Emelie Schepp - Slowly We Die

An accidental slip of a blade...

A tragic incident on the operating table leaves a patient damaged for life and leads a young surgeon to abandon his profession as a physician... Now, years later, a series of senseless, gruesome murders are rocking the same medical community.

Then murderous revenge...

The weapon? A surgical scalpel. But who exactly is preying on these victims? And why? What does this grisly pattern reveal? And who will be the one to stop it? Special prosecutor Jana Berzelius, who has her own dark secrets to hide, is in charge of the investigation. What she can’t know, until she is finally closing in on the murderer, is just how her own mother’s recent death is intimately connected.

This intricately plotted and relentlessly suspenseful medical thriller keeps everyone guessing until the bitter end.

Also By Emelie Schepp

Marked for Life

Marked for Revenge

Slowly We Die

Emelie Schepp

Copyright

An imprint of HarperCollins Publishers Ltd

1 London Bridge Street

London SE1 9GF

First published in Great Britain by HQ in 2018

Copyright © Emelie Schepp 2018

Swedish Edition © 2016 by Emelie Schepp

English Edition © 2018 by Emelie Schepp

Published by arrangement with Grand Agency

Translation by Suzanne Martin Cheadle

Emelie Schepp asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins.

Ebook Edition © June 2018 ISBN: 9781474050944

Praise for International Bestselling Author Emelie Schepp

On Marked for Life

“A stellar first in a crime trilogy.... Schepp couples an insightful look at the personal and professional lives of her characters with an unflinching multi-layered plot loaded with surprises.”

—Publishers Weekly, starred review

“A fast-paced thriller with a good blend of police procedural, the draw of a ninja-strong female lead, and enough adrenaline to make a good night’s sleep a near impossibility.”

—Booklist

“Move over, Jo Nesbø.”

—Fort Worth Star-Telegram

“Intriguing.... The challenging, multi-layered heroine makes it worth the read.”

—Kirkus Reviews

“An exceptional novel.... The author has done a great job with the characters, and readers will want to continue reading this trilogy to see how these cliff-hangers are going to play out.”

—Suspense Magazine

“One mind-blowing thriller.... It will keep readers guessing and thirsty for more.”

—Manhattan Book Review

On Marked for Revenge

“In Swedish author Schepp’s outstanding second novel,

[she] sure-handedly brings her characters to unhappy life in a police procedural that lays bare the most sordid aspects of immigrant-related crime.”

—Publishers Weekly, starred review

“Emelie Schepp is rapidly securing her place as the master of the ensemble police procedural novel.... Make time to read Marked for Revenge in one sitting. The pages just fly by.”

—Bookreporter

To Dad

Contents

Cover

Back Cover Text

Booklist

Title Page

Copyright

Praise

Dedication

PROLOGUE

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER TEN

CHAPTER ELEVEN

CHAPTER TWELVE

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

CHAPTER NINETEEN

CHAPTER TWENTY

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

CHAPTER THIRTY

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

About the Publisher

PROLOGUE

THE WOMAN OPENED her eyes and looked straight up at me. Her hands began clawing desperately at the air, as if she’d just realized what was about to happen.

I could see her surprise, her confusion, and I whispered to her that there was no alternative, that it was too late, she had already seen too much in the back of the ambulance.

She should have kept her eyes closed, shouldn’t have looked around with her meddling gaze, shouldn’t have seen me take the ring.

“I’m sorry,” I said, pressing my hands against her nose and mouth, “but what would you do if you were me?”

She didn’t answer. How could she?

She struggled again to pull her face away from me, making one last desperate attempt. Her thin body thrashed up and down on the stretcher. She tried to grab my hands, but instead her fingers just pulled at my arms with increasing panic. Her nails tore at my skin, but I didn’t stop. I pressed harder. Harder.

She tried to scream, and I heard a gurgling sound. She couldn’t keep it up any longer; her strength began to wane, and she blinked a few times without any tears falling.

And then, finally, it came. The awareness. This was the end. Her brain let go of all other thoughts, taking in the reality—crystal clear and horrifying.

There was no sound, only a tiny gasp as she surrendered, as her body finally relaxed and became completely still.

I took my hand away from her mouth and listened to the silence. I smiled. It felt so simple, so undeniable, so complete.

This was a deviation from the plan, yes, but nevertheless it was a beginning. I was filled with excited anticipation, with revenge.

CHAPTER

ONE

Wednesday

PHILIP ENGSTRÖM LEANED against the black kitchen counter at the ambulance station in Norrköping. Cool spring air wafted in through an open window. He reached for the cup in the coffee machine, wrapped his fingers around it and enjoyed its warmth. Then he walked through the room, sank down onto one of the sofas and took a couple of sips before putting the cup on the nearby coffee table.

He had one hour left before his overnight ambulance shift ended. He had to fight a strong desire to close his eyes and drift off, if only for a few minutes.

He knew that he shouldn’t give in to his exhaustion; he needed to pull himself together after the shift’s stressful events, but he couldn’t help himself. He nodded off and was dragged down into sleep where he dreamed of a whirling, rushing waterfall. Then he heard someone yell, and he jerked himself awake, his hands fumbling over the table and knocking over his coffee cup.

“Philip!”

“Hi, Sandra,” he said, drowsily.