Lorne pointed to my computer. "While you're still on the banking site, you should report Nathan's card as missing. Request its cancellation."

When that was done, I looked up at Lorne. "What next?"

"Call him again, Kate – see if his phone's still on."

"Yeah, I had left messages and sent texts yesterday. No replies."

A short while later, I shook my head. "Now it says the number has no service."

Lorne pursed his lips as he sat and opened his computer. "Increasingly suspicions. Dig out his data and a good face shot, so I can file a missing person report."

After Lorne had completed the online police form and posted it, he said, "It might be entirely benign. Changed his SIM card, using a different credit card. Ashamed of his behaviour. Sulking. Hoping it blows over."

"He's never shown shame for his outbursts. Always shrugs them off as part of his ADHD. Always comes back after a few hours of cooling. An overnight at the most."

"Yeah, his behaviour the other evening showed aspects of ADHD, but I've not before seen him that way."

"He usually keeps it well in check. It's only when he's preoccupied with something deeply troubling that it flares."

"Deeply troubling? So, what else was stirring this?"

"He told me he had begun analysing the online review..." I snapped my head toward the open companionway and the loud crack and whoosh. "Whoah! What was that?"

Lorne lept to his feet and rushed toward the steps. "Come, let's look."

I followed him up, arriving in the cockpit to see him pointing toward the smoke and flames billowing above the Fairview Slopes rooftops. "Sounded like a gas explosion."

He nodded. "Yeah, and the blown windows and widespread flames support that."

We watched in silence until a siren began wailing, soon followed by others, prompting me to say, "I like the fast response. And thank God it's residential, not commercial. Likely fewer injured."

"Yeah, in the condo blocks. Looks like 7th and Laurel or Willow."

I nodded, studying the buildings across False Creek. "My old neighbourhood. Fuck! That's my old condo."

"Hunh? What?"

"Sold it three months ago and moved over to this side. More secure. Better investment."

"Would Nathan have ignored changing his address?"

"I'm more concerned about the injuries over there – let's ignore Nathan for the moment."

"Seems his captors were concerned about injuries, as well. Causing them."

"You're talking riddles, Lorne."

"His driver's license. The address on it. Unchanged."

"Oh, fuck! That explosion was meant for me, wasn't it?" I shuddered at the realisation as I turned and collapsed onto him.

He wrapped his arms around me, guided my head to his chest and murmured, "You're safe with me, Kate."

We remained silent for a long time as my trembling slowly eased, all the while my mind spinning. He went back to Zack's. Lorne's broad chest. So comforting. They seized him. Took his phone and wallet. The feel of his hands. God, how I've craved them. Got the Fairview address, then boom. But why three days later? Hmmm!

I lifted my head from Lorne's chest and looked up. "Why would they have waited three days?"

He cupped my head and gently guided it back to his chest, the low rumbling of his voice sending shivers as he replied, "Possibly awaiting instructions or approval from higher-ups. Maybe waiting for the house to be empty, so they could booby-trap it."

"Yeah!"

"This could all be coincidence, happenstance. But from what we've seen, the odds are far too long for that."

"For sure. What about him? What would they do with him?"

"Many possibilities. Sell him to traffickers. Plant him in –"

"Traffickers? Drugs? I don't understand."

"Human traffickers. Slavery."

"Oh!" I winced. "Yeah, we're into the heavy stuff, aren't we? What else? I cut you off."

"They might have planted him in the house to make it appear as if the explosion or the fire had killed him."

"Yeah, don't want him around, do they?"

"Nor you, it appears."

"Oh, God!" I trembled again and mashed my face into his chest.

"You're safe with me, Kate."

"Ummm!"

After a long silence, Lorne said, "I hear the chuff of a chopper approaching – likely one of the news ones. We should go below – get details on TV."

Down in the main salon, Lorne directed me to the large couch, and he settled beside me, clicking the remote. The screen on the forward bulkhead flashed through channels until he stopped at one. "Here."

"...not yet contained. Neighbours identified the lone resident as Gwendolyn Sinclair, a palliative care nurse at VGH. She was declared dead at the scene. We'll update you as we learn more. This is Jason Nelson reporting live from Vancouver's Fairview Slopes. Back to you, Stephanie."

I looked away from the screen. "Oh, dear, God! Such a sweet woman. After I had accepted her purchase offer, we sat and talked for a long while, sipping tea. Signed my latest three books for her." I shuddered as I put the balls of my hands to my eyes in an attempt to stop the tears.

"Come, Kate. Cuddle time again."

As I scooted across the couch toward Lorne, I glanced at the TV to see what had distracted him. Scrolling in bold letters across the top of the screen was: HAPPENING NOW – The fire on West 7th. Firemen found an UNIDENTIFIED MALE BODY in the bathtub. Jason is still at the scene, and we're awaiting his report.