The risk of dying in a car was 104 times higher than in an aeroplane.
And the possibility of throwing up after hearing his kidnapped daughter screaming into the telephone was 100 per cent.
Statistics, Mats thought as he stared into that aluminium sink that all aeroplanes had and always reminded him of a prison toilet, even here in the highest luxury class.
Statistics only help calm a person as long as a person is not affected themselves.
‘What’s that mean, Nele’s not there anymore?’ he asked, kneeling on the restroom floor, the phone lying next to the toilet on speaker since his hands were shaking so badly he couldn’t hold it to his ear anymore.
‘There’s a tripod and a stretcher here in the livestock hall,’ Feli replied, sounding agitated. ‘But no sign of Nele. She could be anywhere. The place is far too big. It has one basement and possibly more.’
Feli’s last words were accompanied by a peep indicating that Mats’ battery was now only running at 10 per cent. He knew he needed to get up and plug his phone in, but even that seemed like an unbelievable exertion at the moment.
‘Then keep looking around,’ Mats said, seized by heavy nausea.
‘These grounds are huge. Aren’t you listening to me? I can’t do it.’
‘You don’t want to, you mean.’
Mats knew he was being unfair but at the moment all he had were his powerlessness and his anger, and Feli was the only lightning rod available to him.
‘You don’t even want to help me.’
‘How can you say that?’ she said, incensed now.
Mats ripped a bunch of tissues from their dispenser and wiped the rest of his vomit from his face, then finally managed to pull himself up by a toilet handle. ‘You never did like Nele. You see her as the reason I left you. You hate her.’
And I hate myself.
‘Mats,’ Feli protested, and Mats really would’ve liked to rewind his violent outburst or at least channel his anger in the right direction, but he couldn’t stop insulting the only person who’d been helping him.
‘You know what I think? Even if you did find Nele, you’d probably just abandon her there.’
‘Mats!’ Feli shouted again but this time it didn’t sound like a protest. The truth was, it hadn’t sounded that way the first time either. It sounded more like a scream for—
Help?
‘What’s wrong?’ he panted.
‘Mats, I think someone’s here, someone…’
He never did get to find out. The last thing Mats heard from Feli was a scream and then a sound like something fragile shattering.
Then his display went black.