White Nights: Northern Nights Series, #1

By Jenna van Berke

Northern Nights Series #1

Revised edition (December 2023)

 

Can you trust your instincts when they have betrayed you in the past?

Nature lover Litza York is thrilled when she gets the opportunity to finish her PhD in Eastern Finland, researching the rare Saimaa seal. The landscape's magical beauty and the residents' friendly hospitality lure her to believe she has come to the right place to forget about her troubled past.

But the idyll is soon disrupted when someone starts poisoning the object of her study, bringing the Saimaa seal to the verge of extinction.

Together with handsome park ranger Niilo Vuorokoski, she does all she can to protect her favorite animal and ends up bringing herself in mortal danger…

 

Romantic suspense meets cozy crime in Finland's lonely countryside.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Brake Books
• Release date: Nov 26, 2019
• ISBN: 9781386466444

Jenna van Berke

Jenna van Berke writes suspense, romance, and cozy crime, sometimes all in the same story. An accomplished reader and daydreamer, she's an expert on avoiding spending time in the real world. When she isn't absorbed in a book, you can find her treasure-hunting at a flea market, hiking, or saunaing. She moved to Finland several years ago.

Book preview

Prologue

Quietly, the boat glided through the water. The lake glistened bluish in the moonlight, as did the barrel of his rifle. He probably wouldn’t need it, but it felt better to have it with him.

At last, he reached the reed-covered shore of the island. He took one of the old fish traps he had found in the barn and sank it.

A smile stole onto his face. That would show him.

1

I still wasn’t sure I was doing the right thing as the plane hit the ground.

I wasn’t even sure what I was doing. Was I pursuing a dream—or was I running away from real life? And would the latter be so bad?

Childhood dreams don’t have to be silly, my brother Felipe had told me. Often, they reflect our wants and needs in their purest form. Besides, it’ll be good for you to get away.

To get away. That I was doing for sure. Couldn’t get much further on this planet.

My legs and back felt like they belonged to a ninety-year-old as I dragged myself out of the stuffy cabin. My childhood dreams hadn’t included the twenty-two-hour trip. And I’d still have to sit in the car for another forty minutes.

Welcome to Savonlinna, Finland, the walls of the arrival hall read in seven different languages. My new home for the next year or so, while I finished my PhD. Or technically, my home would be in the tiny village of Oravi—which wasn’t ideal, considering I’d have to commute twenty-five miles to the university. But Oravi would afford me the best access to my study subject and favorite animal: Pusa hispida saimensis, the Saimaa ringed seal.

Or what was left of them.

The airport was tiny and the staff super efficient, so I got my suitcase in no time and was finally free to leave behind the strange parallel world of duty-free shops, gates, and transit zones. The sliding door opened, revealing a young man holding a sign with my name on it. I’d been told I’d be picked up, though I wasn’t sure if this was a regular procedure for foreign students or if it was due to my new doctoral supervisor’s kindness.

I slowed my pace, giving the guy a once-over. His brown hair stood every which way, and his cheeks were covered in a patchy five-day stubble. He wore old-fashioned glasses, a faded black sweater advertising something that might be a heavy metal band, jeans, and worn sneakers. I let out a breath. Nerds I could handle—I was one myself.

I smiled at him. Hi.

Evangelitza York?

Call me Litza. Nice to meet you.

Igor. We’ll be sharing an office at the university. He glanced out the window. Let’s go. I left the car in the drop-off line.

His car was an ancient Opel that looked like it belonged in a junkyard. Igor yanked open the backdoor. Let’s put your suitcase in here. The trunk doesn’t always open.

So, you’re also a PhD student? I asked once I’d settled on the passenger seat, which was covered with a bed sheet.

Yep. Third year. Igor turned the key in the ignition. The motor sputtered, then died. Igor tried again. And again.

I eyed the car suspiciously. I didn’t know anything about Finnish regulations, but the fact that this wreck was roadworthy seemed like a miracle.

Come on, he coaxed, his voice encouraging, as if he were talking to a horse. Apparently, it helped, because this time the car started.

Are you from around here, or did you move here to study? I asked. I had never been abroad before and I was nervous, to say the least. While I had read a lot about Finland in the last few months, I still had plenty of questions.

Igor laughed. I’m Russian.

I would have liked to ask him if he managed to go shopping without a dictionary, but I didn’t want to come across as a hillbilly, so I only said, Do you speak Finnish?

To a certain extent. But don’t worry, you’ll learn. When I moved here, I didn’t know a word either.

I doubted that. Languages were not exactly my strength.

Kaija is really excited about your project, he continued. Told me all about it.

Kaija Nurmi was a professor at the University of Eastern Finland and my new doctoral supervisor.

I’m really lucky she accepted me.

Kaija seems to think it’s the other way around. She’s done everything she could to get you to join us. And in the middle of the year, no less.

He was probably right. I had already prepared myself for not being able to start until the coming autumn semester.

Molting season is only once a year, I quoted from Kaija’s email, and it would be a shame if I had to wait until next May. In all other months, the chances of seeing one of the rare Saimaa seals were much smaller.

Kaija said you’ve already started your doctorate? In Oregon?

I thought I had it all planned out. I’ve already written almost forty pages. But then I just couldn’t go on. I shrugged. It was like running into a brick wall.

What did your supervisor say?

He suddenly wanted me to continue in another direction, even though I’d told him from the beginning that this aspect didn’t interest me. So I just quit.

Igor whistled. Respect. Sometimes I want to throw my laptop against the wall, but actually quit? After investing so much time and effort? That requires balls.

And it had—in the truest sense of the word. But I definitely wouldn’t tell Igor about Nigel, so I said, Hindsight is always wiser, but apparently it was the right decision. I just needed time to reorganize my thoughts.

But don’t you have to rewrite a lot? From what I understand, the focus of your work has changed.

Yeah, but I don’t mind. The most important thing is that I’m motivated again. I let my gaze wander out the window and caught sight of water glistening in the distance. I sat up. Is that Lake Saimaa?

It is, Igor confirmed. Haapavesi, to be precise. Each pool has its own name.

I already knew that, of course. There probably wasn’t much I didn’t know about the lake. At about 1,700 square miles, Lake Saimaa was the fourth largest lake in Europe. The various basins were divided by thousands of islands and narrow channels. It was like a huge water labyrinth.

My heartbeat sped up the closer we got to the water. Maybe my brother had been right. Maybe it really was my destiny to get to know this lake and its endangered inhabitants, just as I had dreamed of doing as a child.

And even if not, at least nothing here would remind me of Nigel.

2

The next morning, the doorbell rang. Twelve minutes too late, I realized with a frown.

I had collapsed into bed immediately after Igor had dropped me off at my new apartment—Kaija had also helped organize my accommodation—and had gotten up early, unpacked my bags, and was already waiting for Kaija. My supervisor wanted to invite me to breakfast and show me around.

I took a look around to make sure there was no underwear lying around. The apartment was small: one room with a kitchenette, furnished with a table, two chairs, a queen-size bed, and a nightstand. Then I opened the door—and recoiled.

There was a man in a stained lumberjack shirt, unshaven, pale, with bloodshot eyes and pungent booze breath.

I was about to slam the door when he said, Evangelitza York?

Yes? I said cautiously.

Kaija sent me, he said in a raspy voice. She has the flu and asked me to cover for her. He didn’t look thrilled about it. My name is Niilo. Niilo Vuorikoski. I work for Linnansaari National Park.

Litza, I said automatically. Nice to meet you.

Are you ready? His eyes darted to the jacket and backpack (which I always carried with me like other women carry handbags) in my hand. Then let’s go.

Perplexed, I followed him.

Silently we walked down the gravel road, but after only a few yards, I cursed myself. Why had I gone along with this intoxicated, perfect stranger? I could have just told him I wasn’t feeling well either and that I wanted to postpone the meeting with Kaija.

Too late. Now, I couldn’t for the life of me think of any plausible explanation why I urgently needed to turn back. I would have to grit my teeth and get breakfast with this disgusting guy over with as quickly as possible.

To distract myself, I surveyed my new neighborhood. There were spacious properties bordered by hedges or wooden fences. Most of the houses were made of wood, painted in different colors: dark red, light blue, mustard yellow, or dark green. In addition to the main house, there were often smaller buildings that probably served as sheds.

I suppose my place, I asked hesitantly, used to be a barn?

He shook his head. Your apartment was a sauna and a changing room. They say they’re going to build a smaller sauna.

So that’s what the building materials I’d seen in the yard were for. And the owner lives in the main house?

No, that’s also rented out. As far as I know, it was divided into two apartments. He pointed to a yellow wooden house. This is where Kaija lives.

The property next to it was apparently our destination: an oxblood-red house with white shutters. However, my companion—and it occurred to me that I had already forgotten his name—walked past the house and across the yard. Only when we rounded the corner of the house did I notice that the property was right on the lakeshore.

My companion grabbed a canoe resting on a sandbar and wordlessly motioned for me to get in.

Puzzled, I looked at him. Kaija said she would take me out for breakfast. I haven’t eaten anything ... In fact, I hadn’t eaten since lunch on the plane the day before and I was starving.

I know. We’ll have breakfast soon.

I scanned the canoe. It was clean and neat, and there was a backpack in the stern. I made myself sit down in the bow. Maybe this was a bit like Venice and we would paddle to the nearest café.

He pushed off and expertly navigated the canoe toward a group of islands. I looked around for a second paddle, but there wasn’t one, so I put my hands in my lap and relaxed.

The morning air was still cool, but the sun was already high in the clear blue sky and warmed my face. I inhaled the fresh, clean air, let my gaze wander over the lake, and once again, the joyful excitement I had already felt in Igor’s car took possession of me. What a magnificent scenery! Untouched nature as far as the eye could see.

The vast lake reflected the blue sky and the trees that lined the shores. The plants had awakened from their long hibernation and adorned themselves with lush green leaves. Here and there, I could still spot the last remnants of snow. The shimmering water radiated a deep calm, and the only sounds I could hear were the paddle strokes, a gentle wind caressing the trees, and the singing of birds.

After about ten minutes, we reached a small sandbank. My companion shouldered his backpack, nimbly jumped out of the canoe, and tied it to a tree. I stood up and looked around: Birches, pines, rocks.

He went straight into the forest.

Hesitantly, I followed him. Is this island inhabited? I finally asked. By now, we were so deep in the thicket that I could no longer see the canoe.

Not by humans, he answered without turning around.

You are alone with a drunken stranger somewhere on a deserted island in Finland. No one knows you’re here, said the warning voice in the back of my head that had accompanied me since that terrible day a year and a half ago.