Itsy Bitsy Spider (Emma Frost #1) (20 page)

When I stepped
out
of Sophia's house heavy grey clouds had gathered
in the sky making it almost pitch dark. I started walking when suddenly I heard
my name being called.

"Emma?"

Someone was waving.

"Jack?" I said and walked closer. He
ran towards me. He seemed unusually happy. He was wearing that beanie of his.
For once it was appropriate with the cold wind. I smiled.

"What's up?"

"Is Sssophia okay? I heard ssshe was
sick?"

"Well. Yes. It's a long story. It would be
better if she told you herself, but we have the kids at our house for now. To
give her rest."

"IIii was wwondering if you would like to
come over for dinner later in the afternoon? I was making an early dinner for
myself and foolish me I have made way too much food."

I smiled again. There was nothing I'd rather do
right at that moment. I really liked Jack and would like to get to know him
better. Preferably to a point where he didn't stutter when he was near me. Like
the afternoon I was at his house, when he had been relaxed and we had a really
nice time together. "Thank you. That's so sweet of you. I would really
like that. But I'm afraid I can't today. I have to do something for Sophia and
I can't leave my dad and Maya alone with all those kids for that long. But
maybe tomorrow?"

Jack seemed confused. He bit his lip.
"Bbbut tomorrow the food wwwill be no ggood."

I smiled. "Then we'll make some new."

"I wanted so badly to show you my new
ppppicture." Jack's face was so disappointed I could hardly take it. I put
my hand on his shoulder. "You know what? Maybe I'll come over for a little
while later this afternoon. Right now I have to go to town for a little bit,
but when I get back I'll stop by and look at it, okay?"

Jack smiled again and suddenly reminded me
somehow of an older Victor. Maybe he was like him in some way. Maybe he had
slight autism as well?

"That's a dddate, then," he said and
started walking away.

"See you!" I yelled and walked to my
own house. I found my dad and Maya in the living room playing with all five
kids who seemed to have the time of their lives.

I signaled my dad and he came closer.

"I need to go down to the police station,"
I said. "Sophia has agreed to report the bastard."

Dad smiled and gave me a warm hug. "That's
great news. I didn't like thinking that bastard was running around somewhere
out there hurting people."

I hugged him back while nodding. I had thought
about Stephan a lot since I found Sophia in the yard. Something was really off
with this guy and maybe it was more than just him enjoying beating the crap out
of women. Maybe it was even deeper than that. Maybe ... maybe he ... Well I
couldn't help wondering about that food he had served for us.

What if Stephan had also
killed people? What if he was the killer?

"Is it okay if I leave you all alone for a
little while then?" I asked.

My dad nodded. "Sure. No problem. I don't
know about Maya and the kids but I'm having a blast," he said with a great
laugh. "But I don't know about Victor. He doesn't seem to take this all
too well. Maybe you should check on him before you leave. He has been in his
room all morning and when I checked on him last he was sitting on his bed with
his hands pressed against his ears. I tried to talk to him, but he didn't
respond."

"He never liked loud noises too much,
especially not the ones young children makes. How he ever gets through an
entire day in school is beyond me," I said exhaling profoundly. "I'll
check in on him."

"Great," Dad said and put on a cowboy
hat. "Now if you'll excuse me. I believe there is need for a new sheriff
in town." Then he pretended to ride an imaginary horse. I chuckled and
watched him ride off into the sunset before I ran up the stairs and knocked on
the door to Victor's room.

He didn't answer so I walked right in. He was
still sitting like my dad had described him. In the middle of the bed, his legs
pulled up under him and with both hands covering his ears. I approached him and
as he saw me, he let his hands come down.

"Mom. Can't you get those kids out of the
house? They're screaming all the time. I can't stand it!"

I looked at him and tilted my head slightly.
"That bad, huh?"

"Worse. It's terrible."

"Alright. What do you say to come with me
out for a small drive? I'm going to the police station, maybe you'd like to
come along?"

Victor smiled and exhaled. "Please. Yes.
Take me away from here."

"You know they're having a lot of fun in
the living room, don't you?" I asked him as we walked down the stairs
together. "That's why they are yelling and screaming. They're just
playing. You're missing out. Wouldn't you rather stay and play than go with me
to a boring police station?"

Victor took one look inside the living room
where my dad now was rolling on the floor with four kids on top of him trying
to ride him as a horse. I had to hold back my laughter. I had never seen my dad
quite like this before. When I was a child he was always too adult, too busy to
play with me and even when Victor and Maya were born he had his clinic to take
care of and there was always some patient that needed him. It was like he had
completely changed. Maybe my mom leaving him wasn't only bad after all?

"No," Victor said putting his hands
over his ears again. "I want to go with you."

"It'll be very boring, Vic. Don't say I
didn't warn you," I said and grabbed my long coat.

When we walked out of the house, it had started
to snow. I reached out my hand and grabbed a couple of flakes. "Now what
do you know? Snow in October? That's a first. What do you say buddy?"

Victor shrugged.

"Ah, that's right," I said. "You
already knew it was coming."

The snow was
coming
down heavily as we drove across town towards
the police station. The winds had picked up too, I could tell by the trees
surrounding the police station. I stopped the car at the small parking place
outside the building, then looked at Victor in the rearview mirror.

"It's snowing heavily now, buddy. Are you
ready to run inside?"

He nodded without looking at me. He hadn't
uttered a word all the way down there. I figured he enjoyed the silence for
once.

"Okay. Let's go."

I opened the door and got out. My hair was
soaking wet before Victor had even gotten out of the car. We ran side by side
towards the front door. I held the door for him, then we both went inside. Two
officers were at work. They seemed to be stressed and busy, constantly talking
on the phone. I scanned the room but didn't see Officer Dan anywhere. When one
of the officers hung up, I approached the counter.

"Excuse me? Could you help me please?"

"Yes, of course," the officer said and
approached me. "I'm so sorry but this blizzard has taken us all by such a
surprise. It was not foreseen by any of the meteorologists. Now we have a lot
of citizens who need our help. Especially old people falling and some are even
stuck with their cars. It's really coming down hard out there, huh?"

"It sure is," I said.

"At this time of year," he said
looking surprised. "Don't think that ever happened before. So ... what can
I do for the two of you?"

"We were looking for Officer Dan Toft. Is
he here somewhere?" I asked and looked behind him.

"Officer Dan usually has the night shift.
He won't be in for another couple of hours. Isn't it something I can help
with?"

I bit my lip. It would be the easiest to just
have this officer take the report and take care of everything, but I had made a
promise to Sophia. I shook my head. "No. I'm afraid it has to be him. I'm
sorry."

The officer shrugged. "Well I guess we are
kind of overwhelmed anyway right now, so if it can wait, then maybe it would be
for the best."

I nodded while walking towards the front door.
"Thanks anyway."

Back in the car I hit my hand into the wheel.
"Crap!" I really wanted to get this done today so they could have
that guy put away. I didn't like that he was out there somewhere on this island
posing a threat to everybody. What he had killed all those people? Maybe it was
even one of his victim's heart and liver he was serving us that day? The
thought made me nauseous. I started the car and backed out through a big pile
of snow. Out on the road the car was sliding from side to side so I drove as
slow as possible while trying to see out through the front window.

"Snow in October," I mumbled.

"So are we going back home already?"
Victor asked.

I looked at him in the mirror. It had been my
original plan, but now I wasn't so sure anymore. "You know what? What do
you say we make one more stop on the way?"

Victor answered with a smile.

I turned right and let the car slide down
another road. I remembered that Sophia had once told me that Officer Dan lived
in one of the main streets downtown in a small red house on the corner of
Poppelvej and Pilevej. It shouldn't be too hard to find.

I was right. A few minutes later I parked the
car in front of his house and got out. Victor followed me closely.

"Who lives here again?" He asked.

"A nice police officer who is going to help
me out with something. His name is Dan."

"Emma!"

Officer Dan seemed very happy to see me. He was
looking very handsome as always. "What can I do for you?" he asked.

"Can I come in? There is something I need
to talk to you about."

Dan looked slightly confused but opened the door
and let me and Victor inside. "This is my son Victor by the way," I
said.

Victor stormed past him without looking at him.

"I'm sorry about that," I said.
"He doesn't like strangers. It takes him a while"

Officer Dan closed the door behind me. "No
problem at all. He is smart not to talk to any stranger in the street. You
never know what their intentions are."

Victor found a couch and sat in it with his arms
crossed in front of his chest.

"Is there somewhere we can go where he
can't hear what we're saying?" I asked discretely.

"Sure. In the kitchen."

"Let's go in there."

"So what can I do for you?" Officer
Dan asked and showed me a chair in the kitchen where we sat down. He smiled.

"You know you get a small wrinkle on your
nose when you're upset."

I felt my nose, then blushed.

"Do you want something to drink?" he
asked. "I can't believe you went through that awful storm to get here. Do
you want a beer? Or maybe a glass of wine?"

"I'm driving, remember?" I said.

"Of course. Sorry about that. Can I offer
you a soda?"

"Sure."

Dan found an orange soda and opened it for me.
He placed it in front of me on the table, then he opened the door leading to
the living room. "Do you think he would like one too?"

"Sure. Give him a Coke. That'll make his
day. I never allow him to have that. You know the caffeine and all that sugar.
Goes right in his blood."

Dan found a Coke and opened it. He left to give
it to Victor, then returned. He sat down in front of me. "Think I just
made a new friend," he said with a smile.

"That was fast. It usually takes Victor
weeks to change his mind."

"I gave him a bag of gummy bears as
well," Dan said and winked.

"Smart move."

"So what can I do for you, Emma?"

"It's about Sophia, who lives in my
street."

"I know her, yes. What's with her?"

"She's been beaten up. Badly."

I saw Officer Dan's expression change
drastically. "Who? Who would do such a thing?"

"I'm afraid it was her boyfriend. Stephan
Olsen. He works as a chef at that place down by the harbor."

"Kabyssen?"

"That's it, yes. I found her in her yard
yesterday. My dad's been checking up on her. He's a doctor. He says she's
alright, but it's really bad. I convinced her to report it, but she insisted it
being you who took care of it. Could you do that?"

Officer Dan swallowed hard. He was restraining
his anger. I could tell by the visible vein in his forehead that had doubled in
size. "You bet I will. I'll make sure that bastard is put away for doing
this."

"There is more," I said.

Officer Dan drank from his soda. His nostrils
were moving when he breathed.

"I think ... Well I don't know for sure,
but I have a feeling he might have a little more on his conscience than beating
up Sophia."

"What? You mean like he has done this to
more women?"

"Not just that. I think that maybe ... I
can't prove anything, but maybe he might have killed the others as well. You
know, Mrs. Heinrichsen, Irene Justesen, the Pastor and even my
grandmother."

"Interesting theory. Why do you say
that?" Officer Dan asked.

"It's gonna sound strange, but ... well
first of all he's a psychopath, right?"

Officer Dan nodded. "To do that kind of a
thing to a girl like Sophia, he must be."

"Okay, so he's capable of hurting people
and maybe even killing, that was my first clue. Second, he served us something
really weird for dinner the other night."

"Oh like what?"

"Hearts and liver."

Officer Dan spurted out his soda in the air.
"You're kidding me right?"

"No I'm not. Just like what the killer
removes from the victims. Except for the lungs that is."

"Exactly," officer Dan said.
"Wait. How do you even know about that? It hasn't been in any papers or
anything."

I blushed. I had said too much. It was very
illegal what I did, hacking my way into the police files and I could go to jail
for doing so. "Uh ... "

Suddenly our conversation was interrupted by a
loud scream coming from Victor in the living room. I jumped up and stormed in
there. Victor was standing with his big dirty shoes on the couch while
screaming.

"Victor!" I yelled. "What are you
doing?"

"Spiders, spiders!" he yelled.

I sighed deeply. "That again. I'm so sorry
officer Dan, but my son has been afraid of spiders ever since we moved here and
he keeps thinking he sees them everywhere."

Officer Dan nodded. "Well we do have a lot
of spiders on this island. Some people just don't like them."

"I'm sorry," I said. "I'll get
him home. There has been a little too much change lately for him to
handle."

"No worries,” Officer Dan said. "I'll
take care of that thing we discussed. Be sure of that. I'll be at the station
later today and then I'll visit Sophia to take her statement. I'll bring Stephan
Olsen in as soon as possible. We'll have him locked up soon enough. I've got
it. Don't worry."

I tried to grab Victor, but he started screaming
louder as my hand touched his arm. "Victor!" I said angrily.
"This is not the time for this. We have to get home before the snow covers
all the streets and we won't be able to drive."

But Victor kept screaming and pulling his hand
away.

"Wait a minute," Officer Dan said and
removed my hand from Victor's arm. "Something is hurting him." He
turned to look at Victor, then spoke to him gently. "Is your arm
hurting?"

Victor stopped screaming and sniffled. Then he
nodded. "Okay, Victor. Can you pull up your sleeve and let us look at your
arm. We won't touch it if you don't want us to, alright?"

Victor nodded again, then carefully pulled up
the sleeve of his jacket and shirt. Red marks appeared on his skin.

"Oh I forgot," I said and held a hand
in front of my mouth. "The insect bites. But I thought they were gone now?
They seem all red and inflamed again."

Officer Dan looked at them closer. "They
can get like that if he keeps scratching them. This doesn't look good at all.
You know what those are? Those are spider bites."

"Spider bites?"

Officer Dan nodded. "Yup. I recognize these
anywhere. Used to get them a lot as a kid. All the time actually. Where I grew
up spiders were everywhere."

"So that's why he is so scared of
spiders?"

"Has he been playing in your yard a
lot?"

"Yes. Yes he has."

"Well that's it then. The yard behind your
house is packed with spiders. The
Atypus
Affinis
or the Northern Tarantula as it is also called. They have a
quite strong bite. It's not dangerous, but it can hurt for quite a while."

"Wow. I guess that's it, huh, Vic? Good to
know what it is, thank you, Officer Dan. For all your help."

"It was my pleasure," officer Dan said
and smiled at me.

I walked towards the door with Victor right
behind me. As I grabbed the handle it suddenly dawned on me. I turned and
looked at him. My body started shaking as I recognized his eyes.

"You're him, aren't you? You're that boy.
How else would you know that my grandmother's yard is filled with these
spiders? You're the boy from the bunker under ground, aren't you? You had a
spider on your face. That's how you got bitten all the time as a kid. You
played with them down there, didn't you? It's not a common spider on this
island or else Doctor Williamsen would have seen that kind of bite before. But
he hadn't. It's only in that yard, isn't it?"

Officer Dan took in a deep breath. "You got
me there."

Then he sprang for the door and locked it.