Copper Heart by Leena Lehtolainen Read Free Book Online Page A

always been horrible. If only she would have stayed in Helsinki.”
    Jaska hadn’t bothered putting his party clothes on. His perennial punk rocker uniform—tight, worn-out jeans, leather jacket, and dirty sneakers—had to do for every occasion. With his dark hair now significantly receded and his beer belly hanging over his waistband, Jaska’s skinny legs made him look insect-like. When we had first seen each other again, his face was thething that frightened me most. It was so badly swollen that his previously cute brown eyes appeared to sink deep under folds of skin. My old classmate looked at least forty.
    “What are you annoyed with her for? Didn’t your sister get you a job here?”
    “Why does she always have to stick her nose in my business! Yeah, she got me a job working for nothing, wearing a tie, sitting in a little box tearing people’s tickets. I’m stuck there for at least six months since I lost my unemployment. And I haven’t been able to book any gigs lately.”
    “Oh, what band are you with now?”
    “I play with Johnny and those guys sometimes. And this band in Liperi wants me to join them. They play some kind of heavy metal…”
    As long as I could remember, Jaska had always been in some band or another, each better than the last, and once he had almost landed a recording deal. But nothing ever came of it. Jaska’s greatest achievement seemed to be a blurry picture in the bottom-left corner of a free calendar of summer concerts that came with a subscription to
Sound
magazine.
    “Johnny said you guys were talking about getting together for a jam session.” Jaska pushed the bottle at me again, but I shook my head. I was pretty sure the town’s unwritten code of conduct did not include female sheriffs appearing drunk in public. Jaska, on the other hand, drained about a quarter of the bottle, which went down without so much as a burp.
    “And I sure as shit don’t want to be working for my sister’s lover even if the rest of town thinks he’s some sort of miracle man. This mine business is bullshit—I can feel it in my bones.”
    “You mean that Meritta and this Kivinen guy…” For some reason this revelation delighted me.
    “Have you seen his old lady? It ain’t no wonder he’s screwing around. And you know Meritta…”
    “What about me?” Meritta’s orange dress appeared next to me, and I turned to see Seppo Kivinen standing behind her in his copper-hued suit. Without a word, Jaska suddenly took off running. Meritta’s derisive laughter seemed to propel him even faster down the hill.
    “How drunk is he?” Meritta asked.
    “How often is he sober nowadays?” I asked in return. I didn’t like Meritta laughing at him.
    “Never, as far as I know. By the way, have you two met yet? Seppo Kivinen—Maria Kallio, our summer sheriff.”
    Kivinen’s handshake was cold and firm. His eyes locked into mine in an attempt to appear interested. He clearly chose his topic of conversation according to his company, which in my case was the security arrangements at the mine. Before long the governor and mayor came over and I was able to escape.
    I would have liked to climb back up the Tower, but the door was locked. The iron surface of the heavy door handle felt cold to the touch. A lighthearted, old-fashioned fox-trot was playing inside the restaurant, which seemed to clash with the threatening rock wall of the Tower and the unreal yellow of the hill’s gravel. I wondered about Jaska, Aniliina’s bizarre behavior, and Johnny’s tired face. I didn’t feel in a very festive mood anymore. But I marched back inside, finding Ella and Matti near the door. They seemed to be arguing over which of them should go relieve Ella’s mother from babysitting at home.
    “They’re leaving tomorrow morning to drive to Tampere, and you promised I could stay for the party,” Ella said, clearly furious.
    “Couldn’t she sleep at our place just as easily? I don’t want to leave yet