the inevitable vulgar comments and jokes about a nude female body you’d expect from some jerks in law enforcement. But, for the most part, we were all preoccupied with finding the bastard.”
“And Kevin?” She started drumming her fingers on the dashboard.
“So they put out a bulletin to all law enforcement to be alert to situations involving a white SUV. That stirred up a hornet’s nest. Any idea how many white SUVs in Florida? Street patrol would follow any white minivan or SUV, looking for some excuse for a stop. Every officer wanted to be the one who nailed the guy. If it was white and had wheels, we stopped it, some multiple times. One motorist wrote the newspaper saying cars should be marked with an X so they wouldn’t be stopped more than once. Anyway, a deputy stopped Kevin later that day for a tag light out on his white Toyota SUV. He had a wet bathing suit in the back and Georgia plates. The deputy who pulled him over went crazy—all hyper about the guy. So they sent me over to the stop to check him out.”
“And,” she said loudly.
“He seemed okay, said he was down from Georgia to visit his daughter. Who we now know is Jamie. I verified some stuff and sent him on his way.”
“So that’s why his name rang a bell with you. That’s all there is to it? Geez, you scared the hell out of me. I don’t know why Abby and Kevin got divorced, but you had me thinking Jamie had another bad actor in her life besides her mother.”
“Now get out of here. I shouldn’t be seen talking with you.”
“As part of that investigation, are you guys trying to locate that Toby? You know, the guy Abby thought she shot.”
“What did I just tell you about your own case? Please get out of here.”
“So I’m the one who’s stuck with not only finding Jamie, finding Toby, and dealing with Kevin Olin if he ever phones me back.”
“Out!”
She thanked him for trusting her with the beach story and went back to her car. Instinctively she reached for her laptop and then remembered it was in the sheriff’s evidence room. She phoned Chip and told him she needed access to his police computer. He suggested they meet at his house. When she arrived, he was sitting in his unmarked vehicle in his driveway writing up some report. She explained she had located Kevin Olin; and needed help locating Toby last name unknown. The Privado Beach affair was out of her mind.
“Abby Olin didn’t seem at all worried that Jamie’s missing,” she told him. “She refuses to report her missing. Why wouldn’t a mother be hysterical about a missing child? No doubt she’s already rented out her room.”
“Because she isn’t really missing?” he suggested. “Possibly Abby left her with a friend or relative. She’s not worried because she knows where Jamie is. You’ve already notified the father. I think you should hold off on pursuing some alleged kidnapper and concentrate on clearing yourself.”
“If Jamie’s safe, then why was her bike found in the bushes? No, I’ll worry about me later. I need to find this Toby. He definitely has something to do with it. Abby intended to kill him. If I can find out why, then I can clear myself and might find Jamie in the process. Toby sounds like a nickname and that didn’t get me very far tracing on the Internet. Abby knows his full name, however she’s not talking. Can you search through the national crime database for me?”
“Sure, let’s do it right now. He reached over and booted his Police Vehicle Computer. “Toby is short for Tobias. Of course, Toby could be a legal first name also. If the given name isn’t Tobias, then it’s likely the last name is fairly unusual and starts with a T and O. Such as Toblanski, or Topol. We’ll search for first name or alias.”
They sat doing searches for various areas. List of names and addresses started scrolling on the screen. “Here’s five possibles in adjacent counties and three others that are local.”
“I thought there’d be many more, Chip.”
“Remember, these are criminal offenders only, not everyone called Toby. And those addresses might not be any good, except for these two here. See they’re marked as sex offenders? Sex offenders must give us their current address. You still have a lot of legwork to do. If this Toby you’re after doesn’t have a criminal record, you’ve a long tedious search ahead of you.”
“Ok, print out those eight.”
He did, and tore off the printout and handed it to her. “I just noticed, you can forget that last name there. He’s presently in Okeechobee Correctional.”
“Thanks. I’m going now to find the addresses on this list. Thank god my car has GPS.”
“I’m telling you again, you should drop this entire idea. Too dangerous. Think about it, Sandy. Toby intended to go around to Abby’s house the night of the shooting. At least that’s what Jamie told you—that’s why you went there with Detective Pomar, right? Therefore when Toby heard about the shooting, he must have figured out that the bullet was meant for him.”
“That’s what I thought. They arrest Abby, and Toby becomes afraid she’ll bring him into it. So he snatches Jamie for insurance. Then he phones Abby and tells her to shut up about him or else. That means a dangerous man has his hands on Jamie.”
“That means a dangerous man knows you’re looking for him.”
Chapter Thirteen
Although Sandy was convinced the mysterious Toby was involved in Jamie’s disappearance, she also had to admit she had absolutely no evidence to support such a belief. She needed to find him and needed to figure out where to start. An Internet search for people named Toby or Tobias in nearby counties had resulted in far too many hits with haphazard demographics. The criminal offender list Chip printed out zeroed the search down to eight suspects. Certainly, a more manageable list, although the Toby she sought might not have a documented criminal past.
This might take some time and was full of guesses. Locate each listed offender, get a look at him, and try to guess if he was likely to be involved with Abby Olin, either as her boyfriend or someone she might want to kill for a reason yet unknown. Is he nervous? Does he appear to be hiding? Is it likely Jamie is hidden somewhere around the premises? All of it a shaky guess, and the chance of hitting bingo with only eight names on the list was slight.
She needed to stop by and get something from Kagan’s office before she started out. Kagan was there at his desk eating a fish sandwich with creamy coleslaw.
“You have lunch yet? Want a mouthful of this?”
“I’m skipping it today.” She held up the printout. “I’m off on a scavenger hunt. I have a list of bad guys.” She explained what she was up to.
“Might I help somehow?”
“As a matter of fact, I need to borrow a clipboard and one of your business-sized checks.”
“A check?”
“A blank—straight out of your checkbook.”
“You’re welcome to them, although I’ve no idea what you’re going to do with them. Just don’t write the check for more than five million or it’ll bounce.” He tore out a blank check. “You’ll find some clipboards in that cabinet over there.”
“Is there anything you need right now? Can I make a run over to the courthouse for you or anything?”
“Thanks, Sandy. The walk over to the courthouse does get longer every year. No, I’m fine. Anything else for you?”
“You can tell me what Abby and Toby are up to and why Jamie happened to go missing.” She snapped the printout of names onto the clipboard with the blank check face down on top. “Maybe you know this. Moran mentioned the police found money when they searched Abby’s house after the shooting. Do you happen to know how much?”
“Ten thousand cash is the word around the courthouse.”
“Geez, I never dreamed it was that much. Abby and Toby are definitely into something. How would those two characters get hold of that much cash legally?”
She got in her Miata and punched the first address into her GPS. It felt good being out in the field people- finding again. Locating conspirators and witnesses was what her old job in Philly paid her to do and she was good at it. This time it was different. This time she was the subject of her own investigation. This was personal.
