The Fire Witness

168

The lock clicks and Elin shoves the door open with her shoulder. She stumbles into the room. Daniel is right behind her and tries to grab her. She whirls around and stabs him with the letter opener. It goes into his chest, but not very far. He catches her hair and pulls her to the side and then pushes her onto the floor. She tumbles into the TV stand and a lamp crashes to the floor.

Daniel pushes his glasses up his nose and walks back to where the ax has fallen. Elin crawls beneath the large bed.

Elin is hoping that Vicky is all right. She’s beginning to hope she’ll have enough time until the police arrive.

She can see Daniel’s feet and lower legs. She wriggles to the center under the bed and curls up. She can hear him walk around the bed and then crawl on top of it. The slats beneath the mattress creak. Elin doesn’t move.

He reaches in and grabs her foot. She screams, but now he’s on his knees next to the bed and hauling her out. She tries to grab a slat to hold on to, but she can’t. He’s holding her foot with one hand and raising the ax with the other. She kicks him in the face as hard as she can with her free foot. He loses his grip on her ankle and his glasses fall off. He tips over backward and hits the bookshelf. He holds his hand over one eye and stares at her with the other.

She gets to her feet and rushes toward the door. From the corner of her eye, she can see him pick up his glasses. She runs past Jack’s bedroom and into the kitchen. Daniel’s footsteps are behind her.

All kinds of thoughts are scrambled in her mind. The police should be here at any moment. Joona said they were on the way.

Elin grabs a frying pan as she darts through the kitchen. She runs across the living room and opens the door to the garage. She throws the frying pan down the stairs to the basement and hears it clang as she rushes up the stairs to the upper floors.

Daniel has reached the basement stairs, but he hasn’t been fooled. He’s heard her running up the stairs. She’s almost out of ideas. She races past the floor where Vicky is hiding and then deliberately slows down to lure Daniel toward her and away from the girl. She’s now in the big open room on the top floor. It is almost completely dark.

Elin knows she must hold on until the police arrive. She has to keep Daniel following her and ignoring Vicky’s room.

She hears his footsteps on the stairs and knows that he is coming after her.

She runs to the tile stove in the corner and grabs the poker from the rack of implements, then crosses to the middle of the room and smashes the ceiling lamp with one blow. The large dish of frosted glass crashes to the floor and slivers fly everywhere. Then the room is silent.

There is only the sound of heavy steps on the stairs.

Elin hides in the darkness next to a bookcase beside the door.

Daniel is panting when he reaches the top. He’s not in a hurry. He knows there’s only one staircase down from the top floor of the house.

Elin tries to stifle the sound of her breathing.

Daniel stands in the doorway holding the ax. He stares into the room and then hits the light switch.

There’s a click, but nothing happens. The room stays dark.