Silver Tears(10)

“Bingo again. You’re amazing.”

“Yes, I am. But thus far it’s all been obvious. Now it’s a little trickier…”

Faye finished the last of her drink and David flagged Brasse over.

“Same again?”

“No, I think I’ll try out one of those matryoshka cocktails.”

Brasse nodded and set to work.

“I hope I didn’t ruin what could have been the beginning of a beautiful love story.” David tilted his head toward Brasse.

“Oh, I’m getting tired of twenty-five-year-olds,” Faye said. “They’re too smooth and enthusiastic.”

“Smooth and enthusiastic…”

David laughed. Faye really did like his laugh.

“Well, keep guessing. You’ve knocked it out of the park so far. It’s only slightly worrying that I’m apparently such a cliché.”

“Mmm, let me see. You clearly work out. Martial arts? SPR?”

“Yep. I’m kind of impressed by that one, actually.”

“Which discipline?”

“Brazilian jujitsu.”

“Naturally. Okay, what else? You’ve tried out paddle tennis in the last year and now you’re completely smitten?”

“Bingo.”

“But your wife still practices at the Royal Tennis Hall. When she’s not riding.”

David raised his eyebrows slightly.

“Bingo. And bingo. Ack, that’s enough.” David shook his head and hid his face in feigned shame.

Faye grinned and took a sip of her drink. David’s phone lit up as a text arrived.

“My contact is here—he’s out on the veranda. Nice to meet you…Faye.”

When he had gone, she turned back to the laptop and pulled it closer. David had put her in an unexpectedly good mood and she was able to focus on work again.



A message popped up on her screen. From Kerstin. Faye had been about to put her cocktail to her lips but stopped mid-movement. Another share in Revenge had been bought. She shut the laptop and requested the bill. The good mood was gone without a trace.





The coffee was weak and acrid, as usual at AKV Accounts. The offices themselves were small and dark, with bookcases everywhere groaning under the burden of binders stuffed with papers. So much for a paperless society. Nevertheless, Faye and Kerstin had chosen to hold the meeting at AKV’s office instead of their own rather slicker one. For the time being, it wasn’t smart to show anyone outside the company that anything was brewing. Faye looked up at the illustration pinned to the wall of Revenge’s accountant, ?rjan Birgersson: a duck swimming placidly above the water’s surface but paddling like mad beneath it. That was exactly how she felt.

“More coffee?” ?rjan offered, but both Faye and Kerstin shook their heads emphatically.

It had seemed polite to accept one cup, but neither of them felt able to subject herself to two.

“So what do you think?”

Faye leaned forward and tried to read ?rjan’s expression. He was a small, gray-haired man who wore thin steel-rimmed spectacles. His eyes were alert and he was always disproportionately enthusiastic about everything to do with numbers, key figures, and debits and credits.

“Well, this is complicated,” he said cheerfully, and Faye could feel herself grinding her teeth.

For her, this was a matter of life and death. For her, Revenge was a living thing—something made from flesh and blood, something breathing. Alive. Chris lived on in Revenge. Julienne was in Revenge. Kerstin. All the women whose wounds and scars had formed the basis of Revenge—they were all living parts of the company. But they were also the ones who were now threatening its existence.



“Kerstin was quite right. When you look at these acquisitions, it’s possible to discern a pattern. So there’s much to suggest that it is one and the same buyer.”

“Can you see who’s behind it? Is there a common denominator?”

Faye took a sip of the coffee and pulled a face. She set the cup aside to avoid making the same mistake again.

“Not yet—it’s going to take time. Whoever’s buying up the shares—whether it’s an individual or a corporation—knows what he’s doing. The best way I can describe it is as a ball of yarn. A muddle of companies and acquisitions—if it hadn’t been for the fact that all of them follow the same pattern it would have been hard to spot that it must be the same single buyer behind them all. The pattern gave them away. Which, as I said, Kerstin very deftly identified.”

He fluttered his eyelashes at Kerstin, and Faye looked at him resignedly. Kerstin didn’t look in the slightest bit amused.

“Do your best to find out what you can. As quickly as possible,” she said in her most professional tone.

Oblivious, ?rjan carried on twinkling his eyes at her. “Of course, Kerstin. Of course. Here at AKV, we always do our best. If I may say so, I’m one of the very best in the business. For instance, the army recently called us in to assist—”

“What’s our situation?” Faye said, interrupting him.

She’d listened to enough of ?rjan’s war stories from the battlefields of accountancy to know that she couldn’t endure sitting through another one.

“It doesn’t look all that promising.”