Where the Shadows Lie (Fire and Ice)

in Iceland. Nor were there any Eskimos, and only very rarely polar bears. He hadn’t been to Iceland since just after his father’s death. He had his doubts about going back, severe doubts, but at that moment it seemed like the least bad option.
    ‘I called the Icelandic Police Commissioner an hour ago. He’s still looking for an advisor. He sounded very excited by the idea of a detective who speaks the language. So, what do you think?’
    There really was no choice.
    ‘I’ll do it,’ Magnus said. ‘On one condition.’
    Williams frowned. ‘Which is?’
    ‘I take my girlfriend with me.’
    Magnus had seen Colby angry before, but never this angry.
    ‘What do you think you are doing, getting your goons to kidnap me? Is this some kind of joke? Some kind of weird romantic gesture where you think I’m going to take you back? Because if it is, I can tell you right now it’s not going to work. So tell these men to take me back to the office!’
    They were sitting in the back seat of an FBI van in the parking lot of a Friendly’s restaurant. Two agents had cruised by the offices of the medical-equipment company where Colby was in-house counsel and whisked her away. They were gathered around their car fifty feet away, with the two agents who had driven Magnus.
    ‘They tried to kill me again,’ Magnus said. ‘Almost succeeded this time.’
    He still couldn’t believe how stupid he had been, how he had let himself be led off the main street down an alley. Since the shooting he had been interviewed at great length by two detectives from the Firearm Discharge Investigative team. They had been told they would only have one chance to talk to him, so they had been very thorough, focusing especially on his decision to pull the trigger when there was an innocent civilian in the line of fire.
    Magnus didn’t regret that decision. He had traded the near certainty of his own death for a small probability that the woman would be harmed. But he had a better answer for the detectives. If the gangsters had shot him, they would probably have shot the woman next, as a witness. The Firearms Discharge guys liked this idea. They were careful not to ask him whether he had thought of that before or after he had pulled the trigger. They were going to do things by the book, but they were on his side.
    This was the second time he had shot and killed someone while on duty. After the first, when he was a rookie patrol officer in uniform two months into the job, he had suffered weeks of guilt-filled sleepless nights.
    This time he was just glad to be alive.
    ‘Too bad they failed,’ muttered Colby. Two tiny red dots of anger sizzled on each cheek; the corners of her brown eyes glistened with fury. Her mouth was set firm. Then she bit her lip, pulling strands of dark curly hair back behind her ears in a familiar gesture. ‘I’m sorry, I didn’t mean that. But it’s got nothing to do with me. I don’t want it to have anything to do with me, that’s the whole point.’
    ‘It already does have to do with you, Colby.’
    ‘What do you mean?’
    ‘The chief wants me to go. Leave Boston. He doesn’t think the Dominicans will stop until they’ve killed me.’
    ‘That sounds like a good idea.’
    Magnus took a deep breath. ‘And I want you to come with me.’
    The expression on Colby’s face was a mixture of shock and contempt. ‘Are you serious?’
    ‘It’s for your own safety. If I’m gone they might go after you.’
    ‘What about my work? What about my job, dammit?’
    ‘You’ll just have to leave that. It’ll only be for a few months. Until the trial.’
    ‘Was I right the first time? Is this just some weird way for you to get me back?’
    ‘No,’ said Magnus. ‘It’s because I’m worried for you if you stay.’
    Colby bit her lip again. A tear ran down her cheek. Magnus reached out and touched her arm. ‘Where would we go?’
    ‘I’m sorry, I can’t tell you until I know you will say yes.’
    ‘Will I like it?’ She glanced at him.
    He shook his head. ‘Probably not.’ They had discussed Iceland many times during their relationship, and Colby had been consistent in her distrust of the country, its volcanoes and its bad weather.
    ‘It’s Iceland, isn’t it?’
    Magnus just shrugged.
    ‘Wait a minute, let me think.’ Colby turned away from him and stared out over the parking lot. A large family of four waddled out to their car carrying tubs of ice cream, smiles of anticipation on their