Page 133 of Hidden in Memories
Which means he must be in the dining room or the Loft, just as they suspected.
“We’re not going to enter the building until both you and I are in agreement, okay?”
“How can I trust you?” Erik snaps. “Why should I believe you? All you want is to lock me up and throw away the key.”
“I imagine this must be very hard for you.” Hanna means every word.
Erik is breathing heavily now, and says something she can’t make out. At least he isn’t yelling anymore.
She thinks back to the day when they stood together in the foyer. His features were smooth, giving nothing away. Now his deep frustration is coming across very clearly, and she can imagine that his face is distorted.
“I’m here,” she reassures him. “All I want is to help you. If you’ll let me?”
The key thing is to keep the conversation going so that he doesn’t hang up.
Hanna is prepared to do her utmost to gain Erik’s trust, to make him feel he can turn to her for advice and support. This is the most critical moment in his life.
But the fear is pounding within her body just as much as his. As long as they are talking to each other, Erik can’t hurt anyone.
Which means there is still a chance to find a way out.
107
In the end Filip slips into a kind of torpor, and the room disappears. He is slumped on the chair with his eyes closed. His thirst is increasing as the hope of rescue fades.
He is vaguely aware of an agitated voice speaking loudly in the background. He opens his eyes and looks up—has his kidnapper returned?
Is this when he is going to die, just like his mom?
Images of her dead body drift through his mind. He didn’t get to see her, but the little he has heard is enough. Her throat was cut, she choked on her own blood.
His heart is racing, and he fights to remain conscious. He wants to scream and shout, even though he knows it is pointless. Instead he forces himself to listen to whoever is talking on the phone.
Filip can hear the answers, but not the questions.
The man sounds angry and bitter, switching between feeling sorry for himself and cursing the people who have done him harm. He makes excuses for his actions and blames others, says he was forced to do what he did.
Slowly Filip begins to make sense of it all. The truth is horrific and more terrifying than he could have imagined.
It makes him tug at the ropes binding his arms and legs. Nothing happens this time either, however hard he tries. He is in significant pain from the wounds caused by the chafing.
Then his strength runs out and he gives up.
I haven’t done anything,he wants to yell to the lunatic behind him.
The man seems to have moved farther away, his voice is fainter now. Then it disappears completely, and Filip is alone again.
“I haven’t done anything,” he whispers into the emptiness.
108
Daniel has never seen Hanna so focused.
They have brought in the motor home that is often used as a mobile police station; today it is operating as the command center. Hanna is sitting at the far end so that she can continue talking to Mogren in peace and quiet. She is linked to a group that allows others to listen in, which means that Daniel is able to participate, but Mogren won’t hear any comments he might make.
The conversation between Hanna and the killer is volatile to say the least. One minute he is yelling at her; the next he is weeping with fury. It is as if he has no filter; he is so wound up that he can barely express himself coherently.
Daniel finds what Mogren is saying deeply unpleasant. The way he rationalizes what he has done.
