Page 118 of Girl Between
“That would explain the men,” LaSalle said, sounding excited now.
“There has to be a database for medical cadavers, right?” Neville asked.
“There is!” Both Dana and Lena said simultaneously.
“On it,” Lena remarked, pushing back from their table. “I can access everything we need at my office.”
She started fishing in her purse for her wallet, but George waved her off. “I got this, Lena. Go do your thing.”
She grinned and dashed out of the bar.
“I knew it!” Dana said, unable to hide her excitement. “Monroe is our guy.”
“You’re probably right,” said George, “but so is Creed. We need to do this by the book, so it sticks. That means following up with Luis Fontera as well as Monroe. We’ll have warrants for both by morning.”
Fontera had been harder to track down. After he left his job with EMS, it was like he dropped off the map. Luckily, LaSalle was like a dog with a bone when it came to chasing down leads. She’d worked with the BAU analysts until they tracked him down thanks to an unpaid parking ticket.
“I call dibs on the team going to Monroe’s,” LaSalle said. “Gray’s right. He’s our guy.”
“Easy, killer,” George warned. “Innocent until proven guilty, remember?”
“Yeah, yeah, boss,” she said, grabbing her beer and heading toward the uniforms arguing over the dart board. “I’ve got next game.”
Dana took a pull from her beer. It was just her and George left at the table now. Richter was chatting up one of the dog owners, and Neville had gone to join a few of the other NOPD officers who’d just made their way into the bar.
“I still think we should be doing something,” Dana said.
George just took another drink of his beer.
“Why don’t we go talk to Dr. Landry?” she pushed.
George stood up, grabbed his beer and Dana’s hand. He subtly pulled Dana away from the rest of the cops enjoying their well-earned beers. Once he’d towed her to a quiet section of sidewalk outside the bar, he let go of her hand. Leaning against the faded brick building he drained his beer and set the bottle on the sidewalk before turning to face her. “Why do you have such a hard on for this guy?”
“Why don’t you?” Dana challenged.
“Because.”
“Oh, great defense, detective. Let me know how it holds up in court after it comes out Landry was covering for Monroe.”
“You don’t know that,” George warned.
“You’re right. That’s why I want to go question him. Which is what you should want to do. And since you clearly don’t, I’m starting to wonder why that is?”
Anger exploded from George. He kicked his beer bottle over, voice raised. “Because I wasn’t there for Sophie! And Landry was!”
Dana flinched at his aggressive tone. Seeing her reaction, George took a step back. He shook his head and sunk down onto one of the metal barstools haphazardly scattered outside the bar. Pinching the bridge of his nose, George squeezed his eyes shut against a distant memory. When he opened them, he exhaled deeply.
“I’m sorry,” he said, shame filling his gaze. “This is why I don’t talk about her.”
Dana quietly moved to stand next to him. She leaned against the brick that was surprisingly cool despite the temperature outside. For a while she just stood there, wanting George to know he wasn’t alone. When he didn’t say anything, she took his hand. There was so much unspoken pain in his gaze when it met hers.
George looked away, but he found his voice. “Sophie’s family didn’t have the money for her treatment. But Landry made sure she got the care she needed anyway. Got her into a trial program, took care of all her expenses. Little good it did,” he added, staring down at his shoes.
“I’m sorry,” Dana said softly. She wasn’t heartless. She felt bad for George, but not bad enough to excuse the fact that Landry might be helping a killer.
George swallowed thickly, like he was trying to bury distant emotions. “The point is, Landry did everything he could to help Sophie. Just like he does for everyone in this community.”
“George, I get it. I know what it’s like to not want to believe someone you think you know could be capable of something like this.”
