Chapter 26

Frank prepares for the final push in the case.

Frank and Hammersmith had been through all of the physical evidence from Cobb's office. It was time to talk to people. Cobb had employees. Each of them might be in the dark, but together they might offer some significant clues regarding where Maggie had been taken. Frank suggested they start with Dawn-Marie Wells. She was connected to the clinic, her husband as the clinic's physician, and Cobb.

Hammersmith radioed the agents holding the clinic employees and asked them to bring Dawn-Marie to the command center. Her former indignant attitude was not replaced by nervousness and fear, no doubt caused by the intimidating FDLE presence.

"Dawn-Marie", Frank said sternly. "I want you to tell me exactly when Maggie disappeared from the clinic".

"All I know is that she was here yesterday. I changed the dressings on her feet myself"

"Dressings?"

"Yes, she tried to escape her first night here and when she broke her bedroom window to get out, she cut her feet".

"You said Cobb gave the order to terminate her pregnancy. When was that?"

"I know it was two days after her attempted escape. I don't know the details, but she must have done something bad to have that happen so early on".

"Did your husband perform the abortion?"

"Heavens no. She was early enough along that it was done medicinally".

"And who administered the medicine?"

"That would be the nurse on duty at night, Phyllis Kimbrough. She lives here in Green Cove Springs".

Dawn-Marie, now suddenly very cooperative, recited Phyllis's address. Hammersmith gave the address to a junior agent who sprinted from the room and out the door.

"Mr. Rozzani, how bad is this going to get?" Dawn-Marie asked.

"You mean for you and your husband?"

"Well, um...yes".

"Your one saving grace is that Cobb seemed to hide the big picture of what was going on here. That being said, you and your husband should have known better. Our ignorance will only protect you to a certain degree. I can't and won't predict how serious this will get, but your little endeavor with Mr. Cobb has affected some highly placed people. I wouldn't plan on a wrist slap and community service".

"Oh my. That's what I was afraid of".

Hammersmith motioned from one of his agents to take Dawn-Marie back to the clinic. Just then, his cell phone chirped.

"Hammersmith", he said. "Uh huh", after a long pause, "Bring her in".

Then to Frank, "Phyllis Kimbrough was home asleep. Apparently she was scheduled to work here tonight. She'll be coming in a bit early".

"Did they tell her she won't be earning overtime?"

"They should be here in ten minutes".

"Good.  I'm going to walk around and report in to Jonesy".

The call was short, partly because there was nothing new on Jonesy's end.

"I've hit nothing with regard to other properties where Cobb might be holding the girls as they wait to get shipped tomorrow. I did hear from Anita, though. Apparently Drake has had a major change of heart and came in and poured out the little that he knew about Cobb's operation to his commander. He's been suspended while they sort it out. We now have full support from the department with Anita heading their efforts. Unfortunately, Drake didn't contribute anything new. He was kept in the dark as well".

"Cobb certainly compartmentalized his operation. It makes our job that much harder now that what was in his brains is splattered all over his office.”

"True. We better catch a break soon or Maggie is going to be on her way to a horrible life overseas".

"Thanks for the unnecessary motivation"

"Any time'

As Frank hung up, he saw an unmarked FDLE vehicle pulling up to the house with speed that indicated urgency. From the back seat emerged a tall, gangly, disheveled woman of about 40 wearing wrinkled blue scrubs. She had a severe case of bed head and obviously hadn't been given time to apply makeup which completed the scary look. Presumably this was Phyllis Kimbrough. Frank waited until she was inside and then made the short walk to the house.

As Frank entered the command center, Hammersmith was already talking to the woman.

"Mr. Rozzani, this is Ms. Kimbrough. As you know, she is the night nurse in this Little Shop of Horrors and I'm sure she has an interesting story to tell us".

Kimbrough looked confused and constantly fingered the gold cross that hung around her neck as she sat nervously.

"Ms. Kimbrough, I'll get right to the point", Frank said. "What do you know about the disappearance of a girl named Maggie?"

She looked down at the floor.

"Ms. Kimbrough, did you hear the question?"

"I did", she said quietly.

"Ms. Kimbrough, I am trying to save this girl's life. Where was she taken? When was she discharged from the clinic?” Frank was quickly losing patience.

"If you know where she is and you don't tell us, you can be charged as an accomplice if any harm comes to her", Hammersmith chimed in.

"I don't know where she is. I don't know where Nico takes them. It was too soon to move her..."

"Excuse me", Frank interrupted. "Who is Nico?"

"He works for Mr. Cobb. He handles the transition phase when the girls leave us".

"Where does he take them?” Frank asked.

"I don't know. I just don't know".

"Do you know Nico's last name, Ms. Kimbrough?" Hammersmith asked.

"No. All I know about him is he is not from here".

"Not from here?" Frank asked.

"He has an accent. Not quite Spanish, but similar".

"Ms. Kimbrough, I'm going to put you with a computer sketch artist so we can come up with a description of Nico", Hammersmith said.

"What about surveillance video from the clinic?" Frank asked. "Nico must appear on some of it".

"No. He always called ahead so that we could turn the surveillance system off".

"Was he doing things in 'transitioning' the girls that he didn't want recorded?" Frank asked.

At this question Phyllis Kimbrough just tugged at her cross and looked down.

"What is it Phyllis?” Frank asked.

"His methods were a bit aggressive, but those girls with their loose morals, they deserved it".

"They deserved to have their babies stolen or aborted by you and then disappear forever", Frank asked with growing anger.

"Disappear forever? What do you mean? Does Nico kill them?”

What happened to these girls may be worse than death, Phyllis. Do you think they deserved that?"

The last question caused Phyllis Kimbrough to tremble. They had reached the end of her usefulness in answering questions.

"Let's get her with the sketch artist and get a description of Nico pulled together quickly".

"The sketch artist is on the way with her computer", one of the junior agents in the room reported.

Frank and Hammersmith questioned other clinic employees. They also questioned the three guards that rotated on duty at the guard shack. They all acknowledged seeing Nico and his associates enter the property periodically. They were instructed to give him uninhibited access. One of the guards admitted to being the one that caught Maggie trying to escape.

While they waited for the sketch to be completed, Frank and Hammersmith pieced together a time line from what they had found out. Maggie and Troy had talked to Pastor Rick on Tuesday afternoon. She disappeared Tuesday night. She tried to escape from the clinic on Wednesday night. Her father spoke with Frank and Jonesy on Thursday night after becoming frustrated with the police investigation. Maggie was at the clinic when she called her father on Sunday. Her pregnancy was terminated on Monday and according to the nurse and the guard, Nico had removed her from the property at around 11:30 PM on Tuesday. Last night. The boat that would take Maggie to Qatar was set to leave the Port of Jacksonville on Thursday. Tomorrow. Frank suddenly flinched.

"What is it, Frank?” Hammersmith asked.

"Let's just say that whoever made the hole you found in the fence may have been on the property about 15-30 minutes after Maggie was taken by Nico.

"If I were that guy, I'd feel pissed", Hammersmith said with a knowing look.

An agent came in and whispered something to Hammersmith.

"We have a digital image based on the various descriptions of Nico from the clinic staff and the guards. We can email it to Tallahassee and get it prioritized to run through the national facial recognition software", Hammersmith told Frank.

"How long will that take?" Frank asked.

"I'll get it bumped to the front of the line and have results within eight hours".

"Eight hours may be too long. Can I also send the image to my associate to see if he can accelerate the search somehow?”

"You can send it to whomever you like that can help us, but the national system is state-of-the-art. I'm not sure what capabilities you have".

"I have a Jonesy".

"A what?"

"Never mind. I'll give you an email address to send it to. I need to make a call".

Frank stepped outside and dialed.

"Jones", came the familiar answer.

"Jonesy, we have a digital sketch of the guy who took Maggie from Cobb's property. I've had it emailed to you. The guy's first name is Nico".

"You have his name and a description. Anything else?"

"He has an accent and speaks a language that is not quite Spanish".

"OK, that's something to work with. I'll see what I can do".

They hung up and Frank's phone chirped to life again almost immediately. It was Travis Bullock III.

"Travis thanks for sending in the cavalry. We are making some headway".

"I know. Hammersmith has been reporting directly to the head of FDLE her in the capitol and I'm getting regular briefings. He's quite impressed with you and Jones".

"Well, tell him to hold that thought until we bring Maggie home safely".

"I just called to tell you that if you need any resources, just name them. I have the coast guard on hold if and when you need them".

"What we need now is some luck".

"We could all use some of that".

Frank ended the call and went back to the house. Someone had brought in assorted sandwiches and soft drinks. Frank was too anxious to be hungry, but thought he should eat. He joined Hammersmith who was also taking a break to choke down some food.

"This case gets stranger the more you dig into it", Hammersmith said.

"You have no idea"

Frank told him about the snake, the brick and the Sun Dog arson.

"Small time tactics against someone with your background".

Frank gave him a look.

"What? Did you think that I was going to blindly put my resources at the disposal of someone that I know nothing about?”

"I guess you're right".

"It must have been hell for you".

"Again, you have no idea".

"Do you think the smoke will clear enough for you to go back home someday?"

"The people involved don't forget easily. I'm afraid that if I go back, I'll put those around me in danger".

"Well, if you keep solving cases here, you're going to get noticed".

"Then it will be time to move on again".

Frank's phone rang again mercifully putting an end to the conversation. It was Jonesy.

"What took you so long?"

"Niccolo Souza. Age 34. American citizen born in Brazil. That strange language was Portuguese.".

"How the hell did you find him this fast", Frank said getting Hammersmith's attention.

"I took a long shot. It seems like Cobb would hire someone with the right criminal skills to do his dirty work. Who has access to criminals and can leverage their help in exchange for leniency?"

"A judge as in Judge Jameson?"

"Bingo. He's in this almost as deeply as Cobb".

"Anything else?"

"Nico's brother and cousins are commercial fishermen. If we think Maggie is destined for a cargo ship to the Middle East, there may be boats involved to get her to that cargo ship while it's in port".

"You mean they might hold her on a fishing boat and then transfer her to the ship. They'd never get near the port without drawing attention".

"No, but if the cargo ship sent a tender to the fishing boat, that would be undetected. Tenders leave and arrive at cargo ships all the time to transfer crew to and from shore".

"Jonesy, this is a big help. Stay tuned".

"I wouldn't miss the end of this one".