There's no place like HOME (Emma Frost Book 8) (6 page)

Sophia pushed the computer towards me. “Let’s just say we have a new situation then. But you have the skills. You can hack or crack or hike your way into these people’s lives and give me my sleep back. So, get to it, sister. I’m counting on you.”

“First of all, it’s not at all as easy as you make it sound like. I mean, I guess I could check their bank account, and maybe even get access to their network and computer, if they had the time to set it up, before they…”

I paused and felt awful again. This was terrible, and what Sophia was asking me to do was bad. It really wasn’t any of our business.

“So, you could know all about them in just a few hours, couldn’t you?” Sophia asked. She looked all excited. It made me feel even worse. Like a vulture.

“Look, it’s not like we’re going to rob them or anything,” Sophia said. “I just want certainty. I want to know. And I sure can’t wait for that useless police force of ours to find out. I need to know as soon as possible. Aren’t you the least bit curious?”

I was. I was very curious about who these people were, but to go through their personal stuff only hours after they had been killed, just seemed a little…well a little…no, a lot…it was just so wrong.

Sophia gave me her puppy-dog-eyes, and I laughed. Mostly because she was anything but an innocent puppy. I loved her dearly, but that, she was not. It felt good to laugh, though. Made me feel better.

Sophia pushed the computer closer to me. “Come on. I know you want to. It’s calling to you. Can you hear it? Sophia moved the lid of my laptop to make it look like it was a giant mouth speaking. “Use me, Emma. Use me to find ease. You know you want to. Use the gift. You have the gift. Use it.”

I chuckled. “Okay, then. Just don’t tell any of our neighbors. I don’t want them thinking I might snoop in their affairs as well.”

14

May 2009

L
OUISE WAS NERVOUS.
She had this tickling sensation in her stomach while sitting on the train from Esbjerg to Copenhagen. Herstedvester Prison was located in Albertslund, just outside of the capital.

This was the place where they put all the most dangerous prisoners in Denmark.

Louise had never visited a prison before. It was all very exciting, and a little scary. But he would be there. And she was looking so much forward to finally seeing him in real life. Up until now, they had been writing letters to each other every week, and she already felt like she knew him better than she had known any man in her life. And he had gotten to know her as well. He really wanted to. He really liked her, he wrote in almost every letter. And he wanted to get to know her better. He wanted to know everything about her. No one had ever wanted to know about Louise before. No boys in school or later in her life had ever wanted to date her or anything. Not even back when she worked cleaning the kitchen at the senior center, a job the city had found for her.

To many people, Louise came off as a little odd. She knew that, and always kept her distance from them. She was different. She even had the doctor’s word for it. She had a disease that she couldn’t remember the name of, but they told her it meant she would never be mentally older than a fifteen-year old. It was okay for her. She didn’t mind, and as long as she took her medicine, she was fine. The city had given her rehabilitation when she was just twenty-three, and after that, she never had to work again, they told her. She didn’t completely understand why she didn’t have to work at the kitchen anymore, but she enjoyed staying home with her cats, so she didn’t complain. 

The train rushed across the countryside, and after two hours, she was in Copenhagen, where she found a bus to Albertslund. She had planned the route from home, since it had been many years since she was last in the capital, and it was so easy to get lost.

Her mom and dad didn’t know she was going to visit Bjarke. She had told them over the phone that she was corresponding with him, and it had made them so angry with her. But she didn’t care. What did they know about being young and being in love?

“For the first time, someone actually likes me,” she told them. She was disappointed to learn that they weren’t as happy about this as she was.

“But he’s a very dangerous man,” her mother pleaded. “Please stay away from him.”

“He’s not dangerous, Mother. I know him. He is nice. He is innocent. He never killed anyone.”

“Don’t be naïve,” her mother snorted.

“I’m not,” she had said, and hung up the phone. Her parents were so annoying. They always thought they got to decide everything. For once in her life, Louise wanted to be in charge. She loved this man, and she was so thrilled to go and see him. No one should get in the way of her happiness. So, she decided to simply not tell them. They would just try and stop her.

On the bus, Louise felt the tickling sensation in her stomach again. At the age of thirty-eight, this wasn’t a sensation you felt often. It was her last chance if she was ever going to meet someone. And now she had. Maybe he wasn’t going to be able to be there for her and live with her like other men, but it didn’t matter. He was nice and he liked her. What more did she need?

The bus stopped in front of a huge building and the driver told Louise this was her stop. She got out and stared at the enormous brick wall surrounding the buildings. Again, she felt the butterflies, and she couldn’t help but chuckle. She found her ID and walked towards the entrance.

This is it. The moment has finally arrived. In there, somewhere on the other side of these thick walls is the man of your dreams waiting for you. Just for you.

Louise could hardly contain her excitement.

15

July 2014

“
T
HESE KIDS HAD
no money!”

I looked at Sophia who had probably hoped for more exciting news. It turned out to be easier than I thought to get access to the couple’s lives. People really weren’t being very careful about protecting their private information. I’d gained access to the Boegh’s web-bank within an hour.

“Really?” Sophia asked. “How did they afford this house, then?”

“Big loan. They were in over their heads, the way I see it. It’s not hard to see that buying this house was going to eventually give them trouble. They both had good incomes, but this house was expensive, and they even took another loan to cover the moving costs. They were really going to be living tight. They also have another loan to cover the costs of their wedding. These people weren’t being very smart about their money. That’s for sure.”

“Looks like they were a little unrealistic. So, they might have taken other loans outside of the bank, then?” Sophia asked. “Maybe they owed money all over the place?”

“Hmm, they might,” I said, and looked at the screen. “He was a lawyer, though. Doesn’t sound like something a lawyer would do, does it?”

“Anyone can be an idiot with money. Believe me,” Sophia said with a loud laugh. “I’ve met many men who seemed to have it all together on the outside, but were fools when it came to money. It doesn’t matter what your title is. Anyone can get a gambling debt.”

“Definitely. But that’s not something I can see here. There are no big transactions of money within the last five years, or anything else suspicious, as far as I can see. But that doesn’t tell us anything.”

“What else?” Sophia asked.

I tapped on the keyboard. “Well, I did some background on both of them. The woman, Maria Boegh, grew up with her mother, who was on social welfare. They used to live in Vejle on the mainland. I found her files, and she was diagnosed with a lot of stuff, paranoia, social anxiety, and so on, nothing much to note there. The father left when she was just a young child. I found him in Esbjerg, where he is a realtor.”

“What about the guy?” Sophia asked.

“He came from a more solid background. His father was a farmer. Jonas Boegh grew up on a farm outside of Herning on the mainland as well.”

“Farmer? That’s some jump from farmer-boy to lawyer-boy,” Sophia exclaimed.

“I guess. Probably just didn’t want to end up like his parents, constantly doing hard manual labor. Who knows? Anyway, this doesn’t tell us much. It’s all pretty ordinary.”

Sophia leaned back in her chair and put her arms behind her head. My stomach was hurting from too much coffee, and the empty pot on the counter was a sign that we had been at this all day. I looked at the clock and realized it was time for me to start cooking dinner.

I opened the fridge and took out the roast rump I was going to make. I found garlic and smeared it all over it. Sophia looked at the computer screen with a disappointed look.

“I told you it wasn’t as simple as you thought it would be,” I said.

“I know. I just really wanted there to be something. Something that told me why these people had to be brutally massacred in their new home. Something that told me they weren’t going to come after my kids or me next. You know what I mean? I don’t like this unease I’m feeling.”

“Me either,” I said with a sigh. “Well, maybe Morten can tell us more once he gets here. If he ever gets here.”

“Oh, he will,” Sophia said. “For your roast rump, he’d walk to the end of the earth.”

I chuckled. “I sure hope you’re right.”

I found a bag of potatoes and poured them into the sink. I started peeling them, but my thoughts wouldn’t leave me alone.

“Did you check this guy’s e-mails?” Sophia asked.

“Yeah, I skimmed through them, why?”

“Cause he received a threatening letter just two weeks ago.”

I stopped peeling, wiped my hands on a towel, and approached the computer. Sophia pointed on the screen. “See here. This guy is really mad at him. Calls him all kinds of bad things.”

“You’re right,” I said, and read the e-mail. The e-mail address it was sent from was a Hotmail, and it was simply signed by
Furious
.

16

July 2014

“
H
E WAS A
lawyer, Emma. They get all kinds of threatening mail. Especially when they win a big case like he had just done.”

Morten looked at me over the steam from the potatoes. Sophia had left to be with her own family, so now it was just the four of us. Once Maya and Victor were done eating, I pulled out the e-mail that I had printed out.

“You said he had won a case?” I asked, and took another piece of the roast. It was so good, I had to have seconds…and probably thirds as well. “What kind of a case was that?”

“I spoke to his firm today, and they said he won a case for this young rich guy whose Dad hired them to get the son free of charges against him. Allegedly, he had raped a girl at his boarding school. The girl had three witnesses who saw what happened, but still, Jonas Boegh got the boy off. He tore their evidence apart, one by one, his boss told me. A work of art, he called it. Probably made some enemies in doing so, though.”

“So, you don’t think it’s worth investigating?” I asked, with my mouth full of hot potatoes. How come they always managed to stay this hot, even long after I cooked them? I drank some water to cool my mouth down.

“Of course it is,” Morten said. “But right now, there are a lot of things to consider.” Morten looked tired. “I’m afraid I’m in a little over my head here. We’re only four officers at our station, and they’re actually talking about making cutbacks. I have no idea how to deal with this case.”

“Aren’t you getting help from the mainland?” I asked. I couldn’t believe they were actually considering cutting back on the island’s already small police department. There had been talk before of cutting it down to just one man, but that was outrageous to me. It didn’t feel very safe to be out here on this small island if something really bad happened.

“They don’t have any teams to help us. They’re tied up on other cases, or taking compensatory time off because of too much overtime. The entire Danish police force is bleeding. There’s not enough money. It’s as simple as that.”

“So, they’re expecting you to investigate the case, or what?”

“I’ll know more tomorrow, when I go to the mainland to our district’s chief,” he said.

“I can’t believe they would do that to you.”

“It’s not something they do to me. They just haven’t any other options right now. Like I said, I’m having a meeting with the chief tomorrow, and then we’ll see.”

I felt frustrated. Knowing Morten, I knew he would be too nice to say what was really on his heart. He would never stand up to them…or ask for help. He was much too proud.

“Well, maybe I’ll come with you,” I said.

Morten looked up from his plate. “You? Why?”

“Moral support. We can call it a romantic getaway, if you like. Besides, I think we should pay that guy a visit,” I said, and tapped on the letter. “He sounds like he really hated Jonas Boegh.”

“Calling someone bad words isn’t exactly the same as wanting to kill them,” Morten said.

“It’s a little more than just a few bad words,” I said. “He tells him that he better
sleep with one eye open from now on
. I would call that a threat. Wouldn’t you?”

Morten looked pensive. “They were killed at night while in bed.” He nodded. “It’s worth taking a look at.”

I rubbed my leg against his under the table. “Maya is old enough to take care of Victor for a few hours while we’re gone. I could be your sexy assistant. Your sexy sidekick.”

I really liked the idea of spending some time with Morten like this. We hadn’t had any time alone together for a really long time. Something was always in the way. Mostly, it was our kids. Morten’s daughter Jytte had started wanting to have her dad around more. Since he had given up on finding the strange doctor that had held Maya captive, and come back to the island, she had asked him to stay home more and more often. She wanted him to take her to the movies and to watch TV with her at night, and Morten seemed to enjoy her sudden urge to be with her father. In the beginning, I thought it was great, but little by little, I realized that it meant I didn’t get to see him as much anymore. I was starting to suspect that she was doing this in order to keep him away from me. I had met her a few times, and got the feeling she really didn’t like me. I had suggested, several times, that we do something together, all three of us, or all five of us, bringing my kids in as well, but every time, Morten told me
not this time, babe. Jytte wants to be alone with her dad. She’s not ready yet.
It was beginning to irritate me how much of our life she controlled by acting like this. It was like a faucet. She could turn it on and off as she pleased, while I had no say in it at all. If she called him, he would come running right away. He never said no to her, and always chose her over me.
I was afraid that we were drifting apart, so I wanted to take this opportunity and spend the day with my boyfriend. Plus, I was getting more and more curious about this case, and I wanted to help Morten with the investigation. Maybe even get material for a new book? I was almost done with the one I was writing now.
Easy as One Two Three
was going to hit the stores in a few months. I only had to revise it. I needed some new material.