Sofie Jensen pulled her worn coat tighter and wiped down the last table at Karen’s Café. Her reflection was barely visible in the dark window at 10 PM, casting long shadows across the empty parking lot. “Are you almost done, sweetheart? ” Karen called from behind the counter, her voice rough from years of smoking—a habit she’d finally quit last spring.
The older woman was counting out the register, her weathered hands moving with practiced ease between bills and coins. Sofie glanced at the clock, an old wall fixture that had hung there since before she was born. “I’m finishing the last section,” she said. “I’ll take out the trash before I lock up.
” Karen looked up, worry etched into her already lined face. “Are you sure? It’s dark out there in this neighborhood. ” “I’ve done this a hundred times, Karen.
I’ll be fine. ” Sofie offered a tired smile. She appreciated the concern, but after six years of double shifts at this café, the routine was as familiar as breathing. Besides, she needed every hour she could get.
Rent was due in three days, and she was still short fifteen hundred kroner. “Okay, but call me when you get home. Understood? ” Karen grabbed her purse from under the counter.
“I mean it, Sofie. My phone is on. ” “I will,” Sofie promised. She watched Karen head for the front door, keys jingling in her hand.
Over the years, the older woman had become more than just a boss—she was like the mother Sofie had lost at sixteen, when a car accident on the highway took her in an instant. That was nine years ago, but some wounds never fully heal. During the day, the place buzzed with life, but now it was still and quiet. “Hello?
” Sofie called out, startled, as a shadow moved near the glass door. At the same time, across town, Mats was walking into his lawyer’s office, where his meeting was scheduled for 8 PM sharp. At 8:45, as Sofie wiped down the last table and prepared to close, two police cars pulled up in front of the café, and her heart stopped. Somewhere in federal custody—questioned, documented, processed in a system that would erase his old identity and create a new one—Mats would later think of her at the café, of the kindness she’d shown him when he’d hit rock bottom.
But for now, the blue lights flashed against the windows, and Sofie took a deep breath, waiting to see what would happen next.