The Red Light Girls (Unsolved Mysteries Book 2) by Kim Knight (most romantic novels TXT) 📗

to the open planned living room and dining space, kicked off his boots, grabbed the remote, then switched on the television.

The news flicked on, and the report caught his attention.

“Shit.”

He chewed the inside of his lip with a frown as the camera man panned out across the view of Amsterdamse Bos. The Politie were everywhere, and the park entrance was sealed off.

His phone pinged in his pocket. He pulled it out and noticed the online dating notification pop up. In the background, the kettle’s switch flicked and the boiling ceased. He went back to fix himself a coffee, leaving his phone on the edge of the sofa.

With his coffee in hand, he reclined in his chair and fully opened the dating notification to read the message.

—Hey, handsome. How are you?

—I’d love to get to know you better.

—What part of Amsterdam are you from?

Chris pulled up the profile of the sender. His eyebrows shot up to the ceiling.

“Nice,” he said.

The woman was different from Madeline’s coffee-coloured skin, dark hair, and large brown eyes. And very different from the majority of woman he had dated before.

Amber’s profile described her as ‘Asian-American.’

Chris moved his eyes over her pretty oriental features and rubbed his chin with satisfaction.

Very nice, he mused as he flicked through her pictures. Nice indeed.

He clicked out of the email notification and concentrated on the screen.

The evening news reporter gave a full account of all the woman who had either gone missing or had turned up dead around the city over the last six months. One by one, the faces of all the woman appeared. He switched the television to the football game.

His eyes flicked to the clock. It was almost nine-thirty at night.

A rumble in his stomach reminded him that he hadn’t eaten since lunch time. He knew it would be another TV dinner for night for only one.

Heading back to the freezer, he took out a salmon and pasta dish, popped the plastic film, then placed it in the oven.

I wonder what she’s doing tonight. Madeline came to mind, and so did the possibility of seeing her again. I can’t believe we ran into each other twice.

As the oven warmed up his food, he headed back to the sofa and picked up his phone.

8

Puzzle Pieces

Madeline Sloane

Madeline relished the high-pressure water raining down on her while in the shower. After being soaked in the rain on her way home from the bar, the hot water warmed her to the core.

Now that Chris had fixed the leak and descaled the shower head, the water beat down on her skin fiercely.

Mmm. He’s cute. She lathered up under the water.

Since she had arrived in Amsterdam three months ago, keen to get over her ex, she hoped that the universe would bless her with a new love interest. She had even joined Tinder, Match.com, and E-harmony, as well as a few off-the-wall dating apps, in hopes that they would bring someone new to her.

Daniel, nope not my cup of tea really…hmm, Alex? Nah. She pondered over the men she had exchanged messages with or had dated, here and there. No one really managed to grab her interest for anything long-term.

She stepped out of the shower and felt clean, refreshed, and finally warm.

In the living room, she heard her phone buzz on the kitchen table.

Madeline wrapped herself up in a towel and headed over to it and without thinking, answered the number without seeing who had called.

“Hello.” She anchored one end of the towel between her cleavage, keeping it snug around her body.

“Hey beautiful,” said a familiar voice. “How are you?”

“Chris, twice in one day.” Madeline smiled in surprise. “Nice to hear from you again. How did the rest of your day go?”

“Oh, the usual. Clients cursing me out because they wanted me there earlier, ya know.”

“I said I was sorry about that.” Madeline chuckled. “You’re not gonna let me live it down, are you?”

She heard Chris’ deep laugh on the other end of the line.

“Nope, damn right. But if you join me for dinner this week, just maybe, I’ll forget it,” he teased her.

Madeline flopped on the sofa and chewed on her lip.

Mmm…dinner? She toyed with the idea.

“As friends,” Chris told her as if sensing her hesitation. “No pressure for anything.”

“Okay, cool. Why not?”

“Friday any good for you?”

“Sure, sounds great.”

“Okay, it’s a date. I’ll text you details of the restaurant. Do you have a preference?”

“No, you decide. I’ll eat almost anything.”

“Great. So how was your day?”

“Well, after you left, I went down to Amsterdamse Bos to check out the scene.”

“Woah! No way. The police let you hang out there?”

“No, they didn’t” Madeline laughed down the line. “Far from it. Us reporters, well, we’re the Devil himself to the police. They practically escorted me out of the park. But I wanted to see what information I could get to write up an article for the paper.”

“I see. These murders are really getting to you, huh?”

“Yeah, you could say so.”

Madeline shifted the phone to her other ear, then headed back to the bathroom for her dressing gown. The chill in the air was starting to bite at her.

“There’s a manic on the loose,” she said. “And the police aren’t making any progress from the research I did online.”

“What makes you think that? They can’t tell the public everything. It would place the suspect one step ahead.”

“Easy. A simple Google search. The number of girls with unsolved cases shows they’ve not gotten any closer to finding the suspect.”

“Don’t let it worry you. You’re safe with me, okay?”

“Uh-hum. Sweet.” Madeline sniggered. “I better get going, Chris. I need to get dressed and get some work done.”

“Hold on. So, what did you find out?” Chris asked with curiosity. “You never said. What did the police say?”

“Not much. They just gave me a name, Suzy Chan. But the whole world knows now because the news broke earlier this evening.”

“Hmmm, keep me posted on what you find.”

“Will do. Let me catch up with you tomorrow.”

“Not a problem. Talk to