Peek A Boo I See You (Emma Frost #5) (19 page)

To his satisfaction, he didn't make a sound sneaking across the wooden planks. The old man in the chair had no idea what was coming towards him, he wasn't going to realize it until it was too late.

Anders tried hard not to giggle as he approached the old man in the green chair. The man was breathing heavily in his sleep. Anders imagined swinging the sword at him and cutting his throat. He wondered if it would be more effective to wake him up first? Have him look into Anders' eyes and realize what was about to happen? If he was to understand what was going on, it would definitely be best. He had to recognize his fear of death before embracing it, right?

Anders grunted slightly in pain as he lifted the sword with the good arm and stepped in front of the sleeping old man.

He was about to grab his shoulder and shake him, when suddenly there was a sound coming from the other side of the door. The sound of a key being turned. The voices of two people saying goodbye to each other outside. Anders felt how pearls of sweat sprang on his forehead and upper lip. He looked down at the old man. There was no way he could wake him up, kill him and then get away before the front door opened and someone would see him. If he stabbed the man in his sleep, he wouldn't get the maximum effect out of the whole thing. And that was, after all, the mission, wasn't it? To have them face their fear of death. To stare death into the eyes.

Anders stared at the door, then at the old man. He blinked his eyes several times. It was so hard to focus. It was like his brain was all blurry. He bit his lip, wondering where he even was and who the man in the chair was. He tried to listen to the voice in his head that had been guiding him the last several days now, the voice of whoever had sent him on this mission, but he couldn't hear it. He shook his head.

Don't fail me now. I need you. Don't leave me.

He looked up as the handle of the front door turned. And, just as the door was opening, he finally heard the voice again.

Run! Run for your life Anders.

 Anders sprang up the stairs moaning and grunting in pain, found a bathroom and hid in the shower, pulling the curtain closed.

53

February 2014

J
ACK AND
I
STAYED
with Sophia until she fell asleep on the couch. Then, we carried her into her bedroom and left the house, locking the door with my extra key that she gave me a long time ago.

"Ssso, you think she'll be alright?" Jack asked, as he walked me home.

I smiled and nodded. "He won't be back. She scared him to death by shooting him."

"Wouldn't he nnneed to go to the hhhospital?" Jack asked, as we reached my front door and stopped.

I shrugged. "I suppose."

I stared at Jack while wondering. If it really was The Caring Killer who had been shot, then we might actually have a possibility of catching him if he looked for help at the hospital in the mainland or at Dr. Williamsen's, our only doctor here. But then I'd have to tell Morten what happened, since he was the police and the only one who could ask the doctors to contact him if a patient with a gunshot wound showed up. I’d made a promise to Sophia, but if I kept quiet and kept it, I might lose a chance to finally catch the bastard.

It wasn't an easy decision.

"Anyway. I hhhave to get back and get my sister to bbbed," Jack said.

I looked at him and smiled. Always caring about his sister more than himself. When was it his turn to live? When she died? I loved that he took care of her the way he did, but couldn't stop wondering what might have been between us if it hadn't been for her. I loved his mysterious, artistic nature. He was so different from Morten.

"Well, thanks for helping us today," I said and found the key to my own door and put it in the lock.

"What are fffriends for?" he asked with a smile.

"See you later."

Jack waved and walked away. I watched him cross the road and walk towards his own house. Then I turned and opened the door.

"I'm home, Dad!" I yelled, took off my coat, and put it on a hanger. I placed it in the closet in the hallway, then pulled off my heavy boots. A small pile of snow landed on the wooden floors and started to melt slowly. I set them aside and walked into the living room where I found my father sleeping heavily in the old green chair that he loved so much. The TV was still on. I found the remote and turned it off. My dad woke when the noise from the TV stopped. He grunted and looked at me.

"What? Are you home already?"

"It's ten-thirty, Dad."

"Yeah, but on Valentine's Day…Aren't you kids supposed to stay out all night and go dancing and stuff?" he asked.

"Morten is not much of a dancer," I said.

My dad was scrutinizing me. "Something wrong with you two?"

"I don't know, Dad. It just kind of went wrong. Sophia called and needed my help, so I had to leave the dinner. Morten was really upset and left."

"Oh, that sounds bad. I'm sorry for that. What was so important with Sophia that it couldn't wait?"

"She had an emergency. I really promised not to say anything. Say, what is that on the floor?"

"What on the floor?" he asked perplexed.

"That over there. And there. It looks like…" I walked closer to the stains on my wooden floors. "It looks like small puddles of…" I kneeled to see better.

"Blood?"

My dad leaped out of the old chair and walked closer. "Blood?" he frowned. "That can't be right."

"The door to the yard is open," I said. "And there is blood on the floor? What happened here tonight?"

"I have no idea. Honestly, sweetie. I put Victor to bed around eight, then came down here and fell asleep watching
Shooting Star
. There was this kid who could sing exactly like Adele. It was really awesome, but then it got boring and I dozed off."

I looked at the bloodstains and realized they continued through the house towards the stairs. I even saw blood smeared on the railing of the stairs. I was about to walk up, when I heard a voice coming from outside the door. In came Maya and my mother, looking cheerful and happy.

"Wow, it's a party in here?" my mother asked. She was a little tipsy.

Maya laughed. "We met downtown and shared a cab," she said. "What's going on here?"

"There’s blood on the floor," my dad said.

My mom blew raspberries, then laughed. "Blood. That sounds like something from one of your books, Emma. It's probably just mud or ketchup. Maybe Victor spilled ketchup on the floor? You have to relax, sweetheart. You're way too tense. Loosen up a little will you?"

"As soon as I make sure Victor is alright, I will," I said and stormed up the stairs.

54

February 2014

I
HAD A BAD
feeling about this whole situation as I approached Victor's room. Something had happened to Victor. I just knew it. I sensed it.

I grabbed the handle and opened the door to his room. My heart stopped. Everything inside of me froze.

He wasn't there. Victor wasn't in his bed.

"Victor?"

I rushed in and checked everywhere in the room, calling out his name.

"Victor?"

His bed was messed up. It wasn't right. He always made his bed very neatly when he wasn't in it. So, he had been sleeping in it. But the covers were on the floor. The sheet was messed up. Something was really wrong here. Frantically, I searched his room, under the bed, his closet, everything, but found no trace of him. My heart was racing heavily as I tried to think of where he could be.

"The bathroom."

I ran into the hall and opened the door. "Victor?" I asked, my voice shaking heavily with angst.

"Victor? Are you in here?"

But there was no answer. He wasn't on the toilet. I looked at the shower curtain. It was pulled aside. Could he be hiding behind it? Maybe he had a bad dream? Maybe something had scared him?

"Victor?"

I was about to grab the curtain when a voice coming from the door stopped me. It was Maya.

"Mom?"

I looked at her. She could see the fear written on my face. It scared her. "What's going on, Mom?"

"I…I can't find Victor."

"What?"

"He’s…he’s not in his room and he's not in here either. Do you have any idea where he can be?" I asked. "Does he maybe have a secret hide-out I don't know about?"

"Only the yard. He loves to play there, but you know all about that. You think he might have gone into the yard at night?"

"I don't know. Right now, I'm willing to believe anything. I'm so scared, Maya. I'm so afraid that something might have happened to him. I mean there was blood on the floor in the living room for Christ sake. Was that his blood? What the heck is going on here?"

Maya grabbed my hand and pulled me closer, then she hugged me. "Mom you have to relax. It won't help anyone if you panic."

"You're right, sweetie. I'm so sorry. I just feel so…"

"Helpless?"

I nodded. That was exactly how I felt. It was the most awful feeling in the world. As a mother, I was used to always knowing what to do. But this time, I didn't. I was so struck by fear over what might have happened to him that I could hardly move.

"He's so fragile, Maya. The world will tear him apart if he’s left alone out there. I have to find him."

"Let's go downstairs and talk to the others. Then, we'll send out a search team," Maya said with great authority. It would have made me very proud if I hadn't been so paralyzed by fear.

She grabbed me around the shoulder and, together, we left the bathroom and went down the stairs. My mom and dad were arguing downstairs when we got down.

"Can't you ever just take anything seriously, Ulla," my dad said. I could hear a deep anger in his voice. It came from years of frustration that finally was allowed to come to the surface.

"Oh come on," my mother said. "Emma is always so tense. She gets it from you, you know. You both need to learn how to relax. She’s always fussing about the boy. She's always so tense about him. No wonder he’s weird and can't do anything on his own. Boys don't need you to fuss about them. They need to be independent and stand on their own two feet. He’s fine, I tell you."

As my mom spoke the last words, she turned and looked into my eyes. Then she blushed.

"Emma…I…"

"He's not fine, Mom. Victor is not fine at all. He's gone."

55

September 2007

A
LEXANDRA COULDN'T BELIEVE HOW
fast the three days went by. It had been the best three days of her life, she thought, when she drove up in front of Hummelgaarden on the last day to pick up Samuel.

She looked at Olivia in the back seat. She was staring at the car door with great anticipation. Her legs and arms were kicking wildly with expectation.

"He'll be here in a minute, sweetie. I know you're looking forward to seeing him. So am I."

It was the truth. For the first time in many years, Alexandra had actually enjoyed her son's company. He had been so sweet and gentle to be around on all three days of his counseling and Alexandra was so sad it was all over now. She was worried that everything was going to go back to what it was before. No…worried was too mild a word. She was petrified.

She studied Olivia's smiling eyes while they both waited for Samuel to step inside the car. In the three days, the two of them had managed to build up something, a relationship of some sort that Alexandra had never even dared to hope for between the two of them. Samuel had played with his baby sister, laughed, and even kissed her. It had been quite extraordinary.

But now what? Now that it was all over, what was going to happen next? She wanted to ask the counselor, but knew she had to go through the social worker first. Alexandra wanted to schedule an appointment for her to go see him and talk to him and know what it was he had done to change Samuel so drastically. She wanted tricks if he had any. Or just plain good advice. He was the first person ever to have reached Samuel and managed to change his ways.

But Alexandra wasn't even sure they would ever let her have an appointment with the counselor. It turned out to be a lot harder than she expected when she had called earlier in the day to talk to Marianne Moeller about it. She wanted to ask her if it was okay if she walked inside Hummelgaarden today to pick up Samuel and maybe chat a little with the counselor that Samuel had been with. She never thought it would cause a problem, but apparently it did. Marianne Moeller had told her in many harsh words that Hummelgaarden was a very busy place and they couldn't have all kinds of parents running around up there wanting
to chat with the counselors.
She would only be disturbing and upsetting all the patients
.
They weren't comfortable with strangers. So, no. She wasn't allowed to go inside.

Alexandra had her doubts as to whether they would make her an appointment, but how else would she get to talk to the man? He apparently knew something Alexandra could use.

"We have very strict regulations that we have to follow," Marianne Moeller had said.

Alexandra didn't care much for all their regulations and rules. All she wanted was a little help. Was that too much to ask? But the social worker had suddenly started talking about her not being cooperative enough and telling her she didn't care for her attitude and that was when Alexandra knew she had to hang up before she said anything she would later regret.

Now, she spotted Samuel as he came out of the front door. The tall male counselor was with him. Now they were shaking hands. The counselor pulled him closer and gave him a warm hug. Alexandra almost cried when she saw it. Samuel was smiling and hugging the man back.

What was it that man could do?

Alexandra couldn't just sit here and watch. Here was this man, so close to her car and all she wanted was to talk to him. He was, after all, outside the building, so she wasn't overstepping any rules and regulations was she?