1 Chapter 1: The Disappearance

The large windows glittered with a thin coating of ice as Laurie observed her co-workers chowing down on their paper bag lunches while hunched over their long desks in their open-concept office. Glancing back outside, she regretted not forcing herself to wake up on time this morning to prepare a lunch. It was going to be a blustery walk. Even if it was only a block away.

“Hey Laurie, you going out? Can you grab me a skim latte?” Ashley called out with a mischievous sparkle in her kohl-lined green eyes.

Laurie flashed a bright smile. “Of course, but you’ll owe me one.” Ashley laughed and nodded with enthusiasm.

Her decision made, she grabbed her wool scarf and smashed her matching tuque over her head. Her down coat zipper came up next.

Trudging through the snow, she gazed at the police station where she’d recently reported her mother missing. The officer at the reception desk briskly informed her that people go away all the time without telling their family members and it’s possible her mother would show up unexpectedly, especially if they have a gambling addiction like her mother does. Her tone lowered discreetly with the last part.

She'd appreciated the officer’s thoughtfulness but took her overall response as code for, “We thank you for your report, but we won’t be investigating it. Next!”

A car sped up near the sidewalk and a wave of slush was tossed over her new, rugged winter boots. Quickly opening the door to the café where cops were lined up for their coffee and lunch, she made her way to the end of the line.

Though she was in a new romantic relationship, as a red-blooded female, she couldn’t help but notice all the handsome cops in the place.

But one really stood out.

His perfect silhouette graced the storefront window illuminated by the noon sun and his elegant profile was turned toward the shorter man he conversed with. As she stared, he turned a fraction and his cobalt-blue eyes suddenly met hers.

A chunk of short curly black hair rested near his eyes, and she almost lifted her fingers to brush it away off his bronze skin. There was an electric charge between them. It couldn’t be only her feeling it. Her eyes widened and she nervously licked her lips and then bit down on them when she realized what she was doing.

As if knowing her thoughts, the sexy officer’s lips twitched in a suppressed smile, and he turned back to his colleague. A rush of heat warmed her cheeks and she closed the gap in front of her. The line had moved quite a bit while her attention was on the gorgeous officer.

Like a moth to a flame, she couldn’t take her eyes off him. The breadth of his muscular shoulders, the narrowness of his waist, the strength of his buttocks and legs, he was a fine male specimen and she’d never reacted to one like this before.

She tried not to stare as she approached the entrance/exit again, clutching a coffee tray in one hand and a lunch bag in the other.

Her phone suddenly started vibrating madly inside her purse and Tina Turner began wailing “Rolling on the River” on top volume.

She quickly shifted her lunch and coffee tray into one hand and with the other, awkwardly scrambled to answer her phone before more heads turned and more people snickered.

“D*mn it!” she cursed as she finally swiped and answered her phone, not even looking to see who was calling. “Hello?” she said breathlessly, reminding herself to change her ringtone to something less self-expressive asap.

A low male voice she immediately recognized rumbled, “Laurie Winters? Don’t hang up.”

She briefly hesitated and stuttered, “C-can I help you?” Through the corner of her eye, she thought cobalt-blue eyes had turned their gaze on her.

Ignoring him, she focused on the creepy man calling her. He’d left several vague and threatening messages already.

“Where’s my money?” he demanded.

“I-I don’t owe you any money! I don’t know who you are!” She stepped outside, not wanting others to overhear her conversation.

This time, the man elaborated. “Your mother owes me money. That debt has been transferred to you. You will pay.”

She gasped. Instinctively seeking help, her gaze went back to the café full of cops and Mr. Cobalt-Blue stood solidly at the window staring at her and looking concerned.

She had to get back to work. Taking a deep breath, she canceled the call.

***

“Hey babe, any news?” her new boyfriend, Joe, asked. They’d been seeing each other for about five months.

Relieved to hear his comforting voice, she broke down. “I can’t handle the stress, Joe!” she said as she told him about the threatening phone calls. She wiped away tears with a napkin before icicles formed on her face.

“Did you save the messages?” he asked, sounding cautious.

“No. I thought they were just scam calls.”

“It could have to do with your mom’s disappearance. You need to tell the cops. Go now.”

She stepped through the heavy front doors of the office. “I can’t, I’m at work now. I’ll go after.”

“Please,” he insisted.

“I will.”

“I love you.”

She didn’t reply. She didn’t have the heart to think about love now, but he seemed to understand.

“You don’t have to say it now,” he said quietly. “You’ll say it when you’re ready.”

“Bye,” she said and turned off her phone.

After work, when she turned her phone back on, she nearly threw up all over it as it blew up with notifications. There were over ten new voicemails from the creepy guy who claimed she or her mom, or both, owed him money.

Not bothering to listen to them, she made a pit stop at the washroom and leaned on the wet countertop. Her tired face reflected in the mirror and the bags beneath her eyes spoke of her worry and fatigue, but she couldn’t help but think about the handsome cop at the café and she briefly wondered if she’d see him at the police station. Her inky brown eyes lit up at the thought and a lovely blush covered the apples of her cheeks. Her warm fingers brushed through her long, soft, sandy-colored waves burnished with subtle red highlights, and pulling out a rose lip balm, she touched up her lips, making them pouty and shiny.

As she made her way to the police station, Tina Turner started singing again. Fumbling through her purse, she didn’t notice the car pull up, the doors open right in front of her, and the two large men, until she was swiftly grabbed and roughly shoved into the back seat of the black four-door sedan with darkly tinted windows.