Page 116 of Asher's Assignment

“Basic facial—” Stroud broke off, shaking his head.

Edie uttered a soft laugh. “I know, right? Sometimes, his genius boggles my mind too.”

Asher rolled his eyes and kept scrolling. He didn’t see it as anything all that extraordinary. Anyone could do what he did. He just followed a series of logical steps.

Engrossed in his task, the rest of the drive went by in a blur. He found several more inadvertent pictures of Lennox in different locations. Her acquaintance with him wasn’t a one-time deal. She couldn’t claim he was just “there.”

Stroud pulled up behind the police station, then let them inside through the rear door. “Let’s print off a few pictures from her social media quick.”

He led them down a corridor, then turned into the bullpen and stopped at a desk. “Email me some.”

Asher blinked, nonplussed. “It’s faster to print them myself. Do you want to give me the password, or just let me crack it?”

Stroud released a short, incredulous chuckle. “You would, too.”

“Yep. So what’s the password?”

The detective recited it, and in minutes, they had a color copy of the clearest picture of Lennox from Vanessa’s social media and were headed down a long hallway.

Stroud turned into a conference room with a television screen and a camera mounted to the wall. “So, my plan is to have you two in here, but you’re observers, understand? I’ll introduce you as consultants on the case, but you let me do the talking.”

“What if we have questions?” Edie asked. “There could be things we think of that you don’t.”

“Run it past me first.”

She stared at him for several seconds. “You’re a bit of a control freak, aren’t you?”

The detective let a beat pass, then turned away, ignoring her.

Asher nudged Edie. “Play nice. I don’t want to get kicked out,” he said, keeping his voice low. He was already on thin ice with Stroud after his stunt this morning. Actually, he was amazed the man had included him on the call. He figured the most he would get was a briefing after the fact.

She held up her hands, splaying her fingers, exasperation written on her face. “Fine.”

They took their seats as Stroud got things up and running. A few minutes later, the screen came to life and a man and a woman appeared seated around a small table.

“Good afternoon,” Stroud began. “I’m Detective J.D. Stroud. This is Asher Horn and Edie Campbell. They’re consultants on my case. Thank you for meeting with us on such short notice.”

“You’re welcome,” the man said. “I’m Ian Jackson. My client, Vanessa.” He gestured to the woman in the orange jumpsuit next to him. “What can we do for you?”

“Miss Burnwell, can you tell me what you did with your vehicle when you were incarcerated?”

Her brow wrinkled, confused. “My car? What do you mean?”

“Did you leave it parked at your house? Did you sell it? Loan it to someone?”

“Oh. A friend said he’d take care of it for me. He sold it.”

“You’re sure he sold it?”

She nodded. “I got the money and paid off the loan. There was a little extra too.”

“What was this friend’s name?”

The attorney held up a hand. “Why the interest in her car? When you called, you said you needed her help with a kidnapping case.”

“The car is involved in the kidnapping.” Stroud got up and walked closer to the camera, holding up the still from her social media account. “Miss Burnwell, do you recognize this man?”

Asher watched recognition dawn in her eyes.

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