Page 31 of Wild Sentinel

It was almost another hour to get back to West Hollywood. We caught up with Autumn in her apartment at the base of the hills. She waited tables at a bar on Sunset and wasn't exactly thrilled about having a conversation at this hour.

"When was the last time you talked to Brooke?" I asked as we stood in her doorway.

"I guess it was the day before she went missing."

Autumn was a cute brunette with a round face, a voluptuous figure, and a golden tan. I figured she got a lot of tips at the bar.

"Did she say anything to you about going somewhere?”

Autumn swallowed and gave us a blank expression. "No. Not at all.”

"Her mother says you two are close.”

Autumn nodded. "She's one of my best friends.”

"Did she talk to you about the work she did at Meridian?”

Autumn shook her head, and her chocolate hair swayed. "No, we never really talked about that kind of stuff. It was like classified, top secret or something.”

"Was she working on a government project?"

"I don't really know. Like I said, we didn't talk about it, and when she did mention anything about work, it just went over my head.”

"Was she happy at her job?”

Autumn shrugged. "She was making a ton of money. Money can buy happiness, I don't care what they say. I’m running myself ragged just to pay rent and bills. It's impossible to get ahead in this town.”

"Was she seeing anyone? Maybe somebody her mother didn't know about?”

"No. The girl had no time for drama. She hardly had time to hang out with me. I was always trying to get her to go out to a bar or something. Have a little fun. She was always on some kind of project. Some kind of deadline.”

"Did she ever mention any concerns to you? Was she afraid of anyone?”

Autumn swallowed again before answering. "No.”

"Are you sure about that?" I said, sensing she was holding something back.

"I'm positive.”

"And you haven't heard anything from her since her disappearance?”

"If I did, I would have said something. I'm worried sick about her.”

"What kind of recreational things is Brooke into?"

"What do you mean?" Autumn asked with a wrinkled brow.

"What does she like to do for fun?”

"Why?”

"I'm just trying to get a sense of places she might have gone, people she might interact with. Maybe she developed a stalker.”

“Not that I know of.”

“We need to find out if her disappearance is related to these other cases. I think they are. But it's important to rule out other possibilities."

Autumn took a deep breath. "Well, she loves chai lattes, yoga, CrossFit. She likes to run. Other than that, she works all the time. Brooke doesn’t drink much, but she likes the occasional cosmopolitan.”