Mari Jungstedt - Unseen

“What do you mean?”

“I wanted to take out everybody who ever tormented me, one by one, starting with the worst of the lot. After I did that, it was time to go after Helena.”

“What?”

For a moment her terror subsided slightly and was replaced by surprise.

He looked at her in the dark. “My so-called mother. Everyone thinks she took her own life.”

He laughed mirthlessly.

“The police are such fools. They swallowed the whole scenario. But I did it. I killed her, and I enjoyed doing it. She had no right to live. A mother who gives birth to children she doesn’t care about at all. What kind of mother is that?” Jens Hagman’s voice had grown more shrill. He was practically screaming. It felt as if the air in the bunker might give out.

“So she didn’t care about you?” Emma whispered, in an attempt to calm him down.

“I’m a botched abortion just walking around. That’s what I’ve always been. Unwanted,” he said harshly. “But that bitch ended up paying for it. She certainly did,” he said triumphantly as he stared at her.

She couldn’t help seeing the madness in his eyes.

The thought struck her with all its force. There was no way out. She was never going to see her children again. She made the utmost effort not to start crying, not to lose control.

At that moment, the faint sound of a helicopter was heard. Hagman gave a start and listened intently.

“Don’t move, or I’ll kill you instantly,” he snarled. “And keep quiet.”

The helicopter seemed to be circling right overhead. Suddenly Knutas’s voice sounded through a megaphone.

“Jens Hagman! This is the police. We know you’re down there. You might as well give yourself up. We’ve got you surrounded, and we’ve taken your car. You don’t have a chance. The best thing you can do is surrender. Come out with your hands over your head!”

Hagman dragged Emma off the bench with such force that she almost fell over. He was holding the knife to her throat as he backed up toward the opening in the wall. He peered out. Emma caught a glimpse of the sea. It was clear that he was confused. He was cornered, and that made him even more dangerous. She wished he would ease up his hold on her throat.

For a moment there was silence.

Then the voice shouted through the megaphone again.

“Hagman! This is the police speaking. You don’t have a chance. Come out with your hands over your head!”

Jens Hagman acted fast and decisively. He cut the rope off Emma’s ankles, pushed up the hatch, and shoved her up the ladder ahead of him. He was right behind her. Warm air greeted her at the top. Emma saw her chance to escape. She would exit before he did. The ladder was so narrow and the bunker’s opening so small that it would be impossible for both of them to emerge at the same time. When she was almost above ground and about to take the last step up and out of the bunker, she kicked with all her might at Hagman below her on the ladder. The kick struck him in the face, and he started swearing. The next moment she felt his hand around one of her ankles, and she tumbled to the ground outside.

Her attempt to escape was over even before it began.

Hagman snarled into her ear, “Try another trick like that and you’re dead. Just so you know.”

She squinted up at the morning light and let her gaze take in as much as it could from her trapped position. They were at the edge of the woods, with the sea on one side and green-clad hills on the other, surrounded by police officers with weapons drawn. On a slope a short distance away stood Anders Knutas with the megaphone in his hand.

Hagman held her in front of him like a shield.

“Everybody, get away! Otherwise I’m going to kill her, right here and now. I only want the superintendent to stay. I want a car with a full tank of gas and a hundred thousand kronor in a bag in the car. Plus food and water, enough for three days. If you don’t do as I say, I’ll slit her throat. Do you understand? And it has to be fast! If I don’t get the car within two hours, I’ll kill her.”

Knutas lowered the hand holding the megaphone. A minute passed. Then, “We’ll do what you ask,” he shouted back.

He turned to a colleague standing next to him, and they exchanged a few words. Five minutes later all the officers were gone. Hagman hadn’t moved from his position. Emma saw the sea and some gulls flying over the water, poppies in bloom, blueweed, almond blossoms, and chicory. It was all so beautiful that it hurt. Again she thought about her children. Their summer vacation had begun, but here she stood. Only an inch from death.

Knutas was talking on his cell phone. When he finished the conversation, he began shouting toward them. “We have a problem with securing the money so quickly. We need more time.”

The hold on Emma’s throat tightened.

“I don’t give a shit about your problems. Get the money here. You have exactly one hour and fifty minutes left. Or else she dies!”

As if to emphasize his words, he nicked Emma’s throat so the blood ran. She didn’t even feel the pain.

Almost two hours later a green Audi drove up onto the road a hundred yards away from where they stood. An officer climbed out.

Knutas shouted to Hagman. “The car has a full tank of gas. The keys are in the ignition.”

The officer lifted out a suitcase, which he opened to show them the contents. He held up some bundles of bills.

“And inside the suitcase is a hundred thousand kronor in hundred-krona bills,” shouted Knutas. “Along with food and water. Just like you wanted.”

“Good,” screamed Hagman in reply. “Move at least two hundred yards away from the car. I want safe passage to the ferry. It’s going to take us across to Farosund. Otherwise she dies,” he repeated.

“Understood,” shouted Knutas.

Jens Hagman shoved Emma in front of him toward the car. He kept his eyes moving constantly in all directions.

The engine howled. Then the Audi swung around, and the next instant they were out on the road heading for Farosund.

Thoughts were racing through Emma’s mind. She had to do something. As soon as they shook off the police, he was going to kill her. She was certain of that. They were already approaching the ferry. She could tell by the markings on the asphalt of the road.

Hagman slowed down. There was the ferry, waiting. She could see the captain up in the wheelhouse. A sailor stood on deck to cast off.

Then everything started happening at breakneck speed.

Police cars came rushing from all directions. Jens Hagman reacted with lightning speed and steered around them. Officers tried to yank open the doors but were knocked away as Hagman sharply turned the Audi. A short distance up the hill, he ran into more police cars. He drove off the road and continued cross-country, weaving among the juniper bushes and boulders. He lost control of the car, and Emma managed to scream before they smashed right into a pine tree. The sound of the crash was tremendous. She was flung into the windshield, which shattered. An explosion of glass rained down on her. She managed to see Hagman getting out and taking off. Thick clouds of smoke billowed up around her. She opened the car door with her foot, threw herself out, and collapsed onto the ground.

Karin Jacobsson saw the car from far away. Then she could make out Emma lying on the ground next to the car. Hagman was running away from it. She pulled her pistol out of the holster and snapped off the safety.

“Hagman!” she yelled to the other officers. “There he is!”

At the same moment, Jens Hagman saw her. He started running for the woods. Behind her, Jacobsson could hear voices shouting to each other. She held her gun up and aimed at Hagman’s legs, racing after him.