I felt for it in my purse and nodded.
* * *
I biked to Chris’s place, where I showered and changed clothes. He kissed me slowly, and the scent of his neck made my knees tremble.
“You twist up my brain,” he said. “I wasn’t supposed to jump into anything again so soon.”
I wondered what he meant by “anything,” but decided it was best not to know.
We drank wine and played Trivial Pursuit. Chris whistled when I knew which director had been married to Sharon Tate, one of Charles Manson’s victims. I soaked up his praise, but I didn’t think it was the right time to reveal that I’m a bit of an Aspie when it comes to psychopaths.
Anyway, in the end I let Chris win.
No, actually, he won fair and square. He could rattle off a whole ton of kings and dates from, like, before Christ. I’ve never liked history. I prefer the future.
“I’m getting tired,” he said, shaking the last few drops of wine from the bottle.
We stood up at the same time and he rested a hand on my hip. His expression went hard and sharp. He guided me firmly ahead of him to the bedroom.
“Is something wrong?” he whispered into my ear.
I shook my head.
* * *
We’d hardly fallen asleep when Chris’s phone woke us up again. He rolled onto his side of the bed and turned away as he spoke. It was something about a meeting, negotiations, and bidding.
“You’re welcome to stay here and sleep in,” he said, kissing the back of my neck. “I have to head to a meeting right away.”
“Now? What time is it?”
“Five to seven.”
“Fuck no.”
I watched, eyes half closed, as he put on a ridiculously expensive suit and knotted his tie in front of the wardrobe mirror.
“Maybe I’ll stay right here until you get back.”
He turned around and pinched my big toe.
“Kids these days.”
“I’m a teenager. I need lots of extra sleep.”
He smiled and his eyes turned to diamonds.
“Don’t you have to work today?”
“Yeah. Boo.” I sighed. “But I don’t start until ten fifteen.”
He bent over and his tie dangled between my breasts as he kissed me.
“The door locks automatically. You can just pull it shut when you leave.”
Once he was gone I tried to fall back asleep, but even though I’d hardly gotten a wink I felt wide awake. My skin was crawling; my feet itching to move. I gave it fifteen minutes or so, tossing and turning and fluffing my pillow at least a hundred times. At last I gave up and slipped to the kitchen with the comforter wrapped around me.
The fridge was full to bursting with delicacies and I set out a hotel-level breakfast for myself. Then I ate with my feet up on a chair and listened to Lund awakening through the half-open balcony door.
Linda’s words echoed in my head. The big cabinet, the top right drawer, the key in the bottom left.
I walked into the hall. Stood before the mirror for a moment, considering.
I needed to pee. In the bathroom I snooped quickly through his medicines. Nose spray, allergy pills, pain relievers. Nothing exciting.
I washed up and went to the room Chris called his office.
Next to the window was a desk. On the wall hung an impressive painting; it must have been two meters wide. It was impossible to tell what it was supposed to be, but I had no doubt it was worth more than a year’s salary at H&M.
The facing wall was taken up by a large filing cabinet. This was what Linda had been talking about.
I turned to look out the window, realizing that this was a betrayal of Chris. But it would be stupid not to check what was in that drawer. If only to do away with the minor doubts I was having. Chris would never know.
I crouched down and pulled out the bottom left drawer. Inside were two plastic boxes with lids. The first was full of little stuff: bracelets, key rings, old swimming-achievement badges. Keepsakes he apparently hadn’t had the heart to toss.
The next plastic container was slightly smaller. The lid gave me some trouble, but at last I managed to pry it off. At the bottom were a dozen or so keys.
I considered the drawer at the top right of the filing cabinet. There were two keys that might reasonably fit that lock. I tried the first one, but nothing happened when I turned it. I decided to try out the other one too. There was a click from the lock as I turned it.
I pulled out the drawer and stared down into it.
What had I expected?
I stood there, gawking, unable to get my thoughts in order.
65
“Why did you react so strongly at our meeting the other day?”