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

hit enter. I just hadn’t broken it off with Stacey yet, but I had intended to.

Madeline’s line rang once, then went straight to voicemail. Instead of dropping the call this time, opted to leave a voice message.

“Hey, Madeline, it’s me. I’m sorry about what happened with Stacey. The truth is yes, I was dating her casually—nothing serious on my end. Then I met you, and I really wanted to get to know you better. I never had any intention of seeing you both. I was going to let Stacey know, and then focus on getting to know you. By the way, the police interviewed me about the Red Light Girls. Can you believe that shit? Me? Above all people. I had nothing to do with the murders. Please, just talk to me.”

Chris ended the message disappointed.

When her car had broken down, and he crossed paths with her, he wanted to ask her out, but didn’t, thinking it wasn’t the best time to bring up the subject. But then last week, when she had a leak, it felt like a fated meeting—one he could not pass up.

Sure, he liked Stacey. And she was a nice girl, but something about Madeline sparked a deeper interest.

Physically, she is beautiful. Eyes closed, he brought up an image of her in his mind.

Her mocha skin, brown eyes, and naturally curly hair, which he preferred over it straightened, brought a smile to his lips. He had never imaged that a woman as stunning as her would look twice at him.

He threw the phone on the sofa and focused on the here and now. Hopefully if he gave it a few days, Madeline would speak to him again.

His only hope for now was that Janssen and her team of men would leave him alone, and not consider him a suspect tied to the mystery murders that had plagued the city for the last eight months.

It will be fine, they’ve got nothing on me, he reassured himself. Because there’s nothing to have.

33

Curiosity, Almost Killed the Cat

Madeline Sloane

Madeline glanced at her phone pissed off that Chris still had the cheek to contact her. She listened to the message with disgust. She wasn’t one hundred percent convinced of his innocence, either. Saving the message in case she needed it later for any kind of evidence, she decided to forget about him for the moment.

He’s off my radar now as a friend or anything else.

And if he was the suspect responsible for anything to do with what had been happening in the city, she’d make sure the Politie stayed on his case.

A notification popped up with an email response from Noah.

Wonderful Frankie,

I can meet up with you. How about Amsterdam Centraal station? We’ll find a lovely restaurant in town.

How does 8:00 sound?

Responding straight away, she kept her reply short and simple. She didn’t want to tip him off, or make him think something was wrong. Her fingers shook, making it hard to draft a simple reply.

Perfect.

See you then.

A message from Noah buzzed on her phone. Her heart beat rapidly in her chest, and blood rushed to her head, this gave her an almost light-headed sensation.

Excellent!

I’ll text you more directions tomorrow. I’ll meet you there.

Madeline tapped out a quick email to Detective Janssen. If anyone could come up with a plan of action to help capture this guy, it was her. She just hoped the detective’s anger and temper wouldn’t both go through the roof.

Detective Janssen,

Please don’t be mad! I did some digging, and I joined the website. Someone made contact with me, and I’ve organised a date with him tomorrow night at eight outside of Amsterdam Centraal. I want to see who shows up—if it’s Chris or not.

Madeline

Her phone pinged with an email response almost immediately from the detective. She pulled it up, both dread and excitement hit her. Drawing in a deep, cleansing breath, she read it.

Goddammit Madeline,

What are you doing? Leave it to the police to catch this guy. The surveillance outside your house will follow you. You’re lucky I have them already assigned.

I don’t have the resources in my department to be gallivanting with you on dates with these men. Send his online contact information my way. I can’t believe this!

Detective Janssen

Madeline ignored Janssen’s rant. Instead, she tried to focus on the news report. Her mind drifted and swirled around the possibility that a man she had almost fallen for had made her suspicious. And now, someone wanted her to keep away from the recent crimes in the city.

The fear she felt evaporated and turned into determination—determination to close in on whoever was responsible for the poor women’s fates.

Pulling up the profile of the man who had contacted her, she studied his picture and profile in detail. She noted he was in his mid-thirties, a white male, with dark hair and eyes.

Could this be a fake picture? She read over the details he had listed.

He was a self-proclaimed entrepreneur around the city, never married, loved dogs, and being out in nature.

“Oh, my gosh.” She placed a hand to her cheek. “That’s how we met, out by the woods—surrounded by nature. And he had a dog.”

She thought back to her first meeting with Chris, when her car broke down.

This is more than a coincidence, surely?

With that thought she got up, double checked her front door was locked again, then got into bed with a feeling of dread. But she remained hopeful that her ‘date’ with the guy from the Sugar Daddy website would reveal who Noah was.

All night, she tossed and turned, unable to find a comfortable position to sleep. And every little bump, creak, clack, and sound, made her eyes spring open. When she finally got out of bed and checked her phone, it was five in the morning.

Instead of struggling in bed, she decided to get up, do a bit of laundry, tidy up a bit, and then took a lift to work.