Page 84 of The Sleepwalker (Joona Linna #10)

Joona chooses the shorter route, on the inside of Lambaron, keeping the boat steady as the swell surges back on itself and following what is left of the channels cleared by the ice breakers prior to the storm.

He turns the wheel and hits a large wave.

The boat becomes airborne for a moment, and the engines rev loudly before the fibreglass hull slams back down and water crashes up over the windscreen.

*?*?*

Agneta makes her way down the stairs on shaking legs. The beta blocker she took earlier has started to take effect, but her heart is still beating uncomfortably fast. Behind her, she can hear a tearful Hugo trying to convince his father to give up, to put the axe down.

The wind tears around the house.

‘Let’s just stay here and talk about—’

‘You stay,’ Bernard barks.

Agneta hears a loud noise upstairs, followed by someone crashing to the floor.

She breaks into a run, losing her footing when she reaches the polished floor in the library and landing on her shoulder.

Agneta gasps and scrambles up when she hears someone on the stairs, and she staggers out into the hallway, past the kitchen and towards the front door.

The frame seems to have buckled slightly, and the door is tilting inwards.

She quickly pulls on her boots and reaches for a coat from the hook before turning the key in the lock. Agneta tries the handle, but the door won’t budge, even when she puts all her weight against it. Something must be blocking it from the outside, she realises, possibly the old maple.

‘I just want to talk to you!’ Bernard shouts from the library.

Agneta turns around and tiptoes through to the kitchen, carefully pulling the door shut behind her.

She drops her coat in the process, but doesn’t stop to pick it up, hurrying past the dining table to the other door to the library.

After pausing to take a deep breath, she heads through into the dark room and hears heavy footsteps down the hallway to the front door.

She should have grabbed one of the knives, she thinks, but it is too late now.

Moving as quietly as she can, she makes her way past the foot of the stairs and has to make a real effort not to scream when she notices a dark figure standing by the fireplace.

It is Hugo, and he is gripping a black poker in one hand.

Bernard tugs at the front door, turns around and meets Agneta’s eye.

She and Hugo cross the library and hurry down the hall towards his bedroom and the lounge.

The crystals on the wall sconce jingle as they pass, as though to give them away.

It is hard to see in the darkness.

Bernard sets off after them, practically growling with each breath.

Agneta breaks into a run in her heavy boots.

Hugo pulls her into his room, tosses the poker onto the bed, locks the door and runs over the window to try to open it.

‘He screwed it shut after the break-in,’ she whispers.

The storm rumbles through the house.

Hugo takes out his phone and uses the weak torch to illuminate his room. The window is completely covered in snow.

Agneta gasps in fear as Bernard turns the handle and starts pounding on the door.

Hugo runs over to the armchair blocking the disused doorway into the lounge and pulls it away from the wall.

The rice-paper lampshade sways in the draught.

The hallway outside is now quiet.

Hugo grabs his phone and turns on the front camera, then gets onto his knees and pushes it beneath the door to the lounge.

On the display, they can see the underside of the china cabinet.

An icy draught blows through the gap.

Holding his long hair back, Hugo tilts his phone as far as he can, enabling him to see a little more of the room on the other side.

There doesn’t seem to be anyone there.

Agneta exchanges a look with him, presses her ear to the door to the corridor and listens carefully.

She can’t hear a sound.

She gives Hugo a shake of the head.

He tiptoes over to her, gets down onto his knees and repeats the same process with his phone.

On the screen, the bare wood on the bottom of the door becomes visible, followed by the ceiling in the hallway. Right then, Bernard comes into view. He is standing in the gloom by one side of the door with the axe in his hand and a blonde wig on his head.

Hugo has just had time to process what he is seeing when Bernard swings the axe into the door, and he reels back and drops his phone.

Agneta grabs a chair and attempts to wedge it between the handle and the floor.

Hugo runs over to the other door and opens it, but the china cabinet is blocking the passageway.

Bernard has started kicking the bedroom door, and the wood groans with each blow.

Agneta holds the chair steady with one hand and presses the other to the door.

Hugo picks up the poker from the bed and gets down onto the floor.

Bernard kicks the door again, and Agneta feels the power of it shudder through her palm and shoulder.

Lying flat on his back, Hugo has begun to crawl out from under the china cabinet.

Without warning, the head of the axe breaks through the door, and Agneta screams. The blade has left a deep gash on her palm, and she backs away. Blood immediately begins spurting from the wound, and she grabs a T-shirt from the bed and wraps it around her hand.

Bernard swings the axe again, and more of the blade smashes through the wood. It gleams in the light as he works it free, then he yanks it back and kicks the door again.

Hugo’s feet disappear beneath the cabinet.

Agneta crosses the room, trying to protect her injured hand as she gets down onto her back. She has to turn her head and press her cheek to the floor to be able to get beneath the cabinet.

Bernard has started hacking at the door again, shards of wood falling into the room.

Agneta pushes her right arm through to the other side and grabs the front of the cabinet, pulling herself out as she tries to find a foothold.

Her breathing is ragged.

There isn’t much room, and the cramped space is claustrophobically tight against her ribs.

The floor is freezing cold beneath her.

Her bloody left hand is throbbing.

Hugo grabs her denim shirt and pulls her towards him slightly before losing his grip.

Agneta looks up and sees the ceiling in the lounge.

‘Help me,’ she whispers between quick breaths. ‘I’ve hurt my hand.’

He tries again, but one of her boots is caught on the back of the cabinet.

Agneta manages to kick them off with a cramping sensation in her calves.

Somewhere in the house, a window breaks.

Hugo lets go and hurries away, out of view.

Agneta tries to push herself the rest of the way through the gap, but her knees knock against the underside of the cabinet.

She hears heavy footsteps approaching.

Turning her head towards the hall, she sees Bernard in the doorway. He is wearing a blonde wig, and his lips are pressed so tightly together that they have turned white.

She uses both hands to pull herself clear of the cabinet, screaming in agony.

Bernard rests the axe on his shoulder for a moment, and has just started walking towards her without a single shred of emotion on his face when Hugo appears in the doorway behind him.

The teenager swings the poker as hard as he can, hitting his father on his back and lower neck with a sickening thud.

Bernard falls headlong and then lies motionless on the floor.

Hugo stares down at him with a hand to his mouth.

Agneta wriggles clear, rolls over onto her stomach and gets to her feet, leaning against the china cabinet to steady herself.

She has bled through the T-shirt around her hand, and the blood has begun dripping down onto her socks.

Bernard’s right foot twitches a few times.

Agneta is struggling to think clearly. She is in a great deal of pain, and she looks around the room in astonishment.

The storm has torn open the patio doors, and a large amount of snow has blown in over the floor, sofas, coffee table and lamps.

Two crows have taken refuge on top of the mahogany bookcase, and the crystal chandelier sways in the wind.

Hugo drops the poker and leans back against the wall with his eyes closed, drying the tears from his cheeks.

Agneta is in shock, blood dripping from her hand. She sways to one side and feels something grip her leg. Looking down, she sees that Bernard has his hand around her ankle. His mouth is bloody.

‘Hugo,’ she mumbles.

She tries to shake him off, but Bernard’s grip is too tight, and she drags him across the floor.

Agneta takes a deep breath and manages to pull her foot free, stumbling slightly and breaking her fall against the snowy sofa.

One of the crows spreads its wings and caws.

Bernard gets onto his knees, spits and reaches for the axe.

As though in a daze, Agneta staggers towards the doors onto the garden. The snow is churning through the air outside, blowing parallel to the ground.

Bernard lets out a low groan and tries to stand up, his bloody wig hanging over his face.

Hugo grips Agneta’s arm and guides her out of the house. Moving as quickly as they can, they make their way down the slope in the deep snow.