Chapter 130
Both she and Morris are running out of food.
Anton and Carl! She can’t help smiling.
She recognized Carl as soon as she opened the door. He was an important witness in a homicide investigation a couple of years ago. And now he and Anton are an item.
Hanna is pleased for her colleague. She has sometimes wondered why he never mentions a partner during their coffee breaks, why he has seemed so lonely when he’s such a great person.
But Carl’s appearance explains everything.
Good for you, Anton. He needs some love in his life.
Who doesn’t?
As if by magic, her phone rings. Henry. Hanna feels an unexpected burst of happiness when she sees his name on the display. She has been so focused on the investigation recently, and now she longs to talk about anything but terrible crimes.
The stress over the media reports has eased—it faded away when the job took over. Suddenly the gossipy articles seemed so pathetic compared to what had happened to Filippa and the other young students in Sadeln.
She answers as she drives into the underground parking garage, looking for a space.
“Hi there!”
“Hi, darling.”
Henry’s voice is warm. They chat as she pays for her parking and takes the stairs up to ground level. A train from Stockholm has just arrived—probably the same one the four friends will catch to travel back to Uppsala.
Poor kids.
Hanna hopes that Olivia has a good network around her. She is going to need a great deal of support to work through the experiences of this week.
The boys too, especially Emil.
“Where are you, by the way?” Henry asks.
Hanna is heading for the ICA store with her phone pressed to her ear. The station is very busy; she has to dodge between tourists arriving for a skiing vacation and people taking the train back to the capital.
“I’m at the train station. I need to buy cat food for Morris and something for my dinner.”
“What a coincidence.”
“Sorry?”
“Turn around.”
And there he is, holding a large bag from one of Stockholm’s finest fish shops in the ?stermalm food hall.
Hanna can’t believe her eyes.
“What are you doing here?”
Henry looks mischievous. And very pleased with himself.
“I wanted to surprise you. As we had to interrupt our vacation. And maybe make up for you being hounded by all those annoying journalists. I read online that you’d caught the perpetrator and solved the case, so I thought you might have some time to spare for me at long last.”
He opens his arms wide, and Hanna runs straight into them.
And spots Daniel approaching from the opposite direction, holding Alice by the hand.
For a couple of seconds they look straight at each other. In his eyes she sees the same yearning she has carried in her heart for so long. Then he turns his head away and picks up his daughter, as if he hasn’t even noticed Hanna.
They disappear into the food store among the crowd of shoppers. Henry caresses her back; Daniel and Alice are gone before she has time to react.
She must have imagined that look.
Or did she?