Page 114 of The Sleepwalker

‘We’re here to talk to Ann-Charlotte,’ Peck tells him.

‘You lot are really fucking repetitive, you know that?’

‘That’s not our intention,’ says Joona. ‘We’ll come back another day.’

‘Drink your damn must,’ Åke replies, looking him straight in the eye.

‘No.’ Joona slowly gets to his feet.

‘The boy’s freezing. You should let him go inside,’ says Gregory.

‘Mind your own fucking business,’ Åke snarls, a menacing tone to his voice.

‘I’m just saying that—’

‘Shut your mouth. Knut, get over here.’

The boy takes a step forward, and Åke slaps him. He staggers to one side, but doesn’t raise his head.

‘God .?.?.’ Peck whispers to himself.

The boy stands still for a moment, then quietly moves back over to the chopping block and gets to work.

The hens peck at the ground around him in the darkness.

‘We’re going,’ says Joona.

Åke leans back, breathing heavily. He loosens the belt of his raincoat, giving Joona’s colleagues a glimpse at what he already suspected might be underneath: several large packs of explosive strapped around his torso.

‘Sit down, the lot of you. Sit down and put your hands where I can see ’em,’ Åke tells them.

The detonator has been pushed into one of the bales, right through the protective paper. The safety catch is off, and thefishing line around his finger is tied to the fuse.

‘For your own sakes,’ he explains, studying them with a glazed look in his eyes. ‘If you want to avoid an accident, that is .?.?. Me, I don’t care either way.’

41

Time seems to grind to a halt – as it does in the cold glare of a camera flash – as Gregory and Peck realise that Åke could detonate the belt before either of them has time to react.

If he yanks the fishing line, the small charge inside the detonator will set off an explosion, a blast large enough to kill them both and destroy most of the buildings around them.

Joona takes his seat, and Gregory and Peck slowly put their hands on the table. The colour has drained from both of their faces, and their eyes are wide and panicked.

‘People like me spend their whole lives preparing for a visit from people like you,’ Åke mutters. ‘But you think you can just waltz in here, wave a few papers and take our kids away.’

‘No, we—’

‘Yeah, yeah, you just want to talk to Lotta,’ he says with a smile.

‘We do.’ Peck nods.

‘Everyone knows the politicians are corrupted by the power elite, moving taxpayers’ money to their own accounts .?.?. It’s no secret .?.?. But what does that make social services, the courts, the police? Mercenaries and traitors, that’s what .?.?. Snatching our kids and selling ’em to the Jews.’

The boy approaches the table with an elk rifle.

‘Tell your son to put that gun down and go inside,’ says Joona.

‘Dad?’ the boy asks, pausing a few metres away.