"But what does this mean? How bad is it?"
Doctor Kristensen exhaled. "It's bad. In Valdemar's case, the disease has developed faster than usual. His lungs are heavily affected by this and I'm not sure how long he has left."
"How long he has left? What are you saying doctor? Is he … will he … die?"
The doctor exhaled deeply. "If he doesn't have a lung transplant within the next six months, I'm afraid so. Usually the patients might live till they're in their thirties, but not the way it is progressing in Valdemar. I'm sorry Mrs. Kragh."
"A lung transplant?" Anna asked. "How does that work?
"Well, we will get him on a list right away, but lungs are not that easy to get. A lot of people are waiting for them right now, so the list is long and the donors few."
"What about me? Can I give him my lung?" Anna asked.
"You could. But not alone. Living lung donation requires two donors. One person giving one lobe, or a portion of their left lung, and the other giving a lobe of their right lung. The two lobes are transplanted into a single recipient. The donors' lungs must be the appropriate size and volume."
"So if I could find a second donor, we could save him?"
"Well there is always a risk of him rejecting the transplant, but it is the only thing that would be able to save him, yes. But you'd have to find one fast since Valdemar will only get weaker as the days pass by and he will need all his strength to be able to fight possible infections associated with the transplant."
Anna's mind was spinning with thoughts as she wondered who could make a possible donor for Valdemar.
"What about the father?" Doctor Kristensen asked. "Would he be willing?"
45
AUGUST 2012
THE KIDS WERE ECSTATIC. Tobias slept in Julie's room and the next morning, they both got out of bed and went downstairs to play on Julie's iPad without waking up anyone else in the house.
Peter was less excited about the whole thing. He barely spoke a word to me the night before and, in the morning, I heard him leave the bedroom without a word to me. I felt bad. No that's an understatement. I felt horrible. I felt like the worst scum on earth. I knew Peter was mad because I was more concerned about Sune than about him and our failing relationship. Because I worried more about Sune than about keeping my family intact. I knew that was how he felt. But it just wasn't that easy for me. I cared about Sune and I had to try and help him out. I loved Tobias and couldn't have just left him at the hospital.
I got out of bed and took a shower before I went downstairs. When I was done, I walked back to the bedroom and picked up my phone. Someone had left a message. I called my voice mail and listened to it. It was Jens-Ole.
"Hi Rebekka. I know you guys are busy and I realize it might be quite insensitive given Sune's situation, but I wanted to let you know that the organ thieves have struck again, in case you hadn't heard. This time it was another woman in her apartment in Hasle. That makes it five cases in total these thieves have on their consciences. Three deaths and two survivors. Just wanted to fill you in. Let me know how you're doing and tell Sune we miss him."
I hung up and sat on the bed. Another woman in her apartment? What kinds of animals were these bastards?
I got dressed and walked downstairs where Tobias and Julie were laughing and playing on the iPad. "Mindskill again, huh?"
"Yeah, Tobias loves it too, Mommy. He knows how to get into a mode with dragons and butterflies and everything. And he knows cheat codes."
"He does? Wow." I said and walked into the kitchen. Peter was sitting in there all by himself eating toast with cheese.
I pulled out a chair next to him and sat down. "Is this how it's gonna be, Peter? You not talking to me?"
He sighed and wiped his mouth on a napkin. "I don't get it Rebekka. You come here to be with your family and then you're hardly with us."
"I can't help it that organ thieves are killing people and hurting one of my best friends and co-worker, can I?"
"I guess not. I just really wish Julie and I were higher up on your list of priorities."
I poured myself some coffee from the pot and sipped the cup. I didn't know what to say to him. To be honest, all I could think of was Sune and how he was doing.
"You're going to see him at the hospital today, aren't you?" Peter asked.
I sighed. "Yes, Peter. I am. He's seriously hurt. I'll take the kids with me. Tobias needs to see his dad and Julie wants to be with Tobias. Look I'm trying my best here to please everybody."
"And you're doing a really good job," Peter said and smiled sarcastically. "You're making everyone happy except for me."
I closed my eyes. "Sometimes it's just not about you, Peter. Sometimes it's about people who have been hurt, people who were almost killed."
"People like Sune. Like your ex-boyfriend." Peter took another bite of his toast. It crunched between his teeth. The sound annoyed me just like he annoyed me immensely right now.
"Yes, I care about him still. Is that what you want to hear? Yes I still love him. There you go. Are you happy?"
Peter's face changed drastically. He got up from his chair.
"Peter don't … It doesn't mean I don't love you as well. It's just not that simple for me. I can't just stop caring for a person like that. I'm not like you. I can't turn off my love like a faucet."
Right before he walked out the door to the kitchen, Peter turned around and looked at me. "Do what you want to today. Go see him. See if I care. I'll be in my studio painting."
"Peter … don't be …" But it was too late. He had left.
46
AUGUST 2012
KARL PERSSON SOON PROVED to be an interesting contact. After meeting at the bar, they had moved on to another bar, then another and, by nighttime, they were both so hammered they could hardly stand up straight.
Henrik crashed at Karl's place. A small basement in an old house from the seventies. He woke up on the couch with a serious hangover to the sound of the TV. He opened his eyes and looked straight into the eyes of Karl.
"Wakey wakey, hands off snakey," Karl grinned.
Henrik growled and sat up. With only one eye open he looked at the TV screen.
"What's going on?"
"You're famous," Karl shrieked. "They found your girl. Genius to make it look like it was the organ thief by the way."
Henrik growled again. He hadn't really thought of it as a cover up, but it was kind of effective, though he didn't like the idea of giving the feminists the credit or even more attention. That was what they wanted wasn't it? That was their purpose to it all, wasn't it? To get some lame point out to people. Exactly what the point to it all was, Henrik couldn't figure out, but they didn't fool him. As soon as he found their leader, he was going to ask her about it. He was going to get her to explain everything.
Right before he killed her.
"How do you know it wasn't the organ thieves?" Henrik asked.
"It's not his style. This one reeks of desperation, of frustration and anger. Plus the organ thief would never pick someone in her own home. He's only after businessmen on trips being unfaithful."
"How do you know? And why do you keep talking about it as if there is only one? The police seem to think it is an entire group."
Karl clapped his hands in excitement. "Because I know him."
Henrik opened both his eyes widely. "You what?"
"Yes," Karl said with a shrill voice. "I know the organ thief."
"How? How do you know him?" Henrik asked.
"I talk to him on a daily basis. Remember last night when you asked if there were others out there like you and me?"
Henrik remembered asking if there were others out there like Karl, not himself. I'm not like you, you crazy imbecile.
"Yes. Vaguely."
"Well, I answered that we often chatted with one another. That's how I know him and others just like him. We support each other, we help each other out."
Like a support group from hell or what?
/> "You do? How? How do you get in touch with this organ thief? How do you find him?"
Karl clapped his hands again and jumped in excitement. He pulled out an old laptop and placed it in Henrik's lap. "His name is Bill Durgin. He's new to the chat forum, but I speak with him almost every day. He always writes right before a kill, when he is sitting in the hotel bar waiting for his victim. He especially looks for businessmen who pick up women and bring them back to hotels. If you look at the screen you'll see his latest writing."
Henrik looked at the screen. Karl had been writing in the chat room all morning while Henrik was still asleep. Someone called Alex Andreyer had answered. And then there was one message from the one called Bill Durgin. Henrik read it.
I didn't kill those women. Someone out there is impersonating me.
Don't be so angry about that, a Thomas De Quincey answered. It just means you have the public's attention. You are someone people want to be. Someone people out there are trying to copy. Only the biggest artists are being copied. Be proud.
"Who's that Thomas De … Quincey?" Henrik asked.
"He's the one who came up with the whole thing. He created the secure chat room. We were shut down a month or so ago when the police discovered us because of some lunatic named Allan Witt who went berserk, but Thomas created a new page for us, even more secure than the first. He's the real genius here. His art by far excels any of what the rest of us are doing."
"So, he is the leader? He is the one telling you what to do?" Henrik asked.
"Well, not exactly. He has set up some rules for us to follow so we won't get caught. He helps us out to become all we can be and not get stopped by the police. He helps us with details when we come to him and ask for his help. He makes sure we don't screw up. He has killed more people than any of us. We draw on his expertise, so to speak."
"What's in it for him? Why is he doing it?" Henrik asked.
"We donate a sacrifice to him," Karl said. On TV an officer was talking to the reporter in front of Barbara's apartment.
"A sacrifice? What kind of sacrifice?"
"We donate something. It can be the body of our first kill, or a body part, or photographs or something like that. But it has to be something big. Something that characterizes us as killers and why we do it."
Just when I thought the world couldn't get any crazier?
Henrik rubbed his forehead wondering what he had gotten himself into. He scrolled the chat and stopped at a message send by Karl earlier in the morning. He read it while Karl watched TV, grinning from ear to ear.
Caught myself a little something last night. Will have fun with him for a while, then cut him to pieces and eat him for dinner tonight. My first male. Thought it was about time I progressed. Wish me luck.
47
AUGUST 2012
SUNE LOOKED AT LOT better when we arrived at the hospital. He was sitting up when Tobias and Julie ran to him and crawled into his bed.
"Easy there kiddos. He just had surgery," I said.
Sune chuckled and hugged the both of them.
"Wow, you look great," I said and placed a bouquet of flowers in a vase next to him. "You even have some color in your cheeks again."
"I feel a lot better. How has he been?" He said and touched Tobias' hair.
"I think he is fine. A little worried last night and found it hard to fall asleep, but being with Julie helped a lot, I think."
"I'm fine Daddy," Tobias said. Julie laughed, acting silly, and Tobias copied her.
I smiled, enjoying watching them together again. I missed it.
"Those two have been inseparable ever since I brought him home."
Sune looked at me. Our eyes locked. I felt warm. A stirring grew inside of me. "Thank you," Sune said. "Thank you for all you have done."
"It's no problem, really. It's nothing. The least I could do."
Sune grabbed my hand and pulled me closer. "I don't think it's nothing."
Julie jumped down from the bed and pulled my shirt. "Mommy. Can Tobias and I go out in the hallway and play Mindskill on your phone? I want to show him something."
I looked at Sune. "Don't you think Tobias wants to be with his dad a little?"
"It's okay," Sune said. "Let them have their fun."
"Okay then. Just don't leave the floor, alright?"
They both promised. I gave them my phone and they stormed out the door. I pulled a chair close to Sune and sat down.
"So I was planning on calling officer Jansson later today," I said. "You know to hear how they're doing on catching those who did this to you and all. Did you hear there was another case?"
Sune looked at me, then shook his head. "No I've been kind of busy with getting well and all."
"Of course, no, I'm silly. It was another woman. That makes it two women who were both killed in their own apartments and three men who were attacked in hotel rooms. It's weird I think. There is something I don't quite understand. Why bother with the hotel rooms where you could easily be spotted if you might as well go inside someone's apartment and take their organs. And another thing, in both cases with the women, the attacker didn't take any of their organs at all. He just opened them up and cut the organs loose. In the second case, the body had been more chopped with a knife than cut professionally. It is very unlike what happened to you and the kidney-guy." I paused and looked at Sune who was avoiding my eyes.
"I'm sorry," I said. "I'm being insensitive here."
"No. I like to hear you talk, but …"
I interrupted him. "I was thinking that maybe you could help me learn more by hacking into the police files? Or maybe … no you're too tired."
Sune sighed and looked at me. "If it's important to you, I'll do it."
I grabbed my laptop and put it on Sune's lap. "Well it's not only important for me, it's important for you too."
I flipped through a magazine while he let his magic fingers dance across the keyboard.
"There you go," he said. "I'm in. Now I'll take a nap if you don't mind."
"No go ahead. I'll just go through it."
Sune turned around to try and sleep.
"This can't be right," I said.
Sune turned and looked at me.
"I'm sorry," I said. "You're trying to sleep. I'll be quiet."
He forced a smile. "No. I can tell you are dying to tell me what it is Rebekka. Go ahead."
I jumped up from the chair and put the laptop on his lap again. "See this? Look at the names here and there."
"They are the same. So what?" Sune asked.
"These are the names of the women who were killed and the women sleeping in the hotel rooms with two of the victims. Apparently, the rumors were right about Henrik Fenger. He wasn't alone as he claimed to be. But, don't you see? They are the same two women."
Sune looked at me. "So what do you think this means?"
"Well, it's strange, isn't it? It can hardly be a coincidence, can it? The same two women?"
Sune shrugged. "Who knows?"
I grabbed the laptop in my hands and scrolled more, then opened a new file and gasped.
"What?" Sune asked.
"The body of Martin Damsgaard has gone missing."
"Excuse me?"
"You know, the guy who died after having his liver taken. Look here," I said and showed him the screen. "The police believe someone broke into the forensic department in Aarhus where he was being examined and stole the body of Martin Damsgaard a couple of nights ago. There was no sign of breaking and entering, though." I paused and thought for a second. "Hm, there was no sign of breaking and entering in the apartments of the women either."
"It's all very interesting, Rebekka, but …"
"I wonder if there is a connection to the disappearance of the bodies of the kings from the churches?"
"Why on earth should there be a connection to that?" Sune sounded tired now. He rubbed his eyes.
"I don't know, but it's strange right?"
Sune exhaled deeply. "Maybe it's just me bec
ause I’m really tired, but I honestly don't care, Rebekka."
"Don't care? How can you say that? These people attacked you while you were asleep. They sedated you and took your spleen. They almost killed you. You almost bled to death. How can you not care?"
Sune closed his eyes. "I just don't. Not anymore. It's not worth it."
"Not worth it? Hello? Where is the real Sune and what have you done with him?"
"Very funny, Rebekka," Sune said with a tired voice.
"Don't you want to catch these thieves or at least help the police catch them? Don't you want them put away for what they did to you?" I asked.
Sune looked at me. There were tears in his eyes, but he tried to repress them. "Don't you see it doesn't matter anymore? All I care about right now is getting well. And then I want to take my son and go home."
I couldn't believe my own ears. What was going on? This was so unlike him. "But we are so close. I feel that we are so close to finding who is behind all this."
"Rebekka. I really don't want to talk more about this. And I don't want you to come and pretend to be interested in me or pretend to be caring or whatever it is you're doing here."
"What I am doing here? I'm trying to help you out. I do care about you, Sune. You know I do," I said.
Sune looked at me. The look in his eyes felt like a knife to my heart. "Who are you kidding here? Who are we kidding? I'm sick of this. I'm sick and tired of this life going back and forth with you, thinking one moment that you want to come back, knowing in the next that you never will. Do you think this is easy for me Rebekka? Do you think it is easy for me to be around you constantly?"
"What are you saying?"
"I get that you have a hard time choosing between me and Peter so I'm going to make it easy for you. Leave and don't come back. I'm going to quit my job at the newspaper and go away with Tobias, leave Karrebaeksminde. There, I made the choice for you. Now leave."