In a Fix (30 page)

Like hell was I going to walk meekly back to the boat and wait while the big kids played, even if I
could
remember the way back. I had a backlog of missed games in my past, the ones that were deemed by my brothers, and later Mark, to be too rough for me.

Billy would always egg me on to play—at first—but then, just when the game got good, he’d gang up with the rest of the guys and shove me off the field.

I’d swallowed it then, but not anymore. I was an adult, and I’d damn well decide for myself how much danger I was willing to risk, just like the rest of them. If I got into trouble, they didn’t have to follow me—it was their choice, and I refused to feel guilty about it.

Once I figured Billy wouldn’t come back again I got up and headed out at a ninety-degree angle from the way he’d gone, sure he was too slick to head straight for the encampment. Deplorable sense of direction notwithstanding, I had a pretty good idea of which way to go. For one thing, the Vikings were a raucous group, and they were getting louder, working themselves up over something, so I just followed the noise.

My binoculars helped, too, once I got the hang of aiming them between the trees. The first time I got a clear view of the ship-grave site, I was astounded by the number of costumed men. More even than had been around the trebuchet—a hundred, at least.

The high resolution brought their faces into sharp, close focus, giving me the eerie sensation of being right there among them. When my eyes landed on Per’s face he was staring right at me. Startled, I dropped the binoculars. The jerk of the leather strap on my neck snapped some sense back into me—he couldn’t possibly see me from this distance.

I lifted the field glasses again, reassuring myself the characteristic sneer warping his grotesquely handsome face wasn’t for me. His sight was trained on some other lucky bastard. I shifted slightly to see if I could make out who. Okay, there … light brown, sun-streaked hair, slightly too long and somewhat mussed.

My stomach tightened. It was Trey. It looked like his hands were tied behind him, and he was flanked by giants. The side of his face was puffy and a thin line of blood trickled from a corner of his beautiful mouth. Mina was going to be so pissed.

There was no way Mark was going to be able to get him out without more help than Billy and Laura could provide. And it was still a long time before we could expect any backup from Swedish security.

“
Är du borta?
” a pleasantly male Swedish voice rumbled behind me.

I jumped, and dropped my binoculars, the strap jerking my neck downward yet again. Plastering a big, touristy smile on my face, I turned around. Though decked out in the proper gear, he wasn’t especially tall for a Viking, nor excessively bulky. Must not have drunk the Kool-Aid yet. Palms up, I gestured my puzzlement. “I’m afraid I don’t speak Swedish. Do you speak English?”

He smiled. “Of course. It is necessary in today’s world,
ja
? All Swedes must know some English.”

I feigned relief. “I’m so glad. Maybe you can help me—I seem to be a little lost.”

“I thought this. It is what I asked you when I approached.” He seemed pleased with himself.

“I sailed here with some friends,” I started. Best to stick to the truth as much as possible. Made things less complicated. Of course, the truth would only carry you so far. “To watch birds. We, um, split up to cover more territory, and get more pictures of, uh, birds.” I smiled feebly.

His eyes lit up. “Ah, you are adding to your life list?
Vad bra!
This is good. What have you seen today?”

The smile froze on my face. A bird-watching neo-Viking? Shit. I tried to remember the bird Billy had mentioned. What the hell was it? Oh, yeah. “Riddy’s Warbler?” I said, praying it was close enough.

He paused while I held my breath, then said, “
Ja
,
ja
, this is good. A happy little fellow, this warbler. Have you seen also the
Columba palumbus
?”

What the hell was that? Better claim not. “Not today. So hard to spot sometimes, aren’t they?”

He laughed in agreement, but his eyes narrowed on me. “Come,” he said, taking my hand enthusiastically. “I shall show you some. I know where there is a huge nest of them.”

I tried to stay where I was. “Hey, wait. I can’t leave here—my friends might miss me.”

“I will bring you back later. They will understand—what birder would miss a rare opportunity to see the
Columba palumbus
?” He pulled me along, leaving me no time to ponder the touch of irony I thought I’d detected in his voice.

He brought me to a huge nest, all right. A huge nest of Vikings. Never letting go of my hand for an instant, he marched me up to a large group of men milling around near the standing stones of the ship-grave. At the center of the men, with a remarkable shiner, was Nils.

“
Hej
, Nils,” my bird guide said, followed by more Swedish. I looked at my shoes, willing myself to evaporate. Like most of my wishes, it didn’t happen. But, I comforted myself, at least it wasn’t Per.

“
Vad har vi här?
” Nils said, which I took to mean something like “what’s this?” He walked over to me and raised my head with two fingers under my chin, the familiar half-smile lifting one corner of his mouth … until recognition filled his eyes, and his detached control was replaced with shock.

Chapter 27

“She calls herself a birder, and she doesn’t recognize the scientific name for a wood pigeon. She must be a spy,” my birding buddy gloated. In English, so I’d be sure to realize just how stupid I’d been.

Well, damn. I’d walked right into that one.

“Thank you, Johan. I will take care of this,” Nils said, never losing his authority.

My hand was transferred to his, and I felt two small squeezes. I thought I saw relief, and maybe happiness, in his eyes, but my track record with men being what it was recently, I tried not to let myself get too excited about it.

“Come with me, miss. We will have a talk.” His words dripped double meaning, and the men around us laughed knowingly.

He led me through the woods beyond the ship setting, sticking to the side opposite from where I’d seen Per with Trey. Again, I had to move double-time to keep up with his long stride, and again he didn’t seem inclined to speak to me until we got to wherever he was taking me. I didn’t press it.

Beyond the wooded area was a road, and across the road there was a farm.
The
farm. The one I’d escaped from before. Crap. Right back into the fuckity-fucking frying pan. He made a beeline for it, not stopping until we were in a barn at the far end of a field.

A double row of cows, their heads poking out between the metal bars in front of their stalls, stared placidly at us while they munched on whatever fine grain product was laid out in front of them. Apparently it was a dairy farm. The aroma was … well, it smelled like cow shit. No real graceful way to put that.

Once the door was closed behind us, Nils grabbed me up in a huge hug, lifting me from the ground and rocking me side to side. “Ciel? Is it really you? You are alive?”

Laughter bubbled up inside me at his apparent joy. “Yes. I’m alive. But if you don’t stop squeezing me so hard, I may not be for long.”

“Sorry,” he said, putting me down. “But Per said—all of the men said—you were…”

“Launched out to sea from that giant slingshot, and left to drown? Yeah, that pretty much happened. I decided not to drown, though.”

“My God, I was so angry, so sorry I couldn’t do anything—but what have you done to yourself? You dyed your hair, and your eyes—where are your beautiful green eyes?”

“Oh! Well, uh, I’m in disguise. Colored contacts. Just a second—” I leaned away from him, pretended to take out the lenses, and mimed flicking them into a nearby pile of straw. A quick adjustment, and my eyes were my own color again. “Better?”

“Much. And this…” He lifted his arm and wiped my lips with his sleeve, scrubbing thoroughly to rid it of all traces of Laura’s makeup. “There. That is what I remember.”

“Nils, we have to talk. You have to leave here. SÄPO is coming, they’ll be here soon, and you’ll be arrested with all the others.”

He smiled. “SÄPO is already here. I am SÄPO.”

My first thought was,
I knew it! He
is
a good guy.
I made myself question it, though. “But you’re with Per. You kidnapped Mina. You killed Pete, for God’s sake! Or let Per do it, which is just as bad.”

“I killed no one. That was a tranquilizer pistol. I had to make sure I shot first, because Per’s gun had real bullets.”

I was so relieved I felt like I could float up to the ceiling. “So Per thought you killed Pete?”

“Yes. With a silencer on the pistol. Fortunately, Pete fell forward, and there was no time for Per to notice a lack of bleeding. After that, Per had no reason to doubt my loyalty to his cause. As for kidnapping … well, when one is undercover, one must do many things that are not precisely law-abiding.”

“Okay. Right. I understand that. But Per is going to kill Trey. Soon. We can’t let that happen.” I grabbed his arm and tried to pull him toward the door. “Come
on
, let’s go.”

He didn’t budge. “No, we must wait.”

“What? Are you crazy? We have to go arrest Per—now, before somebody gets hurt.”

“I will find a way to free Trey,” he said. “But I can’t stop things right now. This has been the plan all along—we must catch them in the act of something very bad, or it would only be a light sentence for them. We would like to send them to prison for a longer time.”

“How can you be sure Per won’t hurt Trey sooner rather than later?” I pressed.

He put his hands on my shoulders, thumbs under my ears so I had to look up into his eyes, and spoke seriously. “Per will not give up the ceremony he has planned for this evening. He believes reenacting a Viking human sacrifice will bind the men to his cause.”

“Vikings sacrificed
people
?”

“Yes, it happened. Often slaves from other cultures. In Per’s mind, since Trey is American, this makes him suitable. But the timing of the ritual is important to him. He will keep Trey alive until then. I will go back soon and make sure of it. You must trust me on this, Ciel.”

“Okay, okay. I believe you. You can stop tickling my neck now.”

He stepped back and brought both his hands in front of me, holding them palms up. “I’m not tickling you.”

The sensation continued, only now it was creepy. “Then what—
Oh, shit!
”

“What? What is it?” Nils took me by the shoulders and turned me around.

“Get it off! Get it off!” I jumped up and down, waving my arms like a madwoman.

“Wait. Be still … I can’t … it crawled down under your collar.”

“Aaaack!” I yanked my shirttail out of my pants and pulled the garment off in a flash, but I still felt tiny legs. My T-shirt came off next. When I saw a small, dark spot scurry across it, I flung it away from me with superhuman force. It landed behind the bars of the farthest stall, right in a fresh, moist pile of cow dung.

Laughter erupted next to me. I narrowed my eyes at Nils, and most decidedly did
not
laugh. He composed himself.

“It was only a tiny spider. It wouldn’t hurt you.”

I shuddered. “Yeah, well, I hate spiders.”

“I never cared for them much either, but I think I like that small fellow.” There was a new glint in the big Swede’s crystalline eyes as I stood before him in the pretty little bra Laura had rinsed and dried for me after my unexpected swim in the sea. He seemed to appreciate Billy’s taste in lingerie.

I picked up my other shirt, shaking it briskly before I slipped it back over my head. “Don’t you have a rescue to get to?”

His sigh was full of regret. “I suppose so. But first we must discuss what you will do—”

“Don’t worry, I know.”

“What do you know?”

“I know I should stay here while you go and do whatever you need to do. I know if Per sees me it could cause all sorts of problems, including more bodily harm to me.”

He nodded his approval. “I will come back and get you when everything is over. Now, what will you do while I am gone? It may take a long while.”

“Oh, I’ll keep myself entertained somehow. I’ll talk to the cows. I’ll play tag with spiders. Whose farm is this, anyway?”

“My uncle’s, but I have a small cottage here also. Not so fine as the big house, but pleasant enough for short visits.” Huh. I begged to differ, but of course kept my mouth shut. “I would have taken you there, but it has become our local headquarters, and Per might find you.”

Ugh. “No, no … this is fine. Really.”

He patted my arm, understanding, and turned to go. At the door, he paused and said, “A neighbor is looking after the cows while my uncle is on vacation. If you hear somebody coming, hide in the third stall on the left. She’s a nice cow, and will try not to step on you.”

*   *   *

I waited five minutes and followed him, figuring he was more trusting than Billy and wouldn’t come back to check on me. I felt a little guilty about deceiving such a nice guy, but I really didn’t lie to him. My exact words were, “I know I should stay here,” not “I will stay here.” It wasn’t my fault if he wasn’t attuned to the nuances of English.

I needed to find Billy and Mark, and let them know about Nils. As close as they might be to the Vikings now, I didn’t dare use my cell phone. I’d have to see if I could get their attention quietly. Then maybe they could communicate with Nils somehow before Per’s ceremony that evening, whatever the hell that was going to involve. Between all of them, maybe they would be able to save Trey.

Circling the encampment as closely as I dared, which was not close at all, I looked for some sign of Billy or Mark, or even Laura. Maybe especially Laura—she wasn’t as likely to jump down my throat for not doing as I was told.

For once in this whole ill-starred adventure, I got my wish. Laura dropped down right in front of me, from the branches of one of the taller pines, landing noiselessly on her feet.