It's an impressive stance and one I can stand behind. The thought of people getting away with heinous crimes makes me feel sick to my stomach. It’s the reason I went into the Bureau in the first place. The only way to assuage the fury I feel toward those who commit crimes, and especially those who avoid accountability for them, is to be the one to hunt them down.
But right now, I'm not interested in playing a game of getting to know you with Lakyn Monroe. Commendable ethics and determination aside, I was only interested in finding out who the blonde woman was and what she had to do with Greg, and now with Lakyn.
Unfortunately, nothing in the article gives any clue about who the woman might be. There is no caption to the picture and no comments in the conversation feature. It was probably a bit too much of wishful thinking on my part to hope the woman would have just popped into the comments with an, "I remember talking to you! Here's my name and contact information!"
This means I'll have to take a different route.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
“I was beginning to think you forgot my name,” Eric says in greeting.
“Go ahead, have your pity party,” I tell him. “But when you're done, I need to ask you a favor.”
“Why is it that you only call me now if you want me to do something?” he asks.
“I deserve that,” I sigh. “I'm sorry I've been MIA for the last couple of months.”
“It's alright,” he says. “I understand. I just miss you.”
“I miss you, too. Hopefully, we'll all be able to get together soon,” I tell him.
“Why do I have a feeling that depends on how an investigation turns out?” he asks.
“Because you know me extremely well,” I say. “I'm dealing with a missing person. Actually, it's a couple of missing people. But, for the purposes of this specific conversation, it's just one.”
“Who is that?” he asks.
“Lakyn Monroe,” I tell him.
“Lakyn Monroe? That internet celebrity from around your neck of the woods? I had no idea the Bureau had gotten involved in that.”
"The Bureau isn't involved as far as I know. It's just me looking into it because a detective following up on a lead asked me to. And it's not exactly my neck of the woods. The news has said she's 'local', but that can mean she's from anywhere in the surrounding few states if it has to do with a celebrity. The detective I'm helping is from Harlan. More than an hour from Sherwood,” I say.
“Why would a detective from Harlan get in touch with you?” he asks. “Did he seek you out?”
“No, I was in Harlan and happened to be around when he was questioning somebody,” I explain. “I was helping Dean on his own case. Which is where all the other missing people come in, but again, we're focusing right now. Technically, I'm not actually asking you to help me find Lakyn Monroe.”
“So, did you just use that as a conversation piece?” he asks.
“No,” I say. “She does have to do with this, but only indirectly. I was at the police station in Harlan and looking over the materials this detective has gathered. One of the things he had posted was a picture of Lakyn when she was doing a talk at a conference. I couldn’t take it with me, and the only copy I've been able to find had the entire background blurred out. Now, the one I saw originally wasn't blurred. So, what I'm hoping is you'll be able to unblur the blur.”
“Well, that was my specialty when I was at the Academy. Unblurring blurs. Go ahead and send it to me. I'll see what I can do. What am I looking for in it?” he asks.
“People behind her,” I say, not wanting to give everything away quite yet. I've moved into the living room, so my conversation doesn't wake up Sam, and set the computer down on the table while I attach the picture to an email to Eric. "There you go. I just sent it."
“Okay,” he says. “I'll have a look at it and see what I can do.”
“Thank you so much,” I say. “How have you been? I feel like I haven't talked to you since the last case I consulted on.”
"It's been a while. I've been doing well. We're working on a case right now with a thief who steals construction equipment from massive industrial sites across several states, so that's an interesting one," he says.
"How many bodies have you found?" I ask.
"Is that always the first thing you think of?" he asks.
"Dean asked me that, too."
"Maybe you should ponder that one for a bit."
"My point is, this man is stealing construction equipment. I'm assuming by that you mean things like backhoes, tractors, steamrollers. Right?"
"Yeah," Eric says. "And I get it; people think everybody hides bodies in construction sites, but isn't that a little bit of a mob movie cliche?"
"Not in the construction sites. I mean near where you found the missing equipment. He has to be stealing them for something. I highly doubt he's in the process of constructing his dream home in several locations and just needs to borrow a couple of tools to help him through. This is a signature. Look for reports of missing people in the area who have links to anything having to do with construction. Then start looking for the bodies," I say.
There's a long pause on the other end of the line.
"Sometimes I hate you," Eric says.
"Maybe I'm wrong," I say. "Hopefully, I am."
"You know you aren't." He sighs. "Alright. I'm going to see what I can figure out about this picture. Do you want to talk to Bellamy?"
"Of course."
"See you soon?"
"Definitely. I'm going to come up there for a little bit
