting the money in his businesses. Unfortunately, after some early wins, he kept losing more and more money. He then switched to Internet casinos and private poker games, but there, too, he only increased his gambling debts. In the end, they probably amounted to several million euros. Finally, the Russians entered the game and bought up all his promissory notes. They then offered to eliminate his debts if they could acquire the construction company at a favorable price. Thomas had agreed and had hoped to convince Liv to go along with it. But when she resisted, he resorted to the kidnapping, with all its unforeseen consequences. After Thomas’s death, the Russians had contacted his brother and offered Erik five million kronor if he would kidnap Saga for a few days.

  And so, the whole mystery was finally solved, which was a great relief to Liv, who now had the explanations she had been seeking.

  But the one who suffered from the clarification process was Saga. The police had interviewed her twice, and that had not been easy for her. She had been doing fine after the kidnapping, so that no one was prepared for her reaction. But the interrogations had stirred the memories up again. Of course, the police had shown her pictures of the room and the woman, and after that, Saga had panic attacks, was afraid to go out, and would wet her bed at night. She underwent psychotherapy for a number of weeks, and except for the occasional panic attack, it seemed to be working. Saga was also the one who had welcomed the move to Berlin. She felt much better on the weekends they spent in Berlin, while in Stockholm, her entire surroundings seemed to close in on her with memories of the kidnapping.

  Her brother Hampus, on the other hand, did not want to leave his friends and resisted making the move. But he quickly made friends at his new school and was now content. Liv had been lucky there: the Scandinavian school in Berlin had had a place for Hampus right away, and Saga was also finally accepted after being on the waiting list. As of January, both children had been placed in the appropriate grades and had adjusted well.

  The traffic moved ahead a bit, but Martin was forced to step on the brakes because a white delivery truck was intent on changing lanes. Of course, after that, they were sitting beside each other in the middle of a traffic jam. If this kept up, Martin would have to call the office to cancel his 9 a.m.

  Liv was doing great. She had left everything behind, or so it seemed, at least. She was often highly emotional, but Martin was always impressed by how good she was at organizing her life once she had decided what she wanted. She had hired a CEO for the property management firm so that her only function now was to be on the board. She had already sold the house in Danderyd—for an excellent price, no less. That was easy to do in Stockholm, where there were too few houses and apartments. She had also rented the finca on Mallorca to a travel agency that now used it for tourist accommodations.

 
Liv had bought a huge two-story apartment on Potsdamer Platz, in the heart of Berlin, and they would all be moving in there a couple of weeks from now. The upper floor, where the children could make themselves at home, had four rooms and a small pantry. The lower level included a large living room, a bedroom, and a study. That way, they would all have plenty of space. At the moment, the apartment was being renovated, and after that, everything would be ready to go. They had agreed that Martin would keep his apartment for now, but he was sure they wouldn’t need it. He and Liv also got along well on a day-to-day basis, and in the past few weeks, their relationship had deepened. Liv was looking for a new job, but there was no financial pressure, so she was able to take her time. For the moment, she had plenty to keep her busy between organizing all the changes and taking care of the children. Every day, she would accompany them on their way to school and back—it was easy taking the underground.

  The traffic inched forward again. Now Martin was right in front of the red light. Once it turned green, things should move at a faster clip.

  What Martin liked best of all was that, every day, he looked forward to the end of the day. He loved coming home, where Liv and the kids would greet him. Liv would have often fixed some food, or they would quickly prepare their dinner together. That was a major change from his bachelor existence.

  And Martin would not repeat his old mistakes. His law practice was important, but his new family was more so. He would never confuse his priorities again.

  Sweden would also not be lost to them. They planned on spending their summer vacation in the Archipelago, and they were already looking forward to it. Martin had diligently continued with his Swedish studies and could already hold a simple conversation with the children—with Liv’s help, of course. But he noticed the children were making faster progress in German than he was in Swedish. The Scandinavian school had German lessons, and some of the children had a German parent, so you heard a lot of German on the playground.

  Martin was happy, probably happier than he had ever been in his life. How lucky he was to have seen that ad back then: “Vacation home in Southern Sweden”—even if at the time he could never have guessed how much that vacation would change his life.

  Green. It was off to the office now—and another day at work that would bring him closer to the weekend and to spending time with his new family.

  My Thanks to the Reader

  I am thrilled that you have chosen to read my book. I am even more thrilled that you have read it to the end.

  I especially hope that you liked it. If so, I would like to ask a small favor of you: please take a few moments to rate my book on Amazon.

  If you did not like the book, please tell me directly! Your feedback is extremely important to me since it gives me the chance to learn about my readers’ preferences.

  You can reach me at

  contact@christertholin.one

  or

  www.christertholin.one

  My heartfelt thanks,

  Christer Tholin

  About the Author

  The author is originally from Schleswig-Holstein in Germany and has lived for many years with his family in Stockholm / Sweden, where he works as an independent management consultant.

  He is a great fan of Swedish crime literature and had been planning for a long time to make his own contribution. That has already come to fruition with his first book, “VANISHED?” which is also the first book of the “Stockholm Sleuth Series” introducing Elin and Lars. “SECRETS?” is their second case and “MURDER” their third.

  www.christertholin.one

  Read the second book of the

  Stockholm Sleuth Series!

  SECRETS?

  “Damn! She had made a huge mistake. She would never make it out of there. They were going to kill her.”

  In this Swedish crime novella, fledgling private investigator Elin Bohlander takes on what at first glance looks like an easy assignment: to determine whether her client’s boyfriend is having an affair with another woman. Elin follows him to a secluded cabin in the woods, where she soon discovers that what’s actually happening there is stranger than anyone thought. Having ventured too far, she now sees that she has stumbled upon a hornet’s nest and placed her life at risk. But it’s too late. Will Elin be able to win the uneven fight against a gang of brutal child molesters?

  https://www.amazon.com/dp/B075VWXGHN/