Assassin

53

Karin Madsen lay in bed at three in the morning watching the man she was about to marry emerge from the bathroom and walk towards her. There was barely any light in the room, but even so she could tell just by the set of Thor Larsson's shoulders and the heavy, sighing sound of his breathing that something was wrong: something above and beyond the obvious stress of the past six hours.

She propped herself up on one elbow and asked, 'What is it?'

'What's what?' he mumbled, almost as if he were making a point of sounding exhausted.

'Do you think I won't notice something's wrong? Come on, Thor.'

'I'm just wrecked, OK? It's been a long day, and a night from hell.'

'I know, darling, it must have been terrible. I understand. But that's not what I mean. I know you too well, Thor Larsson. I've changed your bedpan and wiped your backside. You can't fool me. Something's wrong.'

He sat down on the bed. 'Yes, Kari, something is wrong,' he said irritably, stating the blindingly obvious. 'My oldest friend has disappeared. The police say he is responsible for a terrorist attack. His girlfriend doesn't know if he is alive or dead, innocent or guilty. I have been interviewed by the police, and they told me they may speak to me again. And I'm probably going to have a whole bunch of cops as uninvited guests at my wedding. So yes, something's wrong.'

Well, it was a reasonable explanation, but it wasn't the whole story, Kari was sure of it. Something else was eating at Thor. But whatever it was, he wasn't going to tell her now. If she pressed him any harder it would only lead to an argument and she didn't want that, not two nights before her wedding.

'I'm sorry,' she said, reaching out to rub his back. 'Come to bed now. I'll hold you till you fall asleep.'

But it was Karin who slept first, and Thor Larsson who lay in the darkness, guts churning, eyes staring blankly up at the ceiling for hours until exhaustion finally claimed him.