Helena Halme: The Red King of Helsinki: Lies, Spies and Gymnastics

She leant over towards the front seat and said, ‘Please,’ in English.

Another flash of light from a car leaving the ice-hockey hall revealed the woman was gripping the steering wheel hard. She was no longer looking at Leena, but staring out of the window into the empty woods.

The front door of the car opened, startling both Leena and the woman. No lights came on inside the car, but a cold gust of wind hit Leena’s face. She winced; it made her face sting. A girl with long brown hair sat down in the passenger seat. She glanced briefly behind her, with an expressionless face. Leena recognised her, Vadi’s daughter. Leena shivered.

At that moment the back door on Leena’s side was flung open. Leena saw Vadi’s boots and the hem of his coat. He bent down and looked at Leena, grinning. He was holding the gun, casually pointing it at Leena. He motioned for Leena to move and sat next to her. Leena was too slow and was half crushed. He shoved the gun onto Leena’s ribs and said, ‘Not a sound!’ Vadi made a gesture with his other hand, and the woman put the car in gear and drove slowly away.

‘What are you going to do to me? Where are we going?’ Leena said.

But the Russian didn’t reply. Instead he took hold of Leena’s shoulders and tied a rag around her mouth. Then he pushed her down to the floor. Leena hit her head hard against the seat in front of her, but she was too afraid to make a sound. She sat silently, trying to think.

Iain came to as the door hit his back He tried to lift himself up, but felt an intense pain in his temples as well as his back. Suddenly he remembered and got to his feet. The door to the large shower room was open and a boy was standing in the doorway gawping at him.

‘Mr Collins?’

‘Good God,’ Iain said, ‘Help me up, Heikki, we haven’t got much time.’

Iain motioned for the boy to follow him. They ran through the corridor. Iain banged on the door of the Finnish girls’ dressing room. A small face peered at him. Iain forced himself to appear calm and friendly when he asked, ‘Is Miss Joutila there?’

‘No,’ the little girl whispered. Her thin hair was limp on her shoulders.

‘Pia?’ Iain said, ‘is Pia inside?’

‘No, she already went with her mother, and Miss Joutila went after her. She told us not to open the door to anyone, but we’re frightened.’

‘What’s going on?’ Heikki said.

‘I’m not sure.’

Iain ran along the eerily quiet corridor and back through the equally deserted arena. Heikki followed, then overtook him and was in the main hall before Iain. He saw a lonely female figure waiting in the middle of the vast space.

‘Maija,’ Iain shouted.

‘Where’s Pia?’ Maija asked.

‘She’s not with you?’ Iain said.

Maija’s face turned white. She looked at Heikki, and then back at Iain. ‘Where is she?’ she whispered.

‘We have to find her,’ Iain said and grabbed Maija’s hand. Followed by Heikki, they ran through the cold car park to the back of the building. ‘Get into the car!’ Iain threw the keys towards Heikki.

Iain ran to the bins and looked behind them. The Russian’s car was gone. He flung himself onto the driver’s seat, next to Maija.

‘What’s going on? Where’s Pia?’ Maija asked. Iain swerved dangerously out of the car park. Damned ice, there’s no grip. He forced his voice to calm, ‘Don’t worry, Maija.’

Iain was now on the narrow lane with the pot-holes. It was dark, and impossible to avoid them. Iain pushed his foot down onto the floor of the car and wished it could go faster.

‘Where are we going?’ Heikki said from the back seat.

Iain half turned to say something to the boy but saw Maija was holding onto the dashboard. Her eyes were wide with fear. He decided not to tell them what he feared had happened to Pia. The next moment, he misjudged the sharpness of a bend in the road and the front wheels hit the edge. Snow was billowing in front of them. All Iain could see was white.

Maija screamed.

Iain turned on his windscreen wipers. He could see the main road a few metres ahead. Without stopping he turned right. There was a slow car in front of them. ‘Hold on,’ he said to Maija and went to overtake. He narrowly missed an oncoming lorry.

‘What are you doing?’ Maija shouted.

‘We have to get to Pia. I think she’s on her way to Moscow.’

‘What?’ Heikki said. Maija was quiet, too quiet.

‘With Kovtun?’ she said.

‘No, I don’t think so,’ Iain said. ‘I think Kovtun is on his way to a ship with his daughter.’

‘The ship?’

‘Yes,’ Iain said.

‘What’s Kovtun’s daughter got to do with Pia?’ Heikki said. He was leaning towards the front, in between the back seats.

‘I don’t understand…?’ Maija said.

‘Look Maija, you’ve got to trust me – and you too, Heikki,’ Iain glanced at the boy through the rear-view mirror. ‘I think the Russians have taken Pia instead of Kovtun’s daughter. If I’m right, Pia is at this moment in the Russian bus, somehow disguised as Kovtun’s daughter.’

‘Oh my God!’ Maija put her hand over her mouth. ‘I saw him, with the girl, and she had Pia’s coat on. I thought she must have the same kind of coat.’ She was quiet for a moment, and then said, ‘I could have stopped him.’

Iain pressed his foot hard on the accelerator.

Maija was quiet for a while, then she said, ‘And what happened to you?’

Iain touched his face. It hurt and he was ashamed, but he forced himself to tell Maija how he had been attacked and shut into the Russian girls’ changing rooms.

Iain drove on, feeling the warmth of Maija’s presence next to him. She was a good woman, he thought. If he’d be in her situation, he doubted whether he’d have the kindness of heart to be friendly.

Iain overtook a few more cars, but otherwise the road towards the Russian border was quiet. Maija had told her she’d seen the bus leave about 25 minutes before Iain found her. But it could easily have been more than that, Iain thought. He looked at the speed they were making, nearly 120 kilometres per hour. They were now on the outskirts of Hamina. He’d seen a sign as they were approaching the small seaside town, saying the border at Vaalimaa was 48 kilometres away. Assuming the bus was also breaking the speed limits, Iain knew there was little hope of reaching the border before the Russians. Iain looked over to Maija. With her hands on her lap, she was staring out of the window. She’d been like that for the past hour, quiet, despondent. But as they came into the centre of the town, she pointed to a small church.

‘That’s where Ilkka and I were married.’

Iain looked at the small neoclassical church. ‘So you know this area?’

‘Yes, I was born northeast of here, a small place called Juvakkala, near Lappeenranta,’ she said, sounding absentminded, as if none of her past mattered.

Iain was thinking.

‘Isn’t that on the Russian border?’

Maija turned to look at Iain, ‘Yes, very close.’

‘But…’

‘Look Iain, it’s less than half an hour to the border from here, if you’re right and Pia is on that bus, we must hurry!’ Maija’s voice was quivering. She was holding back tears.

‘It’s alright, Mrs Mäkelä, I’m sure we’ll get to Pia,’ Heikki said.

Iain glanced at the boy. He too looked pale and miserable. Iain blamed himself for being such a fool to allow Pia to take part in the tournament and then get himself knocked out by the Russian. Now here he was, on a wild goose chase after a bus that by now could be closer to Moscow than the border.

They left Hamina and the street lights came to an end. Iain drove as fast as the little car could go on the deserted country road. Suddenly the road widened and became straight, with generous curbs on either side. There was a sign ‘Vaalimaa Border Crossing’.