When You See Me (Detective D.D. Warren #11)(76)

“Correct.”

“Across multiple lodging establishments?”

“Also correct.” The agent hesitated. “Though it’s worth noting we didn’t get any names from the Mountain Laurel inn. They claimed their computer system didn’t go back far enough. I’m wondering now . . .”

“If you did have access to those records, just how many more ‘ghosts’ that would add to the list,” Kimberly finished for him.

The agent nodded.

“What would draw dozens of people to one small town each year, all operating under fake names?” Kimberly asked slowly. She looked at the sheriff, but it was Keith who spoke up.

“Human trafficking, drug distribution, illegal organ transplants or other medical procedures,” he rattled off. “Maybe even a pornography ring, though most of those perps prefer to stay at home with their computers. A sex ring, on the other hand, that would do it.”

Kimberly stared at the computer analyst. “Thanks,” she said finally.

“In all of those scenarios”—Keith leaned forward, clearly warming to his topic—“the constant is that Niche is serving as the hub. The participants come here, using fake names, then go home again. Given the amount of tourists passing through, they have the perfect cover, right? A stranger spending the weekend hardly stands out. While the location of Niche—tucked up in northern Georgia, where you have drive time to four bordering states as well as easy access to Atlanta and a major airport—makes it ideal. Finally, the small size and limited economy makes it easier for coercion. Pay off your neighbors, threaten them into silence, either works. Frankly, I’m surprised more quaint mountain towns aren’t used for illegal enterprises.”

Keith sat back. Sheriff Smithers rubbed his face. The poor man looked like he was about to keel over, while in the back of the room, tall, built-like-a-brick Franny appeared positively faint. She was clutching the delicate gold cross she wore around her neck and shaking her head slowly, as if to ward off words that couldn’t possibly be true.

“Jacob Ness was here,” Flora spoke up, her voice perfectly toneless. “We met his father today, Walt Davies, and he took us to the abandoned shack where Jacob first held me eight years ago.”

“Walt Davies?” Sheriff Smithers roused himself in disbelief. “He’s Ness’s father?”

“He grows microgreens,” Flora said.

Keith covered her hand with his own.

Kimberly stared at the whiteboard beside her. For the first time, she realized she hadn’t written anything down. Because it was that kind of debriefing. So much information, so little that made any sense.

“Okay, let’s take this point by point. Jacob Ness does have ties to Niche.” Kimberly uncapped the dry-erase marker and wrote Jacob’s name across the top of a column. Then she added Ghost Guests as a column head. Then Mountain Laurel B&B, where she drew multiple lines down for Martha Counsel, Mayor Howard, Male UNSUB, and Cook.

Flora was staring at the table. She didn’t just look ragged, Kimberly realized. She appeared shell-shocked. The adrenaline of her momentous discovery had faded, and now the woman was crashing.

Keith did the honors. “Yes and no. Walt is Ness’s father, but he claims Jacob and his mother disappeared forty years ago. Walt didn’t even know if they were still alive. Then, one night, Jacob shows up in a local tavern and introduces himself to Walt. That was right after Flora’s abduction—so, around eight years ago.”

Kimberly nodded, and added a timeline to the board.

“According to Walt, if Jacob had been in town before then, Walt didn’t know about it.”

“Walt’s a recluse,” the sheriff said.

Kimberly got his point. “Meaning Jacob could’ve been in town before without Walt’s knowledge.”

“Jacob took Walt to where he was holding Flora,” Keith said. “An abandoned cabin in the woods. That’s why no one’s been able to find it before. It’s not a registered property at all.”

Kimberly added abandoned cabin beneath Jacob’s name. She’d never even considered such a thing. But given Keith’s point that Niche was perfectly situated as a distribution point, well, abandoned cabins in the woods would also make excellent meeting sites for handoffs.

“Did Walt know what Ness was driving?”

“An old truck. It had a dump sticker, so a local vehicle.”

Kimberly frowned. Jotted away. “Borrowed or owned?”

“Unknown. Walt claims he objected to what Jacob was doing. He even came back to rescue Flora. But Flora and Ness were already gone.”

Sheriff Smithers spoke up. “You believe him?”

Keith was slower to reply. “I think so. But Walt . . . he’s definitely a character.”

“Did he know anything else about Jacob? Where he’d been for the past forty years, what he’d done?” Kimberly asked.

“Walt claimed they didn’t get into the details. He was too taken aback at seeing his son after all these years to ask many questions.”

“But he was sure Jacob was his son?”

“A man knows his own blood,” Keith said solemnly.

Kimberly glanced at Flora. The woman’s face was completely expressionless, though at least Kimberly now understood why.

“Walt took you to the cabin where Flora had been held.”