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with our case.”

Chapter 7

    Love and Confusion
    Wednesday

    Furious, Chelsea strode down the hallway and slammed out the
front door. The nerve of that detective. When she realised he
didn’t ask her name and hadn’t given her his, her annoyance grew.
What kind of detective was he anyway? She wondered whether he’d
taken her seriously at all. Perhaps she should go back and talk to
someone who would listen or at least care. Right now, though, she
was livid and needed to calm down.
    Chelsea didn’t intend to open the shop today. However, after
her encounter with the uncaring detective, and with Elle missing,
she needed somewhere she could relax and find some comfort. The one
place she could do that was at Bloom.
    Sick with worry and anxiety she drove towards her
sanctuary. On the way she considered going home. What if Elle were
to phone or return home? But would sitting around waiting for her
to return really help?
    Having tossed the issue this way and that, Chelsea eventually
decided to drive on towards Bloom and resolved to check in over the
day. What else could she do?

    * * *

    After investigating the other three warehouses and finding
them vacant, the detectives decided to finish up for the day and
start over in the morning. On the drive home, Lucas wondered which
direction to take. The lack of evidence intensified his
frustration.
    The report on Kate Miller’s house would be completed by
morning and he prayed for a fingerprint match or perhaps some kind
of trace evidence, anything that would lead them somewhere closer.
They needed a suspect, and fast, before they had another victim.
Could this missing girl be the next one? He sincerely hoped not but
as there weren’t any other missing women who fitted the description
it was a possibility.
    He decided they would have to go over everything again. They
were missing something. Where were they meeting this guy? How were
these girls connected? Lucas needed to refocus and obtain a clear
head for the morning so sleep was his number one
priority.

    * * *

    When Lucas walked into his apartment, a sudden sense of
loneliness overcame him, something which was occurring more and
more often lately. His home, small with sparse furniture, suited
his needs as he spent little time here. After having a quick shower
in an attempt to free his mind of circling thoughts and haunting
visions, he collapsed into bed. He closed his eyes and attempted to
block out the memories tormenting him. He tossed and turned but the
images remained and sleep became impossible.
    As he pushed aside his demons, milky soft skin and big green
eyes swept over him. What was it about her that had him so
stupefied? He conjured up briefly in his mind a parade of some of
the many beautiful women he had known, and even slept with, but
there was something more about this girl, something much stronger
which tugged at him and he didn’t know what it was or why. He
couldn’t allow these feelings to push through. He didn’t get close
to anybody, especially to anyone related to a case. He’d made that
mistake in his first year as detective and he had paid a heavy
price. Anyone linked to an investigation in any way was off limits.
Even if this hadn’t become his cardinal rule from all those years
ago, the painful reality of losing loved ones deterred him from
making any sort of commitment. He never wanted to love and then
grieve again.
    Giving up on rest, he grabbed the victims’ files from the side
table and began to read. The flour trace was important. He could
feel it, but how? Was it being transferred from where they were
being held? It didn’t appear to be coming from the locations they
had searched and there weren’t any other abandoned warehouses that
fit the bill. So the killer could be taking them out of town or to
a house filled with flour, but who has that much on their premises?
Lucas didn’t want to think about the endless
possibilities.
    The other option could be the perp was a baker or chef of