She of the Sea

5 of 53 - A Solid Lead

It had been a long day canvassing the beach and adjacent streets. Long and hot. The Florida humidity was taking a toll on Webb, but he didn't want to complain in front of his younger crew who had worked tirelessly showing the photo of Cassandra Drakos to probably a thousand people up and down the coast.

A few recognized her, either because they were neighbors or friends of the girl and her mother, but none could provide information as to where she could be. The crew had suspicions about some of the neighbors who seemed defensive. Might they be hiding her?

A call had come in a few minutes ago over the Amber Alert hotline. An attendant at Sunset Beach had positively identified Cassandra and claimed to have spoken to her. Hopeful over the tip, Webb drove the van carrying his crew up to the entrance gate. "We have an appointment with one of the guards here, Per Grimmson. He's expecting us."

The attendant raised a walkie-talkie to his mouth. "Hey, Grimmy, there's a van full of people here looking for you. You better come."

"On my way," came the staticky voice through the speaker.

The attendant pointed to an adjacent parking spot. "Visitors will soon be streaming past this gate to watch the sunset. Feel free to pull over there."

"Thank you." Webb did as instructed and shut off the motor.

"I'm skeptical," Danno said.

"How so?"

"This place is easily three miles from her house. It's highly unlikely the girl could have slipped through our net and walked all this way. Even if she did, she would've been seen and reported."

"Could be she swam here," Claudia said.

Danno scoffed. "Right. An eleven-year-old girl swimming three miles in the Gulf of Mexico. At night. I don't think even any of us could manage that."

Claudia slid her sunglasses on. "Speak for yourself. I think it's doable."

Nico added, "Definitely doable considering what she is."

Danno shook his head. "She's just a kid. No way could she have gone through the metamorphosis yet. Her mother could have done it, but not the girl." He turned in his seat to face Erasmus Scott. "What do you think, Razzy?"

The big Seminole shrugged. "I do not know." He was always quiet and contemplative, but when he had something to say they all took his words seriously.

A long-legged twentysomething man rounded the corner. The attendant at the gate pointed to the van. Webb grunted. "This is him. I don't want to overwhelm the man by all of us getting out and surrounding him. Danno, you're with me. The rest of you stay here."

Nico ran a finger around his shirt collar. "How about firing up the engine so we get some AC. It's getting hot in here."

Webb obliged him. Then he and Danno exited the van and approached the man "Are you Per Grimmson?"

"Yes, sir."

"You have information about Cassandra Drakos?"

"Yeah, but I already told the police. Who are you and why are you interested?"

Webb had anticipated how people would ask that logical question. He and his crew invented a cover story. "As you probably know by now, her mother was killed during a home invasion, but Cassandra managed to get away. We're with Tipstaff Security, a government contractor investigating an international child sex trafficking ring with ties to a radical terrorist organization. We have reason to believe the girl was the intended target."

Grimmson inhaled sharply and his eyes went wide. A story of kids being trafficked usually caused even the most suspicious of witnesses to open up and spill everything they knew.