much like a fairy-tale creature anymore in the warm yellow light of the hotel room. That didn’t matter, though. The mental image had already created the desire. Pulling Natalia against him, he closed his eyes.
Terho Väisänen returned to the present, clumsy fingers still fighting with his key, and uttered a string of curses.
Lumikki heard the sounds first.
In a hushed voice, she said, “Someone’s coming.”
Elisa jumped.
“The men who chased you! The killers!”
Lumikki restrained her desire to slap her hand over Elisa’s mouth. Did she really have such an underdeveloped sense of self-preservation? Did living in a pink-and-black room pickle your brain and turn your thoughts to mush?
“Let’s just stay calm and keep quiet. Obviously, whoever it is has a key. I’m guessing it’s your dad. The important thing is that we don’t let him know we were in here by making too much noise.”
As she spoke, Lumikki calmly deleted the e-mail, logged out of the account, closed the secret picture folder and browser window, and turned off the machine. To Lumikki, it felt like each step took an agonizingly long time. In reality, of course, it all happened in a matter of seconds.
Then again, it also only took a few seconds for the person at the door to get the key into the lock and click it open.
“Go. Upstairs.”
Lumikki issued her command as quietly as possible. It was enough to convince Elisa, Tuukka, and Kasper, who slipped out of the study and rushed to the stairs. They probably thought they were being quiet, but to Lumikki, their exit sounded like a herd of wildebeests who had just heard a lion roar.
Turn off already. Turn off.
The computer stayed stuck at the “Shutting down . . .” screen for too long. Lumikki guessed that the machine had the same problem her own laptop did, and occasionally just refused to power down for no particular reason.
She heard the door open. Fortunately, the front door did not have a direct line of sight to the office. Someone large stepped into the house. A man.
Lumikki controlled her breath, concentrating on keeping her heart rate in check. Then she firmly pressed the power button and held it down. The next time it booted up, the machine might complain about not being shut down properly, which could arouse Elisa’s father’s suspicion, but right now, taking that risk was her only option. Most likely, he would act just like anyone else and wonder for two seconds about why the machine had crashed, then shrug and start thinking about buying a new one soon.
Turn off already.
The screen went black.
“Elisa! I decided to come home for lunch! I’ll make something for us,” he shouted up the stairs.
Good
. Lumikki had been right.
Quietly, she hid behind the office door, hoping fervently that Elisa’s dad wouldn’t come in there first.
She could hear him taking off his cold weather clothes. Then his steps approached the office.
Keep walking.
He was already moving past the office into the kitchen, but then changed his mind and stepped into the room. Lumikki held her breath. She was flat. She was odorless. She did not exist.
Don’t sit down.
Lumikki knew that the chair would still be warm.
Elisa’s dad did not sit. Standing at the desk, he sorted the mail. Lumikki still held her breath. She knew she could hold her breath calmly for at least two minutes. Elisa’s dad tossed a couple of envelopes, presumably bills, toward the back corner of the desk. Then he headed back out to the kitchen.
“What do you want? Should I make some pasta? Or maybe that curried chicken soup you like? I really need something hot after freezing my butt off outside.”
Lumikki heard him open the refrigerator door.
Now.
Stepping out from behind the door, she took two steps to build up speed and then slid silently in her socks across the almost unnaturally smooth hardwood floor over to the stairs. Then she hurried up as quietly as the lion stalking that herd of wildebeest. She stepped into
Terho Väisänen returned to the present, clumsy fingers still fighting with his key, and uttered a string of curses.
Lumikki heard the sounds first.
In a hushed voice, she said, “Someone’s coming.”
Elisa jumped.
“The men who chased you! The killers!”
Lumikki restrained her desire to slap her hand over Elisa’s mouth. Did she really have such an underdeveloped sense of self-preservation? Did living in a pink-and-black room pickle your brain and turn your thoughts to mush?
“Let’s just stay calm and keep quiet. Obviously, whoever it is has a key. I’m guessing it’s your dad. The important thing is that we don’t let him know we were in here by making too much noise.”
As she spoke, Lumikki calmly deleted the e-mail, logged out of the account, closed the secret picture folder and browser window, and turned off the machine. To Lumikki, it felt like each step took an agonizingly long time. In reality, of course, it all happened in a matter of seconds.
Then again, it also only took a few seconds for the person at the door to get the key into the lock and click it open.
“Go. Upstairs.”
Lumikki issued her command as quietly as possible. It was enough to convince Elisa, Tuukka, and Kasper, who slipped out of the study and rushed to the stairs. They probably thought they were being quiet, but to Lumikki, their exit sounded like a herd of wildebeests who had just heard a lion roar.
Turn off already. Turn off.
The computer stayed stuck at the “Shutting down . . .” screen for too long. Lumikki guessed that the machine had the same problem her own laptop did, and occasionally just refused to power down for no particular reason.
She heard the door open. Fortunately, the front door did not have a direct line of sight to the office. Someone large stepped into the house. A man.
Lumikki controlled her breath, concentrating on keeping her heart rate in check. Then she firmly pressed the power button and held it down. The next time it booted up, the machine might complain about not being shut down properly, which could arouse Elisa’s father’s suspicion, but right now, taking that risk was her only option. Most likely, he would act just like anyone else and wonder for two seconds about why the machine had crashed, then shrug and start thinking about buying a new one soon.
Turn off already.
The screen went black.
“Elisa! I decided to come home for lunch! I’ll make something for us,” he shouted up the stairs.
Good
. Lumikki had been right.
Quietly, she hid behind the office door, hoping fervently that Elisa’s dad wouldn’t come in there first.
She could hear him taking off his cold weather clothes. Then his steps approached the office.
Keep walking.
He was already moving past the office into the kitchen, but then changed his mind and stepped into the room. Lumikki held her breath. She was flat. She was odorless. She did not exist.
Don’t sit down.
Lumikki knew that the chair would still be warm.
Elisa’s dad did not sit. Standing at the desk, he sorted the mail. Lumikki still held her breath. She knew she could hold her breath calmly for at least two minutes. Elisa’s dad tossed a couple of envelopes, presumably bills, toward the back corner of the desk. Then he headed back out to the kitchen.
“What do you want? Should I make some pasta? Or maybe that curried chicken soup you like? I really need something hot after freezing my butt off outside.”
Lumikki heard him open the refrigerator door.
Now.
Stepping out from behind the door, she took two steps to build up speed and then slid silently in her socks across the almost unnaturally smooth hardwood floor over to the stairs. Then she hurried up as quietly as the lion stalking that herd of wildebeest. She stepped into
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