Page 32 of Hidden Depths

“Are you at home?”

“That’s not my point.”

“Great, you can log on to the system from there.”

“Fine. But only this once. Give me a second.” Barlow grumbled all the way to his home office. “All right. I’m at my computer. What’s the name?”

“Sara Walker. Don’t know if Sara has an ‘h’ or not.”

“With or without an ‘h’. Last name Walker. Give me a second.”

Tom watched Sara stretch her arms into the sky. She looked relaxed, but the stiffness in her movements said otherwise.

Barlow came back on the line. “The only Sara Walker that comes up is from Mississippi, and she’s dead. So unless you’ve been digging up corpses, I can’t help you.”

“Interesting. Read the file to me.”

“Tom, you’re supposed to be having a break.”

“Just give me the description of the woman.”

“When she died, she was forty-two. Blond hair, brown eyes, five-foot two. See anyone who fits that description?”

“No. That’s not her.”

“No kidding. Why don’t you go have a margarita for me?”

“Drop the last name. Look for a file on anyone named Sara from Virginia.”

“Tom, come on.”

“Sara from Virginia.”

Barlow sighed loudly into the phone. “You can’t be more specific?”

“She’s in her mid to late twenties. Her hair is dark brown, but it could be dyed.”

“Now I get it.”

“What?”

“You’ve met someone and you’re doing a background check to make sure she’s quality?” He laughed. “Why didn’t you say so in the first place? I’m glad to hear you’re getting out there, taking full advantage of your break.”

“Yeah, okay. Can you look her up?”

“Just understand, I could get in a lot of trouble for looking up a girl you have a crush on.”

“I appreciate it.”

“This is the last search. Some of us have work to do.”

“It’s Sunday.”

“And my wife is making pot roast.”

“One last search. I promise.”

“Let me see…The closest I can get is a Sara Fitzgerald.”

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