“Oh my God, poor Gabrielle. We can’t believe what happened to her and Adam.”

“No clue she was part of the Morgan family?” Gavin looked straight at Aaron.

Aaron’s eyes went wide. Stunned. “Detective, no. None at all. It was such a shock to hear it on the news.”

“Did she ever seem suicidal to you?” Warren asked.

“Stressed, yes. But not even anything close to suicidal.” Aaron shook his head in regret. “But, detective, you never know what goes on under the smiling face, the façade people put on. Many hide their pain, and they do it really well. It blinds people around them to their disease, their demon. Some try to erase it with drugs and alcohol. That never works. People who are depressed need to express their feelings, not hide them. We can’t help if we don’t know something is wrong. Unfortunately, some are masters at hiding it. You have to want help, detective.”

“Well, Aaron, I’ll admit I need help, but in a different way. I need to find out what happened to Gabrielle,” Gavin said, his face sympathetic, searching.

“Of course. I’ll do anything that I can.” Aaron’s eager eyes shifted from one detective to another.

“Well, we were looking at her missing person report and I see that a Scott Payne filed it. Is Scott here today?” Gavin asked. “Can we talk to him?”

“Yes, he’s here.” Aaron took out his phone. “Let me text him to see if he’s free.”

Gavin stopped Aaron mid text. “Scott hasn’t responded to any of the messages I left for him earlier. I was hoping to catch him in person, to speak to him informally.” Gavin grinned and added. “I wouldn’t want to have to pull him into our headquarters for questioning, now. Can you let him know that in your text?”

Aaron nodded, wide-eyed. “Of course. Scott is a busy man, detective.” He typed the message. “I’m sure this was an oversight on his part.”

“I’m a busy man too,” Gavin said, choosing not to say anything more on Scott Payne’s busy-ness. Gavin would go after Scott one-on-one soon enough. “Aaron, while we’re waiting can I ask you another question.”

“Of course, detective.” Aaron set the phone down on the desk in front of him. “Shouldn’t be long. Scott usually gets back to me right away when I text.”

“What can you tell us about Gabrielle Morgan in general? What type of person was she?” Gavin asked.

Aaron smiled. “She was a great co-worker.” He hesitated after he finished the sentence, seeming reluctant to say more.

“I almost feel a ‘but’ in your description,” Gavin said, pressing Aaron a little bit.