by Sara Blaedel
Camilla extended her hand and introduced herself, which she’d forgotten to do when he’d suddenly appeared on the beach.
“I actually interviewed your son to hear what he thought about the way the story was playing out,” she said and took the glass he poured for her.
He was trim and obviously kept himself in good shape. His shorts were light colored and his flaxen shirt hung over them loosely. His eyes were friendly, but nevertheless decisive when he sat back into the cushions of his wide bamboo chair and looked at her.
“Am I wrong in thinking that I recognize your name?” he asked.
She looked away for a moment. Then she shook her head and said that she couldn’t deny it.
“But I’m not working as a journalist right now,” she added. “Just in this one instance when I visited Frederik.”
“It would mean a lot to me if we could keep it between the two of us that you met me out here.”
Camilla waited, wasn’t much in favor of that kind of agreement if she felt there was something more behind it.
“Why’s it so important for you to let people go on believing that you’re dead?”
He sat a while studying her, as if he were assessing. Then he leaned forward in his chair and folded his hands.
“Because I’m not ready to turn up yet. I’m not coming home until the day I can prove that my wife was murdered.”
He chewed on the words a bit, as if it were the first time he’d said them out loud.
Camilla’s thoughts flew to Britt, and she couldn’t manage to stop the tears. Quickly, she blinked them away.
From down at the water, Markus came walking up toward them. He’d caught sight of the man and seemed shy, but still curious.
“My wife was killed, and if I’m found I’ll also be killed. That’s why it’s important that I find out what they’ve done before they find me. But it’ll take time because I can’t get to the information I have lying at home. So, I hope we can agree that you won’t tell anyone that you met me?”
Camilla realized that she’d sat holding her breath while he talked.
“Of course,” she promised and nodded. “I’d also like to help you get hold of what you have lying at home. My only condition is that I get exclusive rights on the story.”
He thought about it for a moment.
“Agreed,” he said, and with a smile, reached out his hand.
Acknowledgments
The Running Girl is fiction. Everything could actually have happened, and some of it did, because the idea for the story stems from a party that was crashed. There, too, it went badly, but fortunately not as badly as in the novel. Everything else, on the other hand, has sprung up from my imagination. Similarly, the characters in the novel have no resemblance to any existing persons.
The action takes place in areas that have much in common with real places, but I have made use of artistic license to make changes and move things around. For example, in Svanemølle Harbor there are both sailing clubs and the South Pier, but in reality, it looks a little different because the boathouse and warehouse have been built into the story. On the other hand, the bikers and their hangout naturally have nothing to do with existing biker gangs. Also, Termo-Lux is pure invention, and I would like to thank the attorney Lone Brandenburg for insight into the generational shift of a family business and all other knowledge about corporate law and business structures.
In this book, as in my previous ones, it has been crucial for me to do thorough research in order to make my story appear trustworthy and realistic. As usual, thanks also to my friends at Copenhagen’s Police Headquarters, without whose help the framework around Louise Rick wouldn’t hold.
And a completely, unbelievably huge, thanks to Tom Christensen, Flying Squad, who has been with me from before the first line was written, and generously contributed with talk and details as the book was in progress. Tremendous thanks for your time and your empathy in the story.
Heartfelt thanks go, as always, to my friend, forensics expert Steen Holger Hansen, who is there to help out when a plot needs to be spun together. Without you there would be no book.
Great thanks also go to the journalist Lotte Thorsen, who is amazingly skilled with words.
Also, big thanks to my talented Danish editor, Lisbeth Møller-Madsen, and to my publisher, People’s Press. It’s a pleasure to work with you.
A million thanks to my savvy, tireless, and wonderful American editor, Lindsey Rose, and to the spectacular team at Grand Central. It is a thrill, an honor, and an enormous joy to work with you all. I appreciate every single effort you’ve made on my behalf, and being part of this esteemed family. I’m very happy to be with you.
Thank you so very much to my supremely visionary American agent, Victoria Sanders, who has moved heaven and earth for me, and to your fabulous and super-smart associates, the lovely and talented Bernadette Baker-Baughman and Jessica Spivey, whose great work, all around the world, leaves me filled with gratitude and aware of just how fortunate I am.
Thank you to my brilliant translation expert, Benee Knauer, who knows what I am thinking and what I mean, and how to capture it perfectly. It means so much to know you are there, to have you behind and beside me.
I want to express my heartfelt appreciation to the American crime-writing community and to my dear American readers. I cannot sufficiently convey how much your warm welcome has meant to me; you have made my dream come true. I love this country so much that I have made a new home here.
My warmest thanks must go to my son, Adam, whom I love with all my heart, and who has traveled every step of the way with me on this indescribable journey.
—Sara Blaedel
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About the Author
Sara Blaedel’s suspense novels have enjoyed incredible success around the world: fantastic acclaim, multiple awards, and runaway #1 bestselling success internationally. In her native Denmark, Sara was voted most popular novelist for the fourth time in 2014. She is also a recipient of the Golden Laurel, Denmark’s most prestigious literary award. Her books are published in thirty-seven countries. Her series featuring police detective Louise Rick is adored the world over, and Sara is excited for the launch of her new Undertaker’s Daughter suspense series in the United States next year.
Sara Blaedel’s interest in story, writing, and especially crime fiction was nurtured from a young age. The daughter of a renowned Danish journalist and an actress whose career included roles in theater, radio, TV, and movies, Sara grew up surrounded by a constant flow of professional writers and performers visiting the Blaedel home. Despite a struggle with dyslexia, books gave Sara a world in which to escape when her introverted nature demanded an exit from the hustle and bustle of life.
Sara tried a number of careers, from a restaurant apprenticeship to graphic design, before she started a publishing company called Sara B, where she published Danish translations of American crime fiction.
Publishing ultimately led Sara to journalism, and she covered a wide range of stories, from criminal trials to the premiere of Star Wars: Episode I. It was during this time—and while skiing in Norway—that Sara started brewing the ideas for her first novel. In 2004 Louise and Camilla were introduced in Grønt Støv (“Green Dust”), and Sara won the Danish Academy for Crime Fiction’s debut prize.
Today Sara lives in New York City, and when she isn’t busy committing brutal murders on the page, she is an ambassador with Save the Children and serves on the jury of a documentary film competition.
Also by Sara Blaedel
THE LOUISE RICK SERIES
The Missing Persons Trilogy
The Forgotten Girls
The Killing Forest
The Lost Woman
The Camilla Trilogy
The Night Women
The Running Girl
The Stolen
Angel
THE UNDERTAKER SERIES
The Undertaker’s Daughter