Today, I’m sitting down with the heroine of The Profiler series, Evelyn Baine, to find out more about how she balances her job with the FBI and the rest of her life:
So, Evelyn, what exactly do you do for the FBI?
“I’m a criminal investigative analyst – what you might call a profiler – for the Behavioral Analysis Unit. If you’ve got a crime where everything you’ve tried has failed to find you the perpetrator, you call my unit. We don’t need forensics or obvious suspects. What we do is look at the crime scene and read the psychology behind it. What caused the perpetrator to do this? What kind of person is he? How do you find him?”
That sounds really complicated. How did you get into this line of work?
“Sometimes it is complicated. I don’t really like to talk about my personal life, but I learned about profilers when I was twelve years old. My best friend disappeared and an FBI profiler came to town to find her. He never did, so it became my life’s mission to join the FBI, learn how to profile cases myself and one day figure out what happened to her.”
Does a job like this give you time to date or have a social life?
“Not really.” [glances around to make sure no one else can overhear] “But sometimes, you meet someone where you’d least expect it. That happened to me with a guy in the FBI’s Hostage Rescue Team. At first, I thought he was just joking around, but now…”
Now what?
“Well, the FBI doesn’t let agents on the same squad date. The Behavioral Analysis Unit and the Hostage Rescue Team aren’t technically the same squad, but we’re both part of a special group that gets called during crises. So, it’s not exactly allowed.”
So, you’re not dating this guy? What’s his name?
“Kyle McKenzie. Everyone calls him Mac. And…uh, no, we’re not dating.”
Are you sure?
[glances around the room again] “Don’t you have more questions about my work?”
Okay. Can you tell us what you’re working on right now?
“I just got a case about a high schooler who disappeared from inside her school. Her boyfriend dropped her off outside, a bunch of her friends saw her walk into the school, and then she was just gone. Later, her mom found a note she’d left behind. It said, If you’re reading this, I’m already dead.”
Wow. What do you think happened?
“I don’t know yet. But we do have a lot of questions. Like, why would she leave behind a note like this instead of telling someone she was scared? Her dad claims she ran away. Her mom thinks a stranger grabbed her. But the more we look into the case, the more people close to her we’re finding who have secrets.”
And you think one of them got her killed?
“We’re hoping she’s still alive.” [glances at her watch] “And I’ve got to go. The faster we get a profile, the more likely we are to figure out what happened to her.”
Thanks for answering my questions, Evelyn. And good luck with Mac.
[blushes] “There’s nothing happening with him. Really.”
To find out more about Evelyn, her secret relationship with Mac, and what happened to the missing teenager who left behind the note, leave a comment and you’ll be entered to win a copy of STALKED, the latest book in The Profiler series.
About Elizabeth Heiter
Critically acclaimed and award-winning author ELIZABETH HEITER likes her suspense to feature strong heroines, chilling villains, psychological twists, and a little bit (or a lot!) of romance. Her research has taken her into the minds of serial killers, through murder investigations, and onto the FBI Academy’s shooting range. Her novels have been published in more than a dozen countries and translated into eight languages; they’ve also been shortlisted for the Daphne Du Maurier award, the National Readers’ Choice award and the Booksellers’ Best award and won the RT Reviewers’ Choice award.
The heroine of Elizabeth’s Profiler novels was called “one of the most amazing characters created in print” by Fresh Fiction. Her novels have received praise from Lee Child, J.T. Ellison, Jeffery Deaver, Tess Gerritsen, R.L. Stine, Allison Brennan, Laura Griffin, Suzanne Brockmann, Hank Phillippi Ryan and Zoë Sharp.
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