Read Online Still Waters (Sandhamn Murders Book 1) by Viveca Sten - Free Book Online

kept Harö. It was neat and tidy and entirely logical.
    And heartbreaking.
    After the divorce he had found a two-room apartment in Gustavsberg. It was practical and functional and only twenty minutes away from work, but it wasn’t a home. If anywhere, it was only on Harö that he felt at home these days.
    He got his razor and shaving cream out of the medicine cabinet and ran hot water in the sink.
    He hadn’t the slightest desire to get in the boat and head over to Sandhamn. But Nora had invited him weeks ago, and he didn’t want to disappoint her. Especially on such short notice.
    “Come on, Thomas,” she had said to him. “It’ll do you good to get out and about. You can’t just work or bury yourself on Harö. You need to start seeing people again.”
    She was right, of course. But it was so difficult.
    He sank down on the toilet seat with the razor in his hand. Sometimes he felt as if he didn’t have the strength to take one more step.
    The last fifteen months had been the worst of his life. He wouldn’t wish them on his worst enemy. Nights plagued by bad dreams about Emily and his inability to save her life. Days when he could hardly bring himself to go into work because he was afraid of breaking down in front of his colleagues. The gradual disintegration of his marriage, which he had been powerless to prevent.
    Since the divorce had been finalized six months ago, he had avoided social gatherings. There had been no need for the company of others, just a deep desire to be left alone and in peace.
    He had devoted almost all his waking hours to work. He had no idea how many late nights he had stayed at the station. But there was something restful about the dark corridors when everyone else had gone home. The emptiness appealed to him. He enjoyed sitting at his desk in silence.
    Work had been his lifeline.
    Without his colleagues, he doubted whether he would have made it. Getting up every morning had been a real struggle, yet he had taken on as much work as he possibly could. Volunteered for just about everything. Sat there for hours dealing with tasks that weren’t part of his job.
    As if every fresh case he solved helped him to rebuild his life, little by little.
    Gradually it had begun to hurt less, but the pain was replaced by weariness. It overwhelmed him. Thomas was so exhausted he didn’t know what to do with himself. He could cope with the days, but by the evening he was spent.
    He had slept more during the past six months than in his entire life. All he wanted to do at night was to go to bed and sink into oblivion, escape from his life. It was as if he couldn’t get enough unconsciousness.
    It wasn’t until the light began to return in April that he started to regain some of his old energy. He was able to rest in those long, light, late spring evenings. To his surprise he found he was breathing more easily.
    But the distance between the professional police officer who conscientiously did his job and the private individual who merely wanted to be left in peace had not diminished.
    He sat there in the bathroom trying to gather his strength. The dinner party would be starting soon. He stood up and applied the shaving cream to his face. With a determined smile at his reflection, he began to scrape the razor firmly down his cheek.
     
    Kicki Berggren looked around the harbor, which was now half in shadow. The unpleasant taste of the tea she had been given lingered in her mouth. She hadn’t even been offered a cup of coffee—just that revolting tea.
    She had tried to rest in her room for a while, but she had been far too wound up, and after an hour she gave up. She picked up her jacket and walked down to the harbor; she needed something to drink. Something strong. And something to eat would be good. She crept down the stairs to avoid the manager, who was a bit of a busybody. She couldn’t deal with her chatter now; she had enough to think about.
    The Divers Bar looked nice, but when she got closer she could