Run run as fast as you can (Emma Frost #3) Page 15

  The last two from the car that hit Ellen.

  They thought they could hide, didn't they? But they didn't know Thomas very well. They didn't know he knew everything about them, every friend they had, every move they had made the past eight months. He had followed them, all of them, written down their routines in detail, making sure he never left anything out. He knew when Lisa had a doctor's appointment and when Sophia was getting her alimony check because then she would go shopping for new clothes for her many children. He had kept track of all five of them to make his revenge perfect.

  After the accident, the handsome husband left the farm outside of town … abandoned it. Thomas couldn't just leave everything the way the husband had done. He kept coming back, remembering Ellen and not wanting to let her go. Even if the house was now empty except for a few pieces of furniture and other things they had left behind … among them all of Ellen's clothes, which Thomas smelled every day and even wore on some days when he really missed her and thought he wasn't going to survive without her.

  For weeks, he cried every day while sitting in her bedroom with the windows closed so her scent wouldn't disappear. One day, there had been someone in there with him. He had heard a strange sound, then walked to the kitchen to discover a small bat on the floor who was trying to fly, but it had broken its wing. Seeing himself a little in the young bat with a broken wing, Thomas picked it up and in the following days he nursed it back to health. Soon, he found another one hanging under the ceiling. As he walked around the house, he realized it wasn't alone. So he built them a cage and put them in it. For quite a while, they were his only company.

  It was one day while feeding them, by letting them suck his blood through an open wound, that he came up with the idea for his revenge. He wanted so badly to punish someone for Ellen's death, and who better than those crazy women? He knew it was all their fault. Especially the driver. She hadn't been paying any attention, she hadn't kept her eyes on the road as she was supposed to.

  As the days passed in the empty house, Thomas became more and more convinced that it was the women's fault and he started planning his revenge. He started following each one of them, and soon, he was very busy keeping track of everything they did and who they did it with.

  Now eight months later, he had killed three of them by shooting them with the handsome man's old rifle that he had left behind.

  Thomas felt better each time he killed one of these despicable women. What bothered him the most was that woman, Lisa. He recognized her as the woman he had been watching for a short while after Ellen had moved to the countryside. There wasn't a day when he didn't regret not having killed her back then. The thought came again and again like a thief at night.

  If only I had … No, no. You mustn't punish yourself for what happened to Ellen. It wasn't your fault. It was theirs. It was especially hers.

  Lisa Rasmussen was a terrible woman, Thomas had come to know. He was the one who had handed the papers to her opponent, Per Egon, the ones showing that Lisa never took her exam. An idiot like Per Egon never would have thought of this himself. So, Thomas helped him a little. But Thomas had seen Lisa do horrible things to people. Oh boy. He had even seen her punch a small boy in the gut and knock the air out of him, just because he cut in line in the candy store while the owner looked away. Entering the store just as she did it, Thomas heard the boy start to cry. Lisa then whispered in the boy's ear that she would kill his dog if he ever told anyone. So he didn't.

  No, there was no doubt that Thomas was doing the world a huge favor by getting rid of her and the same probably went for the rest of the women. They were all horrible creatures.

  Three down, two to go.

  Thomas giggled as he watched all of them gathered in the living room. All he had to do now was to make his pick. Who would go first?

  52

  November 2013

  By one o'clock, we all slept heavily. I fought the urge to fall asleep for as long as I could, but soon I dozed off as well. Dizzy from the sherry and exhausted from all the agitation, I closed my eyes for just one second and then fell into a deep sleep on my couch. I thought Morten would hold out, but when I opened my eyes and realized it was light out, the first thing I saw was him sitting in the chair with his head tilted backwards, sound asleep. The rest of the company had disappeared.

  "Morten," I whispered.

  He grunted. "Not now."

  "Morten. Wake up."

  "What?"

  "Wake up. We fell asleep. It’s morning."

  Morten sat up with a startled look. "We fell asleep?"

  "I'm afraid so."

  "I'm so sorry, Emma. I was supposed to stay awake."

  "I'll go check on everyone upstairs," I said, and got up. I hurried into Maya's room and found her in a deep sleep snuggled up in the middle of the bed, drooling on her pillow. I smiled and backed out of the room quietly. Then I entered Victor's room. He was already awake, sitting in his chair with his notebook on his knees, writing in it while rocking back and forth.

  "Hi buddy. Did you sleep well?" I asked. Then I realized he was still wearing the hearing protection I borrowed from Jack. I approached him and kneeled in front of him. His face seemed tormented. I grabbed one of the ears on the hearing protection and pulled it off of him.

  "Hi, sweetie. Did you sleep okay?"

  Victor lifted his eyes and looked into mine. It was always so intense when he did that. My heart rate went up.

  "Is something wrong?"

  "The bats are screaming, Mommy."

  My heart was beating faster now. "Is someone with them now, Victor?"

  Victor removed my hand from the hearing protection, then pressed it closer to his ears like they weren't enough to keep out the sound. Then he nodded. I was struck by a sudden feeling, rose to my feet, and stormed towards Sophia's room. I opened the door and found the bed empty. I gasped, then walked inside.

  "Sophia?" I called.

  Baby Alma was babbling from her travel bed in the corner. I walked to her and picked her up. "Where is Mommy, Alma?"

  I looked at the bed. It hadn't been slept in at all. I walked into the bathroom with a pounding heart. "Sophia?" I called again and again. But no answer came. I found her clothes on the chair so she had undressed and gotten ready for bed, but then what? Where did she go after that?

  Sophia would never, ever leave Alma.

  The thought made me run down the hallway while calling Sophia's name and looking into all of the rooms, one after another. I wondered if she had gone in to sleep with her other children and found their room. They were all awake; two of them were fighting and throwing pillows. One was sitting on the floor crying while the oldest was trying to comfort him. They all froze as I entered the room.

  "Have any of you seen your mother?" I asked, trying not to sound worried. "Alma needs to be fed."

  "There is milk in the refrigerator," the oldest, Christoffer said.

  "Has your mother been in here this morning?" I asked.

  Christoffer looked concerned. "No. Why?"

  I shook my head and forced a smile. "No reason. I'm just looking for her, that's all."

  The twins Anne and Erik looked at me with big eyes. "You can't find Mommy?" they asked in unison.

  "No, no. I'm sure she is downstairs. It's just a big house."

  The two oldest, Christoffer and Ida, knew I was lying. I could tell by the worry that was suddenly planted across their faces. "I'll find her," I said. "Just take care of each other, will you?"

  They promised and I closed the door. I ran from door to door, knocking, then went back to Maya's room and woke her up.

  "Please take care of Alma. Sophia is missing. I need to find her. There is milk in the refrigerator."

  53

  November 2013

  They were fighting again. They had been going at it all morning and none of them remembered why anymore. Lisa sighed and looked at Amalie and Jacob who were yelling at each other, one screaming louder than the other while baby Margrethe
was crying loudly, like she was trying to drown all of them out. This was, all of a sudden, a very small room. The kids had come in to get their clothes and use the bathroom.

  "Mom, Amalie called me stupid," Jacob said.

  "No, I did not. I never said that," Amalie whined.

  "You're stupid," Jacob said.

  "Moooom!"

  "Can't you just take your clothes and go dress in your own room?" Christian asked with a groan. He hadn't even gotten out of bed yet. It was, after all, Sunday, was his excuse.

  Lisa rubbed her eyes. She was trying to get Margrethe to take the bottle, but she refused. If she was crying because she was hungry, then why wouldn't she eat?

  "Mooom!" Amalie yelled again. "Aren't you going to say anything to him?"

  Lisa exhaled and looked at her oldest.

  "That is so typical," Amalie said, stomping her feet on the floor. "You always take his side. You never hear what I'm saying. You never listen to me. Never!"

  Lisa looked at her husband for help, but he had closed his eyes and pulled the covers over his head to shut them all out. Lisa groaned while trying to stuff the bottle into Margrethe's small mouth. She spat it out, then cried even louder. Lisa closed her eyes to calm herself down. Amalie reached her hand out and whacked her brother on the head. Jacob cried out.

  "Moooom! Amalie hit me."

  Come on, take the bottle. Forget about everybody else, sweetheart, just take the bottle and you'll feel much better. Please stop crying would you? Please? I need you to stop, sweetie.

  "Mooom?" Jacob said again. Then he reached over and pulled Amalie's hair till she screamed.

  "Mooom!"

  Lisa didn't want to lift her head and look at them. She tried hard to focus on her baby and get her to eat. The crying increased and Margrethe was getting red in the face. Christian moaned from the bed. Jacob and Amalie screamed and pulled each other's hair.

  Just try and stay calm. Think of a meadow. Think of the ocean, the beach, the forest, anything calm and quiet. Count backwards from a hundred. Picture a field of flowers and you lying in it staring at the blue sky above with nothing to worry about. Just stay calm. Whatever you do just stay calm, for Pete's sake!

  "Mooom?" Amalie said, crying.

  "Mooom?" Jacob said, crying even louder, holding a hand to his head where Amalie had hit him.

  "Lisa?" Christian said. "Could you please get them to be quiet? I need my sleep. I drank too much of that sherry last night. Do you have any aspirin? Lisa?"

  Lisa stared at the baby who still refused to take the bottle. Her body was shaking as she tried to stay calm and counted.

  "Eighty-nine, eighty-eight," she said, while closing her eyes. But the pictures inside of her head were no longer of a beautiful meadow or a quiet forest; no, they were of blood. Blood rushing out of Christian's body after she had stabbed him with the carving fork she was still carrying in her purse, still smeared in Per Egon's blood from yesterday. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't get the picture to go away and replace it with something soothing and calming instead.

  "Lisa?" Christian repeated.

  "Mom?" the kids both said.

  She opened her eyes and looked at them, but saw nothing but a river of blood running towards her and their faces torn in distress and pain.

  "WHAT?" she yelled.

  There was a knock on the door and they all went quiet. The knocking intensified, then she heard Emma's voice on the other side. "Lisa? I know you're in there, please open the door."

  Lisa handed Christian the baby and the bottle. "Here, you try now." He looked baffled, and opened his mouth to complain, but a look from Lisa made him stop. She opened the door.

  "What?"

  Emma looked furious. She was out of breath as she spoke. "What have you done to her?"

  "Done to whom?" Lisa asked.

  "Sophia. Where is she?"

  Lisa shook her head to make sure this wasn't some stupid dream. "How should I know?"

  "I think you did something to her. She is missing. I can't find her anywhere."

  "I beg your pardon? Is that any way to treat a guest in your house?" Lisa asked.

  The ugly officer Bredballe came running up the stairs, panting. He stood behind Emma. "She's nowhere downstairs, or in the yard."

  "That leads us back to you, Lisa," Emma said. "I know you’ve done something to her. I want to know what you did to Sophia. Where is she?"

  "This is getting really old," Lisa said. "I haven't done anything to Sophia. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a minor family crisis I have to attend to," she said and turned to look at her family. They were all staring back at her. Except the baby, who had finally accepted the bottle.

  "Is this true, Lisa? Have you done something to Sophia?" Christian asked.

  "Mom?" Amalie asked with accusing voice.

  Jacob didn't say anything. He stared at his mother with distrust.

  "Are you kidding me?" Lisa asked while the fury threatened to explode inside of her. "Are you freaking kidding me here?"

  No one in the room spoke for quite a while. Officer Bredballe broke the silence. "Let's not jump to conclusions here."

  Not knowing what else to do, Lisa took one last look at her husband, then reached for her purse on the table, grabbed it, and stormed out the room knocking over Emma Frost on her way out and making her fall into the arms of officer Bredballe. The two of them tumbled to the floor and once they were back up, Lisa was long gone.

  54

  November 2013

  I called my dad and asked him to come over and help Maya look after Sophia's kids. He came a few minutes later. I went into Victor's room and pulled off his hearing protection.

  "You're coming with me."

  Downstairs, Morten was already calling the station. On his way out the door, he turned and kissed me. "We'll comb the entire island to find Lisa," he said. "We'll find her. She can't go far."

  "No but she might kill Sophia if you don't catch her," I yelled after him as he sprang towards his car.

  I looked at Victor who was standing next to me. "Come on buddy. Let's go."

  We walked to my car and drove off. "I need your help with this Vic," I said as soon as we had left our street. "I believe you can hear those bats, and I believe you're hearing them right now, am I right?"

  He didn't answer but he didn't protest either. "I'll take that as a yes."

  "I know it's a long shot, but I believe Sophia is with those bats and I believe you can lead us to them if you follow the sound. Do you think you can do that? Do you think you can lead me there?"

  I turned my head and looked at Victor for some sort of signal that he understood what I was asking him to do. Then he nodded.

  "Great. Tell me where to go."

  We drove around in the neighborhood for quite a while and I was beginning to lose hope that he’d be able to help me with this, when Victor finally said something.

  "Turn right here."

  "Are you hearing them now?" I asked.

  He didn't answer. Probably thought it was needless. "And now left."

  Then he went quiet for a long time and I kept driving, thinking it was odd that we had to go this far away. When we passed the city limit sign I became concerned. "Are you sure about this buddy? We're outside of town now."

  He remained quiet. I chose to trust him. After all, he was my only hope now. I looked at my phone to see if Morten had called or texted, but there was nothing. I felt so furious inside that I had let Lisa right into my home like this. She had to be behind it somehow. I just couldn't figure out how. As the landscape changed, I wondered how on earth Lisa would even be able to do this, to kidnap Sophia or any of the others? Her husband didn't seem to be in on it, after all. And, she had a baby.

  I shook my head. No it was her. I was certain it was. It had to be. It fit so well. She knew all of the victims, plus she was seen at the library yesterday. Plus I had seen something in her this morning when she opened the door to her room. Some kind of uncontrollable ange
r that I remember having seen in the eyes of Officer Dan when I just moved here and he tried to kill me and my family. It was in Lisa's eyes as well. A hurt combined with rage. It was in her eyes and had convinced me she was capable of doing this. Of doing things this cruel. Wasn't she?

  "Turn left," Victor suddenly said very loudly.

  "But Victor, there isn't anything here? Nothing but a dirt road leading to some old farm."

  Victor was rocking back and forth now in his seat, holding his hands to his ears. He seemed in distress, in pain even.

  "Is it very loud now, Victor?" I asked.

  "They're screaming, Mommy."

  "You don’t need to say any more," I said and turned up the dirt road. On a mailbox by the road it said Ellen and Mads Andersen.

  55

  November 2013

  Lisa was punching the steering wheel of her car as she drove across town. Tears of wrath were rolling across her cheeks.

  Who the hell does she think she is? Talking to me like that? Someone should teach that woman a lesson. Teach her how to behave towards guests. I have never … how dare she be so rude!

  Lisa wiped a tear off her cheek and realized she was driving in circles. She had no idea where to go. She couldn't go home, since they would probably look for her there. She couldn't go back to her family, since they all thought she was a vicious killer. It hurt her so deeply that they would think that about her. Yes she had a temper and yes she couldn't always control it, but the people she killed had deserved it. They had it coming and she was doing everybody a favor by removing them. She didn't kill Simone Beaumont, who had, in fact, been Lisa's friend and the one she liked best in the group. Didn't they see her tears when she received the news that she was dead? Didn't they feel her pain? She was sincerely upset when it happened. Didn't they know that? Okay so she had fantasied about hurting Sophia now and then, especially since she was the one spilling coffee all over her car right before the accident, right before they hit that woman in the street and killed her with the minivan. But she hadn't done anything about it. She really didn't plan to either. And whatever happened, Lisa certainly didn't deserve to be treated like that.