Betrayal by Karin Alvtegen Read Free Book Online Page A

through the draughty cracks. It would be a time-consuming job, eight small panes in each window. Maybe they could hire someone and avoid wasting their time during their badly needed holiday. But maybe that was no longer so important.
    She swallowed.
    ‘Henrik?’
    Not a sound.
    ‘Henrik, dear, can’t we just talk a little? Can’t you explain to me what’s happening?’
    He didn’t stir.
    ‘Can’t you at least explain why you’re so angry? What is it I’ve done?’
    He turned over on his side and pulled up the covers. He must have heard from her voice that she had been sad, that she was still sad, but she realised that he was not going to answer even if he did hear her. He intended to shut her out and her questions as if she had never uttered them. She leaned her head back and closed her eyes, trying to stifle the sound of desperation that was lodged like a scream in her throat, demanding to be released. A cornered animal whose every instinct was signalling her to fight, but she didn’t know what to defend herself against. For a good while she sat there, unable to get up, but finally she managed to persuade her legs to take her back to the empty double bed.
    She had just lain down when she heard him go into the bathroom.
    He left her alone.
    She didn’t fall asleep until after five o’clock. At seven she woke up when the front door closed. She presumed he was going to collect Axel and take him to the day-care centre.
    She lay there staring at the second-hand on her wristwatch, unable to move. Step by step it was leading her farther away from reason. How was she going to resolve this?
    The sudden ring of the telephone made her gasp. The only reason she decided to pick it up was that it might be him.
    ‘Eva speaking.’
    ‘Hi, it’s me.’
    ‘Oh, hi Mamma.’
    She lay back down.
    ‘How did it go yesterday?’
    ‘Oh, fine, thanks. Was it all right with Axel?’
    ‘Yes, but he woke up at half past one and was sad and absolutely wanted to ring you even though we told him it was much too late. We tried your mobiles but they were turned off, and your home phone kept giving a busy signal. Were you having a good time?’
    Kept giving a busy signal?
    ‘Yes, it was very nice.’
    Who had he called so late? Because she hadn’t heard the phone ring. And if he was on the line, the call waiting signals should still have gone through.
    ‘Pappa and I thought we’d ask if you two would like to come over for dinner on Sunday. I’ve got amoose steak left over from this autumn that I thought I’d do something with. I forgot to ask Henrik when he was here to fetch Axel, but you’re usually the one who takes care of the social calendar. By the way, Henrik is certainly slimmer. He must have lost a few kilos, eh?’
    She sat up in bed again. It was suddenly hard to breathe.
    ‘Hello?’
    ‘Yes.’
    ‘Are you still there?’
    ‘Yes.’
    ‘So what do you say to dinner on Sunday?’
    Sunday? Dinner?
    ‘I don’t think we can make it. Listen, I have to run off to work now, I was just going out the door, I’ll ring you in a day or two.’
    She hung up and sat there holding the receiver to her ear. How could she have been so blind? So damned gullible. Like in a magnetic puzzle, all the bits suddenly fell into place. Late meetings. A sudden conference trip to Åland with lecturers she didn’t know. Phonecalls abruptly terminated when she came in the door.
    She got up, pulled on her robe, and went into the office. There had to be something. A note, a letter, a phone number.
    She started with the desk drawers. Searched methodically through both sides, one drawer after another, half her mind determined, the other terrified of finding confirmation of what she really already knew.
    Never in her life had she believed that she would ever end up in a situation like this. Never.
    She found nothing. Only evidence of their family’s validity. Life insurance policies, passports, bank statements, Axel’s vaccination card, the key to