Hidden in Snow (The ?re Murders, #1)(4)
For thirty-six years he has lived without understanding what unconditional love means. There is nothing he wouldn’t do for her.
However, he can’t deny that her deep slumber this morning is a relief. Alice has woken many times during the night, and even though they live in a spacious three-room apartment, it isn’t possible to escape the despairing crying of a baby with colic. After the first few months, they are all exhausted.
Daniel feels as if he has grit in his eyes and lead in his body as he steps into the shower. The scalding-hot water isn’t enough to get him moving; only the shock of turning the faucet to ice cold wakes him completely.
He pulls on his jeans, opts for a thick dark-blue woolen sweater over his shirt. As an inspector he isn’t required to wear a uniform, but warm clothes are a must at this time of year. You never know when you might need to go out in the cold. That’s why he’s had a beard for several years; it protects his chin. It also looks pretty good, although he would never say so out loud.
He skips breakfast to avoid disturbing Alice. He can get a cup of coffee at the police station, and he’s never been particularly hungry in the mornings. It’s better to let Alice sleep, because that means Ida can sleep too. She’s still finding the readjustment difficult. Becoming a mother was overwhelming, and she’s a little insecure in the role. The fact that Daniel isn’t around during the day doesn’t help matters.
Even though they never used to fight, they’ve recently had several massive arguments about seemingly minor issues.
Daniel often feels guilty. They hadn’t planned on having a baby, at least not when they’d been together for only six months. When Alice came along, they’d barely gotten to know each other properly.
Ida had talked about having an abortion, but Daniel had been filled with joy at the thought of being a father. This was what he’d wanted for years.
Ida is ten years younger. She was a cool ski instructor, at a completely different stage of her life, when they met one Saturday at Bygget, ?re’s most popular night club. The memory still makes him go weak at the knees. She was so full of life, so pretty that he couldn’t take his eyes off her.
They danced all night, and he went home with her.
It was love at first sight, stronger than anything he’d ever experienced before.
Ida livened him up, talked him into crazy excursions on the snowmobile, mountain picnics. She grew up in the area and knew virtually everyone. He’d already lived in ?re for two years, but with Ida he finally started to feel at home.
A child with her would be fantastic—that was his first reaction when she showed him the pregnancy test with the two blue lines. He wanted it so much and painted their future together in bright colors.
Now, when she is permanently exhausted, the guilt comes creeping in.
Daniel silently slips out of the apartment and runs down the stairs to the main door. He scrapes the car windows meticulously; the windshield is covered in a thick layer of ice crystals, and there’s a good four inches of snow on the roof.
He spends almost ten minutes clearing it all off, working up a sweat.
He actually lives within walking distance of the station— in the summer it takes no more than fifteen minutes to get there, but today the temperature is minus nineteen degrees Celsius, and it’s pitch dark. He’s due to meet a colleague, Anton Lundgren, shortly; they are going to the Duved school to give a talk. Providing information and encouraging cooperation is an important part of police work in rural areas. He often works with Anton, a cheerful and straightforward local guy. When Daniel hurries home to Ida and Alice in the evening, Anton usually heads off for one of his countless weight-training sessions.
?re has a small police station, with only three investigators and seven uniformed officers when the place is fully staffed. Daniel officially belongs to ?stersund, but spends three days a week in ?re.
He starts the car, wondering if there’s been much activity in the village overnight. Probably not. Thursday will be worse, the night before the feast of Saint Lucia, when the schoolkids like to party. As long as it’s only the local teenagers, there isn’t usually a problem; it’s the tourists who keep his colleagues busy. The season hasn’t started yet, but soon there will be fistfights in bars, disputes in the cab line, people looking for trouble in the hamburger restaurant. Drunk-driving offenses and the odd theft of ski equipment are also part of everyday life.
The snow is falling heavily as Daniel drives off shortly before seven, heading for ?re police station.
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4
A persistent, penetrating sound wakes Hanna.
It takes a few seconds for her to realize that the terrible noise is coming from her phone. She gropes for it on her bedside table, the effort making flashes of white lightning shoot through her brain.
Vague recollections of large quantities of alcohol come to mind, crawling into bed with a bottle and drinking until she passed out.
At long last the noise stops, and Hanna sinks back on the pillows. Then it starts again. She reaches out and finally manages to locate the phone.
“Hello,” she croaks.
“Did I wake you?” her big sister, Lydia, asks cheerfully.
Lydia is ten years older. She is a successful lawyer with two unbelievably well-mannered children and is happily married to an equally successful man who works in finance and earns a disgusting amount of money.