HEJ, MY LOVE

BUMPER CARS

Sierra drove steadily. She didn't turn on the radio as she did when cruising in Paris. Stockholm was still an unknown city for the woman who didn't want to be distracted. Besides, Leone and Rufus slept; the absence of noise was better. 

Swedish nights were exceptionally dark. Sierra doubled vigilance. The last path leading to their house was a forest route. One had to go a great distance to see trees in Paris, while the woods seem to come to one in Sweden.

The woman looked in the rearview mirror; the car behind her appeared to have been there for a while. Sierra assumed it was going somewhere else, especially when it overtook her, but the car didn't and abruptly stopped in front of her.

It was too late the pull the brakes; the collision was inevitable. Sierra just had the time to turn the wheel which drove them straight into a hundred-year-old Birch tree. The woman felt as though she had taken a military tank full speed.

Though she knew how cars worked, the shock of the airbag blowing up and the impact itself knocked the woman out cold. As for Leone, his chair tilted forward but remained held up between the back and passenger seat.

The woman was still unconscious when the person got out of the car and came to open the back door of Jonas's car. In case of an accident, the doors automatically unlock to allow evacuation in an intelligent vehicle with the option. Only one person interested the mysterious driver, there. He began to unstrap Leone, but Rufus woke, barked, and bit.

"Fucking dog," the driver used the gun's grip he held to hit the dog several times. Once Rufus was down, he continued to unstrap Leone.

Bertrand had thought of multiple ways of getting the child. His uncle and aunt were firmly opposed to any act of violence, but Sierra's marriage and move to Sweden changed things. Impatient, the man decided to do things his way. Breaking into their house was risky as he was sure to leave something behind that would accuse him, whereas it was difficult to see a person as a target in a car accident. The location itself offered an excellent alibi; the police would probably conclude Sierra saw a deer and crashed to avoid it.

The cold air woke Leone, who began to cry. He pushed, kicked, and slapped the aggressor's chest.

"Sierra, Sierra, wake up. Leone needs you."

The voice was Cecile's, though Sierra heard she could not move. The smell of fuel invaded her nostrils. 

Where was she?

What was going on?

"MAMA."

Finally, Leone's shrieks woke the mother, who emerged from her slumber. The airbag, almost deflated, allowed the woman to unbuckle.

Despite the shock of the impact and the blows Bertrand gave, Rufus ran after the driver to defend Leone. The dog held on to Bertrand's leg with a bite. He used all the strength he had left. Old and exhausted, Leone's companion held it was his duty to protect the boy. Jonas' counted on him. The dog felt like his jaw ripped apart as his teeth dug deeper into Bertrand's leg.

"Lâche moi sale clebs [let go of me you dirty mutt]."

Rufus groaned while Bertrand battled.

Sierra was out of the car when she heard the gunshot and the dog howl, followed by hundreds of night sounds as birds fled what became a crime scene. 

Shocked, Leone stopped crying and moving. Fear electrified the boy that the man threw in his car as one did a rollbag. Bertrand climbed in the driver's seat as Sierra came banging on the vehicle.

"LEONE, LEONE. NON PAS MON FILS, NON, BERTRAND. NON. [Leone, Leone. No, not my son, no Bertrand, no]."

"MAMA," Leone too tapped on the window, but it was no use. Sierra ran, but she knew her efforts were vain. The car drove off.

Jonas was surprised by the welcome comity waiting for him when he landed three hours later.

The man beamed, "what a welcome. I didn't expect anyone to come and greet me."

Elsa and his father exchanged a stare to push the other to speak up. Jonas didn't realize Elsa was with two other colleagues until that instant.

"What's wrong?" Jonas asked. His heart already broke at the speed of sound as panic seized him.

"Jonas, something happened. There was an accident," his father began.

Jonas turned to Elsa, "where are they?"

In the meantime, the missing person announcement was on every screen. Rut gasped when she saw it and immediately dialed. She didn't expect him to pick up, but the man was full of surprises.

"Hello," the voice was casual. Rut heard no stress in the annotation.

"Is this what you meant by making a move? It's all over the television. How could you kidnap Jonas' son?"

"Wow, woman, isn't this what you wanted? Didn't you say you desired them to suffer? You asked me to do something gratifying. Well, you can go and claim your prize. The widower will need comfort. I'm sure you have plenty of ideas on how to make him forget his loss."

"Widower? What do you mean where's Sierra?"

"She's dead; it wasn't my intent. It just ended up that way. You know how it is; cockroaches always come back if you don't exterminate them. And I tell you, she was the mother of all cockroaches," Bertrand said while thinking of all the times the woman intervened in his plans.

Rut put a hand on her mouth to camouflage her gasp. The satisfaction sensation didn't even have time to rise as the woman realized what she did and what her action represented in the eyes of the law.

"Where are you?"

Bertrand chuckled, "do you think I'm naive enough to tell you?"

"You can't leave the country. The police are probably at all the borders. "

"Oh, how sweet. Are you worrying about me?"

Rut sneered, "what are you out of your mind? I could never."

"Never say never. I think we sort of click," the man replied.

Rut could almost hear him smiling; her body's hair stood up to repel the man's intent, "pardon, you're a monster."

"A monster, huh? Well, right now, you're my accomplice. None of this weird and wonderful experience would have been possible without you. That's what I'll say if I get caught. So stop it with your outraged sister act. Prepare yourself to weep and console the widower."

"I'm not your accomplice; I didn't take your money."

Jonas wasn't there to defend the honor of his name as once again Bertrand deformed it to his liking, "but you gave me an address and told me Mr. Possman was out of town. Anyway, I'm busy right now. Talk to you later," Bertrand hung up.

Rut began to pace. 

What had she done?

Sierra was dead; it wasn't what she wanted. She wished the woman to suffer, but this was too much. The woman was sure to go to jail for it. And Jonas, the man, would never rebuild his life after such a trauma, but above all, he would loathe her beyond compare.

Rut needed a way out, and there was only one person who could help her then.

"Hello."

"Lars, I need your help."