Free Peek A Boo I See You (Emma Frost #5) by Willow Rose Page A

helpless I could have cried.
    "You did great, Emma," Morten said.
    Allan gave me a thumps-up. "Really good, Emma."
    I nodded and went back to the computer screen. I felt awful looking at him in his desperation. Morten turned on my small TV in the kitchen.
    "Now we wait for the money to start rolling in," he said.
    "Did you send someone to Anders Samuelsen's house?" I asked.
    "We have two man searching it now," Allan said. "We're doing all we can here, alright?"
    I bit my nails in distress. "I just feel like there must be more we can do."
    Morten turned up the volume on the TV. I looked at it and suddenly saw Lisa Rasmussen, a member of the Nordby City Council being interviewed. Morten opened his mouth to speak, but I stopped him.
    "I want to hear what she has to say."
    I turned up the volume.
    "Well I for one do NOT think it's a good idea to give in to terrorists," she said. "I mean, what will he ask for next? For us to raise money so he can leave the country and go live somewhere warm and be free? No, this guy belongs in jail and I ask our local police to catch him, so we won't be in this situation again. I strongly urge people to think twice before they give money to this project. We don't even know for sure that the man is still alive, do we?"
    I sunk into a chair. This was a blow in my face. I felt Morten's hand on my shoulder. "It's gonna be alright, Emma."
    "Don't keep telling me it's gonna be alright. How? How is this going to ever be alright? Lisa Rasmussen basically just told everyone to not give any money for this. She just killed the guy."
    "People might not listen to her at all," Morten said. "After all, she is nothing but a member of the city council."
    "The most popular member of the city council this island has ever seen. The most popular politician they’ve ever had. The most likely to become mayor at the next election. And you think they won't listen to her? They love Lisa. They adore her and everything she’s done."
    "She has done some pretty awesome stuff," Allan said. "She cleaned up the city and made it less expensive to park. People love that kind of stuff."
    I pulled my hair. "Argh. I'm so mad at her right now."
    Morten's phone rang and he answered. When he was done talking, he looked at me.
    "What?" I asked sensing bad news.
    "Well City Hall has decided to not participate in the money collection. They’ve shut it down completely. The police station has received two hundred kroner. We got fifty down at the harbor so far, but people aren't exactly in line to donate."
    "Two hundred and fifty kroner? That's all?" I asked, then looked at the clock on the live-stream. We were almost down to an hour left. I stared at Morten, feeling lost.
    "What are we going to do?"
     

20
    February 2014
    I WAS BITING MY nails heavily now. We were all quiet in the kitchen when the phone rang again and Morten took it. I stared at the computer screen as the minutes went by and I could now see that Anders Samuelsen was having more trouble breathing. He had stopped knocking and kicking, probably because he was getting weaker by the minute.
    "That was my colleagues," Morten said, as he hung up.
    "They've gone through Anders Samuelsen's house twice and found nothing useful. No fingerprints or shoeprints, no blood, no sign of someone breaking and entering. Nothing."
    I exhaled deeply.
    "I'm sorry," Morten said.
    "Well, it certainly isn't your fault. I just wish I could see a way out of this. I mean there are less than forty-five minutes till this guy runs out of air, if we are to believe the clock. There is no way we can raise the money, and we have no idea where to look for him."
    Allan and Morten both nodded heavily. Morten closed his eyes. On TV, they had dropped the breaking news and were now airing some show about kite-surfers on the island. I felt sick to my stomach. How could people care this little about the life of a man? Just because they don't give in to terrorists ? That phrase had been misused a little too much, in