The Cup by Alex Lukeman Read Free Book Online Page A

and arm in opposite directions. The sudden movement twisted the gun sideways and bent the trigger finger at an impossible angle. It broke. The man screamed in pain. Nick kneed him in the groin and punched him on the back of the neck as he folded over.
    The last man fired as Lamont knocked his arm away. The round went wide. Lamont head butted him and kicked him in the head after he was down.
    The fight was over.
    Three Swedes came out of the building, followed by Forsberg. He looked at the three men lying on the ground and the weapons lying beside them.
    "What happened?"
    Nick pointed. "Those three were getting ready to go in behind your guys. We stopped them."
    "I wasn't going to bring you along. I'm glad I changed my mind. Thanks."
    "Sounded like you had a hard time inside."
    "They were waiting for us. Someone tipped them off."
    He took out a cell phone and dialed, spoke briefly and hung up.
    "Ambulances are on the way. Three of my men are down. At least a dozen foreigners."
    "Hussein?"
    "Dead." Forsberg took off his headgear and wiped away sweat. "This is a real mess."
    "What about his buddy, Gabriel?"
    "No sign of him."
    Selena said, "Why turn this place into a war zone?"
    "They're terrorists. They don't need an excuse."
    "Maybe. Or there's something they didn't want you to find here."
    "Besides the weapons they had? If there is anything, we'll find it. Do you read Arabic?"
    "Yes."
    "Come inside with me. There's something I want to show you."
    "I'm gonna stay out here. I need the air," Lamont said.
    "Likewise," Nick said.
    Sirens sounded in the distance.
     
     
     

CHAPTER 12
     
     
    Selena followed Forsberg into the building, past his men herding people out. He led her to set of rooms where bullets had splintered the wooden door frame and punched holes in the wall. To her right, a door opened onto a bedroom. To the left was a small kitchen. Ahead was a sitting area.
    "In here," Forsberg said.
    The sitting area contained a worn couch, a desk and a chair. Hussein lay on the floor on his back, his robe soaked in blood. His eyes were open. His turban was askew. A pistol lay by his outstretched hand. Papers lay scattered on the floor around him, in front of a fire blazing in a brick fireplace.
    "I think he was going to burn those papers," Forsberg said.
    Selena picked up a page. "This doesn't look like anything important. It's an invoice from a grocer in Ystad specializing in Arab foods. Where's Ystad?"
    "It's a small town all the way down south, at the tip of the country. Warmer, down there."
    "Don't they have Arab grocers in Stockholm?"
    "Yes, several of them."
    "What else is in Ystad?"
    "It's a commercial and fishing port. There's ferry service to Poland and Latvia from there. Also Denmark. From Denmark, you can go anywhere in Europe."
    She handed him the paper. "Why order from way down there if you can get the same thing nearby? I'll bet that's where they ship the antiquities out of Sweden."
    Someone called to Forsberg.
    "Let me know if you find anything else," he said. He left the room.
    Selena turned her attention back to the papers scattered on the floor. There were several invoices for Arab foodstuffs from the same address, dated over the past year. She didn't find anything else that seemed important and decided to look around the building.
    She passed an open door and stepped through into an apartment. No one was there. A framed picture on a side table showed the translator, Gabriel, and a woman wearing a Hijab. They stood in a city square bordered by pockmarked and shattered buildings, signs of heavy fighting. Behind Gabriel was a shop sign with a name written on it in Arabic. The picture had been taken in Mosul.
    Iraq, she thought. Gabriel is from Iraq. Hussein probably was as well. Where is Gabriel, I wonder?
    She opened a dresser drawer and rummaged through it. She found a cell phone stuffed under children's clothes, where someone had tried to hide it. It was a throwaway. She put it in her pocket. Nick could