The Oslo Conspiracy: New Excerpt

The Oslo Conspiracy: A Thriller by Asle Skredderberget
The Oslo Conspiracy by Asle Skredderberget is a new twist in thrillers that is certain to captivate readers who like their heroes rich, handsome, caring, and very, very sexy. (Available October 25, 2016).

A scientist is found dead in a hotel room in Rome. Before she is strangled, she manages to scribble a few words on a piece of paper.

Milo Cavalli is sent to help out with the investigation in Italy, since he is familiar with Italian red tape. Milo finds the note from the scientist, and he also learns that earlier her kid brother had been killed in a schoolyard.

Milo becomes obsessed with finding out if there is a link between the two murders—the sister strangled in Italy and the brother shot in Norway. And he is willing to use his vast fortune and special connections—especially when those connections involve beautiful.

MONDAY

Present Day, Rome

There are two types of people.

Those who start to panic when they know they’re going to die. And those who stay calm, as if the very certainty makes their thoughts weighty.

She stood there quietly looking at him and knew it was over. Obviously she could have tried to slam the door, thrown herself toward the bed and tried to call reception. Or run out onto the little balcony and tried to make herself heard over the Rome traffic six stories below.

But she just stood there. Resigned.

For a brief moment it suddenly felt absurd to think he might be dangerous. But deep down she knew. There was something in his eyes.

He stepped soundlessly across the threshold, his body almost springy on the thick hotel carpet, and an odor of cigarettes and sweat reached her nostrils. He quickly took a firm hold around her neck, and she felt a sharp prick below her ear.

He let go, and she shoved him away and staggered toward the bathroom. She locked the door and waited for him to start pulling on it. But outside it was quiet. He had time to wait.

She felt the onset of nausea, and her heart was pounding faster. There were tears in her eyes.

She knew she did not have much time before the anesthetic took effect.

The thought that everything had been in vain cut her in the gut, and she suppressed a “the hell it is.” She knew that he would take the PC, the notebook, the flash drives, the phone, and anything else that might reveal what she had been working on the past year. She knew that he was thorough.

From the hotel room she could hear him clear his throat.

She let her eyes sweep across the little bathroom and stopped at the row of medicines on the shelf beside the mirror. For a few seconds, she stood as if frozen. As if the four pill bottles were speaking to her. Quickly she went over to the shelf, pulling out one of the middle bottles. The choice was not random, but she could not count on anyone understanding. For that reason she tore off a little toilet paper and took out her mascara.

She tried to write, but the paper tore and she had to start over. Her heart was hammering as she carefully tried to write his name. It was almost illegible, but it would have to do. She thought for a moment while she tried to blink away the tears. Then she wrote one more word, before folding up the paper and putting it in the bottle.

After that she stepped up into the bathtub and threw the bottle out the air vent. She heard it hit the cobblestone in the courtyard a few seconds later.

Is anyone going to understand? she thought.

In her toiletry case she found the nail clipper and made a few quick scratches in the joint between two of the bathroom tiles under the vent.

She sat down on the tiles and leaned against the bathtub.

The haze came slowly and could not be stopped.

Her heart was beating more slowly and her upper body slid sideways along the bathtub.

She felt no pain when her head pounded hard against the floor.

 

Copyright © 2016 Asle Skredderberget.

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Asle Skredderberget holds a Masters degree in Business and Finance from the Norwegian School of Economics in Bergen and the prestigious Universitá Bocconi in Milan. He is the author of The Oslo Conspiracy, among other thrillers.