The Pact (A Sarah Roberts Thriller Book 17) Read Online Free
Author: Jonas Saul
to the minute.
He started the rental and drove away, wondering how much sleep he would get before he woke for his morning exercises. There was simply too much excitement in his life at the moment.
Chapter 3
Anton Olafson stepped out of the Folketing, the Danish Parliament, and bounded down the stairs, raising his briefcase above his head to shield himself from the rain. He trotted through the Christiansborg parking lot, reserved for members of parliament, until he located his car near the back. Meandering through the tightly-knit cars from the Traffic Committee to the Radical Center Party, around and through several puddles, Olafson was happy to get to his car without a soaker. He fumbled with the keys, opened the door, and dropped into the front seat, shaking rain water off his briefcase before setting it on the passenger seat.
After slamming the door, he took a moment to catch his breath. The rain pounded the roof, a staccato music only the criminally insane or lunatic campers could enjoy. He hated the rain and everything to do with it. Anton often asked his parents why he was given the unfortunate luck of being born in Denmark and not Greece where the sun shone over ten months of the year.
After starting the Tesla, he connected his phone to the car’s Bluetooth and tried calling his daughter’s cell number again. Her voicemail picked up.
Clara hadn’t answered her phone all day. She had joined him on the ride to Copenhagen yesterday, then headed to a friend’s place on the other side of the city, claiming she’d be back this afternoon. The last contact he’d had with her was yesterday around lunch. She’d texted him a picture of a heart and a smile. Her way of telling her father she loved him.
With her not answering her phone and not leaving the friend’s address, Anton had no way of getting in touch with her. He’d left meetings early today to head home. Maybe she was already at home waiting for him. At twenty-three years of age, Clara still lived with him, and he wouldn’t have it any other way. He made plenty of money. It was hard for the youth of today to find good paying jobs, ones where they could live on their own.
The new position at work had kept Anton busy over the past six months, but he was planning on taking a long summer break. He would make up for lost time with Clara then. Maybe they’d go to Fanø Island, rent a summer cottage on one of Fanø’s huge beaches.
The interior of the car warmed enough that his fingers weren’t so cold. He probed his ears to get at the rain water and winced when he bumped the new black helix ear piercing. He had wanted an industrial piercing, but felt his Danish government colleagues would frown on it. A rook or an anti-helix piercing was on the list, but Anton ended up with one helix on his right ear for now. As an openly gay man in government, he monitored how far he pushed his superiors. One never knew when they would reach their limits.
Marriage hadn’t worked. As much as he tried to be a heterosexual man, he and Clara’s mother didn’t see eye to eye. They divorced when Clara was eighteen, and a year later, Clara’s mother died of an aneurism. It was so sudden, neither he nor Clara had made it to her bedside before she died.
Maybe that was why Clara still lived at home. She wanted to remain close with her one remaining parent.
He tried Clara’s cell number and got the recording again. He flicked on the wipers and started out of the parking lot, the pit in his stomach getting heavier.
Where was she? Why wasn’t she answering? This was so unlike her. He avoided thoughts of what could have happened to her. They were baseless and a waste of time. Refusing to consider the worse, he still worried for her. What if something did happen to her? What if she was hurt somewhere, or worse? He was her sole protector. He should have done a better job.
“Where are you, Clara?” he asked aloud in the
He started the rental and drove away, wondering how much sleep he would get before he woke for his morning exercises. There was simply too much excitement in his life at the moment.
Chapter 3
Anton Olafson stepped out of the Folketing, the Danish Parliament, and bounded down the stairs, raising his briefcase above his head to shield himself from the rain. He trotted through the Christiansborg parking lot, reserved for members of parliament, until he located his car near the back. Meandering through the tightly-knit cars from the Traffic Committee to the Radical Center Party, around and through several puddles, Olafson was happy to get to his car without a soaker. He fumbled with the keys, opened the door, and dropped into the front seat, shaking rain water off his briefcase before setting it on the passenger seat.
After slamming the door, he took a moment to catch his breath. The rain pounded the roof, a staccato music only the criminally insane or lunatic campers could enjoy. He hated the rain and everything to do with it. Anton often asked his parents why he was given the unfortunate luck of being born in Denmark and not Greece where the sun shone over ten months of the year.
After starting the Tesla, he connected his phone to the car’s Bluetooth and tried calling his daughter’s cell number again. Her voicemail picked up.
Clara hadn’t answered her phone all day. She had joined him on the ride to Copenhagen yesterday, then headed to a friend’s place on the other side of the city, claiming she’d be back this afternoon. The last contact he’d had with her was yesterday around lunch. She’d texted him a picture of a heart and a smile. Her way of telling her father she loved him.
With her not answering her phone and not leaving the friend’s address, Anton had no way of getting in touch with her. He’d left meetings early today to head home. Maybe she was already at home waiting for him. At twenty-three years of age, Clara still lived with him, and he wouldn’t have it any other way. He made plenty of money. It was hard for the youth of today to find good paying jobs, ones where they could live on their own.
The new position at work had kept Anton busy over the past six months, but he was planning on taking a long summer break. He would make up for lost time with Clara then. Maybe they’d go to Fanø Island, rent a summer cottage on one of Fanø’s huge beaches.
The interior of the car warmed enough that his fingers weren’t so cold. He probed his ears to get at the rain water and winced when he bumped the new black helix ear piercing. He had wanted an industrial piercing, but felt his Danish government colleagues would frown on it. A rook or an anti-helix piercing was on the list, but Anton ended up with one helix on his right ear for now. As an openly gay man in government, he monitored how far he pushed his superiors. One never knew when they would reach their limits.
Marriage hadn’t worked. As much as he tried to be a heterosexual man, he and Clara’s mother didn’t see eye to eye. They divorced when Clara was eighteen, and a year later, Clara’s mother died of an aneurism. It was so sudden, neither he nor Clara had made it to her bedside before she died.
Maybe that was why Clara still lived at home. She wanted to remain close with her one remaining parent.
He tried Clara’s cell number and got the recording again. He flicked on the wipers and started out of the parking lot, the pit in his stomach getting heavier.
Where was she? Why wasn’t she answering? This was so unlike her. He avoided thoughts of what could have happened to her. They were baseless and a waste of time. Refusing to consider the worse, he still worried for her. What if something did happen to her? What if she was hurt somewhere, or worse? He was her sole protector. He should have done a better job.
“Where are you, Clara?” he asked aloud in the
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