As soon as Thorleif has left the multi-storey car park, he calls Elisabeth, but she doesn’t answer her mobile. Thorleif looks at his watch. She is probably still teaching, he thinks and joins the E18 towards Oslo. On his way home he calls her at regular intervals, but she doesn’t pick up until he passes Sandvika.
‘Hi,’ she says, anxiously. ‘What’s happened?’
Thorleif closes his eyes. He is so relieved to hear her voice that he almost bursts into tears. He takes a deep breath and regains some sort of composure. He thinks carefully before he answers. ‘Nothing.’
‘For God’s sake, Thorleif, I have eight missed calls on my mobile. I thought something had happened to the kids!’
‘It’s nothing.’
‘You can’t do this to me.’
‘Where are you?’ he says, trying to distract her.
‘Where am I? I’m at work, of course. Where are you? I can hear you’re in the car.’
‘Eh, yes. I’m working, too.’
‘Why did you ring me eight times?’
‘Because… could you do me a favour?’ he says.
‘Yes, of course, but-’
‘Could you pick up the kids today? I’m going to be a bit late‚ I think.’
‘Hello, I pick them up every day! Why would you ask me to do that? You don’t need to call me eight times to ask me to do something I do every day already. Have you gone completely mad?’
‘No. It’s just that… ’ he shakes his head at himself, ‘just drive carefully. Okay?’
‘Drive carefully? Jesus Christ, Thorleif, you’re sitting in our car! What is wrong with you?’
‘Nothing, I’m just joking,’ he says quickly, hoping that will suffice.
‘When will you be back?’ she sighs.
‘I’m not really sure.’
‘No, I didn’t think so. If you’re later than five, we’ll go ahead and eat without you.’
‘Okay. Take care. I… ’ He can’t complete the sentence so he hangs up. He regrets it instantly. He should have warned her, told her to look over her shoulder, be on her guard. But what if they are bugging his mobile? Or both their mobiles? They must have been in his home since the man in the car knew about the cracks in the kitchen floor. Thorleif feels sick just thinking about what else the man has seen. The children. Their lives.
I can’t talk to anyone about this, Thorleif concludes. I can’t and I daren’t. But how do I get myself out of this nightmare? I can’t just do what they want since they are clearly going to kill me afterwards. First I kill, then I am killed.
No, he says to himself and feels the car accelerate. He has to come up with something.