They are just walking past me when I hear Dean's voice.
“Emma!”
I turn to look over my shoulder to see him jogging toward me from where he and Ethan went. The group of officers pauses a few steps away from me, and the detective glances my way. There's something familiar in his face, but I can't place him. He turns to the other officer and holds up a finger to stop them, then heads toward me.
"Emma?" he frowns.
"Yes," I say. "Agent Emma Griffin."
"FBI?"
"Yes."
I feel strangely like we're doing a spoken word poem of the opening song for a seventies action show.
"I thought I recognized you." He extends his hand. "Detective Noah White."
I shake his hand. "Hello, Detective."
"Are you here on official Bureau business, Agent Griffin?" he asks.
"No," I shake my head as Dean joins us. "I'm here helping my cousin. Detective Noah White, this is Dean Steele. He's a private investigator."
The men shake hands, and Detective White nods, a smile tilting up the corner of his mouth. "Right. I remember hearing about you. Long-lost cousins reunited through murder and mayhem."
I try to figure out a way to respond to that but end up closing my mouth and giving a tight smile.
“Something like that,” I say. “Dean is investigating a missing persons case. The man has an account here at the bank, and there is some suspicious behavior involving his wife that also involves the bank.”
"Seems this place has a tendency to make people disappear," the detective muses.
I nod. "I overheard the manager mention Lakyn Monroe. Are you investigating her disappearance?"
"Yes. We have reason to believe she has a link to the bank but haven't been able to figure out what it is. She doesn't have an account here, and as far as we can tell, she never did. Neither did anyone in her family or friends. By all rights, she shouldn't have anything to do with this place," he says.
"Then why do you think she does?" I ask.
"We got a tip that she was seen in the parking lot and driving away several times just before she disappeared. It was submitted anonymously, so that doesn't give us much information to go on."
"If it was an anonymous tip, why are you putting so much emphasis on it? Not to be prying or anything, but the manager didn't exactly seem thrilled to have you here questioning her. It sounded like you've been here a couple of times before."
"We have," he confirms with a single dip of his head. "Do you mind stepping outside with me?"
Dean and I exchange glances before following the detective out of the bank. The other officers are gathered just outside. He steps up to them and turns to me.
"If I'm broaching professional ethics, tell me," I say. “We’re not at all involved in this Monroe case.”
"I appreciate the gesture, but considering the circumstances, what I would appreciate more is your help," Detective White says. He looks at the other three men. "This is Quinn Avery, John Pullam, and Gustavo Vaughn. Men, you may recognize Agent Emma Griffin from the FBI."
"Of course," Pullam says, reaching to shake my hand. "Your reputation more than precedes you. I'm impressed by your work."
"Thank you," I say. The other two take their turns shaking my hand and offering similar sentiments. When they are finished, I nod back at White. "I'm happy to be of whatever assistance I can be. The Bureau hasn't made any moves to investigate Lakyn Monroe's disappearance, but I will gladly give you any help I may be able to offer, Detective White."
"Please, call me Noah. And thank you. We've been handling this investigation from the beginning, but we're at a standstill."
"And that's why you're focusing so heavily on the tips you've gotten even when they're anonymous," I note.
"Yes," he acknowledges. "The one about Monroe being seen at this bank didn't come into the phone line. It came into the email set up for tips by her family. A picture was attached."
"A picture?" Dean asks.
Noah looks at him with uncertainty but seems to accept his presence as an effect of talking to me. I have no doubt if he was going to give me sensitive information about the case, he would do it away from Dean. Private investigators rarely get the same professional courtesy extended to them as other members of law enforcement. But they don't know Dean's skill. If they did, they would want him involved just as much as they want me.
"Whoever sent the email attached a picture of a car. They claim they witnessed Lakyn Monroe drive up, walk around the parking lot, then around the building, then she climbed back into her car and drove away. The license plate is clearly visible. It's the one registered to her vehicle."
"Wait—she walked around the parking lot and then the building?" I raise an eyebrow, confused by the description.
He nods, looking as if he understands it just about as much as I do. "That's it. It's a bank, so obviously there are security cameras everywhere. We pulled footage from all of them from that day. We can view her pulling into the parking lot and parking her car in one of the six spots. She gets out and stands there next to the car for a few moments, almost as if she's waiting for something. Then she looks at her phone, scrolls through it, then wanders around the parking lot for a few seconds before walking around the perimeter of the building. At no point does she ever actually enter the building. The cameras record her the entire time. She walks around slowly as if she's looking for something, then she goes back to the parking lot,
