The Sandman

142

Her unease after the doctor’s nocturnal visit is like rain on a window – it’s not too close, but is keeping her shut inside.

Her medication is making Saga feel oddly cut off from reality, but she still has a very strong sense that her cover is about to be blown.

That doctor would have raped me if I’d really been asleep, she thinks. I can’t let him touch me again.

She just needs a bit more time to complete her mission. She’s so close now. Jurek is talking about escape with her. And if her cover isn’t blown he’ll soon give her a location, a clue, something that could lead to Felicia.

He was on the point of confiding in her yesterday. Maybe today.

As long as the microphone is working.

Time and time again, thinking about Felicia helps Saga.

She needs to concentrate on what she came here to do. Not feel sorry for herself.

She’s going to save the captive girl.

The rules are simple. Under no circumstances must she let Jurek escape. But she can plan the escape with him, she can show interest and ask questions.

The most common problem with escapes is that people have nowhere to go once they’re out. Jurek won’t make that mistake. He knows where he’s going.

The lock on the door to the dayroom whirrs. Saga gets up from her bed, rolls her shoulders as if preparing for a bout, then goes out.

Jurek Walter is standing by the wall opposite, waiting for her. She can’t understand how he could have got out into the dayroom so quickly.

There’s no reason to stay close to the running machine now that the lead is gone. She just hopes the range of the microphone is wide enough.

The television isn’t turned on, but she goes and sits on the sofa.

Jurek is standing in front of her.

It feels as if she hasn’t got any skin, as if he has a strange ability to see straight into her bare flesh.

He sits down beside her and she discreetly passes him the tablet.

‘We only need four more,’ he says, looking at her with his pale eyes.

‘Yes, but I...’

‘And then we can leave this terrible place.’

‘Maybe I don’t want to.’

When Jurek Walter reaches out his hand and touches her arm she almost jumps. He notices her fear and looks at her blankly.

‘I’ve got a place I think you’d love,’ he says. ‘It’s not that far away from here. It’s only an old house behind an old brick factory, but at night you could go outside and swing.’

‘A real swing?’ she asks, trying to smile.

Jurek needs to keep talking to her, she thinks. His words are little pieces that will form a pattern in the puzzle Joona is putting together.

‘It’s just an ordinary swing,’ he replies. ‘But you can swing out over the water.’

‘What, a lake, or—’

‘You’ll see, it’s lovely.’

‘I like apple trees as well,’ she says quietly.