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

the cursor over the email, clicked it open, then at once, started reading it.

Hello ‘Cat’,

That was a cute little appeal in the paper this morning. I’m watching you. Remember what curiosity did to the cat. You’ve been warned. I’m sure you’ve got much more interesting things to write about, rather than opening a can of worms you can’t ever hope to close.

Your friend,

Curiosity

Madeline’s blood ran cold, and the life drained from her. Stunned, she sat gazing at the message. She read it three times, then glanced out over the open-floor plan of the office.

Who the fuck is this?

No one batted an eye at her. And all her co-workers continued about their duties. Her email had been listed on both of the articles she had written for the De Telegraaf paper—just like every other journalist. It was the house style for the newspaper. All reporters remained open to contact by readers of the paper.

Well, hell, seems this reader doesn’t care for my interest in the Red Light Girl’s cases.

For months, the media had brushed over it. And in Madeline’s eyes, the Politie had clearly done limited digging into the attacks.

If they had, they would’ve known about Ana using the Sugar Daddies site and Suzy’s potential date, she mused as she read over the threatening email once more.

With a shaky hand, she picked up the phone to dial her bosses’ office extension, then decided against it. Instead, she pulled up the Politie Bureau’s website and dialled the number.

“Hello, Politie Bureau,” a male voice answered.

“Hi. This is Madeline Sloane. Can you please put me through to Detective Janssen? It’s urgent.”

“Ms. Sloane, didn’t you just leave us?”

“Yes, I did. But it’s imperative I speak to Detective Janssen. It really is urgent.”

“One moment.” The line clicked over.

Madeline listened to classical music while she held the line.

“Ms. Sloane, what can I do for you?” Janssen’s grumpy voice came over the line.

“Hi, Detective.” She wasn’t sure how to relay the information, so she just blurted it out. “I’ve received two threatening emails about the articles on the Red Light Girls.”

“Okay. Go on,” said the detective. “I’m listening.”

Madeline brought the receiver closer to her face, then looked around her office quickly. “On Monday,” her voice remained low, almost a whisper. “After I ran the first article, I got this email, uhm, basically telling me to back off. I thought it was one of my co-workers, so I deleted it.” She chewed on the inside of her cheek. “But while I was at your office this afternoon, I received another email warning me.”

Madeline heard Janssen bite into what sounded like an apple on the other end of the line.

“Right, okay. We’ll need to check out the IP address it was sent from,” she said between chews. “Whatever you do, don’t delete anything else.”

“Oh, I uhm,” she said. “I forwarded a few of them to you—the emails, that is.”

An awkward, silent pause hit the line, and Madeline wasn’t sure if the detective had stopped talking, had hung up, or it the line had disconnected.

“Detective?”

“Yeah, I’m still here.” Rapid typing of keys sounded. “And I see the emails. Opening them now.”

“Those aren’t all.”

“What do you mean?”

“I’ve got a ton of emails in response to the appeal that I did this morning. A couple of the ones I’ve opened, came from women using that site. One of the women said she got freaked out by a guy there, and another’s gonna meet a man.”

“Okay, save them all,” said the detective. “I’ll need to speak to your boss about access to your account.”

“Wait. What? I’ve not told her yet.”

“Well, I suggest you do. We need to move quickly. I’ll be in touch within the hour. Don’t delete anything.” Janssen dropped the call.

Madeline removed to phone from her ear and frowned. She placed the receiver on top of the cradle, then made her way over to Fleur’s office.

Well, this isn’t gonna be pleasant, she thought with a heavy sigh.

19

The Ancestral Realm

Mrs. Chan

Hong Kong, China

Mrs. Chan stood by the window overlooking the grounds of her home. The grand landscape before her rolled back for what seemed like miles. The green grass, dragons, buddha, and deity statues along with lanterns, and fairy lights, took her breath away.

Her eyes settled on the large Japanese cherry tree in full blossom, with pink flowers, next to the pond with the tropical fish the Chinese considered lucky.

Suzy used to read right there under the tree as a child. Her heart sank at the memory. Now, she’s gone.

She pondered death and how important it was in her culture to have the correct burial and preparations in order to ward off further bad luck, following a death in the family.

Closing the bamboo blinds in the study, she blocked the sun light from entering the grand room filled with books, paperwork, a large oak desk, and leather sofas.

Pictures of important Chinese and Japanese figures, doctors, teachers, medicine men and women, hung on the walls. She looked at them all, one by one, as if waiting for some kind of advice. After several minutes had passed, her eyes moved over to her ancestor’s wall of pictures, and she nodded, hoping that their spirits would surround Suzy as she transitioned over to the other side.

She sighed into the darkness. Fishing around inside her white kimono, she grasped a small box, then extracted a single match. With one smooth swipe she struck it, then lit the incense stick on the table to her left.

A puff of sage infused the air.

She breathed in the fresh scent deep into her lungs. It was believed to cleanse and clear bad energy. Next, she lit the tea-light candles on the table and stood for a moment to watch the orange hues of the flames flicker against the red and gold tablecloth covering the surface.

Slowly, she made her way around the grand room. With care, she removed the two mirrors on the wall, then placed them face down on the desk, to not invite in