Free Pierced by Thomas Enger

the seat. Instead he sits there, dangling his legs.
    ‘Do you mind if I have a chat with you while you warm up?’
    Grønningen looks straight ahead. Henning fixes his eyes on him until he turns around. ‘My name is Henning Juul,’ he continues. ‘I’m a journalist with 123news . I’ve just been talking to Veronica Nansen.’
    Grønningen turns his head slightly.
    ‘She told me that you’ve been trying to find out who—’
    ‘Are you out of your mind?’ Grønningen hisses and looks daggers at him before quickly glancing around. ‘You can’t just come in here and—’
    ‘Why not?’ Henning says as frown lines appear on his brow. ‘We’re just having a chat.’
    ‘You don’t understand,’ the big man says. ‘Get out before anyone sees you.’
    ‘You’re quite right,’ Henning says, feigning ignorance. ‘I don’t understand.’
    Grønningen gives him a look of exasperation. Neither of them says anything for a while, but Henning refuses to release Grønningen’s eyes. Finally, Grønningen gives in. ‘Do you know where Jarlen, the restaurant, is?’
    ‘No, but I can find out.’
    ‘Wait there and I’ll have a chat with you later.’
    ‘Okay. When?’
    Grønningen rolls his eyes before he faces Henning again. ‘When I’m done here. I can’t cut my workout short just because you turned up.’
    ‘So give me a time.’
    Grønningen glances surreptitiously around again. Then, without looking at Henning, he says, ‘Give me a couple of hours.’
    ‘A couple of hours it is.’
    Henning looks at the clock on the wall behind the reception counter, nods to Grønningen and climbs off the exercise bike. On his way to the exit he smiles at the girl behind the counter and gives her a thumbs-up before he walks outside and back into the heat.

Chapter 15
     
     
    Thorleif Brenden wakes up with a start and looks around. There is light all around him. From an open window that overlooks the courtyard the sound of children shouting enters and exacerbates his headache.
    He gets up and goes to the kitchen. Then he fills a glass with cold water and swallows the contents with rapid gulps. He groans with satisfaction. The next moment the door is flung open as if Kramer from Seinfeld himself is about to make an entrance. But it is only Julie with Elisabeth at her heels.
    ‘Hi, Daddy! I need the loo.’
    ‘Okay, sweetheart,’ he smiles and looks at Elisabeth. ‘Remember to close the door behind you.’
    ‘Okay,’ Julie replies.
    ‘And afterwards you must tell Daddy what you’ve just learned, promise?’ Elisabeth calls out after her daughter.
    ‘Yesss!’
    Elisabeth smiles and looks at him tenderly. ‘Hi,’ she says in a soft and affectionate voice. ‘Did you have a good sleep?’
    Thorleif shakes his head and refills his glass.
    ‘You certainly look as if you have.’
    ‘How can you tell?’ he asks her.
    ‘Your eyes are swollen. As if they’ve relaxed properly for once.’
    ‘It’s probably just an allergic reaction.’
    ‘Oh, you poor thing. You shouldn’t have joined us on that horse-and-cart ride. Have you taken your medication? Do you feel better for it?’
    ‘A bit, perhaps.’
    Elisabeth strokes his cheeks and gazes at him as if he were a baby. Then she kicks off her shoes. He can hear Julie singing happily through the open bathroom door.
    ‘Are you going to fix the alarm today?’
    ‘What?’
    ‘The burglar alarm. We must get someone in to take a look at it.’
    ‘Oh, right.’
    Thorleif had already forgotten that the alarm had, unexpectedly, not been working when they came back from Bogstad Farm.
    ‘Daddy,’ Julie shouts as she comes storming out of the bathroom. ‘Do you know what?’
    ‘No.’
    ‘I’ve learned to ride my bicycle!’
    Her sense of triumph is written large across her face.
    ‘Really?’
    Julie nods, bursting with pride.
    ‘Do you want to see, Daddy? Do you want me to show you?’
    Thorleif looks at Elisabeth. Julie’s parents are bursting with pride,