Page 85 of The Sleepwalker (Joona Linna #10)
Joona is racing across the open water at a speed of forty knots. Huge waves crash all around him, and the fierce wind throws the foam up into the air.
Snow patters against the windscreen.
The two motors roar and churn up water behind the black boat.
The GPS signal is still weak and patchy, but Joona has memorised the nautical chart and is trying to use the searchlight to orient himself.
He passes frozen inlets, beaches where the diving towers are lying on their sides, wrecked marinas and dark waterfront properties.
Drottningholm Palace isn’t visible through the snow, but he knows it must be somewhere up ahead.
Joona swings to port side, cutting across the waves and parrying the worst of the gusts before turning off into a new channel in the ice.
The swell washes back towards him with surprising force, surging over the side of the boat and knocking it off course. The rubber floats on the side of the RIB thud against the edge of the ice before Joona manages to regain control and picks up speed again.
He swerves to avoid a sofa floating in the water, and the broken ice clatters against the bow.
Up ahead, he spots the dark Nockeby Bridge through the blizzard.
*?*?*
Hugo and Agneta trudge down the slope towards the icy bay in a strange world of darkness and furious power.
The wind tugs at their hair and clothes, making it hard to walk in a straight line.
Snow swirls in from the right, and debris and branches bounce across the ground.
Agneta glances back over her shoulder, but there is no sign of Bernard.
The house is nothing but a looming shadow.
Hugo loses his footing and slips down the slope, leaving Agneta with no choice but to attempt to follow his tracks.
A lifebuoy rolls past her feet, and is swallowed up by the snow and the darkness beyond.
Behind her, she hears Bernard roar.
Agneta knows she is following Hugo, but she still feels confused. Out of nowhere, she starts to worry that she is retracing her own steps, and she is just about to shout when she spots the teenager up ahead.
He is waiting for her, and he wipes the snow from his face, grabs her good hand and pulls her after him.
Agneta’s breathing is much too shallow, and she attempts to protect her bloody hand against her body.
She catches a glimpse of the lake house straight ahead, but it quickly vanishes from view.
A sheet of corrugated metal sails through the air, hurtling in the direction of the common land.
Hugo drags her with him.
Agneta feels as though she is no longer in control of her feet and legs.
There is a loud crack as one of the birches snaps and crashes to the ground, branches shaking.
She has lost a lot of blood and knows she won’t be able to go much further. Her knees are about to give way beneath her, and all she wants to do is curl up and go to sleep.
When they reach the lake house, they take cover against the wall and squint back up the slope, trying to see through the flurries.
Black shapes emerge from the haze only to disappear again a moment later.
‘Come on,’ Hugo shouts, pulling her inside.
The wind catches the door and slams it back against the wall, making the little window shatter.
Panting, Agneta slumps down against the wall.
Hugo manages to pull the door shut, muffling the sound of the storm slightly. He gets down onto his knees in front of her and starts brushing snow from her socks.
‘We can’t stay here,’ he says, pushing a pair of tennis shoes onto her feet. ‘He’ll follow our tracks. He’ll find us.’
‘I just need to catch my breath.’
‘There’s no time,’ he says, pulling life jackets and fenders out of a large plastic box.
‘Give me a few seconds,’ Agneta whispers, her eyes on the door.
‘We need to get out onto the ice and head for the yellow house,’ he says as he rummages for a rope. ‘I know them.’
‘I’ll wait here,’ she replies as he ties the rope around her waist and checks the knot.
‘We can help each other if we go through the ice.’
Hugo hangs a pair of ice claws around his neck and pulls Agneta back onto her feet, making her groan in pain. As he wraps a blanket around her shoulders, he asks if she is able to stand.
*?*?*
Joona reaches the end of the channel in the ice and speeds out onto the open water again. He heads straight for a huge wave, and the RIB briefly glides through the air, slamming back down and breaking through the next wave.
Water cascades over the bow and windscreen.
In the bright searchlight, the swirling snow makes it look as though the world is twisting like a screw, and for a few seconds, Joona has the sense that the boat is upside down, that his hair is trailing through the water.
*?*?*
Agneta staggers forward across the ice behind Hugo as the wind batters them from the side. He has tied the other end of the rope around his own waist, and is carrying the looped slack around his forearm.
She hunches over as she follows him, trying to keep the blanket pulled tight around her shoulders, but a sudden gust grabs hold of it and tears it away.
Agneta loses her footing and drops to one knee, but quickly manages to get up again.
Ripples of snow dance across the dark ice.
Bernard is still bellowing behind them, but she can’t make out what he is saying.
Hugo uses one hand to push back his hair, squinting through the blizzard in an attempt to get his bearings.
Agneta has lost all sensation in her face and no longer feels the cold. Her lips are icy, but her bloody hand is burning.
The tinny sound of an engine reaches her through the gale, and in a sudden lull in the storm, she catches a glimpse of the open water up ahead. Frothing waves break over the thin edge of the ice.
A faint light flickers above the rough water, then vanishes into the haze.
‘A boat!’ Hugo shouts, dragging her further out.
Agneta stops and turns her back to the wind. She needs to rest, and can feel the hot blood from her hand seeping through her shirt, running down her torso and leg.
‘We need to keep going!’ Hugo tells her, glancing back.
‘I can’t.’
Her breathing is quick and shallow, her heart pounding uncomfortably hard, and she realises she is probably on the verge of circulatory shock.
‘Come on, I’ll help you.’
A dark figure emerges from the gloom behind them, and Bernard comes into view. His blonde wig has blown away, and his mouth and chin are smeared with blood. He is gripping the axe in his right hand, and he uses the left to wipe the snow from his eyes.
Hugo gets in between him and Agneta, holding up both hands as he tries to catch his father’s eye.
‘Enough now, Dad .?.?.’
Bernard jabs the axe out in front of him and hits Hugo square in the chest. The blow knocks the wind out of him, and the teenager drops to his knees for a moment before slumping onto his side and trying to catch his breath.
Bernard takes a step towards Agneta and severs the rope between them on the ice. He then stands tall and looks down at her with a sad smile.