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“Christ, Ally,” Chad shook his head. “There is no victim profile.”
“You better hope thereis.” Ally stabbed her finger into Chad’s thigh. “It might be the difference between Josh being found alive and disorientated or dead in a ditch.”
“What did the DI say?”
“He’s organizing an immediate search.”
“A search for Josh’s body?”
Ally didn’t answer. She stopped stabbing her finger into Chad’s leg and squeezed his thigh instead. “Tell me what happened.”
“We went to The Desperado, thought we’d be able to get some inside information, but it was too loud inside.” Chad slumped. “The last time I saw Josh he was on the dancefloor, jumping up and down, smiling ear to ear.”
“You didn’t leave together.”
“No. I texted him, and he said…” Chad took a stunted breath, pulling out his phone. “I was worried about him getting home, but he told me he knew the taxi driver, he even gave me his name.”
Chad scrolled through their messages and highlighted Lucas Wheeler. Another message from Josh revealed the taxi branch.
“Puma Taxis.” Ally whispered. She pulled out her phone and tapped out a message. “I’ll get Faye to look into it.” She twisted on the bed, giving Chad her full attention. “Was Josh … with anyone that night? Did anyone stick to him?”
“The red devil.”
“What?”
“There was a woman in a skin-tight red catsuit, wearing a devil mask, and black stilettos. She and Josh were inseparable that night.”
“Okay,” Ally slipped her arm behind Chad’s shoulders and tugged him closer. “We’ve got some things to go on.”
Chad only realized there were tear trails on his face when Ally cupped his cheek and wiped them away. “I called him to make sure he got home all right.”
“And?”
“He took ages to pick up, and when he did, he sounded different … short in a way Josh never is. He said he was fine and would see me tomorrow. Then he hung up.”
“He hung up?”
Chad nodded. “No goodbye, he just ended the call. He promised me he was all right, but where the hell is he? Why hasn’t he been home? Why would he go off with the killer?”
Ally opened her mouth to reply, but was beaten to it by the ring of her phone. Chad leaned away and wiped his sweaty palms on his pants as she answered. He couldn’t hear the voice on the other end, but could imagine someone saying they’d found Josh, dead at the side of the road, stinking of chloroform with burns to his hands.
Chad buried his face in his hands.
“Chad!” Ally shook him.
He blinked, noting she was no longer on the phone or sitting beside him. She was on her feet, frowning down at him. “Are you back with me?”
“What?”
“I’ll take that as a yes. That was Faye. She’s spoken to Lucas Wheeler and he remembers Josh from last night. He got in his car at 2:35, along with a woman … a woman dressed in red.”
“The devil?”
Ally pulled Chad to his feet. “They weren’t coming back here. Faye has just messaged me the address. The DI’s going to meet us there, understand?”
Chad nodded numbly. “Yes.”
She looked at him. “We better clean you up first.”
