"She say anything?" Luke watched Fryer's face.

"Just hello."

"Pretty?" Luke asked as they reached Kate's door.

"Yeah, she was pretty."

"Was?" Luke fixed Fryer with his eyes.

"Is," Fryer blustered. "I meant to say is."

"Ever ask her out?" Gil leaned against the wall.

"No, not my type." Fryer put the key in the door. "She'd have said no anyway.

Never saw her with a guy, ever."

"So what did you touch?" Gil asked.

"We checked the phone but I used my sleeve."

"We'll take it from here and return the key when we're done." Gil made it clear they wouldn't be going in until Fryer had departed.

As the building superintendent retreated, Luke knocked hard on the partially open door and called out "Police," but there was no answer. They pulled on latex gloves.

"Kate? This is the police," Luke shouted.

Still no response. They moved inside, closed the door and stood looking and listening.

Gil sniffed. "Dead flowers, not a dead person." Luke nodded. The light was on. The flowers lay on the floor, wilted and decaying as the neighbor said. Gil bent to read the card.

"So she's gone off with a man," he said.

"Her neighbor's right. Why leave flowers all over the floor if they're from the man you love?" Luke crouched down and looked at them carefully. "They've not just been dropped. The stems are broken and the heads damaged. There are petals everywhere. How much do you know about flowers, Gil?"

"Less than my wife would like." His partner plugged in the phone.

"I recognize chrysanthemums and lilies, the rest I don't know," Luke said.

"The phone's okay."

The two men walked around.

"She's tidy," Luke said.

"Makes leaving the flowers on her floor look even more unusual."

"Yeah."

"Get a feeling for this one, Luke?"

"One I didn't want. What did you think of Fryer?"

"Worth checking out."

Luke opened the fridge, picked up several items and checked their dates.

Unopened moldy bread, fruit, and a bag of disintegrating salad. The counter was clear except for one glass.

Gil looked up from the other side of the room. "Bank statements, bills she's paid. All her wage slips. Uses a big chunk of her salary to pay for this place."

"Old TV, shabby couch."

"It's a safe, respectable area. She thought that was worth paying for."

"Let's hope she wasn't wrong," Luke said.

They went into the bedroom.

"Oops," Gil said.

"Packed in a hurry, desperate to be out of here? Maybe when the flowers arrived, she realized she'd been found by her ex. So she packs and leaves?" They moved carefully around the clothes. Gil picked up a stuffed elephant by its ear. "My eldest daughter has the same one." He bent to lift something else. "I'd better not find one of these in her room." He held up a condom packet by its edge.

"Just the one?" Luke asked.

His partner nodded. "It doesn't look as though there's been a fight. Her stuff's just been tossed aside. The clothes on the bed aren't disturbed in a way that suggests a struggle."

Luke went into the bathroom, looked at the mirror and the cupboard. No birth-control pills, no prescription medication, though that didn't mean she hadn't taken them with her. No toothbrush, hairbrush. There was a lack of the sort of things he expected to see: the pretty, girly toiletries his own daughter would like. Kate Evans didn't waste her money.

Afterwards, Luke wasn't even sure why he'd done it, but he put down the toilet lid. He saw a greasy shine, almost walked away and then went back.

"Found something?" Gil asked from the doorway.

"Not sure, see if there's any talcum powder in the cupboard." Gil handed him a container. Luke shook it over the lid and then stood it up and banged the plastic before lowering it again. HELP. The word Kate had written stood out as clear as day.

"You clever girl," Luke said.

Before they left, the two detectives went next door.

"Someone has taken her," Jeannie blurted.

Luke chose his words carefully. "There are indications she may not have left willingly."

"What are you going to do about it?"

"Because of your concerns, I'm going to give her the benefit of the doubt and assume she's been abducted or is running from someone she knows."

"I saw the card. She doesn't know anyone called Jack."

"You only know she's not mentioned him to you," Gil said.

"A forensic team will come out. They'll want your fingerprints and Fryer's," Luke said.

He showed Jeannie a photograph of a girl with long dark hair and glasses. She had clear skin, perfect cheekbones, dark brown eyes and no smile.

"Kate?"

Jeannie nodded.

"Her details will be put on our web page and her disappearance registered state-wide. We'll also be in touch with the FBI."

"That's good," Jeannie said, her eyes lighting up.

"They won't consider this a priority case."

"Why not?"

"First of all, she's not a minor. Second, it's not clear what happened here. But there's a lot we can do. We'll check her phone records, talk to her friends and colleagues, other people in the building. This could still be a misunderstanding." Luke tried to sound upbeat, but he knew he hadn't convinced Jeannie Lawrence. He hadn't convinced himself.

Chapter Thirteen.

Kate woke with a start when Tommy clutched her hand. She levered herself upright and groaned. The car was still moving.

"Want Mommy," he wailed. "Want Mommy."

The words hit like a knife. Kate thought her heart would burst. Was she his mommy? Part of her wanted to believe it. She'd often thought about what her baby looked like-what he'd have looked like if he'd lived. They hadn't even taken a photograph. Her mother told her he looked perfect, but was too small and it was a blessing he'd died. Kate hated that word. How could a baby's death be a blessing?

"Mommy!"

"It's okay, Tommy." But this time she couldn't quiet him.

Jack glanced back. "Shut him up."

"I'm trying."

"Mommy," Tommy sobbed. "I want my mommy."

Kate looked through the window. They were off the interstate and on a county road. Evergreen trees flashed by. She felt ill and uncomfortable from being in the car so long. Tommy continued to cry.

"Please let us go. He needs his mom."

"You're his mom."

Her heart twisted. "If I was once, I'm not now. He needs the people he's been living with for the past three years. Please, let him go." The car filled with screaming as Tommy shrieked and kicked the seat in front.

"Shut him up," Jack yelled.

Kate gave a shaky sigh.

"Hush, Tommy, don't cry." She stroked his head. "Where's your little red car?

Oh look. Here it is. I wondered what I was sitting on. I hope I haven't squashed it.

Is it okay?"

She handed him the car and he turned it over in his hands, sniffing loudly.

"It's not broken." He gulped, his eyes full of tears.

He was pacified for the moment, but it didn't last. The car dropped to the floor.

"Are we there yet?" he asked.

"No," Jack said.

Kate leaned forward. "At the next gas station, I could take him inside. I could leave him and then I'd come back to the car. I promise. Let him go, Jack, please.

This isn't right."

"Are we there now?" Tommy asked.

"Nearly. Don't ask again," Jack barked.

"Want to get out."

Kate's head pounded.

"Want to get out." Tommy kicked the back of Jack's seat.

Kate caught hold of his feet. "Let us out at the next town. I won't tell them anything about you, I swear. We can't stay in this car any longer." Jack's shoulders tensed. She'd made him angry, but she couldn't give up.

"Jack, think about it. We don't know anything about him. He could be on medication. He might need special food, have allergies. We can't keep him. Let us out here and we'll hitch a lift."

Jack swerved across the road into a turn-out. Kate hit the side of the car, her glasses flew into the footwell, and Tommy started to cry. They skidded to a halt in a swirl of dust. Jack yanked the keys from the ignition, stalked to Kate's side and flung open the door. Unclipping her seatbelt, he dragged her out, his face dark with fury.

"I told you to shut up. Why can't you shut up? Why can't you do as you're told?"

Jack slammed the door and pulled her away from the car. Kate's gaze stayed on Tommy, his face pressed against the window, his thumb in his mouth. She struggled in Jack's grasp as he jerked her toward the trees. Kate screamed and he yanked her up, trying to get his hand on her mouth. She jabbed her elbow hard into his chest and Jack gave a grunt of pain. Kate anticipated the fist and ducked away, so the blow wasn't as hard as it might have been. It still made her ears ring.

She sank her teeth into his skin.