Page 23 of Just Hide

The receptionist looked at Connor’s ID and then made a call, and Connor and Cami waited, exchanging hopeful glances.

Within a minute, with a brisk clicking of her fashionable boots, Sandra Keyes arrived, a tall and elegant woman with a no-nonsense demeanor. Her chestnut hair was tied back from her face. She had sharp features and intense, green eyes.

"Please, come upstairs," she said. She led them up one floor, to a large boardroom that seemed to be opposite her office. At any rate, the sweeping white desk and leather chair in the room opposite were empty. Glancing at the name board on the open door, Cami realized she was right.

The boardroom was smaller, with chilly air conditioning, a round table, and six seats. Sandra closed the door and sat down.

"How can I help?" Her gaze veered from Cami to Connor.

"FBI Agent Connor and Cami Lark, assisting on this case," Connor introduced them. "It's in connection with the serial murders."

"How is our company involved?"

There was a steely tone to her words that told Cami, straight off the bat, that this wasn't going to be easy, and this woman was not going to cooperate instantly. She'd had enough experience now to know defensiveness when she saw it.

"We don't know if your company is involved, but what we do know is that both the victims visited your premises more than once in the past few weeks. They would have been caught on your facial recognition software, and we'd like to know who had access to this as we believe this is how the killer is choosing these victims. They're both similar in appearance," Connor explained.

Her eyes narrowed. "You're suggesting one of our team is the killer?"

"Ma'am, we need to follow all leads," Connor said calmly.

Sandra Keyes nodded slowly. "I see. Well, I can assure you that our facial recognition software is secure. We have a very strict security protocol in place. Only authorized personnel may access the data, and all of that activity is logged."

"Can we see the logs?"

She shook her head. "It's our private, secure information. Company policy," she said firmly.

For a moment, Cami felt like screaming. Sandra Keyes was clearly not going to give them what they needed without a fight.

Connor nodded. "We understand that. But this is a matter of public safety, and we need to find out who had access to the records. We'll be discreet and won’t reveal your company's confidential information, if that's what you're worried about."

Cami could feel the tension in the air, but Sandra Keyes seemed to be considering the request.

Then she shook her head once more, and in a more final way. "You're looking at a very loose connection, and I don't feel you have sufficient evidence to search our private records," she said. “Come back with a warrant, and we’ll talk again.”

Cami glanced at Connor’s face. She could see he was mad about this but hiding it well. From what she had picked up from their cases so far, they didn’t need a warrant to access this information. It should be made available to them without one. But this woman was being obstructive, and now she had no idea how Connor was going to handle it.

Unless she could think of a quick way around this?

"We are legally entitled to view this information without a warrant,” Connor confirmed.

“I disagree,” Sandra said rudely, and Cami’s eyes widened. This was not a matter of opinion! She wasn’t entitled to have a “different view” on matters of basic police procedure.

Even so, they could be here arguing the point for hours unless she was able to help things along.

Cami caught Connor's eye. It was the most speedy, sidelong glance, but it spoke volumes.

She knew what she needed to do while they were discussing Sandra’s recent movements. This was extremely risky, but she guessed, from that quick look back, that Connor was on board with it.

Connor turned his focus back to Sandra. “May I ask for your whereabouts yesterday morning?" he asked her.

That showed Cami he was on board with her idea. By checking her alibi, he could hopefully keep her distracted, and in the meantime, she could take a look on her own.

What she now had to do was get out and access the records on her own, while Connor kept this obstructive woman occupied. Her mind raced as she tried to come up with an excuse to leave that wouldn’t trigger any suspicion.

Thinking quickly while Sandra Keyes wasn't looking, she activated the ringtone on her phone.

The loud tone made the others look around. Pretending to be embarrassed, Cami quickly silenced the tone and glanced down at her phone.

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