‘You know what, don’t worry about it,’ I said. ‘C’mon Adelita, we’re going.’
Adelita stood up from her chair, looking uncertain for the first time since I’d met her. ‘Chief Superintendent,’ she said. ‘My colleague can be a little… rash… at times, but I do not believe she would invent such a story. She has experience with some of these dealers, and I think she knows what she is talking about. Please, I am asking you for your help. We intend to go back to the warehouse and we need your protection.’
Hoogeveen’s face softened just a little. ‘If your story is indeed true—and I am by no means certain of that—then these men have already moved their operation to another place. They will not be waiting there for us to catch them. Now, if you will excuse me, I have work to do.’
His face brooked no argument, and we trudged obediently out of his office.
‘We’re at a dead end,’ I said to Adelita as we left the station. ‘What do we do now?’
Adelita looked thoughtful. ‘If Grady and his men have already moved on, there is no harm in going back. We may be able to find some clue as to where they have gone.’
‘We won’t be able to get in,’ I said. ‘Nick picked the lock yesterday, and I don’t know how to do it.’
‘Well, where is he this morning?’
I pursed my lips. ‘I don’t know.’
‘Why don’t you call him and arrange for him to meet us there?’
I got my phone out and dialled Nick’s number, but with each ring I was more certain he wasn’t going to pick up. There was a hollow tone as the call went to voicemail, but I didn’t wait to hear his voice.
‘He didn’t answer.’
‘Why would he not answer his own girlfriend?’
‘I’m not his girlfriend!’ I said fiercely.
I turned away so she couldn’t see my face. There’d been a part of me this morning that had thought for a moment when I’d first woken up—just a moment—that maybe that status had changed. Before I’d realised that he’d run out on me again.
‘Regardless, you need to find him,’ Adelita said. ‘I will go to the general area and look around for any indications of where they may have moved to. You find Nick and bring him there as soon as you can.’
She didn’t wait for my agreement, but turned on her heel and marched away. I stood on the footpath, irresolute. Adelita always knew what to do. I should’ve been focusing on the task at hand, but all I could think about was Nick and what had happened between us. True, I hadn’t exactly been thinking about the future last night, but I hadn’t expected this.
Just thinking about the whole episode made my body weak with desire for him, and that in turn made me even angrier. I started walking, barely aware of where I was going. One slip of judgement and here I was again, single, alone, and the potential laughing-stock of Women’s Choice for the second bloody time.
I dialled Nick’s number again, but once again he didn’t answer. This time I waited until his voicemail kicked in.
‘Nick, answer your bloody phone. We have to go back to the warehouse, the police didn’t find anything. Adelita is waiting there for us. Call me back as soon as you get this.’
I hung up and shoved the phone back in my bag before I was tempted to throw it into the canal. The only option left was to start looking for him. He surely wouldn’t have left the city, and it was too early for him to be drinking in a bar, although I certainly wouldn’t put it past him. And I felt sure he wouldn’t be visiting tourist sites. Maybe he was just walking, ignoring my calls and contemplating the mistake he’d made. I walked faster, trying to shut out my thoughts, but they crowded into my head all at once.
As much as I wanted to deny it now, I’d been sure that last night was more than just sex. It’d been different from the first time: the way he’d looked at me, the things he’d said. I’d never felt a connection with someone like I did with you. I told him I’d met someone, someone I really liked. By the time I realised that, it was too late for us. Sure, he hadn’t exactly made a declaration of love. But in my mind, I was already giving him a chance. I’d already decided not to go back to James.
But whatever he’d been thinking and feeling last night had obviously disappeared in the harsh light of the morning. What had I expected, really, with his track record? A man like that was incapable of commitment. It served me right for ever thinking he might have changed.
Tears of self-pity threatened in my eyes. I groped blindly for my phone and called again. By the time the call went to voicemail I was ready to explode.
‘Nick, will you fucking take some fucking responsibility for once in your life!’ I shouted into the phone, attracting looks from passers-by. ‘You can’t keep avoiding me like this. Why don’t you fucking grow up and stop acting like a spoilt kid!’
I hung up again, feeling somewhat better for having given him a piece of my mind, even if indirectly. Maybe he was back at the hotel by now. Either way, it was the most logical place to check in at this point.
When I got to the hotel, I listened at his door for a second, but it was completely silent within. No shower, no television. No shuffling, no snoring. I knocked on the door, albeit a little quieter than I had earlier, but again there was no answer.
I returned to my own room and lay on the bed for a few minutes, trying to muster up the energy
