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Lake sighed before reaching for his cell phone “Get to the coe you need to see, and she’s made national news”

Everyone looked a

t Caroline There was silence The men were stony-faced Archie’s cheeks were red and he looked like he could hit soely sympathetic Helen had tears in her eyes

“Let me see that box I can help” Betty tried to elbow past Lake He grabbed a handful of tartan dress at the back of her neck to stop her “I watch CSI I knohat I’”

Lake stepped in front of her, his arms folded

“Kirsty,” Lake said “You and Helen sort out tea for everyone Take Betty with you Everyone waits in the blue room Nobody talks about this until they’ve spoken with us Got it?”

Kirsty nodded, and with Helen’s help, she rumpy Betty out of the room

“Archie,” Lake continued, “close up the centre Get everyone except the domino boys out of here”

Archie nodded and bustled out of the room Caroline was left with Lake, Officer Donaldson, a pile of offensive articles and a box with a heart in it They stared at each other

“Everything will be okay,” she told them “I’ll sort this out”

Theto the library opened

“Got a woman on the line,” James said “She’s froraive you free clothes Sounds like a good deal to me”

Lake reached over and slid theshut Jah it for a moment before he disappeared

“Now about this box…” Officer Donaldson said

Caroline sat in her chair and tried to focus on his words She needed to get the chaos under control She’d learned the hard way as a child that when people lost control, terrible things happened Her parents had lost control of their car Caroline couldn’t lose control of her life She straightened her back No She needed to get on top of this situation And fast