“Did Rose or you try calling Sarah?”
“Yeah. There’s no answer on her phone. I called Zeta Johansson, the moderator of the LARP group, and she said Sarah’s been missing.”
Debbie frowned at him. “It’s her then.”
“The far-out scenario began to look not so far-out when I learned that. She hadn’t lived there for all that long, and anything else could be possible.”
“Did Zeta call the police and report Sarah missing?”
“Yeah, she did.”
“And they said?”
“They didn’t believe she had enough evidence to prove the woman didn’t leave of her own free will with her lover.”
“Let me guess. He’s also missing.”
“Right. But it’s still a hunch and nothing more. There’s no real evidence of foul play. Sarah didn’t have a job yet, so no one reported she was not at work. She’d paid her rent up for two months, required by the management, so no alarm bells went off there.”
“And the lover?” Debbie asked.
“Lloyd Bates. I ran a check on him, but he didn’t come up in any databases.”
“Now that sounds like alarm bells to me.”
“Right, but without anything to go on—no evidence of foul play or dead bodies, at least that we can confirm—you know the rest. They didn’t feel they had a case. But we have another clue. Rose went to see the group and met a bunch of the players. Sarah wasn’t at the group meeting that night, but a man was that Rose said looked a lot like the man murdered at Van Lake. She couldn’t be a hundred percent sure because the man in the lake was bearded, and the one she met had been clean-shaven.”
“Did you tell Rowdy?”
“Not yet. If we learn this man is still with the group and not missing, then we don’t have the right man. I wanted to show Zeta the photos in person to see if she could identify the dead man and woman.”
Debbie was quiet after that as Allan pulled up to her back door.
“I had such a lovely time tonight,” she said. “I hope you don’t mind me talking about this case. I can’t stop thinking about it.”
“Not at all.” He shook his head. “Truth is, I can’t either. I wake in the middle of the night thinking about it. I hate cases that grow cold.”
“Me too. But maybe this is the lead we needed.”
Chapter 11
When Debbie and Allan parked at her duplex, she invited him in. Since this was the first time they’d had a real date, though he had been careful not to call it that, she wanted to end it with something special after all the trouble he’d had getting there in the bad weather.
She hadn’t planned on anything other than having some hot cocoa, although she’d picked up some beer in case he wanted one. It was probably safer for him to have a beer rather than cocoa and whipped cream again.
She knew he was holding back, wanting something more, but for some reason believing they should keep their relationship on more of a professional basis. Yet, tonight, the dynamics had changed some. He’d been more relaxed, and she wondered if that had anything to do with Rowdy not being at dinner with them.
She was also thrilled to think they might have a lead on the dead woman’s identity and maybe something about who murdered her.
Whatever the reason, Debbie felt less stressed tonight with Allan and just wanted to finish the evening with something nice. “Would you like to come in?”
He hesitated.
She thought of just dismissing him. Just telling him, “Maybe some other time.” But she wasn’t sure she’d give him another chance. A woman had to have some pride. Then she smiled sweetly and was about to say, “Okay, well, see you tomorrow then,” but it never got to that. He moved into her space, capturing the door and locking it behind him, while never taking his eyes off her.
Just as before, she felt his raw, primal need as he pulled her into his arms and looked down at her. “What did you have in mind?”
Oh…my…God. He was already kissing her before she could answer. But this…this was what she’d hoped for, except she hadn’t expected it right this minute. Not that she was complaining.
Nor had she imagined what kissing would be like if he really let go of his reserve. He was one hot kisser, his mouth on hers, and then their tongues were tangling, his hands unzipping her coat as she tried to get to his. The living room was way too warm for parkas, especially when he began to kiss her like he was going to die if he didn’t have her this very instant.
He pulled her parka off her shoulders, their mouths still fused. Her parka hit the floor, and she held his face with her hands, kissing him back.
He yanked his parka off, tossed it aside, and pulled her into his arms, breaking free from the kiss for a moment. “We shouldn’t be doing this.”