Part 66 (1/2)

'What's going on, really?' she asks.

'I didn't do the things they're saying about me, I've got no idea what this is all about.'

'Erik, I know, I know you're innocent,' she says. 'But can't you just hand yourself in to the police? Say you surrender, I'll support you, be a witness, anything.'

'They'll shoot me the moment they catch sight of me. You've no idea what-'

'I understand how you feel,' she interrupts. 'But doesn't it just get even worse the longer you wait? The police are everywhere-'

'Nelly-'

'They've taken your computer, they've packed your whole office into boxes, they're outside our house in Bromma, they're at the Karolinska, and-'

'Nelly, I need to stay in hiding for a while, there are no other options, but I want you to know that I'll understand if you can't help me.'

'I love adventures,' she says sarcastically.

'Please, Nelly ... there's no one else I can ask.'

He can hear the dogs barking again. Closer now.

'I can't get involved,' she says quietly. 'You can see that, it would cause problems for Martin, but ...'

'Sorry I asked,' Erik says, feeling black hopelessness fill his heart.

'But I've got an old place,' Nelly goes on. 'Have I ever told you about Solbacken, it used to belong to Dad's parents?'

'How do I get there?'

'Erik, I'm probably not much good at car chases, I haven't got the b.a.l.l.s, but I can go and ... I don't know, I can rent a car at Statoil or something ...'

'You'd do that for me?' he asks.

'Tell me you love me,' she replies cheerfully.

'I love you.'

'Where shall we meet?'

'Do you know the bathing beach at Sickla strand? Erik asks.

'No, but I'm sure I can find it.'

'There's a school or nursery right next to the beach wait there until I show up.'

He hears the dogs again, as their barking echoes through the trees.

Erik crouches down and runs through the dense undergrowth at the edge of the water, and pulls off his shoes and heavy trousers. He bundles his clothes up and hides in the bushes as a helicopter pa.s.ses low overhead.

His pursuers are getting closer, the dogs sound eager and are barking excitedly.

Dressed in just his underpants and vest he wades out into Sicklasjn. The chill stabs at his feet and legs.

He can hears sirens from emergency vehicles from several directions, carried across the water and through the trees.

Erik sees blue lights flas.h.i.+ng over on ltavgen, on the bridge across the inlet leading to Jrlasjn. There are at least three police cars. The vehicles' lights reflect off the metal struts of the bridge and across the crowns of the trees on both sh.o.r.es.

The helicopter roars over the treetops again and he sinks quickly into the water. He holds his breath, but can clearly feel the change in the current as the helicopter pa.s.ses. The water of the lake forms small waves radiating out in rapid circles.

He carries on, further out, slipping down amongst the water lilies, between their long stalks and the slimy bottom of the lake. There he lets the bundle of clothes containing his phone fill with bubbling water and sink.

In the other direction, beyond the dam, he can see that the bridge over the Sickla Channel has been blocked off. There are police cars everywhere. The tall fibregla.s.s railings s.h.i.+mmer like huge plates of blue light. A helicopter is hovering above the ski slope.

Erik starts to swim, taking big strokes, feeling the cold against his lips and the smell of seawater. It can't be many hundred metres to the other side. Two jetties reach out into the water in front of the housing blocks erected by Atlas Copco after the war to house their guest-workers.

115.

Erik swims, keeping his head low and trying not to disturb the surface of the lake too much. He's already more than one hundred metres out. The water merely laps quietly as he takes his broad strokes, but thunders in his ears when he's underwater.

He raises his head enough to be able to look ahead. Drops of water sparkle on his eyelashes as he sees the two jetties before they disappear behind the swell. The current is pulling him a long way off to one side.

High above the nature reserve the helicopter is clattering, but he can no longer hear any dogs.

Erik swims, thinking about how he lied nine years ago, and stole Rocky's whole life from him and didn't spare him a thought until now.

He slows down, and treads water as he sees that he's just fifty metres from the two protruding jetties. A few children in bathing costumes are running about on the damp wood. There are people sitting with picnic baskets, blankets and folding chairs in the late summer warmth.

A motorboat appears to be approaching from the channel.

Erik swims towards the sh.o.r.e, beyond the beach. At the far end gnarled weeping willows hang over the water. The tips of their bright green branches trail in the undulating water.

The motorboat skims silently towards him, its prow striking the waves as the boat slows down.

Erik takes aim for the trees, fills his lungs with air, then dives below the surface.

He swims underwater with powerful strokes, feeling the coolness of the water against his face and eyes, its taste in his mouth, and the m.u.f.fled sound as his ears fill.

The dappled daylight s.h.i.+mmers on the bubbles rising from his arms.

Beneath the water the motorboat makes a metallic buzzing sound.

Erik's shoulders are straining from the effort. It's further to the sh.o.r.e than he thought. The water below him is completely black, but the surface looks like molten tin.