Part 31 (2/2)

ivar Laxdal leaned back in the fas.h.i.+onable chair, causing the brushed steel tubing to flex alarmingly as his bulk was rearranged.

'Explain,' he ordered. 'What's gone wrong to make things so urgent? The whole affair is as clear as mud anyway.'

Mar looked sideways at AEgir, who nodded almost imperceptibly.

'My colleague Joel Ingi Bragason has disappeared.'

'We know that. Has he been reported as a missing person? Or do you mean that you just don't know where he is?'

Mar sighed. 'Unfortunately we have a very good idea where he is. He's in France, as far as we're aware. At least, he boarded a flight to Paris late last night.'

'You couldn't have stopped him?'

'He left without any notice. As he's travelling on a service pa.s.sport, French immigration had no reason to ask any questions.'

'And we didn't know he'd left the country until this morning,' AEgir Larusson said, speaking for the first time and with an expression on his ugly face sour enough to curdle milk at a hundred paces.

'How come?' Gunna broke in, deciding to get between ivar Laxdal and the two ministry men in their identical suits.

'How come what?'

'I'm wondering why it took you so long to figure out he'd left the country. Why didn't you know last night when he boarded his flight? And how come he was able to travel on a service pa.s.sport?'

'To start with, the ministry doesn't keep tabs on its staff outside of working hours,' AEgir said in an acid voice. 'In the second place, Joel Ingi Bragason was part of the minister's entourage several times last year and as such he was issued with a service pa.s.sport.'

'This story about Joel Ingi's computer being stolen by a pair of kids,' Gunna said. 'That's bulls.h.i.+t, right?'

'I couldn't comment,' AEgir said, startled at her bluntness, while behind him Mar's face told her everything she needed to know.

'So how did he lose it?' Gunna continued. 'Did he leave it in a taxi or a bar somewhere? Staked it at cards? Come on, tell me, will you? That way we might be able to find it for you.'

AEgir simply shook his head and said nothing. Mar opened his mouth to speak and then closed it.

'All right,' Gunna went on, watching the pair of them for reactions. 'This morning we picked up a lowlife who it seems your precious Joel Ingi used as a go-between to commission an old friend of ours to track down guess what? A mislaid MacBook and the person who stole it from him, more than likely under some rather startling circ.u.mstances. We also have two deaths on our hands that this character is responsible for so far. Am I making myself clear?'

'Abundantly so, Gunnhildur,' ivar Laxdal rumbled. 'Maybe now it would be worth your while explaining what's behind all this, and just why the disappearance of a clapped-out laptop has so far resulted in two corpses. Just so you're aware, neither of them went happily.'

AEgir opened his mouth but no sound came out, apart from a belated cough, while his face had begun to change from its usual ruddy complexion to something approaching beetroot.

'I think what my colleague is trying to say is that we are not at liberty to tell you any more than we already have, but this is a very serious matter and one that could cause the government a great deal of embarra.s.sment internationally,' Mar said in a diplomatic tone, graced with a smile that conveyed apology, but no flexibility.

His face stung as he stepped out into the cold air and loped down the slope towards the solitary house along the tracks left by the Land Rover. It was still half dark and there was a single light to be seen in one window. He thought about knocking on the door, but decided against it. This would have to be quick and it would have to be brutal if necessary.

A strip of plastic was enough to deal with the worn lock on the back door, after which he found himself in a workshop with his feet swis.h.i.+ng through wood shavings as he made for an outline of light leaking through an ill-fitting door. The moment he opened it, he felt his eyes itch and he swore quietly to himself as he stepped into the hall and went towards the sound of a radio and clattering dishes.

The woman's back was to him as she stood at the sink. Baddo looked at the tall figure with the spiky hair and surveyed the old house's kitchen. He leaned across one of the worktops and clicked a switch, shutting off the radio.

'AEi, Sif, what did you do that for?' The woman said in irritation without looking round.

'h.e.l.lo, Sonja,' Baddo said quietly. 'We meet at last.'

Hekla spun around and her mouth dropped open. Baddo looked her up and down, appreciating what he saw, a strong young woman with long legs hidden in baggy tracksuit bottoms and a man's white s.h.i.+rt covering plenty in the chest department. A shame to slap her about, he thought. But it has to be done, he reflected with a pang of regret. Business is business.

'Who?'

He stepped forward rapidly, taking her by surprise, delivering a swift punch to the stomach that knocked the breath out of her and made her gasp for air, while a slap with the back of his hand left her dazed. As she doubled up in shock, he buried a hand in her thick, short hair, pulled her head back and growled. 'Not a word. Not a f.u.c.king word. Understand?'

Hekla nodded mutely, desperately fighting for breath, which came slowly as she began to pant in panic.

Unexpectedly, Baddo sneezed, swore and glared at the woman in front of him.

'I know who you are, I know what you've been up to. I know where you live and I know where your kids go to school. So don't f.u.c.k about. Understood?' Baddo rasped, his eyes watering, and Hekla nodded mutely. 'You have something I want. Where is it?'

'The pictures? They're in the camera,' Hekla gasped.

Pictures? Baddo wondered, quickly realizing this could be a bonus. 'Where are they?'

'In the other room,' Hekla said, regaining her breath, and Baddo saw her eyes widen as she looked past him.

'What's going on here?' A cross, youthful voice demanded, and Baddo spun round to see a gawky teenage girl standing in the doorway.

'Sif, don't ask any questions and do as the man says,' Hekla instructed, her voice husky and faltering. 'Go to the desk in the living room and get the small camera from the bottom drawer, right at the back. Now.'

The girl disappeared and Baddo stared into Hekla's eyes, seeing nothing but terror as they listened to Sif rummage in the other room. It seemed like an age before she returned, her hand held out. He took the camera from her and pressed the recall b.u.t.ton, scrolling through the pictures with a grin on his face.

'You have been a busy girl, haven't you,' he said and Hekla flushed.

'What's this about?' Sif asked, peering through the untidy hair that framed her face.

'Never you mind. Now where's the computer?'

'What computer?' Hekla asked and Baddo grasped a fistful of her white s.h.i.+rt, dragging her face to within a few inches of the ugly cut that ran down his cheek.

'I said, don't mess me about. The one you took off one of your punters a few weeks ago.'

'I don't know where it went,' Hekla said, desperately trying to avoid telling him that Sif had taken it.

'Stop, will you?' Sif squeaked, stepping forward and stopping as Baddo raised a hand. 'It's in Dad's workshop. I put it back yesterday.'

'Show me.'

Baddo spun Hekla around, twisted one hand hard up behind her back until she gasped in pain, and marched her out of the kitchen and along the pa.s.sage, b.u.mping against the walls as she stumbled in front of him. In the dimly lit workshop, Sif fumbled among piles of boxes for the laptop case she knew should be there.

'Come on, will you? I don't have all day,' Baddo growled, wiping his running nose on the sleeve of his free arm as the other hand held Hekla over a workbench, her face in the sawdust and shavings. 'For f.u.c.k's sake, there it is,' he said in disgust as Sif held out the laptop case, and at the same moment a fat black and white cat emerged from under the bench, purring and calling as it saw people in its domain.

Slackening his grip on Hekla's arm, he reached for the laptop case and aimed a vicious kick at the cat as it stalked amiably towards him, its tail in the air.

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