Lethal Instincts Read Online Free Page B

description didn’t help but the knowledge of the couple suggested foul play. Where was this story headed? Initially she wanted to learn about the disappearances that plagued the city. Then came Tatiana Petrenko. One woman who disappeared without a trace. There was a chance that her disappearance was linked to many others, and a group of individuals who treated women as nothing more than a commodity. Once again, Lexi felt drawn to the dark side, to solve a mystery and not just write a story.  
    It wasn’t her job to solve crimes but she was always drawn to investigative pieces that left her in such a position, and she was beginning to question what was more important to her: getting the story or solving the crime.  
    Considering what little she knew about Tatiana, her next thought was to look at her money. Where did she get it? Where did she keep it?
    Lexi tried calling the detective. Taking a look at Tatiana’s bank statements could give them an indication of where her money was coming from. Money had a power over people and if Tatiana had been getting hers from unsavoury sources it could explain her disappearance.
    “I can’t help you. I need a warrant to access bank details and no judge is going to give me a warrant on a closed case based on a journalist’s hunch,” Detective Simmons said. “And I told you to stay out of trouble.”
    Before Lexi could ask for another favour, the detective had hung up and she was talking to a dial tone. Bugger it, she thought. There had to be another way. She phoned Hannah instead and was not at all surprised with her response.
    “Sure I know someone who can help,” she said as soon as Lexi explained her theory.
    “Are we going to break any laws?” Lexi said.
    “Do you really want me to answer that question?”
    “Probably not. If we can get a look at her bank statements, we might get an idea of what else she was doing besides working at the bakery. You can’t afford the UCL lifestyle on a pauper’s wage. And if she had no family, well, the money had to be coming from somewhere.”
    “She could have worked on the side. Cash in hand. No record. A lot of people do that. Especially in the clubs.”
    “What sort of clubs?”
    “Most of them, but especially the sleazy ones.”
    “You think she might have been stripping to make the extra cash?”
    “This is Europe, Lexi. I’d say she could have been doing much more than taking her clothes off for a living. Times might have changed but the Soho district is still a popular spot for quickies and male clientele getting into trouble.”
    “Prostitution?”  
    “Now Lexi, you don’t strike me as the prudish type and yet you sound as shocked as a twenty-year-old virgin,” Hannah said.
    “I guess UCL and prostitution don’t go well together.”  
    “We all have to make a living somehow. Some simply choose the easier route,” Hannah said. “But I don’t think Tatiana was that sort of girl.”  
    Obviously Lexi didn’t know Tatiana, but from what she gathered, the girl did not strike as the type to turn to prostitution for quick cash. But then again, how did one explain the UCL lifestyle, a random job, two people searching for her and then the sudden disappearance no one noticed? Or was paid not to notice?
    How many girls disappeared in London on a yearly basis? How many washed up in the Thames? How many did the police ignore or put down to suicide or drug induced accidents? It was cheaper and faster if no one reported them as missing. How many Jane Does were there?
    “I’ll call you back when I have something,” Hannah said.
    It was the second time that day Lexi was speaking to a dial tone. She didn’t get to tell Hannah to be careful. But Hannah seemed to function on her own planet. She was dangerously curious and didn’t see any obstacles in her way. Lexi saw this both as an asset and a liability but she could also tell that Hannah had her own motives for looking for Tatiana. Maybe it was just her studies, but