Vanished?
By
Christer Tholin
Genre:
Mystery Crime Thriller
“He
could only hope he’d get out of here in one piece.”
To
come to terms with his recent divorce, Martin, an attorney in Berlin,
plans a peaceful vacation – two weeks in a Swedish summer house
seem to be the solution. It won’t be peaceful, however, and those
two weeks will change his life forever. He takes a liking to Liv, a
Swedish woman whom he meets in the neighborhood. Unfortunately, they
don’t get to have their first date – Liv disappears under
mysterious circumstances. Martin begins his search but soon realizes
he can’t find Liv in a foreign country by himself. He hires two
private investigators, and their discoveries make everything seem
even stranger.
The
complexities in this suspenseful criminal case lead to a hunt across
Sweden. Martin comes close to finding answers, but his search lands
him in very real danger, eventually leading to the first deaths. Soon
he‘s wondering if he can get Liv and himself out of this situation
alive.
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They left the house and ran to the driveway. There they heard the sound
of an engine rapidly approaching.
“Damn, somebody’s coming. Quick, into the
woods!”
They rushed behind the house and into the
trees, where before them was a narrow path. Martin tried to keep his voice
muted: “We’ll cut through the woods to my car. Follow me!”
He followed the wooded pathway for a short
stretch, then veered to the right through the trees. It was muddy and difficult
to negotiate; that meant they weren’t going to make headway very quickly. “We
have to try not to make any noise.”
Liv nodded.
They moved slowly around the house. The
vehicle had now arrived; it was the black pickup.
“Shit.” Martin cursed. Liv held on firmly to
his shirtsleeve. “Shouldn’t we try to escape through the woods instead?”
“Do you know your way around here?”
“No.” Liv looked around. “How far is it to my
summerhouse?”
“Liv, we’re in Dalarna, really close to your
husband’s summerhouse.”
“What?” Liv opened her eyes wider and pressed
her hands to her mouth.
Martin looked at her: “To my car?”
She nodded.
They kept moving cautiously through the woods,
able to hear the driver getting out and going up to the house. It couldn’t be
much longer until he noticed that Liv’s things were missing; then he would go
into the cellar and…
Gradually they put more distance behind them
and approached the driveway. Martin looked back and believed they could now leave
their cover without risk. It went faster on the driveway; Martin’s shoulder
ached with every step, but now was the time to keep his teeth clenched. Just as
he unlocked the car, he heard a sound from the house. The man had come out the
door and roared something that Martin didn’t understand. Liv looked at him with
horror. As fast as they could, they climbed into the car. Martin started it;
unfortunately, he still had to turn it around, and there was very little space
to do so. Twice he backed up until he could finally drive off. At that very
moment, the engine of the pickup revved behind them. He looked in the rear-view
mirror; the truck was already approaching them. He hit the gas. The car reacted
and lurched forward with a jerk. Martin drove as fast as he could; Liv was
frightened; she held on to the armrest and looked around from back to front.
“Faster! Please!”
“I’m trying to.”
Martin pushed the pedal harder. The main road
lay in front of them – he knew he wouldn’t make the curve at that speed. Even
so he kept driving at the same velocity; a brief glance revealed the pickup
directly behind them. The engine was loud, and the black steel fenders in front
of the hood were coming dangerously close.
At the intersection to the main road, Martin
braked slightly, hoping to make it onto the dirt road without landing in the
ditch. Gripping the steering wheel with all his strength, the Audi swung
around, and it looked like they would make it. But the pickup had other plans.
It didn’t intend to make the curve. The driver swerved slightly to the right
and rammed the Audi from the side just as they reached the bend. The Audi’s
rear end slung around towards the woods. Liv screamed, both airbags deployed
and Martin braked with everything in his power. The car came to a stop
diagonally across the road.
Before Martin recovered his seven senses, the
door was swung open, and he was staring down the barrel of a rifle. The man
roared something in Swedish. Martin didn’t understand a word, but it was clear,
nonetheless, what the man wanted. Martin got out and raised his arms. Behind
him, Liv crawled out of the car. She said something to the man, who tersely
roared back, and Liv fell silent. The man wore a green parka with a high
turned-up collar. Other than that he wore a baseball cap. Because of this,
little of his face was visible. Dishevelled dark hair and a large, somewhat red
nose. With the rifle, the man motioned them to the pickup. He opened the hatch
over the bed and said something. Liv scrambled in; Martin behind her. They had
to lie down, then the hatch was closed tightly.
Liv felt for his hand and held onto it firmly.
The bed smelled like cement and leaves. It was cold. Completely dark.
The pickup started up, turned around and drove
off.
A few minutes later, the hatch was opened
again, the man directed them into the house, down the stairs and into the
cellar. He motioned them to sit on the bed and looked around the room. The
rifle was still pointing at them. The man cursed, kicked the table so that it
flew over the threshold of the doorway, then he left the room. A key turned in
the lock.
Martin and Liv looked at each other. Liv bent
her head and laid it on Martin’s shoulder. She was crying. Martin put his arm
around her.
He could think of nothing to comfort her. The
situation was quite hopeless.
The
author grew up in the North of Germany, Schleswig-Holstein. Today, he
lives together with his family in Stockholm, Sweden, where he works
as management consultant.
Already
for ages he has been a great fan of crime stories and therefore, had
the desire to write his own crime story with the characters acting in
Sweden. This crime-fiction is now available under the title
"Vanished?".
The
crime novel starts at a slower pace - like Martin's holidays, but the
tension goes up more and more. It comes to a number of surprising
turns giving new impulses to the story. Apart from that, the lovely
country Sweden is described with the view of a foreigner.
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the tour HERE
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