operational.”
Then why aren’t we flying? thought Jan, grinding his teeth.
“The airline has a quality-control program, in compliance with which the documentation for our check-up has to be faxed to Copenhagen for signature before we are given our final permission to take off. At this time, there is only one person on duty in Copenhagen qualified to give us that permission. And for some reason, he is not to be found at his desk. . . .”
The pilot’s own frustration came through quite clearly, but that was nothing to the despair that Jan was feeling. His heart was pounding so hard it physically hurt his chest. If I have a heart attack, will they let me off the damn plane? he wondered, and thought about the advisability of faking one. But even if they let him out, it would still take time to get on some other flight, even if he forked out the cash it would cost to arrange a private one. He had to face the fact that he wouldn’t make it.
What the hell was he going to do? He feverishly tried to think of anyone he might call on for help. Who would be loyal and competent enough to do what needed doing? And should he call Anne?
No. Not Anne. Karin would have to do what was necessary. She was already involved to some extent, and the fewer people the better. He took his private mobile phone from his briefcase and tapped her number.
The flight attendant descended on him like a hawk on a chicken.
“Please don’t use your mobile, sir.”
“We’re stationary,” he pointed out. “And unless the airline wants to be sued for a six-figure sum, I suggest you back off and let me call my company now.”
The flight attendant noted the no doubt exceedingly tense set of his jaw and decided that diplomacy was the better part of valor.
“A short call, then,” she said. “After which I must ask you to switch it off again.”
She remained by his seat while he made the call. He considered asking her to give him his privacy, but there were passengers all around him, and he wouldn’t be able to speak freely in any case.
Tersely, he instructed Karin to go to his Copenhagen bank for the sum he had just had transferred from Zürich.
“There is a code you have to supply. I’ll text you. And bring one of my document cases, one that has a decent lock. It’s a sizeable sum.”
His awareness of the listening flight attendant was acute, and he had no idea how to say the rest without sounding like something out of a pulp-fiction thriller.
“In fact, I’ll text you everything else,” he said quickly. “There are a number of figures involved. Text me back when you have read my message.”
Though the show was over for now, the flight attendant still stayed demonstratively next to his seat while he texted his message and waited for the reply. It took a worryingly long time to arrive.
OK. But you owe me big-time.
Yes, he wrote to her. I realize that.
He wondered what it would cost him—particularly her compliant silence. Karin had acquired a taste for the finer things in life. But at heart she was a good and loyal person, he told himself soothingly, and she had several compelling reasons to stay on his good side. He had after all been very generous as an employer, and in certain other ways as well.
At that moment, the plane jerked forward and began to move, and he wondered whether he had after all been premature in involving her. But it turned out they were being taxied off the runway to a parking area. The captain explained that they had lost their slot in the busy departure schedule of the airport and were now put on indefinite hold while waiting first for their permission to take off to arrive from Copenhagen, and secondly for a new slot to be assigned to them. He was very sorry, but he was unfortunately forced to switch off the air conditioning while they waited.
Jan closed his eyes and cursed in three languages. Fandens. Scheisse. Fucking hell.
NINA LOOKED THE man right in the eyes.
“I think you had better leave,” she said.
It had no effect. He stepped even closer, deliberately looming over her. She could smell his aftershave. In a different situation it might have been a pleasant scent.
“I know she is here,” he said. “And I demand to see my fiancée right away.”
It was a hot August day, and there