Trine shakes it.
‘Have you had any more contact with the hostage taker?’
‘No,’ Krogh says. ‘He hasn’t called us in the last forty-five minutes, and we haven’t called him. But we’re prepared, we have people ready to go in – should it become necessary. All lines of communications are open. The Police Chief is following the situation and will decide whether or not we take action.’
‘I’ll make that decision,’ she says. ‘I’m still Justice Secretary.’
‘Er, yes, of course. That’s your right. Have you been briefed about the hostage taker?’
‘I know a little, yes,’ she says and nods. She didn’t follow the news much when she was young, but she does remember the snow cave tragedy in Jessheim. She read about it in the local paper. Remi’s brother who died under the snowdrifts. A terrible, tragic accident.
‘Okay, good,’ Krogh says. ‘Before we get started, I’d like you to talk to the hostage negotiator from Lillestrøm. Follow me.’
Krogh leads Trine through a crowd of police officers. Then he stops at a mobile incident truck, gives an order Trine doesn’t catch and a few seconds later a woman in civilian clothing gets out. She is wearing a bullet-proof vest on top of her thin, dark blue raincoat.
‘Hello, my name is Tonje Tellefsen,’ the woman says. ‘I’m the hostage negotiator for Romerike police district.’
‘Trine Juul-Osmundsen.’
They shake hands and quickly smile at each other.
‘I’ll be with you the whole time listening to every word that’s being said. Situations like these are always unique and you can never know in advance what will work. There’s one thing that is important and it might seem obvious, but you mustn’t say or do anything that could make the hostage taker even angrier than he already is. Don’t remind him why he is here. And don’t speak to him in any way he might perceive as threatening. Listen to what he says and make sure your voice sounds as gentle as possible.’
Trine nods.
Tellefsen gives her a warm smile.
‘It’s highly unusual,’ she says. ‘For a hostage taker to demand to talk to a Minister. We’re very pleased that you’ve come. It’s a brave thing to do.’
‘Thank you,’ Trine smiles and gets a warm feeling inside. ‘Which house is it?’
‘The red one over there,’ Tellefsen says and points.
Another mobile incident truck is parked outside. Trine can see that members of the armed response unit in their dark uniforms are strategically positioned around the house.
‘Okay,’ she says and starts walking towards the truck. ‘Let’s get going.’
Chapter 79
The agonies of choice. What to do.
Emilie Blomvik sits on the floor a short distance from Mattis. She is shivering even though she feels hot. Remi paces up and down in front of her, sits down, gets up again. Closes his eyes and writhes. It looks as if his head hurts. And now the police are outside.
The question is, should she do something or simply wait for them to sort it out? Can she trust them to handle it?
Yes, she decides at first. They’ve been trained for this. But then Remi started talking about the Justice Secretary. Threatened to use the gun. It made Emilie think she might have to do something as well. She can’t just sit there and wait.
Do something, yes. But what?
Fortunately Sebastian is still playing in his room, bashing away at his hammer board toy. He turns over the board and starts whacking the other side. It is a game that usually sends him to sleep. She hopes he is starting to feel sleepy now.
‘Remi,’ she says with warmth in her voice. ‘Why don’t you sit down for a moment?’
Emilie can’t gesture to him because her hands are tied behind her back. So instead she makes a come-hither movement with her head. Remi looks at her.
‘Do you remember when we used to skive off school and spend the whole day at home just watching movies?’
Emilie attempts to produce a smile she knows usually has an effect on men.
‘I can’t remember how many sweets we ate. I feel almost sick just thinking about it.’
Mattis stares at her, but Emilie ignores him. She sees that the memories start to come back to Remi. The time when they were good together. Life was fun. It was quite a wild time as well, she remembers. A lot happened.
‘We could be like that… again, you know that, don’t you?’
She has barely spoken the words before he snorts with derision.
‘What is it you want from me, Remi? What can I do to make all this go away?’
He lifts his head and looks at her.
‘I want you to say that you’re sorry,’ he says. ‘I want you to look at me and tell me you’re sorry for ruining my life.’
Emilie nods softly, before she realises what he has just said.
‘Me? I ruined your—’
‘Yes, you. You, Johanne, that vicious old—’
Remi bites his lip.
Emilie doesn’t say anything immediately, but she realises that she can’t stop herself.
‘Remi,’ she says. ‘What happened between us. It was a hundred years ago.’
Her voice is calm even though she is seething on the inside.
‘You’re not seriously telling me that you’re still upset about what happened back then?’
Remi makes no reply.
‘I was eighteen years old, Remi. Eighteen! Dear God, we were just kids. We did crazy stuff all the time.’
‘You did crazy stuff all the time.’
‘Yes, okay, but so what? We’re allowed to make mistakes when we’re young.’
‘Right and who cares if anyone gets hurt while we make our mistakes? Anything goes as long as you’re having fun?’
Emilie doesn’t respond immediately.
‘Remi, everyone has done things they regret. If I had the chance to live my life all over again there are many things I would do differently, and if that’s what you want me to say, then yes, I’m sorry for what happened between us. So here goes: I’m really sorry I hurt you. I apologise. Okay? Now can we please get on with our lives?’
‘I can tell from your voice that you don’t mean it.’
Emilie rolls her eyes, but Remi just sends her an icy glare.
‘Okay,’ Emilie says with a sigh. ‘Fine. But don’t come back later and say that I didn’t apologise.’
‘It’s too late now, anyway.’
The next moment the phone rings. Remi looks at it for a long time before he presses a button and puts it to his ear. But he says nothing. Emilie presumes it’s the police trying to talk him down.
But Emilie’s intuition tells her that talking won’t help; only action will do. And there is something in Remi’s eyes that terrifies the life out of her. There is no hope left in them. Only hatred.
You have to do something, she thinks.
Chapter 80
Trine is given a telephone and a headset, which she puts on and exhales.
‘I’m ready,’ she says and looks at the hostage negotiator who nods back in return.
‘We need to go inside the truck,’ she says. ‘You can’t stand out here and make yourself a target. This is a man who clearly wants attention, and you—’
‘I get it,’ Trine interrupts her.
They step inside the mobile incident truck. Trine is given a chair, an A4 pad and pen. The negotiator sits down next to her.
Trine has read the police contingency plan for situations like this, so she knows that every action suggested and executed will be logged. Everything she says will be subject to close scrutiny afterwards.
‘Remember, I’m with you all the way,’ the negotiator says. ‘Look at me and any notes I write down for you while you talk to him. Be calm. Self-assured. Controlled. Don’t let him know that you’re nervous.’