Page 83 of Snowman

“Frida. Isak. What a surprise.”

He walked down the stairs, casually rolling up his sleeves.

“Yes,” Frida said, her eyes shifting between me and him. “I could say the same thing.”

I moved to the staircase as Thor reached the bottom. He stood beside me, his hand brushing lightly against my back.

“Why are you here?” Thor asked. “I called Johansson. Told him I was taking some vacation days.”

Frida’s lips twitched, almost amused. “We’re not here about that.”

Thor’s jaw tightened slightly. “Then why?”

"We're here for Bree," Isak said.

I instinctively stepped back, my body behind Thor's.

Frida chuckled, "Oh, we’re not here to take you," she said. "We just came to pass on a message. Your mother," she paused, "your real mother, Victoria Muller, wants to know when you'll come back."

"Come back?" I asked, stepping out from behind Thor, my arms stiff at my sides. "I don’t want to go back."

"No one’s forcing you," she said, smiling. "But you’ll have to contact her eventually. You need to claim your legal name."

I turned to Thor, my eyes silently pleading.Make them go away. I didn’t want to leave. Not him. Not this life. I wasn’t her daughter; I was Bree. I’d always been just Bree.

"Okay then," she said lightly, "why don’t you make us some tea? We’ll have a little chat with Detective Karlsson while we wait."

The false sweetness in her voice boiled against me, but I nodded, my feet dragging me to the kitchen. I had no intention of making tea, I slipped around the corner, pressing myself against the wall to listen instead.

"We found Laura’s body. She drowned in the river, but there were… irregularities. Bruises, cuts, signs she might have been tortured before she ran."

Thor stiffened, his arms folding across his chest. Isak reached into his pocket and handed over something small and metallic.

"We found this in her coat," he said.

Thor’s brows furrowed as he held the badge up to the light. "My badge?"

"Yes," she said. Her arms mirrored Thor’s, crossing. "We were wondering how it got there, especially since you never reported it missing."

Panic surged through me, I couldn’t let them accuse Thor, not for this, and before I could think twice, I stepped back into the room.

"It was me," I blurted, my voice shaking but loud enough to stop the conversation. "I gave it to her."

Thor turned as I pressed on, moving closer. "The water is boiling," I added quickly, pointing toward the kitchen, buying myself a moment. "Thor left the badge there when they came to ask about the missing woman. Mel and I both saw it."

Frida blinked, caught off guard. "Oh," she said, recovering. She turned back to Thor. "Well, you still should have reported it."

"I am on holiday. I planned to report it as soon as I return." His tone hardened. "But tell me, why is Isak here?"

"My shoe size is a 39," Isak interrupted, his voice flat, deflecting the question.

Thor chuckled, "You know what they say about small feet…"

I bit back a laugh, brushing my fingers across my lips. "So," I said, shifting the tension. "Still want that tea?"

"No," Isak snapped, glaring. "We’re good."

Frida cleared her throat, regaining composure. "We’ll be in touch," she said, already heading toward the door, but soon her eyes moved to the jagged cut near the frame. "What happened here?"

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