Page 22 of Fearless Encounter
“Do you recognize her?” Abe said.
“Meg is a good friend from high school,” Brooke said. “I just saw photos on social media and realized it was her.”
“She hadn’t seen her in a while, though, and doesn’t know more about what happened,” Gabriel said.
“I need to help her,” Brooke said. “She’s a special friend. What have you found out about the incident?”
“It seems that she was at a friend’s house for a party that evening,” Abe said. “She lived alone, so apparently her absence wasn’t noticed until she didn’t show up for work today. Her boss tried calling and texting with no response. So, he sent an HR employee to her house, but she didn’t seem to be home. Luckily, her boss knew a couple of other people who were at the party with her. He called around until he contacted Pamela Williams, the hostess. A friend who attended took photos of the party attendees and she had copies. She emailed the one of Meghan Reid, which her boss then posted on social media—hoping that she would contact him.”
“I assume that foul play is suspected due to Brooke’s report of abduction,” Gabriel said. “But her boss wouldn’t know thatjust yet. He might assume she stayed over with someone, or that there is some other explanation.”
“That’s true,” Abe said. “Except Pamela told him she saw Meghan leave with a man. She didn’t think much of it. The man was in costume, but he must have arrived late because Pamela didn’t know who he was.”
“Did she happen to get a picture?” Brooke said.
Abe slid a photo out of another file. “Take a look at this.”
Brooke stared at the photo of a man in an ornate costume and mask. She hoped it was the guy she had seen, so she could identify him, and Abe could arrest him. Her heart sank. “That’s not him,” she said, shaking her head. “It’s a different costume, but also, this guy is shorter and thinner than the man I saw in the alley.”
“That’s too bad,” Abe said. “I suppose it would be too much to expect to have a photo of the perp. It doesn’t rule out that this guy is involved. Once we find him, I’ll have him brought in for questioning.”
“If you find him,” Gabriel said.
“What do we do now?” Brooke said.
“The best thing would be to work together,” Abe said to Gabriel. “You have a vested interest because of Brooke. I know you well, so there’s no question you’ll pursue the investigation. It only makes sense to team up. We can assist each other and avoid double work.”
“Can you set that up?” Gabriel said.
“Already put in the request.” Abe smiled. “The PD will hire Guardian Investigations, so it’s all legal. Once the NOPD is your client, we can share data.” He leaned back. “It shouldn’ttake long. I’m on good terms with the station chief, so I can push it through. I’m guessing we’ll be in business together by tomorrow.”
“That’s good to hear,” Gabriel said. “The longer we wait, the less likely we’ll find Meghan Reid soon enough.”
Even Brooke knew what that meant.
“At the moment, I won’t ask a judge for a search warrant of Meghan Reid’s home,” Abe said, then turned to Brooke. “I could get an affidavit from you about what you witnessed, but it wouldn’t show probable cause to search Reid’s home. It appeared to you that she was being abducted. But at the carnival and after she’d been drinking at a party—and according to Pamela, that was the case—there’s no hard evidence of a crime. There might have been mutual consent, if you get my meaning?”
“What if we don’t locate her soon?” Brooke said, fearing the worst.
“That will be a factor,” Abe said. “But her boss had a cousin go out to her house, since she was the emergency contact on the employment forms. The cousin had a spare key, so she went inside. There was no sign of anything wrong. Everything looked in order. There’s no reason to believe anything else happened other than dressing then going to the party. There was no indication of a crime at the home. And the last time the cousin heard from her was that morning. Meghan talked about the party and what she planned to wear. The conversation seemed normal.”
“Seems like a dead end for now,” Gabriel said.
“As we build the case, I’ll consider obtaining a warrant,” Abe said. “If we have reason to suspect there might be evidence that a crime occurred in her home, then I’ll go to the judge.”
Abe agreed to text the moment he had authority to hire Gabriel as a PI. Brooke couldn’t get out of the police station soon enough. She’d never liked the environment and marveled that Gabriel had worked there for so many years.
*****
There wasn’t anything further Gabriel could do until the PD became his client. “The first thing Abe will do is provide the list of party attendees. We’ll start there to find out what they know.”
Brooke didn’t refuse his offer of a drink. There was a lot to think about, and she had questions. He went to the Pontchartrain Hotel. “Does the Hot Tin bar sound okay?”
“That’s fine.” Brooke had been several times. The bar was on the hotel rooftop with a view of downtown New Orleans and the Mississippi. It was a good place for a private conversation.
They went up to the bar then sat at a table by the windows. The balcony was through accordion doors, the best place to see the view—or to make a marriage proposal. That had happened one of the times Brooke had been there. It was certainly a romantic place. But in January it was chilly, so she chose to sit inside.
The place was famous for cocktails, so Brooke ordered the Spritz, a blend of tequila, Campari, and grapefruit. It was bound to be potent, but it was that kind of week.