Authors: Christine Edwards
“Ah, yeah, that’s a pretty surreal concoction. What on earth is in
that stuff? It’s beyond strong. They should rename it Dragon Fire, or something else to warn people away.”
She bursts out in another ringing laugh. “I know, I’ve been seduced by it several times at house parties. Good stuff, but watch out, it’s over fifty percent alcohol and will sneak up on you if you’re not careful. Now, to the important business at hand, lady. Bern seems
very
interested and wants to hang out with me tonight. He’s fascinating and we seem to really connect. Are you cool if we stay here awhile longer? Pleeeaaase, Vail? I’ll owe you.”
“Yeah, no problem at all. Everyone has been very friendly to me so far.” I hesitate on the next part, sweeping a long length of hair over my shoulder and taking in a breath. “Well, with the exception of the hot, scary guy.”
She pins me with an uneasy look and glances back at the door, as if to be certain that no one is about to enter. She leans in closer to grab both of my shoulders. “Listen to me, Vail. Mikkel is as sharp as a tack and doesn’t miss anything
.
He sees the way Alreck has been staring at you since we arrived. Have fun tonight, but you need to stay way clear of him, do you understand?”
“Why? How much worse could he be than every other guy in this bar?”
“Don’t repeat any of this but Mikkel told me that Alreck just got out of prison.”
I cringe.
She nods warily and says, “That’s right, you should be afraid. I don’t know anything else about him, except Mikkel said for me to let you know that he’s basically antisocial and has a temper on him. Not a guy for you to get involved with, my sweet.”
“Is he dangerous?”
Her brows knit together in sympathy. “I would assume so, and don’t let his stunning looks fool you because inside could be something else entirely. Just watch out, okay? Jesus, Vail, he stares at you as if he wants to devour
you. And I have to say that his stare is very intimidating. That is a man who wouldn’t take no for an answer if he ever got you alone.”
I shiver at the thought as a dreamy vision enters my mind: Alreck sitting atop his leather-clad motorcycle, gloriously naked. He’s clutching me tightly about my hips, legs twined around his strong back while he commands my lithe, nude body to ride him exactly how he likes, hard and rough. My black Brazilian bikini panties instantly flood with dampness at the erotic image. I reluctantly clear my heated vision as Lisetta takes my hand and leads me from the bathroom, her voice full of sincere concern.
“Just hang at the bar and I’ll make plans to see Bern again after tonight. Maybe another hour here, then I’ll owe you some dance time downtown at a hip club, girlie. How does that sound?”
“Yeah, that’ll work,” I say, distracted, as we both exit and head our separate ways inside the loud, shadowy club.
Prison? I really need to get some air!
I pick up my wool coat from the bar seat, slide it on and weave back through the bodies toward the entrance. I need a few minutes alone. As I pass through the dance floor I can’t help myself and turn my neck to chance a glance toward the far corner. Alreck is watching me like a predator. A strong shiver goes straight through me again, although at this point I can’t tell if it’s from excitement or fear. I quickly turn and head out the front door into the bitter cold night.
The snow is pummeling down in sideways-falling sheets, so I decide to descend the porch steps to take shelter under the striped awning coming off the side of the building.
Perfect.
I step under the cover and lean back against the wall to collect myself. The two stiff drinks have relaxed me and the fresh air feels awesome compared to that smoke trap. California is an über health-conscious state and the percentage of smokers is far lower than it is here. In Norway it’s more of a social pastime. Fine with me, but still, a girl needs to breathe.
I see a flicker of light off to my right and jump a bit as I’m greeted by a deep, rumbling, “Hello.”
I squint into the shadows and vaguely make out the person standing beside me under the long awning. “Oh, hey, Ragnar. I didn’t realize that you were out here.”
He’s about twenty feet away but his big form is unmistakable. “Yeah, I’m just having a smoke and I’m about to phone my old lady to see what’s taking her so long to get here. You women.” His accent is so thick that I struggle to make out the words.
I laugh as he takes a drag of what smells like a joint—burnt wet rope and earth—when he asks, “Would you like some?”
“That’s nice of you to offer but no, thank you. I’m content just to chill here for a few. I was getting a little overheated inside.”
He nods and hits a button on his cell before immediately launching into a long conversation in Norwegian. Even though I’ve been in Norway for several months now, I only catch about every fourth word. Not that I’m trying to eavesdrop, but besides the faint hum of music from the club there is little else going on out here.
I rest my head back against the wall and shut my eyes for a few moments. Visions of Alreck’s frosty eyes and strong body flood my head. I wonder what he did to get sent to jail. Why was I having such a primal reaction to this man? I’m normally so even keeled around guys.
This is unusual … and intriguing
.
An odd cracking sound erupts from off to my right, a sharp noise that mimics the air compressor gun my grandfather used to use in his workshop. The sound is immediately followed by a pained grunt. My eyes flare open and I immediately see Ragnar leaning against the wall at an odd angle, clutching his left shoulder. His phone, lying at his feet, is glowing like it’s still connected to the call. It’s hard to see his features clearly in the shadows but he is groaning and swearing profusely in Norwegian.
Just as I shake off the confusion and open my mouth to ask him if everything is okay, I see people moving swiftly down the wooded hill in front of us. Two deep male voices are coming closer and speaking in a harsh, guttural language. I’m no linguist, but I can tell it isn’t Norwegian. Russian, maybe?
I’m terrified and know that I should run to get help, but before I can process what’s happening the men come into full view from the woods. Their dark pants and boots are stark against the white blanket of snow as they approach Ragnar. Self-preservation kicks in as I shrink back against the wall, desperate to disappear into the shadows. One of them levels a black gun with a long barrel directly at Ragnar’s head.
Noooooooo!
I watch in horror as he desperately holds his hand up and pleads with them. “
Nei. Nei, vær så snill
.”
No, no, please don’t.
They yell something I don’t understand and fire on him as I throw my hands up to cover my face and mouth, overwhelmed with terror and trying desperately not to cry out.
After a few seconds I peek through my fingers and see that the two frightening men are now staring at me in surprise. My heart is about to explode out of my chest as adrenaline floods my system in a rush. I whirl around and scramble like a terrified animal around the corner and back up the steps. A single shot whizzes by my right shoulder and the noise makes my ears ring as I make it to the unlocked front door.
Throwing it open, I stagger sideways into the building and nearly fall over in the process. I’m screaming as loud as my lungs will allow.
The entire place stops on a dime, including the band. The world moves in slow motion like freeze frames slowly flickering across a screen. This can’t be real.
Lisetta races to my side and I clutch at her as if I will drown if she doesn’t save me. “It’s Ragnar! Call an ambulance!” I shout, my voice hysterical. “Those men … They’ve shot him. Oh God, they’re still out there! I think they might be Russian. He could still be alive. Someone help him. Oh God!”
I can barely stand because I’m shaking so violently against her and she has trouble keeping her balance because of it. Mikkel and the rest of the bikers race by us like sprinters. Lisetta holds me close to her and feels all around my body, searching for wounds. “Vail, are you hurt? Did they hurt you? Sweetheart, talk to me,” she pleads, panic lacing her voice.
In shock and unable to answer, I bury my face in her blonde hair and shake my head no. In a shaky cry I plead with her, murmuring against her silky mane, “Get me out of here now, oh God, please Lisetta!”
***
Lisetta takes off down the long driveway racing like a banshee. The heater is blasting, yet I can’t stop shuddering. The shaking is so severe that my teeth are clattering against each other.
I must be in shock.
After we gain a little distance, I start to slip out of my catatonic state and reality sets in. “Lisetta, we need to go to the police or the U.S. Embassy. I’m a witness to a shooting.”
Taking her right hand off the wheel she strokes my cheek. “Shh, it’s all right. Mikkel just texted me. He told me to hold off on taking you to the station until tomorrow morning. Everything will be okay, and you’ll have plenty of time to give them a full statement. Right now we need to get you back to the apartment and pump you full of hot liquids. You’re still in shock. Oh, Vail, I’m so sorry that happened to you. And poor Ragnar, dear God! I hope he’ll be all right.”
As do I.
I
slink out of bed the next morning, utterly exhausted from my fitful attempt at sleep. Tragic images of Ragnar keep popping into my head and I wish I’d never gone outside to begin with. It’s still early in the morning, but I decide it’s best if I go to the police station as soon as possible, no matter what Mikkel says. I throw on a pair of jeans, tall leather boots, and a lavender sweater. I top it all off with a teal puffer jacket and white fluffy ski hat.
I step out into the living room and this morning the meticulous contemporary style strikes me as unusually cold. Lisetta is curled up in a fluffy blanket on the taupe, faux-suede loveseat. She’s sitting upright and is talking on her cell when our eyes meet.
“Okay,” she says into the phone in Norsk. Lowering her eyes away from mine, she continues on, “Okay,
jeg må dra nå
.”
I must go now.
I wait for her to hang up before I start. “I’m ready to go to the police now. Could you please come with me? I’m not certain where the closest station is located.”
She is nervously chewing on her bottom lip. Maybe she doesn’t trust police?
Just as I’m about to tell her that I can find my way solo she says, “Vail, can we please wait until this afternoon? I promise you that I’ll go with you later, just not right now.”
“Why?” I don’t miss a beat and feel uncomfortable about where this is heading.
She takes a deep breath and continues, “I just spoke with Mikkel. He wants to come here and speak with us first, before we go. He sounded serious and said that he needs to find out exactly what happened with Ragnar firsthand, before the police are involved.”
“But they have to know there was a witness. If they talk to anyone who was there they will know I was outside and they will certainly be looking for me to give a statement. What if they think I’m purposefully avoiding them? I could be deported for something like that.”
“Vail, please, I don’t want my cousin or his club to get into any trouble. Mikkel very rarely makes requests of me. When he does, I know he’s serious. Please, let’s just kill some time together and he will be here shortly to chat with you, all right?”
I sigh. “Lisetta, I’ll do this for you, but if he’s not here by noon then we are going to head straight to the police. They can tell me whether or not I need to go to the Embassy, too.” This whole situation is frustrating and the idea of sitting around until Mikkel shows up sounds like torture. “I have to distract myself. I’m going to the library, so text me when he gets here, all right? Has he told you anything about Ragnar’s condition?”
It can’t be good. I shudder. I
watched
him get shot in the face.
She stands and crosses to me with a look of concern and shakes her head back and forth. “Vail, I think you should stay here. Mikkel said for you to stay here with me. And no, I haven’t heard yet.”
“You know, Lisetta, I’m already doing him a favor by delaying the inevitable to give him firsthand information. I don’t owe him anything else. I’m going to do exactly what I want
this morning and I don’t care what anyone else thinks about it.”
Before she can respond, I turn to leave and stop only to grab my messenger bag on the way out. It’s Sunday and I hope the library is open this early, but if not I’ll find a coffee shop to keep me distracted. I head out into the snowy streets and let the historic architecture of Oslo engulf me on the short walk to the University. Norway is an oil rich nation and commissioned many of the world’s top architects to create stunning monuments and buildings in its city center. Most of them date back to the nineteenth century. This historic architecture is interspersed with lots of interesting modern buildings.
I bury my chin in the warmth of my down parka and trudge up the sleek glass and chrome library steps, desperate to put the nightmarish images behind me for a while.
***
I unlock the apartment door at noon and hope to get this over with quickly so I can take Lisetta out to lunch. She texted that Mikkel arrived fifteen minutes ago and I’ve mentally prepped myself. I’ll see what he wants and then go to the cops. However, my mental pep talk doesn’t prepare me for what I encounter inside.
After only one step into the apartment, I push the door fully open and freeze. Lisetta is shaking like a leaf and staring at me from the center of our living room. Her eyes are wild and fearful.
What in the world?
She’s flanked on either side by Bern and Mikkel, who look beyond unhappy. Their black leather gear and huge boots make them appear almost menacing. They encompass the small living room with their sheer mass. The tension is thick, nearly tangible.
Bail now, Vail! Very bad idea!
Before I can run for it, I sense movement coming from my left and instinctively jump to my right to get away. The door slams shut behind me with a single powerful shove from Alreck’s huge palm.
I’m instantly terrified
.
He looks down at me, his face stern, as he folds his arms against his wide chest and looks across the room at Mikkel.
What’s happening?
My brain begins screaming the words on a repeat loop inside of my head.
Clutching my bag against my heaving chest, I’m terrified as Lisetta begins to cry and frantically ramble, “Vail, I’m so sorry, but they’re here to ask you some questions about what you remember from the shooting last night. Ragnar, oh Vail, Ragnar didn’t make it. He died on the way to the hospital. Mikkel just told me. His poor parents and girlfriend!”
Unable to respond, I just stand there and stare at her in numb shock. Mikkel commands in a low voice, “Vail, look at me.”
My eyes flick to his as he says, “Tell me everything that happened when you were outside our club last night.”
I try to speak but need to clear my throat twice before I can find my voice. When the words finally come out they are just above a whisper. “I needed fresh air so I went outside. It was snowing so hard that I sought shelter under the awning on the side of the clubhouse. Ragnar was there as well, smoking. He said hello to me then called his girlfriend or wife or whatever. They talked for at least five minutes about her day and when she was coming to the party, I think, and that’s when I heard a noise from the hill. It sounded like an air compressor gun.”
His dark eyes flare yet he remains silent.
“Right after that, Ragnar bent forward and leaned against the building. Two men with black hoodies and leather coats emerged from the trees. They weren’t speaking Norwegian. I think they had Russian accents. They—dear God—they yelled at him and he tried to hold his hand up to defend himself. He asked them not to but they shot him anyway.”
I can’t continue and double over, sobbing against my bag.
Mikkel is silent for a long moment. “Vail, tell me what they looked like.”
I try to get it together, hoping that the sooner I give them the information they want the quicker they’ll leave me the hell alone.
Wiping my cheeks, I stand upright and trudge on. “They were his height, I think, but it was dark. They were far taller than me, I know that. They both had hoodies pulled up, but I did see that one guy had a black tribal-looking tattoo across his face, on the right side. The gun they used didn’t make a lot of noise and I think it had a silencer on it. That’s all I caught before I ran inside. They took a shot at me and missed. That’s all I know.”
I listen intently as Mikkel turns to Lisetta and says something in Norwegian about traveling that totally freaks her out. Her natural rosy coloring goes paper-white as she argues vehemently with him. I catch a “no way” and “you can’t.” I tense up when I hear the name “Alreck” interspersed throughout the conversation. Where is this leading?
This goes on for a few minutes with Lisetta becoming increasingly more upset before he grabs her shoulders and gives her a stern shake. He speaks in a gentler tone now, telling her everything will be okay.
I watch in confusion as she sags against him and nods weakly. Without looking at me, she walks slowly down the hall toward my bedroom.
This so cannot be good!
I want to call out to her but fear keeps me immobile as I look into Mikkel’s agitated face. “Mikkel, what’s happening? I need to go to the police and give my statement now. I waited and gave you all I know.”
With a deep frown he looks down at the carpet, as if searching for a way to tell a child something unpleasant.
Desperately, I try again. “Mikkel, you’re scaring me. What’s going on?” I take a step back toward the door.
No answer, but his vivid scotch eyes connect with mine and what I see within them scares me even more. He looks intent, and dangerous.
The gravity of my situation hits me like a runaway train.
Instinct tells me to run.
Stupid, stupid! I shouldn’t have told them anything. I should have gone straight to the cops last night.
I’m frightened and try to call his bluff. “This isn’t funny, Mikkel. I think you and your big buddies need to tell me what’s happening. I’m beyond sorry for your friend dying and I wish that there was something, anything, that I could have done last night to prevent it from happening, but I couldn’t. I told you all I know, now please leave me alone. I’ve had more than enough stress in the past twelve hours.”
The tension threatens to tear me apart and I’m just barely holding it together. At this point all I want to do is talk to the police and crawl into bed for a few days. Why, why did I go out last night?
Bern looks surprised and Mikkel’s frame locks still, his eyes narrowing in abject fury at my demanding tone.
Way to go, Vail, now you’re in for it. Note to self, not the best idea to piss off burly bikers.
In a deadly whisper, Mikkel hisses, “You think this is a fucking game, Vail? It sure as fuck is not
and you’re going to do exactly as we say. You most certainly don’t call the shots. We do. You’re playing by our rules now.”
My head jerks back slightly at his frightening words and demeanor.
Damn! Why do they have to be so intimidating?
Just as I’m about to turn around to make a break for it, Lisetta comes out of my room with tears rolling down her cheeks. She still won’t look at me as she drags one of my large duffle bags on the floor behind her and I can see that it’s bursting with my belongings. My jaw drops open.
Before I can protest, Mikkel asks her in a stern voice, “
Har du pakket kun varme klær
?”
With an annoyed look she answers him in English, “Yes, I packed warm clothes only.”
I need to get out of here!
Taking a deep breath, I whirl around and shove hard at Alreck’s torso in hopes of getting past him and out the door, but it is like trying to push over a brick wall. I’m unable to move him an inch as he effortlessly grabs me and pins my arms to my sides, clutching my back against his thick chest.
“Let me go!” I scream at him as I twist about and writhe desperately, using all my strength. It’s not nearly enough. His power is irresistible.
The men are yelling at each other and Lisetta is crying harder now, her delicate hands clutched against her wet cheeks. I swiftly pull my leg forward and slam my boot heel back, landing with a sharp thud against Alreck’s kneecap.
Take that!
I hear a deep grunt from behind me and his hold loosens.
That second is all I need to scramble free, but I only make it one step down the narrow hallway before he grabs me by the neck of my parka and yanks it hard. My feet suddenly fly out from under me.
As soon as I’m knocked to the ground he doesn’t miss a beat and descends on me. I struggle against him like a wildcat on the slick maple floor.
The more I fight him the tighter his grip becomes and he’s using his sheer mass to subdue me.
He’s so unbelievably strong!
He pins my arms above my head and his heated, muscled thighs are straddling the outsides of mine. His breath is hot and minty against my face as I vehemently refuse to yield or even look at him.
My breath is coming out in choppy, desperate pants. It freaks me out that he stays silent and seems both detached and eerily calm while forcing me to be still beneath him, to submit.
Lisetta screams in the background, “Alreck, you’re going to hurt her. Please stop!”
I’m frantic to escape, thinking they want to kill me, or possibly worse, and I start to hyperventilate. Alreck notices this and hauls me back up to my feet with no effort, forming a firm cage around me with his arms. As I continue to struggle and suck in air, Mikkel closes in and hands something to Alreck, but it’s out of my direct line of sight. Lisetta cries out as something damp and smelly covers my entire face.
Oh God, they’re going to kill me.
I give one last fleeting attempt to struggle out of the vice-like hold. Against my will, my body slackens in defeat as I faint dead away in his arms.