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Toro, Bergia
Saturday, 30 January, 5:16 p.m.
––––––––
Aidan stood at the sliding doors with his back to the room. "Not only did you use our friendship to manipulate me into assassinating the BSS operatives for you, but you also covered up Mikolaj's crimes. I'm not referring to his war crimes. I'm talking about the things he and his friends did to children. To your own daughter."
Aidan turned to face his former friend. Rage swirled in his eyes. "You knew their names, what they did, yet you left them to continue destroying even more children. On top of it, your son, the Crown Prince of Bergia, is a serial killer. Not only did Piotr aid Ragnar in the murders, but he's also head of a paramilitary group set on overthrowing you and putting Ragnar on the throne. The moment the crown touches his head, he'll continue right where Mikolaj's reign of terror ended on the people of this country, and the neighbouring countries as well."
Piotr lifted his eyes to Aidan. "You're better than my mother thought."
"Ivana thinks she knows the workings of our organisation and family. She gobbled up the scraps my parents threw her way. She knows nothing we didn't want her to. Also, she overplayed her hand when she tried to have your father killed in Russia. Patience is a virtue very few of us possess, myself included, unlike you. No, you've been waiting, setting everything up to take them all down. The condom in the Zurich victim's mouth, you placed it there. The victim in Abu Dhabi, you ensured she survived. Did you tire of watching him kill for fun when all you want to do is cut off his head?"
"That will be too quick." Piotr grinned when his eyes met mine.
I pulled out the Ka-Bar TDI and wondered who should bleed first. It didn't matter, DNA is DNA. Astrid had made the choice for me, the day she turned her back on her daughter. She screamed when I nicked her finger, and again when I took a sample of her blood. I handed it to Rowan.
Silence returned to the room while we waited for the results. Astrid's blood confirmed it. The DNA retrieved from the sperm inside the condom was her son's.
"Do you have any other sons we don't know about?" I asked. She shook her head. "Well then folks, this confirms it. Ragnar is a serial killer. Let me show you the faces of the people he murdered. You might not care, seeing as they were commoners, but I do. A lot." While they stared at the crime scene photos, I studied their faces. Their every reaction I deciphered; one person's response spoke volumes. It didn't surprise me in the least.
"Ylva, when we were looking at the photos in the hallway earlier, you tried to tell me your brother's a murderer. Why didn't you just say it?" Before she could answer, I continued. I like talking for people. "This is all part of your little game. Every person in your life is nothing more than a pawn on your chessboard. And when you win, you'll be queen. Sorry, princess, I'm going to stick C-4 under your chessboard and blow it to hell."
Szymon grabbed the back of Ylva's neck and forced her to look at him. "What have you done?" Aidan translated for me and placed the device we used with Sanchez on the coffee table.
"After everything I've been through, I deserve to be queen. Ragnar is a murderer, and every bit as evil as Mikolaj. With an army I can hunt down the perverts who Mikolaj called his friends. The ones he brought into his house, to do things to me, to the other children."
The device translated her words and mine. "Ragnar didn't kill until you introduced him to Dietrich. The moment you placed Dietrich as a pawn on the board, it was the last push Ragnar needed."
I lowered my bum to the coffee table and took her hands. "I'm sorry for what you had to live through, the pain and anger you still carry. Ylva, I understand what it's like to feel powerless. I was a soldier, a human weapon, and still, I couldn't protect myself. The difference is, I use my anger to hunt down those who hurt others. Unlike you, I don't see it as my right to anything, because I was a victim once. You're still a victim, Ylva. You're not a survivor. The moment you take back power of yourself, you become a survivor. What you plan to do comes from a victim's fear."
I brushed the tears from her cheek and it saddened me to understand, yet see the evil lurking in the shadows of her being. Ylva is a narcissist. And in my professional opinion she was born one. Rape didn't turn her into a vengeful woman who hates everything and everyone around her. It added fuel to the fire already smouldering inside her.
"Ragnar has wanted to kill since we were children; it was a matter of time." Ylva sat back and crossed her arms over her chest.
Szymon covered his face with his hands. "This family is cursed."
Aidan leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. "No, not cursed. For centuries, the Steins have believed you're above everyone else. Your actions, and that of your children, prove my point. Ylva could've used her position to expose an international paedophile ring, yet she remained silent. Because she wants to be queen. Every day she kept her mouth shut the very people Mikolaj welcomed into his home, your country, kept on brutalising children. You knew, and you kept quiet."
I pushed to my feet. "I might as well cut out their tongues, it's not as if they use it."
In unison, they all pulled their lips back. Idiots. I couldn't cut out their tongues, not until they gave me Ragnar's location.
Aidan tapped his fingers on his chin. "We have a problem. Ragnar isn't fit to be king, and he'll die for his crimes. Ylva isn't any less evil than any of her predecessors, and therefore not fit to rule either. Astrid is a terrible mother and a horrible cook. If we kill all of you, it will draw too much attention to Bergia and I won't risk exposing our organisation. What would you do in my position, old friend?"