Blue Blue Eyes: Crime Novel (23 page)

”Been in a fight, or what?”

”Well, just a little misunderstanding.” She put a strand of hair behind her ear and put down the mobile.

”May I sit down for a while or were you leaving?”

”By all means, have a seat.” Nikki pointed to the chair opposite her with her hand. Rick ordered a cold beer and as the minutes passed Nikki felt how she became more and more relaxed in his company. From her seat she also had full sight of the Mafia’s yacht. The guard was still standing outside in his black suit, smoking. He must be sweating to death, Nikki thought and quickly looked at the thermometer on the wall of the café’ which showed 29 degrees. It would have been more natural if the guard had been dressed like Rick, with shorts and a relaxed T-shirt.

”How did it go, did you find him?” Rick leaned back and put one leg over the other.

”Unfortunately not.” Nikki’s face looked sad, she stirred the tea with her spoon and looked Rick in the eyes.

A loud friendly noise suddenly made Nikki turn around and she saw the guard leave the boat. She followed him intensively with her gaze while he hugged a fat older man with a big black sombrero hat. They then continued together and sat down inside Zeus. Nikki finally saw her chance and that this was the occasion she had waited for during the whole evening. She had to find out if Patrik was a captive on the Mafia’s boat or she wouldn’t have any peace.

”Sorry, but work is calling me.” Nikki quickly stood up and put a 20 Euros note on the table. Three minutes later she was outside Money Talks. Her pulse was racing and she knew that she was in deep waters. But what if Patrik was there? She had to know. She carefully looked around before quickly getting onboard. In no time she had taken off her sandals, put them in her handbag and continued without a sound into the big salon. Every now and then she stopped to listen.

It was almost ghostly quiet. A bit further down to the right she saw a staircase and tiptoed over to it. The soft carpet dampened the sound of her steps and she was eternally grateful. On the second to the last step she stopped and looked around. No strange sounds and no Patrik. Barefoot she continued down the corridor and put one ear toward the first door to the left. When she didn’t hear any suspicious sounds she carefully opened the smoke coloured door made of plexi-glass. Another salon came into view although it looked more like an office.

Carefully taken care of, Nikki thought and curiously slid up to the shiny desk where a file was opened. Quickly she glanced through the first few lines and realized that she was looking at an account report. Quickly she picked up her mobile from the handbag and took a picture of the paper. Then she carefully took the document from the file, folded it as quietly as she could and put it in her bag.
It couldn’t hurt looking a bit closer at the Mafia’s resources.
Nikki then silently went through every corner of that floor but couldn’t find any activity anywhere.

She was tense and could hear her own heart beating inside her head. She didn’t want to think of the consequences if she was detected. Quietly Nikki continued down yet another staircase and came into a smaller salon where a 65 inch TV was on. The news was in Russian and she saw an older man with grey hair and suit on the screen. She quickly looked around with worry but couldn’t see or hear a single person. Silently she continued with her heart beating even faster.
If somebody is here, I’ll really be in for it.
Suddenly she heard something.

Did the voices come from the yacht or was it the TV? She stopped and after a while she was sure the sound came from inside the boat. She looked around nervously and started following the faint sound in the narrow corridor. It sounded like somebody groaning in pain.
Patrik?
The butterflies in her stomach were running a marathon and she reminded herself to be careful since she actually was unarmed. The door in front of her nose suddenly opened and somebody caught her. Nikki tried resisting but she was stuck in the strong man’s grip. Without problem he lifted Nikki into the salon, turned up her face and stared at her with evil slits of eyes.

”Who the hell are you?” He had a Russian accent and his head was shaved with a tattoo looking like a spider by his left ear.

”Eh, I must have made a mistake”, Nikki tried stuttering.

”Like hell you’ve made a mistake. I’ve bloody seen you sneaking around the boat. Are you so bloody stupid you don’t think we have surveillance cameras onboard?”

Damn it, how could I have missed that. Idiot.
Nikki tried playing cool even though the blood was rushing through her veins.

”I want to know who you are and what you are doing here onboard? I’ll give you one more chance and if you don’t give me an honest reply…” The gorilla held her hands with one hand while taking up a pistol and pointing it at Nikki’s head. She reacted in a fraction of a second. Quick as lightning she knocked the gun from his hand and aimed an elbow at his Adam’s apple. She saw him staggering backwards, loose his balance and fall. He fell badly cutting the back of his head on the corner of the table as he crashed to the floor. The wound was bleeding profusely turning the light carpet red.

As by instinct she went for the gun, took the barrel and hit him with all her might. His broad tattooed bull’s neck twitched and Nikki hit him again. The gorilla was writhing with pain and a gurgling sound came from his throat. A second he got the taste of some hard kicks and when the burly man didn’t move any longer she kicked him one last time in solar plexus. Nikki knew instinctively that she had used too much violence.

It was as though she was seeing her ex in front of her and she didn’t want to stop hitting. Despite several hours of therapy the same thing usually happened in similar situations. Out of breath she made sure the gorilla was lying in a good position before Nikki ran for all she was worth toward the exit. The first stair she took with three long steps and then continued determinedly toward the next staircase leading up to the upper floor and freedom.

Nikki was scared. She just wanted to get off the boat & be free of danger. As she reached the last step she just had time to see a shadow in the corner of her eye. Then she felt a burning pain going from her neck to her head. Like a rag doll she rolled down the stairs and felt somebody pulling her leg and throwing her into a dark room. Groaning Nikki rolled up in a foetal position and suddenly she realized that she wasn’t alone in the cramped room.” Patrik?” she slurred before fainting.

Monday June 10th

She felt completely knocked out and her head was hurting. When Nikki opened her eyes she rubbed the throbbing bump on the back of her head with her hand. She was hot and her clothes were sticking to her body where she lay. Carefully she sat up and tried to visualise where she was. The room was dark and her eyes hadn’t customized to the darkness yet despite the moon light. Then she remembered, she was on the Mafia’s yacht.

Nikki groaned aloud when she remembered how she had hit and kicked herself free. She was very conscious of the fact that she would have to deal with her problem immediately when she got home to Gothenburg again. Damn it. How could the memories of Stefan still be so hard to deal with? The therapist had called it revenge. And it was frighteningly true. It was as though all the old memories came to life when she had to use violence at work. Things which Nikki had tried to forget.

Life with Stefan had been absolutely fantastic in the beginning. The worst thing wasn’t waiting to be killed, hit or the pain. It wasn’t even being raped. It was the children. The fear that Stefan would abuse them. And not being believed. She thanked her lucky star that she had managed to escape to the women’s shelter in time. But she obviously had a lot of work left to deal with before she was happy again and could start with cognitive therapy again.

Nikki’s eyes started to become accustomed to the darkness and she could make out some lines in the room. A strange smell was irritating her and she couldn’t quite make out where it came from. It smelled familiar but definitely not good. She saw a bundle in one corner and the hair on her neck stood straight up as she approached. A pain shot through her head with the speed of an arrow and she fell down on the hard floor with the hands around her head. She felt sick.

Nikki realized she had been badly concussed. A minute later she made a new attempt to get to the strange object.
Patrik, what if it’s Patrik?
Nikki carefully felt with both hands over the covered bundle and realized in horror that she was touching an animal. Terrified she pulled away the cloth and shivered with horror when she made out the lines of a dead dog. With her legs shaking she tried to stand up. The dizziness came over Nikki again and she leaned weakly against the soft white wall.

Where the hell was Patrik?
Thoughts were swirling around in her head and the concussion forced her to kneel down. With stiff fingers she opened her handbag and took out the mobile. The display lit up but unfortunately she had no coverage. ”Damn it”. Resigned she staggered to the door and felt the handle. Locked. Her thoughts went to Gustav and Axel and she was fighting with her guilty conscience when she suddenly heard something outside.

Carefully she backed away and put the mobile back in her handbag. She ignored the pain and prepared herself to fight for the second time within a few hours. Seconds turned into minutes. Frenetically Nikki stared at the shiny handle. Her headache was tight at the back of her head and she tried focusing. Without warning the door opened and a dark man’s figure quickly came in and put his mouth over Nikki’s mouth. Nikki reacted too late. The stranger was strong and despite Nikki’s tough resistance she was stuck. There was no point. She had lost.

”Calm down. It’s me, Rick.”

”Rick?” Nikki whispered in surprise. ”What the hell are you doing here?”

”We don’t have time with questions now. Come on, we have to hurry up and leave before it’s too late.”

”Ouch, wait. My head.”

”Sorry”, Rick said and pushed her in front of himself.

”Wait, I have to check out the rest of this floor. Patrik might be onboard.”

”Damn it Nikki, there’s no time.”

Nikki went into the corridor and looked around. She took a chance and ran to the right in the corridor and saw a couple of closed doors.

”Nikki we have to get out. We’ll come back for Patrik later.”

”Never”, Nikki whispered determined. She went up to the first door and pushed down the handle. The guard was still lying there unconscious. She gave Rick a quick, questioning look.

”Well, I had to make sure he wouldn’t resist anymore”, he said shrugging his shoulders.

Nikki hummed in reply and opened yet another door. No Patrik. Two doors left, she thought and bit her lip.
Please, let Patrik be in one of the cabins
. In pure desperation she pushed down another door handle. The room was empty. In despair she ran to the last door and quickly opened it. No Patrik there either.

”Where the hell can he be?” she shouted and pulled her hair.

”Nikki, I’m sorry but we have to get out. The time is short. We really don’t want to get caught by the Mafia. I promise.” Rick caught Nikki’s hand and pulled her up the stairs. Then they ran for all they were worth until Nikki collapsed in pain.

”Nikki, come on. Just a few more metres.”

”My head”, she had time to say before fainting.

Without hesitating Rick lifted Nikki up in his strong arms. He ran as fast as he could to the gangplank and stopped suddenly while holding his breath. He turned his head both ways to check if it was clear before he stealthily walked down the pier. Under his large hands he felt Nikki waking up.

”Lie still, we’ll soon be safe.”

Nikki groaned and moved a bit while Rick hurried passed all the tourists giving them curious looks on the promenade. Soon afterwards he went behind the old amphi theatre where it was dark and quiet. Leaning against the high stone wall he sat down on the soil. Nikki looked up at him with cloudy eyes and gave him a look which was hard to interpret.

”How are you?” Rick looked compassionately at Nikki who embarrassed realized that she was actually lying in the arms of a stranger. She got up and sat down next to her saving angel. Exhausted she leaned her painful head against the wall and felt the throbbing swelling with her fingers.

”He really got me there. Ouch. The bump feels as though it’s as big as my palm.” Nikki looked down at her bloody hand and felt how the hair was sticking together.

”Let me have a look.” Rick knelt down. He pushed her long dark hair to the side and looked at the open throbbing wound. ”It’s not so deep that you need stitches but you should probably take it easy for a couple of days. Here’s my T-shirt. Keep it tight on top of the wound.” Gratefully Nikki took the jumper and pushed it against her head.

”You’re bloody crazy, do you know that?” Rick looked hard at Nikki before sitting down next to her. ”Do you know whose yacht you were on?”

”Yeah, the Mafia’s.”

”But you don’t get it. Nobody and I mean nobody gets on that boat voluntarily.”

”I had to.” Nikki whispered the words and felt tears welling up in her eyes.

”Everything for that Patrik?” Rick felt stupid for sounding as though he was reprimanding a child. ”Sorry, I didn’t mean to be so harsh…”

”Patrik is the husband of my old childhood friend. He’s been missing since Saturday.” Nikki took the T-shirt away from the wound. Her head was still throbbing and she realized she’d have a headache for the coming few days.

”But how likely is it that he’s onboard the Mafia’s yacht of all boats?” He turned around and pulled a hand through his blond hair.

”Long story.” She dried her eyes and her voice sounded hoarser than she wished.

They were sitting quietly for a few minutes in the starry night. Nikki pulled up her legs under her and could feel the heat of Rick by her side. It was very possible that she had acted irrationally but Patrik was the most important thing right now, and after her adventure on Money Talks at least she could be sure he hadn’t been onboard. Nikki felt how Rick put a friendly arm around her shoulders and it felt completely natural to lean her head against his shoulder. The feeling was good. Not because she was interested in Rick but because he cared and offered her a helping hand. How often did she stop in her everyday life and let somebody else comfort or help her? Never. Five minutes passed and they were still sitting quietly, listening to the sounds of the night. The crickets sound was joining the music coming from the tavernas.

”By the way, I left your stuff by the cashier at the café.”

”What stuff?” Nikki stifled a yawn, then turned a surprised face toward Rick and felt his breath against her own. He smelled garlic.

”Among other things- a sea chart.”

She giggled and couldn’t fathom how she could have forgotten the things she had found on Sten’s boat.

”Oh dear how messy I am. Thanks for taking care of everything.” Rick got up and Nikki could only just about make out the lines of him in the dark night.

”I’ll go the café and get the stuff.”

”OK, thanks.”

Ten minutes later Nikki was holding the charts, the notebook and the plastic folders safely in a plastic bag.

”I have to go. It’s late and Patrik’s wife is sleeping at my place.”

”Hey, no more crazy ideas, OK?”

Nikki shook her head and laughed. ”Thanks, I really mean it. You probably saved my life.”

”You just disappeared from the café”, Rick said and snapped his fingers. ”All of a sudden you were gone and I was left feeling like a fool understanding nothing.”

Nikki felt stupid. ”Sorry, but I had to.”

”When I then saw you sneaking onto Money Talks I understood that you were completely out of your mind.” He shook his head and looked at her warmly. ”When 20 minutes had passed and you weren’t back I had to find out what had happened.”

A smile came over Nikki’s face at the same time as she felt a deep happiness and gratitude.