Page 87 of The Sleepwalker

‘Plenty of people do.’

‘Not me.’

‘I’ll pay extra,’ he says.

‘How much?’

‘I don’t know .?.?. Double if you let me come inside you.’

‘Double double,’ she says.

‘OK.’

‘Where should we meet?’

‘There’s a place in Lidingö, the Dialog Hotell .?.?. It’s perfect, because the reception closes at six.’

‘I’ll find it.’

‘Tonight, seven thirty.’

‘Eight would be better for me.’

‘OK. I’ll text you the room number once I’m there.’

‘See you later, then,’ she says, ending the call before he has time to say another word.

They take off their headphones, stop the recording and look up at each other.

‘She sounded nice,’ says Stina.

‘She actually did,’ Rikard says with a smirk.

‘But if she’s the person we’re hoping she is, she’s extremely dangerous and violent. Don’t forget that .?.?. She’s probably unwrapping a brand-new axe as we speak,’ Stina reminds him.

‘Nah, I trust her,’ Rikard jokes. ‘I think she really liked me.’

‘I’m going to go and see Noah about backup,’ Joona says, getting up and leaving the room.

32

Rikard Roslund stops to let Velour sniff a telecoms cabinet as they turn back towards the house. He waves when he notices one of the neighbours in their kitchen window, then makes his way in through the garden gate. The dog sits patiently on the doormat, waiting for him to dry her feet before she lumbers through to the kitchen.

Kennet’s shift at Danderyd Hospital doesn’t end until seven. The chronic lack of nursing staff means he works far too much, which is great for their finances but not much else.

They have been together for six years and like to tell friends that they live the perfect middle-class life, but that is no longer true for either of them. Kennet struggles with depression during the winter months, and one February evening almost a year ago, he overdosed on sleeping pills.

Rikard found him on the floor by their bed when he got home from work, with froth clinging to the corners of his mouth, and grey skin.

Thank God for activated charcoal, Kennet sometimes jokes.

He now takes antidepressants, and they have put it all behind them, but Rikard still feels betrayed – deeply.

Rikard gets changed, grabs the envelope full of cash he signed out earlier, shoves the notes in his wallet and takes his Glock 45 out of the gun cabinet.

He used to dream about retiring early and moving to Palma with Kennet, sitting on the balcony with a crime novel and a glass of cold rosé, but nowadays the thought just makes him sad.

It isn’t Kennet’s fault; he can’t help his struggles. Rikard himself had a serious eating disorder when he was younger, but was fortunate enough to get help from a specialist clinic. Just three years later, he had recovered. He started working out, and eventually applied to the police academy.