Page 147 of Hidden in Memories
She doesn’t know how to interpret his words. Does he mean that Filip is dead, or is he referring to himself?
The adrenaline coursing through her body is making her feel dizzy.
Please don’t let it be too late.
“Where’s Filip?”
Erik waves in the direction of the bar. She can just make out a half staircase, and she thinks she can see a figure slumped on a chair, but she isn’t sure.
“Is he still alive?”
“I think so.”
Erik seems apathetic more than anything, but he is holding the lighter in a firm grip. The yellow plastic reflects the glow of the lamp, shining ominously at her.
So little separates them from disaster.
She can’t tear her gaze away from the lighter. She is breathing too fast, but is finding it difficult to control her body. She is beginning to wheeze; she can’t get enough oxygen into her lungs.
She coughs, playing for time.
What the hell was she thinking? Why did she come running into the hotel on her own instead of letting the SWAT team do their job?
“Let me talk to Filip,” she pleads. “No one needs to die today.”
Erik looks at her sadly.
“Zelda is here,” Hanna says. The dog is her last hope. “She’s waiting for you outside the dining room.”
A glimmer of interest flares in Erik’s eyes. He raises his chin a little, looks at Hanna suspiciously. “You brought Zelda with you?”
At that moment the sound of barking comes from downstairs. She must have heard Erik say her name. She barks loudly and insistently at her master, and when nothing happens she begins to howl.
Hanna realizes that she has to make a choice.
Either she focuses on freeing Filip, or she tries to persuade Erik to come downstairs to see his dog. That means she will be separating him from his victim, which might lead to Filip being saved.
If she makes the wrong decision and Erik becomes so desperate that he uses the lighter, all three of them will die.
She is still holding her gun, but she dare not shoot in the poorly lit room. If she misses, and he gets away with the lighter, everything is lost.
Zelda barks again, and Hanna is counting on the fact that Erik will not start a fire as long as the dog is in the building. He cares more about Zelda than anything else.
He will not sacrifice his dog to the flames.
Hanna prays to God that she is right.
119
Daniel is standing by a grove of small mountain birch. He has already called Hanna five times, but she has obviously decided to ignore him. Her phone rings out, but she doesn’t answer.
He could wring her neck right now. What she is trying to do isn’t in the least heroic, just utterly idiotic.
He has never been so angry with her as he is right now.
He has never been so terrified either.
Hanna is in a life-threatening position, and there is nothing he can do to help her.
