A Death in Sweden Read Free

said, “Where’s Benoit?”
    “Didn’t show. And before you ask, I tried to call him—he’s not picking up.”
    Dan didn’t want to believe Benoit had been caught up in the same business, not least because it would mean it was already getting a little too close to home but, instinctively, he knew this wasn’t good.
    “You speak to Isabelle?”
    Charlie seemed relaxed and said, “Yeah, she said he had to go away the day before yesterday, didn’t say where. But he should’ve told me if he had another job. Will it be a problem?”
    Dan shook his head as he said, “No, as it turns out, I wouldn’t have needed him anyway, but . . .”
    As if making the link at a subconscious level, Charlie interrupted, the tone of someone passing on news that didn’t directly concern them, saying, “Did you know Paul Gardener’s dead? Someone broke into his house.”
    “Yeah, I know.” Something about Dan’s tone snagged and Charlie looked at him askance. “I had a call from Hugo this morning. Rich Woodward’s dead too, killed in a street robbery in Athens. And so is Karl . . .”
    “Karl Wittman! I only spoke to him . . .” He ground to a halt, trying to remember when they’d last spoken.
    “He’s dead. They’re all dead. Worse, Hugo thinks it’s concerted, and he thinks it’s intensifying. Karl was shot execution-style, left on a building site.”
    “Fuck.” Charlie brought his hands up and cupped them over his mouth, the sound muffled as he repeated quietly, “Fuck, fuck, fuck.” When he lowered his hands again he said, “Does he know who’s behind it?”
    “He said he’ll make some inquiries. I’ll call him tomorrow. But he does have a theory, and if these killings are as organized as they appear, I’m inclined to agree with him.”
    “Bastards.” Dan didn’t need to spell out who they thought it might be. He also knew what Charlie’s next move would be, and he watched patiently as Charlie took his phone and tried to call Benoit again. He shook his head as he lowered it a few moments later and said, “Voicemail.”
    “He didn’t speak to you before he disappeared? Nothing to suggest he was nervous?” All the while, as Dan spoke, Charlie was shaking his head, the concern growing greater. “Okay.”
    Charlie and Benoit had always been closer, even after Benoit had settled a year or so back, and he said now, “What will they do, Isabelle and the baby?”
    Dan smiled and said, “Don’t write him off yet. For all we know he could be lying drunk somewhere with his old Legion buddies.” Charlie nodded, not really buying it. “Look, we’ll find out more tomorrow. For now, we concentrate on getting this job finished.”
    Charlie nodded again, making an effort to focus on the task at hand, and said, “Envisage any problems?”
    “I don’t think so—finding him was the tough part. Why don’t you check in and we’ll take a walk over there.”
    Charlie smiled without much conviction and stood up, saying, “Give me ten minutes.”
    He was a little more than that, but it didn’t matter, and only gave Dan more time to think about Benoit not showing. He didn’t want to think the worst because he was a decent guy and had finally done what so many of them had failed to do and built himself a life, but Dan had a bad feeling they wouldn’t be seeing him again.
    The best-case scenario was that Benoit had been tipped off or that he’d read the runes better than the rest of them, that he’d gone into hiding on his own, protecting Isabelle and the kid by being away from them. More likely was that they’d picked him up and it was only a matter of time until the body surfaced.
    Charlie had clearly been thinking about it too, because as they walked from the hotel together, he said, “I don’t think Benoit’s been caught up in this. He’s too good to be taken down that easily, too smart.”
    Dan didn’t want to point out the obvious. Karl Wittmann had been one of the best people he’d ever