Holger Munch crept quietly toward the old cottage, with a feeling that something was wrong. The windows were bolted shut. There was a gaping hole in the roof. There were no signs that anyone had lived there for years. The cottage looked as if it might collapse at any moment. Could this place really be Karen’s hideout? This dilapidated hut? Strange. The closer they got to the house, the stronger was his feeling that something was amiss.
“All Delta units, this is Nine,” he whispered into the walkie-talkie just as he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. “Anyone see anything? Over.”
“Negative. Over,” came the reply into his ear.
He could see Curry shifting from foot to foot only a few meters in front of him, his pistol at the ready. Curry shrugged his shoulders as if to say, What are we waiting for?
This house really was uninhabitable. Had she built somewhere she could live underneath it? The small room they’d seen on the Kiese movie? From what he had seen of the short film, that room was far too small to live in. Of course, there might be several such rooms next to one another, but it seemed unlikely.
He tried frantically to make a decision. They had absolutely no time to lose. She had Marion. She had Mia. They had to do something. They might be too late already.
Too late already.
He did not even dare to think of the consequences if the latter were true. For Miriam. Marianne. For everyone. Everyone in the unit. Not least him.
“Nine, this is Delta One,” he heard in his earpiece. “We’re on standby and ready for entry. Clear signal for go? Over.”
Curry shrugged again, almost overeager now. He seemed to be up for anything, and unless Munch gave the order soon, he would storm the house single-handed.
Munch had crouched down on one knee on the grass, not far from the cottage, trying to get a clearer view of the situation, when he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket for the second time.
No, this was not it. It did not feel right. Building a small, underground, sealed room was one thing, but a place you could actually live in? Why on earth would anyone do that? Surely it would be much simpler to make changes to the basement in a house that was not about to cave in?
“Nine?” He could hear the question in his walkie-talkie again.
It was not only Curry who was getting twitchy now. The whole entry team was on edge.
Munch’s phone buzzed again like an angry wasp against his trouser leg. What the hell?
He eased it out of his pocket and glanced at it while he tried to screen the light from the display with his hand so he would not be seen.
He had two missed calls from Ludvig Grønlie and a text message that was now glowing at him.
Wrong place!!! Witness reports eye contact with Marion. Call me!!!!
“Delta all, Delta all, this is Nine,” he said quickly and firmly into his walkie-talkie. “We have a new location. Regroup and await new orders. I repeat, no entry, we have a new location, regroup and await new orders. Over.”
He got up, walked quickly back to the car, and phoned Ludvig Grønlie.