Lars Kepler - The Nightmare

“This is my investigation!” she yells futilely at his back.

The technicians have set up a work station in the middle of the room. Two chairs, a table with a computer on it, a scanner, and a printer. Tommy Kofoed is standing behind Goran Stone, who is connecting his camera to the computer. They’ve entered the palm print and are doing the initial fingerprint comparison.

Saga comes in right behind Joona.

“What do you see?” Joona asks them, not paying attention to Saga.

“Don’t you speak to him!” Saga says quickly.

Tommy Kofoed looks up. “Don’t be ridiculous, Saga,” he says. “Sorry, this isn’t our guy. This is from the boyfriend, Almskog.”

“Lucky he’s already in the suspect register,” Goran Stone says.

“What do you have on him?” Joona asks.

“Rioting and harming an officer,” Goran replies.

“The worst kind of criminal,” Tommy jokes. “He probably took part in a demonstration.”

“You think that’s funny,” Goran growls. “Not everyone on the force finds left-wing shenanigans and sabotage amusing.”

“Speak for yourself,” Kofoed replies.

“The search-and-rescue effort speaks for it self,” Goran says with a grin.

“What’s that all about?” Joona asks. “I haven’t been able to follow the operation-what’s happened?”

When Joona Linna slams open the office door, Carlos Eliasson, head of CID, jumps and dumps too much fish food into the aquarium.

“Why is there no ground search?” Joona demands harshly. “There are two lives at stake and we don’t have any boats out looking?”

“The maritime police make their own decisions, as you well know,” Carlos replies coolly. “They’ve covered the area by helicopter and have decided that the two are either dead or they don’t want to be found… neither of which demands an all-out rush to search further.”

“They have something the killer wants to get his hands on and I actually believe-”

“It’s useless to guess, Joona. We don’t know what happened. Sapo happens to believe these two young people have gone underground and by now could be on a train to Amsterdam-”

“Cut it out,” Joona says forcefully. “You can’t listen to Sapo when-”

“It’s their case.”

“Why? Why is it their case? Bjorn Almskog has no criminal record at all unless it’s become a felony to disturb the peace! These accusations mean absolutely nothing! Nothing at all!”

“I was talking to Verner Zanden and he’s already told me that Fernandez has some connections to left-wing extremist groups.”

“That may be so, but I’m absolutely certain there’s more going on here. This murder is about something else entirely.”

“Of course! Of course you’re absolutely certain!” Carlos yells back.

“I can’t put my finger on it yet, but the killer I met in Penelope’s apartment was a real pro and not some kind of-”

“Sapo believes that Penelope and Bjorn were planning some kind of sabotage.”

“You’re telling me that Penelope is a terrorist?” Joona asks, incredulous. “Have you read what she’s written? She’s a complete pacifist.”

“Yesterday a member of the Brigade was caught by Sapo as he was making his way to Penelope’s apartment.”

“I have no idea what kind of organization the Brigade is supposed to be.”

“It’s a militant movement on the left, loosely connected to the Antifascist Faction and the Revolutionary Front, but it’s freewheeling. They’re close to the ideology of the Red Army Faction and want to be as operative as Mossad.”

“Though you know that’s not true,” Joona says.

“Maybe you don’t want it to be true, but so what?” Carlos says. “Meanwhile, we will search further for those two. We’re going to chart the currents and determine the direction the boat was drifting so we can start dragging the water or maybe send some divers down.”

“Well, good,” Joona mutters.

“All that’s left is to decide if or why they were killed, or else why they went into hiding.”

Joona opens the door to the hallway. He stops and turns toward Carlos again. “What happened to that man from the Brigade?”

“He was released,” Carlos answers.

“Did they find out why he was there?” Joona asks.

“He was just dropping by.”

“Dropping by.” Joona sighs. “That’s all Sapo found out?”

“You are not going to start investigating the Brigade,” Carlos says with new worry in his voice. “I hope you understand me?”

Joona leaves and pulls out his cell as he strides down the hallway. Behind him, he can hear Carlos yelling “That’s an order! ” and “Don’t tread on Sapo’s toes! ” Joona keeps going. He finds Nathan Pollock’s number.

Nathan picks up.

“What do you know about the Brigade?” asks Joona as the elevator doors open.

“Sapo has been trying to infiltrate and keep an eye on all the militant left-wing groups in Stockholm, Gothenburg, and Malmo for the past few years. I don’t think the Brigade is all that dangerous, but Sapo seems to believe they have weapons and explosives. At any rate, most of their members have been to reform school and have been convicted of violent crimes.”

The elevator is rushing down.

“From what I understand, Sapo hauled someone in for trying to enter Penelope Fernandez’s apartment. Someone with a direct connection to the Brigade.”

“His name is Daniel Marklund,” Nathan replies. “He belongs to the inner circle.”

“What do you know about him?”

“Not much,” Nathan answers. “He has a suspended sentence for vandalism and hacking.”

“Why Penelope’s place?”

The elevator stops and the doors open.

“Don’t know. He had no weapon,” Nathan tells him. “Demanded a lawyer when we started asking questions. He answered nothing and was let go later the same day.”

“So we know nothing.”

“Nothing.”

“Where can I find him?” Joona asks.

“He has no home address. According to Sapo, he lives with other members of the inner circle at the Brigade’s main headquarters near Zinkensdamm.”

While Joona Linna walks purposefully to the garage underneath Radhus Park, he thinks about Disa, and desire for her wells up from deep within him. He wants to touch her slender arms, smell her soft hair. He finds a strange kind of peace listening to her talk about her archaeological discoveries: shards of bone not connected to any crime and the remains of humans who finished their lives many centuries ago.

Joona decides to call her. He’s been much too busy lately. He continues down into the garage and between the parked cars. There’s a flicker of movement behind one of the concrete pillars. Someone is waiting beside his Volvo. The figure is partially hidden by a garbage truck-he can almost make it out. Nothing can be heard over the loud racket from the large fans.

“That was fast!” Joona yells.

“Teleporting,” replies Nathan Pollock.

Joona stops, closes his eyes, and presses his fingers against his temples.

“Headache?”

“I haven’t been sleeping much.”

They get into the car and close the doors. Joona turns the ignition key and a tango by Astor Piazzolla comes from the speakers. Pollock turns the volume up a bit: it sounds like two violins echoing each other.

“You didn’t get this from me, you know,” Nathan says.

“Right.”

“I’ve just heard from Sapo that they are going to use Marklund’s attempt to break into Penelope’s apartment as an excuse for conducting a raid of the Brigade’s headquarters.”