AllFreeNovel
Share Us
20
MARK
We agreedto meet at eleven, but the contractor didn’t show up until three PM with a long-winded excuse of having had to finish the job he was working on, so he can now solely focus on my house. It worked out though, because it gave me the time to clear out most of the things from Eva’s room, where the damage was the worst, and cover everything else with tarps and blankets to protect it.
Unfortunately, this contractor also thinks the entire roof needs to be replaced, but said he can do it in a week, ten days tops, and in the end I didn’t think too hard about it and just decided to leave him the keys so he can go to work.
Worst case, I don’t have a new roof in ten days. The other contractor can’t get started until next month anyway. And if this one doesn’t stay true to his word, maybe Sojer can have some of those harsh words with him—the ones he only uses for suspects and low-lifes.
My phone had been going off for most of the day, but none of the calls were from Eva, so I let them go to voicemail or replied via text if it was urgent. None of it actually was.
It was nice being back in the country where the sun was shining and the wind, though strong, wasn’t as bitingly cold as in Ljubljana. Our next door neighbors invited me in to lunch and wouldn’t hear no for an answer.
Sure, it was mostly so they could interrogate me about the case and Eva, and ask what was going on with our house, and about half the village dropped in while I was there, but it was still pleasant and calming.
Yet the very first phone call I pick up as I was driving back to Ljubljana shattered all that.
“Sojer arrested both the doctors,” Brina tells me breathlessly. “He’s about to officially start questioning them. You better get here.”
“What does he have on them?” I ask.
“I don’t know yet, but they say it’s significant,” she says. “I’m on my way to the NPB headquarters now. You should come too.”
“I’ll be there in half an hour,” I say. “You can tell me everything then.”
And just like that, I’m back in the case. The quiet day in the country I just left might as well have happened last month. I was even kind of looking forward to the family dinner with Eva’s parents, but that’ll have to wait now too.
I call Eva right after speaking to Brina, telling her I won’t be able to make dinner after all.
“Me either, I was just going to call you,” she says. “I’ve been giving interviews all afternoon and am giving another one for the evening news.”
I manage not to curse, but just barely.
“Eva, no.”
“Yes, Mark,” she says curtly. “This killer wants my attention and he has it now. He doesn’t have to kill again to get it.”
“Eva, it’s too dangerous, we agreed on that,” I say, sounding pathetic even to my own ears.
“I started this and I’m finishing it on my terms, Mark,” she says. “Just watch. This time tomorrow all this could be over.”
I want to curse some more and not stop, but that’s not going to get us anywhere here. She’s made up her mind and nothing moves her when she does that.
“Fine, but I’m taking you,” I say. “Don’t go anywhere until I get there.”
“Dino already picked me up,” she says. “We’re driving now. Don’t worry. I’m not taking any risks.”
That calms me, but I still get the exact times from her so I can be there when she’s done to take her home and not let her out of my sight after that. No need to tell her that though, it’ll just happen. Good thing I remembered to pack my gun on the night we left the house.
But maybe all this worrying is for nothing. Maybe Sojer already has the killer we’re looking for in custody.
* * *
EVA
“Boss isn’t too happy with this plan of yours, is he?” Dino asks after I hang up on the call with Mark.
“He knows it’s the best thing to do though,” I say and leave it at that.
