Spoilt (5 page)

Who’s Next?

Wednesday

Lucas opened his eyes and found himself in a strange bed with
the remnants of too many drinks fogging his mind. He turned to find
the girl still asleep beside him and he gave silent thanks. Perhaps
he could sneak away without having to make excuses or showing any
pretence. He didn’t plan on seeing her again and couldn’t remember
her name.

Ignoring the guilt and the pounding in his head, he dressed
with haste and crept out of her apartment. On the street, he tried
to get his bearings so he could call a taxi and make his way
home.

As he waited for his ride, he attempted to recall the details
of the previous night but, as always, it was the same. No sparks
flew. They’d gone through the motions until they were both
satisfied, and crashed. Nothing memorable there, as always. Just
the way he liked it. No strings meant no loss, which meant no
pain.

After a refreshing cold shower and two cups of strong coffee
he was ready to face the day.

* * *

All night Chelsea listened for noises signifying Elle’s
arrival home. Every little sound prompted Chelsea to climb out of
bed and check, fruitlessly, to see if Elle had returned. As a
result she slept poorly, leaving her head feeling thick from the
many interruptions to her slumber.

She got up and staggered yet again to Elle’s bedroom in the
hope that perhaps she hadn’t heard her and she was in fact home
after all, but her room was still empty. Filled with dread and
anxiety for her best friend, tears pricked Chelsea’s eyes as she
tried to convince herself that everything would be all
right.

After taking a quick shower and throwing on the first thing
she could find, she drove as fast as the law would allow to the
police station, consumed with worry. How long had Elle been
missing? Chelsea couldn’t be sure. She walked towards the station,
filled with irritation for not having done this sooner. Meanwhile
her fear continued to build, fast.

As she went to open the door to the station, it came away in
her hand and she found herself face-to-face - well more like
face-to-chest - with someone leaving the precinct.

She looked up and up, to set eyes on a tall, broad-shouldered
man whom she assumed was a policeman. His dark wavy hair was
longish and dishevelled. His chiselled, handsome face held an
intense expression and the look in his hazel eyes was … she didn’t
know what that was. He looked almost dazed.

He seemed for a moment to stare at her before his face become
blank and he cleared his throat.

“
Is there something I can help you with? I’m a detective
here.” His voice was deep and soothing. Chelsea realised she was
the one now staring at him. Those intense hazel eyes bewildered her
already uneasy mind as she struggled to piece together her
words.

Lucas gazed down into her face. Lust rushed through him and
his mind went blank. Only one lingering thought remained.
Wow!
He gave her another
once over and his eyes become locked to the vulnerable expression
on her face.
Wow!

Eyes the colour of emeralds peered up at him. Her long, dark
hair fell in waves past her shoulders. Her smooth, milky skin was
calling him to reach out and stroke her face. She was petite. She
was exquisite. He felt an overwhelming need to protect her, a
concept foreign to him. Her anxious expression brought forth
feelings long since forgotten. He wanted to grab her and … Sheer
electricity.

“
I...I...hope so. I’m worried about my friend, my roommate.
She seems to have gone missing.” Her voice was so soft he almost
didn’t hear her.

Great. He needn’t let her go just yet. “Come with me. We’ll
write up a report,” he suggested, as his professional radar
switched itself on - another missing girl. At least that was still
working. He could scarcely concentrate in her presence. Thankfully,
the previous day the two missing girls resembling the recent
victims had returned home unharmed. Was this another false
alarm?

“
Um, thanks,” she murmured.

She followed his lanky frame towards a room down the hall.
Everything inside her was on fire. His broad, strong shoulders and
amazing eyes did incredible things to her. She suddenly found it
difficult to breathe, or to stand.

He’s just a guy, Chelsea. You’ve been alone too
long.

Still, try as she might, she couldn’t ignore whatever this
feeling was. Emotions she couldn’t recall ever experiencing before
flurried inside her like a swarm of tiny butterflies. The
confidence oozing from him rendered her incapable of rational
thought.

Totally amazed by the impact she was having on every one of
his senses, Lucas attempted desperately to get himself back under
control.
She’s just another beautiful girl.
He saw them every day. But, he
couldn’t bury his urgent need to protect her, which was the totally
opposite reaction to what usually occurred when he saw a pretty
face.

As they walked into the interview room, his hand shook as he
gestured for her to take a seat. Lucas took out a pen clumsily,
placed a notepad on the table and sat opposite her.

“
What’s your friend’s name?”

“
Elle Sheridan.”

“
Elle?”

“
Elle.”

This was stupid.
Get a hold of yourself.

“
When did you last see Elle?”

“
Friday night, about six, a—“

“
You’re only reporting it now?” He cut her off with a gruff
tone, overcompensating for what he would really have liked to have
said to her.

Lucas observed her jolt back as though she’d been struck,
before a frost entered her expression.

“
As I was about to say,” she replied with a definite briskness
after composing herself, “I saw her last Friday night, about six,
as I was leaving to go to my parents’ house for the weekend. I
didn’t return until Monday night and I wasn’t sure if she was home.
It was late and her bedroom door was closed. She usually leaves a
light on for me, so I did wonder if she was home or not, as the
house was dark.”

“
You didn’t talk to her over the weekend, while you were
away?” Chelsea noted his tone was still brusque and his eyes had
darkened by several shades.

“
No I didn’t. We don’t check up on each other,” she replied in
the same cool tone.

“
So you don’t know how long she’s been missing?”

“
No, I don’t. When I got home Monday night, I wasn’t sure if
she was home and even if she wasn’t, I didn’t find it too unusual.
Elle often stays away overnight. The only thing that was strange
was that her car was there, but I thought she must have got a lift
with somebody else.”

“
You didn’t think it was strange she could’ve been gone for
two days?”

“
Not at first, but when I found she wasn’t home this morning,
I was concerned, which is why I’m here now. I called her phone last
night and this was when I found her handbag in her room. I was
going to report it then but, like I said, it has happened
before.”

Lucas stiffened as a chill tickled its way up his spine. This
was beginning to sound familiar.

“
What does she look like?”

“
She’s tall and blonde, with blue eyes.”

He breathed out with relief. Wrong description but still it
didn’t pay to discount her completely.

The relief broke his concentration.
Is that her that smells so
good? What do I need to ask her? I can’t think straight. Snap out
of it, Hudson.

“
I’ll log the details into missing persons and they’ll
investigate this further.” He had to move her out as quick as
possible before he felt tempted to touch her.

“
Is that it?” she said. Her small full lips pursed, sending
Lucas’ heart into a flurry.

God she’s incredible.
Lucas steadied himself. “Yes, that’s all we can do
for now. In the meantime, contact everyone she knows. She could be
staying with someone and have forgotten to phone.”

A delicate dark eyebrow arched and a slight smile touched her
lips. “Without her bag and purse, Detective?”

Lucas frowned and internally kicked himself. “It’s
possible. I’m sorry this isn’t my area. I can only enter your
statement. A missing person detective will follow it up.”
Not my area? What
are you on about? You’re a cop, Lucas! Everything is your
area
. He
needed to get away from her. Trying to string a thought together
was becoming impossible. He was awestruck, something he couldn’t
remember being in a long time and never this powerfully.

“
Fine,” she said standing with haste. “Thank you for your
time.” She strode out of the room and down the hall.

Lucas sat mesmerised for a moment, attempting to recover
from meeting the most beautiful girl he’d ever seen. Sure he’d seen
and met a lot of pretty girls but they had never rendered him
completely hopeless before. He hadn’t even interviewed her
properly. Being so close to her was beyond intoxicating. He hadn’t
asked her name. He hadn’t told her his. He hadn’t asked her enough
questions. Was he going to jeopardise this investigation because
he’d lost his head over a passing infatuation?

Shoving his fanciful thoughts aside, Lucas considered for a
moment the possibility Elle had been kidnapped by the same perp,
even though her description didn’t match the pattern. Could the
killer have changed MO? He’d better fill Maggie in on the details,
it could be important.

Incensed with himself, Lucas went back to his desk to speak
with his partner. He slammed down into his chair, disrupting Maggie
from her note taking.

“
What’s eating you? I thought you were going to grab us some
breakfast.”

“
I got side tracked. Another girl has gone
missing.”

“
What, who, when?”

“
She’s blonde.”

“
So? Maybe it isn’t just about hair colour. Was there anything
that was the same as the others?”

“
Yeah, her personal belongings are still at home.”

“
Well what else? Is there a mystery guy? What?”

“
I don’t know,” he mumbled.

“
What?” She frowned.

“
I got distracted.” He wouldn’t look up at Maggie and
continued to stare down at his notes.

“
Distracted?”

“
Yeah, I was thinking with the wrong head.”

Maggie laughed.

“
What’s so funny?”

“
You. I thought you were this tough, impenetrable brick
wall.”

“
She was pretty, I haven’t been laid for a while, no big
deal,” he lied, hoping to avoid further questions. He knew this was
not the reason for his reaction but couldn’t understand exactly why
he’d responded as he had.

“
I didn’t think anyone or anything got to you, well not on
first sight anyway.”

“
You did.” He lifted his eyes from his notes and offered a
slight smile. “Look, I fucked up, it won’t happen
again.”

“
Ok,” she smirked raising an eyebrow. “I believe
you.”

“
So how about we concentrate on the case at hand and not my
lack of sex life. I think we should check out the other warehouses
seeing the first one was a bust.”

“
Sure, I don’t think we can rule out this missing girl. Did
you even get her name?”

“
Yes, Elle Sheridan.” He glared at her.

“
My mistake.” She lifted her hands in a gesture of surrender.
“Let’s go then.”

They headed out and this time Lucas went in Maggie’s car. He
needed time to collect himself. Maggie waited a few moments before
bringing up the subject again.

“
Did you get Elle’s address? Maybe we can re-interview ...
what was her name?”

Lucas paused. “I don’t know.”

“
You didn’t even ask that?”

“
I told you, I wasn’t concentrating. Besides we can look up
her address.”

“
I suppose. This isn’t like you. Are you alright?”

“
Yeah, just not sleeping well.”

“
The dreams?”

“
Yeah, how did you know?”

“
You’re distracted and you look uneasy. I’ve seen the look
before.”

“
It’ll pass, it always does. I’ll follow up the missing girl
in the morning.”

“
Ok, but I’m always here if you need me.”

“
Yeah, I know, thanks, Mags. Let’s just hope the missing girl
has nothing to do 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.