Page 100 of Three Widows

When Boyd arrived at work with his phone glued to his hand, Lottie called him into her office.

‘Shut the door.’

He pocketed the phone and sat.

‘Boyd, I need your undivided attention. You might pick up on something I miss, and vice versa. You have to be fully committed to these investigations.’

‘Are you giving me the boot?’

‘Will you grow up?’ She rubbed her eyes wearily. ‘What’s so engrossing on your phone that you’ve lost interest in helping me find this killer?’

‘I’m sorry, Lottie.’

‘I’m all ears.’ Concern crept into her tone.

‘Jackie turned up last night, and again this morning. She insisted on staying with Sergio today. I’m terrified she’ll disappear with him while I’m at work.’

‘And staring at your phone is going to help?’

‘I’ve an app linked to my home security. I need to check if she leaves the apartment.’

‘Then what? Are you going to go running around town after her?’ She felt her nostrils flare and instantly regretted her lack of empathy. But fuck it, she had two dead women and two other women who appeared to have disappeared off the face of the earth.

‘Don’t be angry, Lottie. Right now, the welfare of my son is more important to me than finding your killer.’

‘My killer?’

‘The killer. Whoever it is.’

She let out a long breath of frustration. ‘Where’s Sergio’s passport?’

He patted his jacket breast pocket. ‘Here.’

‘Then you have nothing to worry about. There is no way she can take him out of the country without it.’

‘You know Jackie. She has contacts everywhere. She can do whatever she bloody well likes.’

‘We can put her name on a watch list. She won’t get further than Main Street.’

He smiled with a rueful glint in his eye. ‘Thanks. But she won’t try to leave via ordinary means. She’s buried so far in the criminal underworld, she could get on a private plane and we’d be none the wiser.’

Lottie looked over Boyd’s shoulder as the door was shoved inwards and Kirby catapulted himself into her office.

‘Where’s the fire?’ she heard McKeown shout as she and Boyd stood.

‘It’s Amy, boss. I can’t locate her.’

‘Who? What are you talking about?’

‘Amy, she’s a woman I met and I was with her last night and now she isn’t at home or at work and I don’t know where she is.’

‘Sit down.’ Boyd shoved Kirby onto his chair. ‘Deep breaths.’

Lottie laid a hand on his shoulder. ‘From the beginning, Kirby. Who is Amy?’

‘I only met her a few nights ago and now she’s gone. Something must have happened to her.’

‘Why do you think that?’