of my trousers. I was allowed to keep my shirt, the one I had selected with such care the morning we took off for Liboi, the pale pink one with the slight shimmer. It’s Annika’s favourite – she calls it my ‘gay shirt’: ‘Can’t you wear your gay shirt today?’ she often says, grinning with that big mouth of hers … Then I had to walk to the other end of the
manyatta
and they shut me inside a different hut. It was smaller and smelt different. There had never been any fires in this one. The sounds as I moved were harsh and metallic. There was no hole in the roof.
They bound my feet again. I must have lost consciousness because when I came round the Dane, Per, was lying next to me, with the Romanian whose name I didn’t know, and Spanish Alvaro. They had split us up, men and women.
Per’s breathing was rasping and uneven.
There were four of us men left now.
Chapter 6
‘Forty million dollars, to be paid in Nairobi first thing tomorrow morning,’ Jimmy Halenius said, sitting down in the armchair in front of her.
She covered her face with her hands.
‘It isn’t a disaster,’ he added. ‘We wanted contact, and now it’s been established.’
He sounded reassuring.
Annika let her hands fall and concentrated on breathing. ‘That’s the same amount they told the Spanish guy.’
‘I explained that the family doesn’t have access to that sort of money, and not so quickly. The man spoke perfect East African English. Well educated, I’d say. His demands were unreasonable, and he knew it. I asked how Thomas was, but he didn’t answer.’
‘Who did you say you were?’
‘A colleague, and a friend of the family.’
‘Not his employer?’
‘In purely formal terms, the Swedish government isn’t involved in this.’
She looked out through the window. The sky was so strangely red at night, a dusty, greyish red from the pollution and the city’s lights on the clouds. ‘What else did he say?’
He hesitated. ‘Thomas will die if we don’t deliver the money before ten tomorrow morning, local time. Do you want to listen to the recording?’
She shook her head.
He took one of her hands between both of his. ‘This is likely to go on for a while,’ he said. ‘Most kidnaps for ransom last anywhere between six and sixty days. It’s possible that you’ll have to pay up to get him released.’
She pulled her hand away. ‘Can’t the police do anything?’
‘Interpol in Brussels have set up a JIT, Joint Investigation Team. They’ll collect and collate the information from all the cases and circulate it to everyone involved. National Crime are sending two men to act as contacts in Nairobi. They’ll be working through the Swedish Embassy. And Hans and Hans-Erik have been assigned to deal with it within the department.’
She nodded, aware that the Swedish police couldn’t act in any official capacity abroad. ‘What about the Kenyan police?’
He didn’t reply for a few moments. Then he said, ‘They’re renowned for their violence and corruption. I was there over Christmas one year when the police announced they were going to be mounting raids to seize hidden weapons in north-western Kenya. That corner of the country emptied of women and children because the police usually rape anyone they come across during that sort of raid. It causes massive problems, because many of the police have got HIV, so when a woman is raped her husband rejects her. If we get in touch and involve the Kenyan police, there’s a serious risk that they’ll demand part of the ransom. It would make it more dangerous and more expensive.’
Annika held her hand up. ‘No Kenyan police. What about the Somalis?’
‘Somalia has been without a government or any national authorities since 1991. There is something called the Somali police force, but I don’t know if they actually do anything.’
She clenched her hands in her lap.
‘We’re going to talk to a couple of other organizations,’ Halenius said, ‘but you
manyatta
and they shut me inside a different hut. It was smaller and smelt different. There had never been any fires in this one. The sounds as I moved were harsh and metallic. There was no hole in the roof.
They bound my feet again. I must have lost consciousness because when I came round the Dane, Per, was lying next to me, with the Romanian whose name I didn’t know, and Spanish Alvaro. They had split us up, men and women.
Per’s breathing was rasping and uneven.
There were four of us men left now.
Chapter 6
‘Forty million dollars, to be paid in Nairobi first thing tomorrow morning,’ Jimmy Halenius said, sitting down in the armchair in front of her.
She covered her face with her hands.
‘It isn’t a disaster,’ he added. ‘We wanted contact, and now it’s been established.’
He sounded reassuring.
Annika let her hands fall and concentrated on breathing. ‘That’s the same amount they told the Spanish guy.’
‘I explained that the family doesn’t have access to that sort of money, and not so quickly. The man spoke perfect East African English. Well educated, I’d say. His demands were unreasonable, and he knew it. I asked how Thomas was, but he didn’t answer.’
‘Who did you say you were?’
‘A colleague, and a friend of the family.’
‘Not his employer?’
‘In purely formal terms, the Swedish government isn’t involved in this.’
She looked out through the window. The sky was so strangely red at night, a dusty, greyish red from the pollution and the city’s lights on the clouds. ‘What else did he say?’
He hesitated. ‘Thomas will die if we don’t deliver the money before ten tomorrow morning, local time. Do you want to listen to the recording?’
She shook her head.
He took one of her hands between both of his. ‘This is likely to go on for a while,’ he said. ‘Most kidnaps for ransom last anywhere between six and sixty days. It’s possible that you’ll have to pay up to get him released.’
She pulled her hand away. ‘Can’t the police do anything?’
‘Interpol in Brussels have set up a JIT, Joint Investigation Team. They’ll collect and collate the information from all the cases and circulate it to everyone involved. National Crime are sending two men to act as contacts in Nairobi. They’ll be working through the Swedish Embassy. And Hans and Hans-Erik have been assigned to deal with it within the department.’
She nodded, aware that the Swedish police couldn’t act in any official capacity abroad. ‘What about the Kenyan police?’
He didn’t reply for a few moments. Then he said, ‘They’re renowned for their violence and corruption. I was there over Christmas one year when the police announced they were going to be mounting raids to seize hidden weapons in north-western Kenya. That corner of the country emptied of women and children because the police usually rape anyone they come across during that sort of raid. It causes massive problems, because many of the police have got HIV, so when a woman is raped her husband rejects her. If we get in touch and involve the Kenyan police, there’s a serious risk that they’ll demand part of the ransom. It would make it more dangerous and more expensive.’
Annika held her hand up. ‘No Kenyan police. What about the Somalis?’
‘Somalia has been without a government or any national authorities since 1991. There is something called the Somali police force, but I don’t know if they actually do anything.’
She clenched her hands in her lap.
‘We’re going to talk to a couple of other organizations,’ Halenius said, ‘but you
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