Part 48 (2/2)

The lets do a deal game is over. But then, the whole suggestion of a deal was never realistic anyone who has seen the file must die, and she knows it.

The computer boots up. Pilot Jacket tells Iben to type in the pa.s.sword.

Iben knows that Malenes pa.s.sword used to be lofa, for lots of future ahead, but she might have changed it.

Neither of the men says anything. She has to try something.

She keys in the letters. This has to work. She has only one chance.

Windows opens. Iben suppresses a sigh of relief. Pilot Jacket shoves her out of the way, clicks on Find, and enters Zigic.

While theyre waiting for the computer, Zigic steers Iben over to the sofa and puts his hand on her shoulder.

Why dont you sit down? Stay here on the sofa. Read a magazine or something. Meanwhile, well have a look around the apartment.

For some reason, something collapses inside her. She cant hold back her tears any longer and starts to cry without making a sound.

He stands there. What does he want? He said something about reading a magazine. There is a small pile of Eurowoman on the coffee table. She picks up a copy and opens it up, holding it in front of her face. Finally he moves away.

Hes over by Malenes bookshelf now. She hears him take out a few books, leaf through them, and toss them to the floor. Iben peers at him from behind the magazine. He raises his arm and his command is like a blow: Read!

Iben turns her eyes to the pages in front of her, but the text is blurring. Is there some truth in what he has told her? Why else would he risk coming to Denmark?

Its Malenes fault if I die now, Iben thinks. Its Malene whos been in touch with Zigic, not Camilla. And, despite what the others think, Im not the one whos been paranoid. In fact, Im the only one who has faced up to reality.

Theres something else: this means that it wasnt me sending those e-mails after all. I did remember writing them, at least I thought I did because it all seemed so real, so vivid and convincing, but that was just a fantasy. Now its all gone. But then, was it Malene who sent them? Ever since I came back from Kenya shes been full of resentment toward me. Why shouldnt it have been her?

Zigic has finished going through the contents of the shelf. He has found a box of homemade CDs, which he puts down next to Pilot Jacket. If Iben heard correctly, Zigic calls Pilot Jacket Nenad. She has the impression that Nenad is uneasy, presumably because he cannot find the file.

Zigic disappears into the bedroom and starts rummaging. Shes alone with Nenad, whose back is turned. Why arent they taking any precautions to stop her from trying to escape? They havent even searched her; they dont know that she has a knife hidden away. Maybe they dont give a d.a.m.n because they are convinced of their own power?

Her common sense is fading. She desperately wants to believe that her executioners are going to let her live that after all a deal will really be possible. But if her work at the DCIG has taught her anything, it is that genocide perpetrators always give their victims a glimmer of hope that theyll survive if they cooperate and dont provoke anger. This illusion allows the perpetrators to peacefully take the victims weapons and slowly oppress them until they are incapable of resistance. In the end, their execution is as easy and inevitable as swatting a fly.

Iben urges herself to accept the truth of her situation: there is no hope. After all, the inmates in the Warsaw ghetto and the Sobibor camp revolted only when they faced up to the fact that they had nothing to lose.

Nenad still sits facing in the other direction.

She gets up, slowly and soundlessly. Then she takes a step past the coffee table.

Nenads voice is loud. No!

Zigic suddenly appears at the door. Iben practically falls down onto the sofa and quickly raises the magazine to her face. Blindly, she waits for what will happen next, but when she peeps out from behind the pages, Zigic has returned to the bedroom. She stares at an article about handbags. How did they know? Did Nenad see her image reflected in something s.h.i.+ny on Malenes desk? Was Zigic merely pa.s.sing by?

A reel is playing in her head showing the landscape of Bosnia, the camps and buildings, the corpses excavated from ma.s.s graves piles of corpses with cracked skulls and cut-off fingers; close-ups of the better-preserved bodies; the black marks of the ties that held straining torture victims to their chairs.

She has spent two years trying to understand men like the ones now in Malenes apartment. Is the smell of evil around them different from the smell of ordinary people? All she can get a whiff of is a mixture of aftershave and deodorant expensive aftershave and deodorant. Zigic has enough money.

Zigic returns to the living room and walks around testing Malenes chairs, lifting them and shaking them. He slams several of the chairs against the floor, selects one, places it in the middle of the floor, and then turns to Iben. Do you have any string?

There might be some in the fourth drawer down next to the kitchen sink. Iben has no intention of telling him that theres some in Malenes desk.

When he goes to fetch it, sh.e.l.l be alone with Nenad for a few seconds, her last chance before they tie her down and start torturing her. She has to run for the front door. Losing them in the hallway and the stairwell is going to be nearly impossible, but she forces herself to remember Warsaw. And Sobibor.

Her whole body tenses. She hides her face behind the magazine. They mustnt notice. Now she leans forward. Her heels against the floor.

Only Zigic does not go to the kitchen. Nenad goes instead. Ill fix some coffee as well.

Zigic and Iben listen to Nenad opening and closing drawers in the kitchen.

Theres nothing here!

Zigic suddenly remembers seeing a ball of string. He shuffles through the desk contents scattered on the floor and finds it under the radiator. He walks to the chair and turns to Iben.

Malene, come over here. Weve got to leave you alone for a moment. We wont be long. But Im afraid I will have to tie you to a chair.

It doesnt matter whether she can see through his lie or not, and he knows it. What can she do except hope that her common sense, all her instincts, are mistaken?

While Zigic ties her arms behind her back, Nenad pops his head around the kitchen door. The scene doesnt bother him at all it must be routine. Hey, wheres your coffee?

Iben finds it hard to speak; her vocal cords seem coated with thick glue. In the jar by the windowsill.

Nenad seems to have another idea. He looks pleased with himself and c.o.c.ks an eyebrow. You have any cakes or cookies?

No.

Zigic tightens the string. It cuts into her wrists and hurts badly nothing compared to the pain to come. Soon h.e.l.l discover her knife.

You know, there are some cookies. Only three left. Hes probably eating them all right now.

Zigic seems to find that funny. He yanks hard at the string to make sure she cant move and wanders off to the kitchen.

Iben, its now or never. Now!

She kicks her right leg up under the chair as far as it can go, reaches for the knife, and grabs it. Its something she has practiced many times. She nicks herself as she jabs the tip of the knife under the string, but suddenly her arms are free and she can stand up.

Soundlessly she slips into the hallway. Shes able to reach the door without being discovered.

Denim Suit, however, is guarding the door downstairs. The moment she turns the deadbolt to the apartment theyll hear it in the kitchen. A couple of deep breaths. Someone in the kitchen throws something; she hears him run.

She turns the lock and almost flies down Malenes stairwell, her feet barely touching the steps. Theyre only a few yards behind her. As she throws herself around a turn in the staircase, she hits the handrail and almost tumbles into an endless fall. She grabs the handrail with her bloodied hands to stop her body from cras.h.i.+ng down the steps. The knife clatters to the ground. The near fall only speeds her descent while she manages to pick up the knife.

The men behind her call out in Serbian to their guard below.

He shouts back: Okay!

Shes already on the second-floor landing when he comes into view, walking slowly up toward her. Hes a big man.

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