Zero Hour (2010)

Municipal transport had CCTV. Taxi drivers might remember something. The police operation that had almost netted us was not going to shut up shop for weeks.

A shiny green phone booth materialized in front of us. At last I could make the call.

Anna answered immediately. I could hear the tension in her voice. ‘When will you be here? I—’

‘Stop, stop! I need you to come and pick us up. Can you do that? There’s been a drama. Can you get a car?’

‘Yes.’

‘Get a car with sat nav, and meet me.’

‘Do you still have her?’

‘No, it was a fuck-up. But I have Lily. You got a pen?’

I waited a few seconds as the information sank in but she stayed completely switched on. She knew now wasn’t the time to go wobbly.

‘Go.’

‘I’m at the junction, and I’ll spell it, of H-e-t new word D-ok and K-o-p-e-r-s-l-a-g-e-r-i-j. The street names have one zero two one on them - that must be the area code. It’s on the north side of the bay. You got that? It’s full of smart flats, grassy open spaces and a smart green telephone box.’

‘Got it.’

I listened as she read everything back. I checked the road sign again, making sure the spelling was correct. ‘Quick as you can, Anna, without speeding.’

‘Is she OK?’

‘She’s fine. The other girls are safe. But you need to call off Lena’s friends. No need to meet up. Angeles won’t be needing them.’

The silence hung between us as she realized what I’d just said.

‘OK, sure. I’ll call.’ I could hear her moving now, the door to her room closing behind her and her voice beginning to echo in the hotel hallway.

‘It’s probably going to take you about thirty minutes this time of night. I’ll call you to check how you’re doing. OK?’

‘See you soon.’

‘Anna …’

‘Yes?’

I hesitated. ‘I can’t wait to see you.’

She thought about it for a second. ‘So get off the phone.’

26

For almost the whole hour and a half that we waited under the dual carriageway sirens wailed along the tarmac above us. The park was deserted.

I’d called Anna from a phone box when I said I would. She was on her way.

We sat shivering against a tree and I had to hold Lily in my arms to keep her warm. Her head was on my chest.

‘Lily, what happened? Why did you leave home?’

She didn’t move. Maybe she felt safe where she was.

‘I had to get away.’

‘Had to?’

She shrugged. ‘It seems so stupid after what has happened. My father betrayed me. And he betrayed the protest movement.’

‘After the election?’

Her head moved on my chest. ‘You have to realize how wonderful it was for us to finally know democracy. For one day, for one bright shining day, it seemed as though the power was in the people’s hands. We, the students, were going to be part of the solution. Not part of the problem, like my father.’

‘He liked it just the way it was?’

I felt her head nod slowly.

‘The Communists rigged the election. They bought everyone off - using money from people like my father. He just thinks of himself and his business. I wanted to leave - I wanted to hurt him just as he hurt me.’

‘Why Christiania?’

‘I read about it for a sociology class last year. Communal life. Utopia. It sounded like a good place to escape to.’

She dug into her jeans and brought out the Facebook picture. She opened it up as if I’d never seen it before. ‘But he changed that.’

‘Was he your boyfriend?’

‘Sort of.’ She paused. ‘He wanted sex but I wanted to wait until I married.’

Her hand dropped and let go of the paper. I had to grab it before it blew away.

‘He said he knew someone in Copenhagen, a friend of his father’s. He said he would talk to him and he would help me there.’

I folded the picture and shoved it into my jeans.

‘Viku sold me … How could I have been so stupid?’ She craned her neck to get eye-to-eye. ‘I met the old man. He was kind to me. He bought me something to eat and we talked of how wonderful Christiania was and how happy I was going to be there. But then he took me to a house where he said I could stay.’

She didn’t cry, just stared down at the ground, trying to close her mind to what had happened next.

‘It’s OK, Lily, I know the rest. But you are safe now.’

She replaced her head on my chest. I felt her jaw clench. Safety was something that belonged to another life.

‘My father, did he send you?’

‘Your dad knows nothing about it. One of his friends did.’

She scoffed. ‘One of his murderer friends?’

‘What makes you say that?’

‘He and all the others who make weapons, they are killers.’

‘I thought your father was in electronics?’

It was worth confirming what I thought I had worked out.

‘I don’t just mean missiles and tanks. Computers and radar are weapons too, any equipment that helps to kill and maim.’ She sat up. She was getting quite animated. ‘A military computer is as lethal as a bomb. Making military computers is a trade in misery.’

‘The people your father sell his computers to - isn’t he just meeting a demand?’

Her eyes blazed. ‘A pimp meets a demand. A drug-dealer meets a demand. What is the difference between trafficking heroin or women and exporting weapons, except that weapons are more dangerous? They’re all merchants of death. My eyes were opened to these things at university. I do not want to profit from his trade any more. That is why I left. Look where it got me.’

I thought she was going to cry.

‘Please do not tell him what has happened to me.’

I gave her a hug. ‘He’ll get nothing from me.’

‘Thank you. What is your name?’

‘Nick.’

‘Thank you, Nick.’

We lapsed into silence. Lily was either asleep or almost there. Her breathing was slow and stable.

Another couple of sirens buzzed along the dual carriageway at warp speed. I consulted Mr G-Shock. ‘We’ve got to go.’ I stroked the top of her head.