Jacob could see she was upset, crying. She was standing in a glass box, banging her fists against the transparent wal s and cal ing for him, cal ing for her dad. He tried to answer, but she couldn't hear him.
Kimmy! he shouted in the dream. I'm here! I'm coming!
"Jacob?"
He woke with a start.
"What?" he said.
"You were shouting. Having a bad dream."
He sat up and rubbed his eyes hard with his fists.
The car had stopped. They were on the outskirts of a town.
On the left was a large warehouse, and on the right, a long row of office buildings. It was ful daylight, a dul sort of light, filtered through a thin cloud cover. The landscape was flat and bare, not like anything he'd ever seen before.
"Where are we?"
"The bridge over to the Finnish side is only a kilometer from here.
Robert's a bit closer, on the other side of the rotary. Nothing came through during the night. No red Volvo. No young couple."
He blinked and looked around.
"This is Haparanda?"
"Kyl a."
He looked at her, confused.
"Finnish for yes, babe. Let's go. Robert's waiting for us."
She started the car and drove toward a large rotary with what was practical y a smal forest at its center.
"He's got men watching al the bridges across the river, and a couple at the main harbors for smal boats. No one's seen anything. Robert's men are vigilant."
"Thank god for organized crime," Jacob said.
"Robert's rough, but he's a good guy."
A huge building with an immense parking lot spread out to the left of the car.
"What the hel is that?" he asked.
"That's the most northerly IKEA in the world. And there's Robert!"
They stopped beside a customized Toyota Land Cruiser, the latest model.
Leaning against the gleaming paintwork was a giant of a man with a blond ponytail and biceps like logs.
Dessie hurried out of the car and threw herself into his arms. The giant received her with a big grin on his face.
A pang of jealousy hit Jacob in the solar plexus. Slowly he got out of the car and approached the enormous man holding on to Dessie.
Robert's arms were covered in clumsy tattoos. He was missing two front teeth.
He would have been perfect, just as he was, as the leader of one of Los Angeles' infamous motorcycle gangs.
"So you're the American?" he said in a thick Swedish accent, holding out his paw.
Jacob's hand disappeared in the iron grip of the fist.
"Yep," he replied. "That's me."
Cousin Robert pul ed him closer and lowered his voice.
"Don't think you can hide just because you're from the States. If you treat Dessie badly, I'l find you."
"That's good to know," Jacob said.
The giant let go of Jacob's hand.
"We've been keeping an eye on the junction in Morjarv al night," Robert said. "They passed it half an hour ago in a red Volvo with false plates. They took the E-ten down toward Haparanda."
Jacob felt adrenaline explode throughout his body. This was it. The end of the tale, at the end of the world.
The gangster looked at his watch, a diamond-encrusted Rolex.
"They could be here any minute."
Chapter 132
Time nearly stopped for Jacob.
He checked his cheap plastic watch every minute. 8:14, then 8:15, then 8:16.
The early morning mist was lingering, making the landscape seem eerie, scary-looking.
Robert's sidekick brought them coffee, juice, and ham sandwiches, which they ate in the car. They were both very hungry.
"How close are you two?" Jacob asked, nodding toward the enormous man leaning on his car a hundred yards away. The car sagged from his weight.
Dessie was doing her best to scrape the ham off the bread.
"Robert?" she said. "He's my favorite cousin. His mom was in and out of prison when he was young, so he spent a lot of time with us on the farm. He's two years younger than me, but he was always bigger and stronger than me."
Dessie put the sandwich down on her lap.
"I've always wondered if we're more than cousins," she said.
Jacob stopped chewing.
"What do you mean?"
She took a gulp of orange juice.
"I don't know who my dad is," she said quietly. "My mother always said he was an Italian prince who would come and fetch us both one fine day. I have no idea what she meant."
She gave him a quick embarrassed look.
"I know," she said. "Al a bit like a fairy tale. One of my uncles is probably my father, or maybe even Granddad himself." She shivered and was silent.
Jacob turned to look through the windshield. What could you say to something like that?
Dessie stretched out as much as she could and looked in the rearview mirror.
"Red car," she said.
Jacob adjusted the mirror so he could see for himself. Sure enough, a red car was approaching from behind.
"It's a Ford," he said. "Four people. It's not them. It's probably not them."
Chapter 133
They sat in silence, watching the passengers as the Ford went past on its way to the border crossing: two elderly couples, the men in the front, the women in the back.
Dessie turned to him, hesitated for a moment, then asked, "Who was Kimmy's mother?"
Now it was his turn to put his sandwich down.
"Her name's Lucy," he said. "We grew up together in Brooklyn. She was a singer, blues and jazz, real y talented. We were both eighteen when she got pregnant. When Kimmy was three months old, she left us."
"Left you? To do what?"
Jacob shrugged.
"Live another life, I guess. Drugs, money, music… The first few years, she saw Kimmy a couple of times, but that died out. It must be fifteen years since I last saw her."
"Does Lucy know… about Kimmy…?"
Jacob shook his head.
"No. At least, I haven't told her. I don't know where she is. I don't even know if she's stil alive."
"She sounds like an idiot to me."
"We were both young, both idiots."
Silence fel inside the car.
A green VW Passat drove past.
Jacob looked at his watch. 8:54.
A blue Saab sped past them. They could hear the sound of rock and rol coming from the open windows. Two young males. Punk-style haircuts.
Jacob looked at his watch. 8:55. He was conscious that he was doing it obsessively, but he couldn't help it.
Dessie's phone rang. She listened in silence, said not a word, then turned to Jacob.
"They've passed through Salmis and Vuono," she said. "Two vil ages just outside this town. Stil in the red Volvo. They're almost here."
"Robert's men, are they reliable?"
Dessie nodded. "Very."
"I don't want them involved at the border. I'l take it from here."
She passed on the message and hung up.
Chapter 134
Nine o'clock came and went.
No red Volvo. No Rudolphs.
The road beyond the rotary was ful of cars now, mostly trailers and trucks. Due to the hunt for the Postcard Kil ers, security at the border crossing had been stepped up and al vehicles were forced to go through the checkpoint, next to a smal wooden building up on the left.
Jacob looked at his watch again.
Half past nine. Jesus. The time was crawling.
Big tourist buses had started to arrive in the lot outside IKEA. They seemed to come from the whole of the Arctic region. Jacob saw license plates from Norway, Finland, and Russia. It was like IKEA was a county fair.
Soon there was a line of cars waiting to get into the parking lot.
"This is the Thursday before Midsummer's Eve," Dessie said. "It's the high point of Sweden's busiest shopping week. It's even bigger than Christmas."
Jacob didn't say anything.
He realized he was grinding his teeth. He needed to stop that. Yes, as soon as they caught the Rudolphs.
A line of shoppers was starting to form outside the entrance to the superstore. These country folks were clearly nuts.