Ulrich Andersson didn’t respond. Instead he turned off the road and walked away across a stubbly meadow, heading for a wooded area on the far side.

When Heloise called out to him again, he sped up.

CHAPTER

14

THE SERVE HIT the net for the third time in a row, and the boy kicked the sand in frustration, stirring up a big cloud of dust around himself. The beige-colored particles landed on his long, moist eyelashes and in his frizzy hair.

He picked up the volleyball again and walked back over to position himself behind the line in the serving zone. He calmly looked straight ahead and composed himself for a moment. Then he threw the ball high into the air and leapt up, with both feet off the ground, before hitting the ball with a hard, overhand serve.

The ball flew through the air and landed inside the lines on the opposite side of the net.

“You did it, champ! Well done.” Stefan cheered loudly and clapped despite the pain in his hand.

The boy jumped, turning in the direction the voice had come from and looking for the source of the cheering. He squinted and held his hand up to shield him from the evening sun, which hung low in a sky filled with soft cauliflower clouds.

Most of the other kids had left Amager Beach Park along with the experienced recreational athletes and kitesurfers, and there weren’t any other beach volleyball players on the court aside from the boy. He hadn’t noticed his audience until now and slowly nodded in appreciation. Then he walked over to a neon-green sports bag that lay in the sand to the right of the court.

Stefan watched while the boy packed his water bottle and a black Ninjago beach towel into it. Then the boy tossed the bag over his shoulder and hurried over to retrieve his white Spalding ball from the sand. He jogged over to a mountain bike, which was parked parallel to the bike path, close to the bench where Stefan had sat down to watch him.

When he knelt down in the grass to fumble with his bike lock, Stefan got up and strolled over there with his hands in his pocket and a filterless King’s hanging loosely from his sun-cracked lips.

“You’re really something with that volleyball there, huh?”

“Thank you.” The boy stood up and secured the ball to his rear rack.

“What’s your name?”

“Daniel.”

“Daniel,” Stefan repeated, looking the boy over. He was a handsome little guy with green eyes, suntanned skin, and fine freckles on his nose and cheeks.

“Where are you headed, Daniel?”

“Home.” The boy looked down at his shoes as he spoke.

“Aw, that’s too bad.” Stefan took a puff from his cigarette and spit a fiber of tobacco out of his mouth. “It was so much fun watching you play.”

“I promised my mom I’d be home for dinner.”