Emilia gasped as the hand reached out of the darkness and closed around her arm. She swung out from behind the building. The man was trying to drag her to the van, but she swiftly shifted on her heel, forcing him to exert more force to pull her along. She shifted her weight to her right heel and slammed her right into his shin, halfway between his ankle and knee.
The man yelped just as Emilia heard a woman scream in the back of the van. The scream was cut short with a gurgling sound and Emilia saw a stream of blood splatter across the van's window. She gave the man holding her another kick and he released her. She lost her balance and tumbled to the ground, scrambling instantly to stand. A hand closed on her ankle and she yanked hard, not daring to turn around. Just then, the van door opened and a man in a Halloween wolf mask emerged with a knife, with easily eight inches of blade. Emilia managed to get her foot out of the man on the ground's grasp, and slammed her heel down on his fingers before sprinting.
"You bitch!" The man yelled after her. He was then silenced with the same sickening sound as the woman Emilia heard in the van.
She kept running, hearing footsteps coming after her. Taking several turns through the quiet streets, she finally saw an alley which led to the bustling center of Ystad. She pushed herself, blood mingling with sweat from the slash she had receive on her stomach the first time she tried to run. This time she had to make it.
Twenty yards from the glowing lights of nightlife and traffic, she was yanked back by a hand grasping the back of her hoodie. She was pulled and slammed into a wall, the wind knocked out of her. As she gulped in air, trying to regain breath to scream, the bloodied knife pressed to her throat.
"Run girl, for all your worth," the voice behind the mask taunted. "You're next."
She stared into the black eyeholes, seeing nothing in the alley's darkness. When a car turned down the alley, the man backed up a pace, then turned and fled, running with alacrity as Emilia felt her legs give and slid down the wall.
The car stopped right after it drove past her. A middle-aged man scooted out of the car and moved to her. Emilia pushed herself to her feet, trying to ready herself to strike if needed. The man wore an expensive suit and looked very tired.
"Are you alright miss? I saw that man run away, are you-" He paused, finally taking her all in. "Dear god," he breathed as he reached in his pocket, pulling out his mobile and calling the emergency line.
Sitting in the Ystad police offices was never Emilia's favorite place, or any police office really. She had grown up in several and though she was accustomed to officers of all varieties, it never felt like home to her. Being the black sheep in a family of officers, doctors, nurses, soldiers, spending time in their official quarters made her feel under the same scrutiny she experienced when at family dinners and reunions - the writer, the creator, the escapist in a sea of those steeped in reality.
In this instance she felt even more scrutinized, being both victim and related to one of the department's head detectives. It was Wallander who picked her up at the scene and brought her here in his car, though it was Magnus who pulled her off the damp pavement where she had sunk once the businessman called for emergency services. The paramedics couldn't rouse her, nor could Kurt, but one touch of Magnus' hand and she found herself standing, his silent strength seeming to feed her and wake her from her stupor.
Now, he and Kurt argued in one of the offices about her protection detail. She overheard more of the conversation than they likely wanted, and while externally her face remained as impenetrable as the emotional wall she put up as soon as the sirens could be heard coming her way, internally there was one glimmer of hope. Magnus fought with Kurt to convince him not to get assigned to her protection detail, knowing that if he pushed back on Wallander a bit, Kurt would order Magnus to do it. If Magnus had expressed any interest at all in the job, they would have hoisted it on someone else, and for the first time in twenty-six hours Emilia almost smiled as Magnus emerged from the office in a huff.
He looked down at her, holding his hand out. "Miss Rendahl."
Emilia didn't look at him, but placed her hand in his as she stood.
Magnus released her hand, then swiped his jacket from the back of a chair as he gestured her forward.
"You sure you want to go home? We could find-"
Emilia shook her head at Kurt standing in the doorway. "No. I know my way around there, and he doesn't. Besides, two uniforms and my eager protector are all I need, right?" She gestured to Magnus who clenched his jaw.
"I'll call you in the morning," Kurt said reassuringly as she passed him. "We're all here for you."
"All of you?" Emilia said with a raised eyebrow as Magnus brushed past her.