Chapter 122
The figure out on the frozen lake has a head start of a few hundred yards, but Daniel follows as fast as he dares on the uneven, snow-covered terrain.
Time slows down. All he can hear is his own ragged breathing. The air is incredibly cold, and it is hard to get enough oxygen when his lungs are screaming with the exertion.
Hanna is a short distance behind. She is fit, but not as fast as Daniel.
He is catching up with Karin.
She looked in good shape when he saw her in the kitchen, but there must be thirty years between them. She is also afraid and panic stricken, and probably dazed after the accident, given that the airbag had deployed.
It must have been a hell of an impact, and now it looks as if she is stumbling rather than running.
They are in one of the narrowest sections of the lake. Kallsjon is long, but not wide. Over on the other side, to the west, lies the village of Kall, where Raffe lives.
Maybe Karin is hoping to pick up another car there.
Suddenly she stops, as if she has realized that she is being followed. Then she changes direction and heads to the east.
This is not good. She is on her way to the small island of Storholmen, where the ice is notoriously unpredictable.
Kallsjon is treacherous by nature; it may be one of Sweden’s deepest lakes, but it has strong currents.
It is also regulated. The water level is controlled by limiting the outflow, which affects the formation of the ice and its reliability.
Daniel is well aware that the thickness can vary significantly, even when it looks fine.
Only a few years ago two snow scooters carrying four people went through the ice, in spite of low temperatures.
Karin is dangerously close to Storholmen now.
Daniel continues his pursuit while trying to keep an eye open for wet patches. This is a warning sign, an indication that the ice is thin just there. Going through is no joke, especially when it is this cold.
There are no more than a hundred yards between them at this stage.
Karin turns her head as she limps along. She keeps glancing over her shoulder, even though it slows her down.
The distance shrinks even more.
And then she is no longer there.
It happens so fast that Daniel doesn’t even see it. One minute she is right there in front of him; the next she is gone.
He knows exactly what has happened.
The ice has broken beneath Karin’s feet. She is in the water, and if they don’t get her out very quickly, she will drown.
Daniel has never run faster.
He covers another fifty yards, then stops dead. Ahead of him the ice is wet and mushy instead of dry and hard.
It would be lethal to continue.
Karin must have been so busy looking back that she didn’t see the danger until it was too late.
Daniel stares at the gaping hole. The water is dark and opaque, with broken shards of ice floating around.
Then something breaks the surface.
Karin, gasping for air and waving her arms in the air, desperately trying to grab onto the sharp edge of the ice.
“Help me!” her voice echoes out across the lake.
But the ice breaks under her scrabbling fingers.