Camilla Lackberg - The Lost Boy

Fredrik’s face had been filled with such smug satisfaction that she hadn’t doubted for a moment that he meant what he’d said. How she hated him. Anger began growing somewhere deep inside of her and then took over her whole body before she could stop it. Fredrik had got what he deserved. He couldn’t hurt them any more. She had seen his rigid expression. She had seen the blood.

Now she and Sam could live in peace here on the island. She looked down at his face. He was sleeping. No one was going to take him away from her. No one.

Patrik asked Peter to wait in the boat. Then he went ashore with Konrad and Petra. On the table in the open-sided boathouse they saw that someone had served coffee there. When they walked past, several seagulls flew up from a plate full of buns.

‘They’re probably in the house,’ said Petra, taking a good look around.

‘Come on.’ Patrik was impatient, but Konrad gently took him by the arm.

‘I think we need to be a bit cautious now.’

Patrik realized that he was right. He headed for the house, walking calmly even though he wanted to run. At the house, they knocked on the door. When no one answered, Petra leaned forward and knocked harder.

‘Hello?’ she called.

Still not a sound from inside. Patrik pushed down the handle, and the door swung open. He took a step forward then nearly backed into Konrad and Petra as the smell overwhelmed him.

‘Shit,’ he said, putting his hand over his nose and mouth. He had to swallow several times in order not to throw up.

‘Shit,’ echoed Konrad from behind him. He too looked as if he were fighting back nausea. Only Petra seemed unperturbed, and Patrik cast an astonished glance in her direction.

‘I’ve got a weak sense of smell,’ she told him.

Then Patrik entered the house and immediately caught sight of the person lying on the floor.

‘Erica?’ He ran over and dropped to his knees. With his heart in his throat, he put out his hand to touch her. She stirred and let out a groan.

He said her name over and over, and she slowly turned her head to look at him. Only then did he see the wound at her temple. With an effort she lifted her hand to touch it, and her eyes opened wide when she saw the blood on her fingers.

‘Patrik? Nathalie … she …’ Erica began sobbing and Patrik stroked her cheek.

‘Is she okay?’ asked Petra.

Patrik motioned with his hand to indicate that she was going to be all right. Then Petra and Konrad went upstairs to see what they could find up there.

‘The place seems to be empty,’ said Petra when they came back. ‘Have you checked in there?’ She pointed at the closed door behind Erica.

Patrik shook his head, so Petra cautiously stepped around them and opened the door.

‘Bloody hell. Come and look.’ She motioned to them, but Patrik stayed where he was and let Konrad follow his colleague.

‘What do you see?’ asked Patrik, glancing at the partially open door, which blocked his view of what was inside.

‘Whatever the smell is, it’s coming from inside this room.’ Konrad came out, holding his hand over his mouth and nose.

‘A dead body?’ For a moment Patrik thought it must be Nathalie lying inside there, but then a thought occurred to him that drained all the colour from his face. ‘Is it the boy?’ he whispered.

Petra came out of the room too. ‘I don’t know. There’s nothing in there now. But the bed is a horrible mess and it stinks to high heaven. Even I can smell it.’

Konrad nodded.

‘It must be the boy. We saw Nathalie a week ago, and I’m guessing that the body must have been here longer than that.’

Erica was struggling to sit up, and Patrik put his arm around her for support.

‘We have to find them.’ He looked at his wife. ‘What happened here?’

‘We were up in the lighthouse. I noticed the smell on Nathalie’s clothes and started to wonder. So I slipped over here to check things out. She must have hit me on the head …’ Erica’s voice faded.

Patrik looked up at Konrad and Petra.

‘What did I tell you? She’s always sticking her nose in things.’ He smiled, but he looked worried.

‘You didn’t see the boy?’ asked Petra, squatting down.

Erica shook her head, then grimaced with pain.

‘No, I never got a chance to open the door. But you have to find them,’ she said, repeating what Patrik had said. ‘I’m fine. Go look for Nathalie and Sam.’

‘Let’s carry her down to the boat,’ said Patrik.

He ignored Erica’s protests and the three of them carried her to the dock and then carefully lifted her down to Peter.

‘Are you sure you’re all right?’ Patrik didn’t want to leave Erica when he looked at the bloody wound on her head and saw how pale her face was.

She waved him away. ‘Go on. I’m fine. I told you that.’

Reluctantly Patrik turned away.

‘Where do you think they’ve gone?’

‘They must be on the other side of the island,’ said Petra.

‘Yes, because their boat is still here,’ said Konrad.

They started walking over the rocks. The island seemed just as deserted as when they arrived, and except for the lapping of the waves and the screeching of the seagulls, there wasn’t a sound.

‘They might be up in the lighthouse.’ Patrik leaned back so he could peer up at the tower.

‘Maybe, but I think we should search the island first,’ said Petra. She shaded her eyes with her hand in an attempt to look through the glass panes at the top of the lighthouse. But she didn’t see anyone moving around up there either.

‘Are you coming?’ called Konrad.

The highest point on the island was only a short distance away, and they cast glances left and right as they walked. Once they reached the top of the hill, they’d have a view of almost all of Gråskär. But they were moving cautiously. They didn’t know what sort of state of mind Nathalie was in, and she had a gun. The question was whether she was prepared to use it. The cloying smell of the corpse still clung to their nostrils. They were all thinking the same thing, but none of them dared say it out loud.

They climbed up to the crest of the hill.

They had arrived by boat, just as she thought. She heard voices from the dock, voices from the house. Their escape route from the island was blocked. She couldn’t get to the boat to flee. She and Sam were caught.

Nathalie had thought that Erica was on their side, but then she tried to push her way into their world. So she had been forced to act, and she had done the right thing. She had protected Sam, just as she had promised him she would, the instant he was placed in her arms at the hospital. She had promised not to let anything bad happen to him. For a long time she had been a coward and failed to keep her promise. But ever since that night, she had been strong. She had rescued Sam.

Slowly she moved further into the water. Her jeans felt heavy against her legs, dragging her forward. Sam was so sweet, lying quietly in her arms.

Someone came over to her, wading alongside her and following her into the water. Out of the corner of her eye she saw the woman holding up her heavy skirts. After a moment she let her skirts drop so that they floated in the water all around her. She had her eyes fixed on Nathalie. Her lips were moving, but Nathalie refused to listen. If she did, she wouldn’t be able to protect Sam any longer. She shut her eyes to make the woman go away, but when she opened them, she couldn’t help glancing in that direction again, as if something were forcing her to look.

Now the woman was carrying a child in her arms. He hadn’t been there a moment ago. Nathalie was sure of that. But now he too was looking at her with big, pleading eyes. He was talking to Sam. Nathalie wanted to put her hands over her ears and scream to shut out the voices of the boy and the woman. But her hands were holding Sam, and the scream stuck in her throat. Her shirt was starting to get wet, and she gasped for breath as the cold water reached her stomach. The woman was walking very close. She and the boy were both talking at once – the woman to Nathalie, and the boy to Sam. Against her will, Nathalie started to listen to what they were saying. The voices forced their way in just like the salt water was soaking through her clothes and reaching her skin.