Far North - Michael Ridpath [94]
After the detective had left, Zak had seemed tense. Sophie should probably tell their house mates about the visit: make sure the house was clean of anything incriminating if the police decided to come back and search the place.
Now, to work. Fortified with new resolve, she headed for the front door, only to see it open.
‘Zak? What are you doing back here?’
He looked worried. ‘I thought you were going to the library,’ he said.
‘I am. What’s up?’
He pushed past her on his way to his room. ‘It’s Mum. I just got a call from Dad. She’s getting worse.’
‘Oh, no!’ said Sophie, following him. She knew all about his mother’s cancer. ‘I’m so sorry.’
‘I’m going back to Iceland,’ Zak said, pulling a bag out of his wardrobe.
‘When? Now?’
‘Yeah. I might get a flight today if I hurry.’
‘Is it that bad? I mean, is this, like…’ Sophie couldn’t bring herself to say ‘the end’.
‘I don’t know, Soph, I really don’t know. It might be. I’ve got to get home.’
He was looking away from her as he said this.
‘Come here,’ said Sophie, holding out her arms. He ignored her. ‘Come on.’
Slowly, reluctantly, he stood up and let her hug him. Sophie was mildly offended as he pushed her away. Sometimes he just put up barriers and she didn’t like it. But how could she know what it was like to have your mother die?
She watched him pack. The silence was awkward. She was aware that he really didn’t want to talk about his mother. ‘They reckon there’s a chance Lister’s going to make it after all,’ she said. ‘I just heard it on the radio.’
‘Pity,’ said Zak.
‘You don’t really mean that!’ said Sophie, shocked. ‘I know he called you all a bunch of terrorists, but he’s not a bad man.’
‘So you say,’ said Zak. ‘There’s a whole country that he bankrupted that might disagree.’
Sophie took a deep breath. She had never seen Zak so tense. She wanted so badly to reach out and comfort him.
The policewoman’s visit troubled her. She considered asking him about it again, but rejected the idea. It would only upset him more. She watched helplessly as he finished his packing. He was very quick. She felt an irrational dread overwhelm her, as though he were leaving her for good.
‘How long will you be gone?’ she asked.
‘Don’t know. I won’t know until I see how bad she really is.’
‘Well, let me know once you see her. Have you told the uni?’
‘Oh, I’ll do that later. Actually, could you tell McGregor for me? I’ll talk to him myself in the next day or two.’
Dr McGregor was head of the Politics Faculty.
‘Yeah. Sure.’
Ten minutes later Zak was gone. Sophie sat at the kitchen table and burst into tears.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
DÍSA SENT HARPA home. The fresh air invigorated her as she hurried along the shore of the bay. To her right a small dark cloud was rolling over the Hallgrímskirkja and unloading its contents on the city centre. An easterly breeze was blowing the cloud towards Seltjarnarnes.
She played over what she would say to Björn. She had to call him. It was a conversation she wasn’t looking forward to.
She beat the cloud home by a couple of minutes, made herself a cup of coffee and dialled Björn’s number. She hoped he wasn’t out at sea, she needed to get this over and done with.
He answered on the second ring.
‘Hi, it’s me,’ she said.
‘Oh, hi.’ He sounded distracted.
‘Björn, I… I need to talk to you.’
‘OK?’
‘You remember the kid who was with us that night in Sindri’s flat? A boy named Frikki?’
‘Yes, of course I remember him.’
‘Well he came into the bakery the other day, with his girlfriend. And then they came back again today. He seems to think that Sindri is behind Óskar’s death. And the shooting of the British Chancellor of the Exchequer.’
‘That doesn’t make any sense. Why?’
‘He says that Sindri was talking about taking real action against the bankers and against the people who caused the kreppa.’