Outside by Ragnar Jónasson

Author:Ragnar Jónasson [Jónasson, Ragnar]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Random House UK
Published: 2022-02-16T00:00:00+00:00

Helena

She removed her hand from Gunnlaugur’s shoulder.

Touching him had sent a shudder through her flesh, but all that mattered now was keeping him calm. He was a total loose cannon, as they had seen, and she was uneasily aware of how much he had drunk. There was astonishingly little brandy left in the bottle.

She mustn’t forget for one minute that he was holding a firearm and had a jittery trigger finger. Swallowing her loathing, she made a great effort to speak gently to him.

Soon they would be free of this nightmare and she would be able to relax.

‘Shouldn’t we be looking for Daníel?’ she heard Gunnlaugur ask, with a blast of stale brandy fumes.

‘We daren’t risk it,’ she said. ‘The snow’s bound to have drifted during the night and it would be dangerous for us to waste precious time searching for him now. Our priority is to get ourselves back to safety. As soon as we have a phone signal, we can alert the mountain-rescue teams. It’ll be daylight soon and Ármann and I are sure the gale is blowing itself out. Once it does, we’ll head off together, looking out for each other.’

‘But what about …?’ Gunnlaugur didn’t finish the sentence but it was obvious he was referring to the stranger.

‘Ármann will deal with him. We can trust him to sort it out. It won’t be a problem, Gunnlaugur. OK?’

He nodded.

‘How are you doing?’ she asked, trying to inject a note of concern into her voice. She had to keep him sweet. She tried not to look at him as she sat beside him in the gloom. Ármann was bending over the man in the corner, apparently speaking to him.

‘Just tired,’ Gunnlaugur said after a pause. ‘Terribly tired.’

She saw that he was still cradling his father’s gun.

‘Why don’t you stand up? Try stretching a bit. That should wake you up.’

‘Yes, maybe.’

He eased himself slowly to his feet, joints cracking, never letting go of his weapon.

Then he said indistinctly: ‘Ármann … Why’s he so close to the man? He’s taking a huge risk. Helena, did you hear what I said? Can’t you see?’

‘He’s only trying to talk to him. Relax.’

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