Frankly Speaking - A Frank Rozzani Detective Novel (#1)
Page 16
Frank was silent. He wasn't quite sure what to say.
Was the case over that easily? Was everything that they had found meaningless?
He asked Bullock directly.
"Does this mean that the police were right? Did Maggie run away?"
"Not by a long shot. Maggie is being held against her will."
"I'm confused. You just told me you spoke to her and that she told you she ran away."
"That's how she began the call, Mr. Rozzani. She sounded rehearsed. It didn't sound like her at all. Then, at the end of the call, she tipped us off that she is being held."
"How exactly did she tip you off?"
"She told me to say hello to Liam"
"I'm not sure I follow. Who is Liam?"
"Liam Neeson. You know, the actor."
"I'm still confused. Liam Neeson?"
"Have you seen the movie, Taken, Frank? Liam Neeson plays a father who rescues his teenage daughter that's been kidnapped in Europe. It was a favorite for both of us. She used it to tell us she has been taken. I'm sure of it," Bullock said adamantly.
"Did she give you any other clues? Did she say where she might be or who she's with?"
"No. Someone was listening and told her what to say. The number was blocked. I almost didn't answer it."
"That's OK. At least we know she's alive and wants to be found. That's a big break for us. Now we have to find her."
"I was hoping you would say that."
"If you hear anything else from her, please let me know right away."
"We will."
After he hung up Frank called Jonesy to tell him the latest development.
"I think we should move forward as planned," Jonesy said to Frank when he finished relaying the story. "The pastor and Cobb still smell fishy in this case and may just lead us to her."
"I agree. The people who've been trying to get us off this case are probably involved in it. I'll still plan on going with Anita to Cobb's spread in Green Cove Springs tomorrow."
"Since tomorrow is Sunday, the good pastor will be laying it out there for his 11 AM service," Jonesy said. "My sources tell me that he retreats to his house in Queens Harbor and collapses for the rest of the day after the service. That sounds like the perfect time to pay him a visit. His guard will be down."
"Sounds about right. One problem though, how will you get in? Queens Harbor is gated up tighter than a lot of military bases."
"One of my good customers put me on their guest list as a favor. Once I'm in, it doesn't matter where I go."
Frank and Jonesy said goodbye. Frank got ready for bed doing his best to move Lucy out of the way. She growled softly in her sleep and then finally surrendered by letting out a long sigh. Frank slept soundly for the first time in three nights.
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Frank was awakened by his newly-returned furry alarm clock at 5:30 AM. He felt refreshed after a night of dreamless sleep. He pulled on some running shorts and a t-shirt and he and Lucy walked down the path to the beach for an abbreviated walk/run. He could tell Lucy was not quite 100% by the way she favored her stitched hip.
After about a half-mile, they turned and headed back. When they reached the trailer, about an hour had gone by since Frank woke up. Lucy cautiously entered the dog door and drank a healthy amount of water. She was clearly more tired than usual.
Frank took a shower, dressed and made them breakfast. Lucy ate her scrambled eggs hungrily. At least her appetite was back to normal. Frank sat at the computer with a mug of hazelnut coffee and began to search for more clues about Stanton Cobb. Lucy assumed her usual position under the desk. Life was back to normal. At least this version of normal.
Frank's first stop was Google Maps. He plugged in Cobb's Green Cove Springs property address. The satellite view of the property revealed a typical old-style southern plantation layout. There was a large main house with a series of out-buildings arranged in an arc around a field. These outbuildings were likely slave quarters when they were originally built. There were also some modern amenities on the property including a fortified guard shack at what appeared to be the one and only entrance to the property. Cobb would know they were coming.
Frank decided to do a little digging on the history of the property. Green Cove Springs was established in 1854 and was a favorite place for land owners with slaves to settle as they believed it was far south enough that slaves could not escape north to the safety of the union troops. Frank assumed that the former plantation, which was small by southern standards, was one of those established to prevent the escape of slaves. From the satellite images, both the main house and the group of outbuildings looked well-maintained.
Frank then switched over to investigate some of Stanton Cobb's legal career highlights. After graduating from law school, Cobb and his wife moved back to Jacksonville where he joined a downtown law firm named Laney, Roberts, and Hughes. The firm specialized in domestic law. Since it was the late 60's, divorce, common law marriage, and other areas of related legal proceedings were beginning to grow quickly.
Cobb didn't attain much notoriety at first. That all changed in 1974. Cobb was retained by a wealthy family, prominent in the Baptist church, for an adoption case. The plaintiff in the case was a poor Jacksonville woman who had put her young son up for adoption when she gave birth to him at age 16. The woman, now 24, wanted custody of her son returned to her. Cobb represented the adoptive parents. The woman claimed that she signed over her son under duress due to her need for money and her young age. She was married with another child and wanted her son returned to her.
During this case, there was some significant coverage in Jacksonville's newspaper, the Florida Times Union. According to the articles, Cobb was masterful in arguing that, even though the woman was under age and was now more financially and domestically stable, the child would clearly benefit from staying with his adoptive parents. He argued that they were able to provide him with a better education and with a faith-based environment. He also argued that there would be significant trauma to the child of being ripped from the arms of the only parents he had ever known. Cobb supplemented his assertions with expensive expert testimony that validated the potential psychological damage to the child. He even had the child testify, via closed circuit television, how much he loved his adoptive parents and how sad he would be to ever have to leave them. According to the newspaper report, this maneuver brought the whole court room to tears, including the plaintiff.
The judge ruled in favor of the adoptive parents and Cobb. His career was launched due to the prominence of the case. It didn't hurt that the adoptive parents were the great nephew and niece, by marriage, of the pastor of First Baptist Church. Cobb had made his mark both publicly and within the church. He soon launched his own thriving family law practice and would later be joined by two young lawyers, Travis and Margaret Bullock.
The legal highlights for Stanton Cobb were very few after the one blockbuster public case. He had apparently parlayed that case into a financially successful and influential career. Cobb was now among the elders of First Baptist Church, a group with more power in Jacksonville than the city government. As Frank knew, he also had power and influences in other, less well-known circles.
As Frank searched for other hidden morsels of information, he heard the unmistakable sound of a Harley-Davidson engine pulling in near the trailer. Lucy heard it too and jumped to attention. Only two people that Frank knew rode Harleys. One was Jonesy, who occasionally rode the one that he had received as a bonus. The other was Anita. Since he was expecting her, he assumed she had arrived. Lucy knew both possible Harley riders well so she was out the dog door before Frank could get up from his desk. He found Lucy outside on her back having her belly scratched by a fit-looking Anita completely dressed in black.
"Hey Anita."
"Hey Piano Boy. Ready for our road trip?"
"I think so."
CHAPTER FOURTEEN