Chapter 120
Zelda is barking loudly. Hanna is on the landing, and notices that Erik’s attention is focused on the direction from which the sound is coming.
He is reacting to her barking.
He still cares.
Could she shoot him now, while he’s distracted?
At that moment Erik turns his head and looks straight at her.
The risk is too great. Her hand drops to her side, and she decides to make one last attempt to persuade him.
“Put down the lighter, Erik. Let’s go and say hi to Zelda. She’s desperate to see her daddy.”
Erik doesn’t move. He is sitting there in the semidarkness with the lighter in one hand, the other resting on his knee. Hanna can just see that he is sweating profusely, perspiration is trickling down both temples.
Is he crying too?
It’s hard to tell if it is tears or sweat dripping from his chin.
She wonders whether she dare go over to him. Is that what it will take for him to make up his mind? Can she trust her gut feeling—that he doesn’t intend to harm her?
“Are they going to take Zelda away from me?” he says quietly.
Hanna understands that he is talking about the aftermath, what will happen if he decides to give up.
Bearing in mind what he has done, the legal process will take many months. Erik will probably be given a long jail sentence, unless the psychiatric assessment determines that he is suffering from a severe mental illness.
“All I can say is that your dog is really looking forward to seeing you. Can’t you put down the lighter and come downstairs with me?”
Erik’s fingers open and close around the small plastic object. He weighs it in his hand, gazes at it sadly.
Hanna doesn’t take her eyes off him.
Then he gets to his feet and walks toward her.