Penelope nodded. “Good. Who’s the other one?”
Leon grimaced. “Twenty-one-year-old Christina. We don’t have a last name. She’s been residing at a women’s shelter out near Arlington and is working for tips at a local bar.”
“Are you sure she’s a legit missing person?” Whitaker asked. “Homeless? No real job? Maybe she just took off.”
Leon nodded. “That was my thought at first, but evidently one of the ladies who works at the shelter has become close with Christina. Watches her eighteen-month-old daughter for Christina when she works.”
They were all silent. Damn it, this case just kept getting worse.
“The lady at the women’s shelter said there’s no way Christina would’ve left the baby behind,” Leon continued.
Penelope nodded. “Good. You and Whitaker head over there and see if you can get any further details. And keep searching for other possible victims. Search outside state lines if you have to.”
Leon nodded and walked over to the whiteboard, adding the pictures and details of Christina and Betty Neighbors.
Identifying possible victims was good for the case overall, but definitely didn’t make it any easier to bear. Maybe in both cases it would end up being a mistake and the women would be found unharmed.
But Tanner had been in law enforcement long enough to know that wasn’t likely.
“I think it’s time to go visit Jean Adams,” Penelope said.
Tanner nodded. “Anything she can remember might help. It’s probably a good idea for you to talk to her. She might not be interested in being near any man right now.”
She nodded. “Why don’t you come with me? If there’s any male she might want to talk to it would be you and Whitaker since you two saved her life.”
Tanner didn’t really want to go. He didn’t want to leave Bree in case she needed him. But he also wanted to do everything in his power to get these other victims home safely.
“Let me just check with Bree and make sure she’s okay.”
Penelope raised an eyebrow, but just nodded. He jogged over to Bree’s computer station.
“Any luck with Elliot?” she asked.
“No. I don’t think he knows who or where the other victims or suspects are. He said he met them online. How’s it going for you?”
She let out a frustrated sigh. “I thought I was going to have to do a lot of extrapolating and rebuilding. That Elliot would’vedestroyed data and not left it available online. But I was wrong. He left damn near everything there.”
“You mean there’s more information than you thought?”
“Exactly. Actually, it’s kind of smart. There’s so much for me to sort through that it would be easy to overlook something important.”
“Do you want us to get you some help?”
She shook her head rapidly. “No. I have a system.”
He knew much better than to try to make changes in any system she’d created.
“Plus,” she continued, “I’m building some programs right now to help me filter through stuff. It’s not foolproof, but it’s propelling me through information quicker than sorting it all myself.”
“Are you okay?”
“Yes, I have all the equipment I need.”
Tanner trailed a finger down her cheek. “I mean, areyouokay, freckles?”
Her shoulders slumped. “They think one of the victims is someone from a women’s shelter,” she whispered. “Someone with a baby.”
“I know.”
