Andrew Britton - The American

Once she was outside the office, she didn’t have to wait long before a white Nissan Altima pulled into one of the empty spaces in front of the building, and an elderly woman hopped out with surprising agility. Hargrove’s smile quickly faded to concern when she saw the state of the woman standing before her. “My God,” she said, with genuine alarm. “What happened to you, hon?”

Kharmai studied her as she unlocked the door and they moved inside. Hargrove was a plump woman in her late sixties, with a pleasant demeanor and healthy skin that belied her age. Naomi liked her immediately, and saw no reason to lie. “My name is Naomi Kharmai, Mrs. Hargrove. I was on Chamberlayne Road this morning.”

The older woman’s eyes went wide as she took a seat and offered one to her visitor. Hargrove gratefully accepted a cup of coffee and didn’t question who Naomi was, or how she knew her name. “That raid that was all over television? You were there?”

Naomi nodded. “Unfortunately.”

“It was the only thing on the news… Are they any closer to finding Nicole?” she asked hopefully.

Naomi didn’t have the heart to tell her that Milbery’s body had already been found in a shallow grave on the property, along with a red Ford Escape that had been driven deep into the undergrowth and strategically covered with mud and fallen tree limbs. That piece of information had yet to make its way into the local news, and it wouldn’t help matters to share it now. “They haven’t found anything yet, Mrs. Hargrove, but they’re still looking.”

The older woman’s faded blue eyes began to mist over. “She’s such a good girl… I hope she’s okay. I just don’t understand it. Usually, I’m pretty good at reading people, but that man really fooled me, I don’t mind telling you. He must be the devil himself.”

“The one who leased the property?” Naomi asked. Hargrove nodded in agreement, but Naomi was confused. “Wait… How did you know that’s why I’m here?”

“My son-in-law is a state trooper,” Hargrove explained. There was a touch of pride in her eyes. “I asked him to keep me up-to-date, so he called me when your department asked for additional information.”

Naomi frowned inwardly at the VSP’s lack of discretion, but told herself to let it go for the moment. “Could you tell me exactly what happened, Mrs. Hargrove?”

The older woman shifted her weight in the seat and nodded enthusiastically. “We were pretty slow on the day he came in. Nicole whisked him right into her office. She didn’t say anything specific, but I saw that look in her eye… You know that woozy look a young woman gets when she sees a diamond necklace or a pair of shoes she really wants?”

Naomi couldn’t help but smile at the analogy. “I’ve probably had it myself, more than once,” she offered.

Hargrove shot her a knowing smile in turn. “I’m sure you have, hon. Anyway, that was the look that Nicole had. I knew what she was thinking, too, and her a married woman… Well, that’s another story.”

“And this man went directly into her office? He didn’t say anything to you at all?”

“Oh, no,” Hargrove said, taking a small sip of her coffee. “He was very nice and all, charming too, but he only said hello to me. I think he was just as interested in Nicole as she was in him.”

“How long did he stay?”

“Not long at all. They were in there for… maybe ten minutes. Then they came out and drove off in Nicole’s SUV.”

“Together?”

“Yep.” The older woman smiled at the scandal of it.

“How did he arrive in the first place?” Naomi asked. “You have some big windows in the front here. You didn’t see him pull up?”

Hargrove was already shaking her head. “No, I didn’t see anything at all. I already told that to the police.”

“Are you sure, Mrs. Hargrove? This is really important.”

“I’m completely sure. Besides, he told me he didn’t have a vehicle.”

Naomi looked up, suddenly interested. “I thought you said he didn’t talk to you.”

The older woman frowned. “Well, not coming in, he didn’t…”

Naomi tried to be patient. “And?”

“Well, on the way out he mentioned that he didn’t have a vehicle, but was in the market for one. So I asked him what he was looking for, and he said that he wanted a van.”

“And what did you tell him?” Kharmai felt something stir in her chest, recognized it as excitement.

Hargrove looked embarrassed. “Well, you see, I have a brother who lives down by Rivers Bend. He quit workin’ recently, so I knew he needed some extra money. And even though he’s pretty worthless, he’s still my brother, so I gave the man Walter’s number.”

“Walter’s your brother?”

“Unfortunately.”

“And he has a van?”

“Yep. It’s a big one, too. He used it on all his jobs. He was an electrician for twenty years. Not a very good one, mind you.”

Naomi was confused about something. “Why didn’t you tell the police all of this?”

The older woman shrugged. She was a little nervous, trying to figure out if she was in trouble or not. “Well, I didn’t see how it would help them find Nicole, for one thing.”

Naomi had to admit that she had a point there. Up until about twelve hours ago, this had been a routine missing persons investigation, and there had been no reason to suspect one of Milbery’s clients. “And the other reason?”

“He said that it wasn’t what he was looking for. He didn’t want a big, commercial van… too much on gas, he said. He just wanted something to run around to distributors in Richmond. I guess he was some type of salesman, but I’m not really sure.”

She thought about that for a second. “How often do you talk to your brother?”

Lindsay Hargrove shrugged her shoulders once again. “Not all that often. Like I said, he’s kind of no-good. I don’t get nothin’ outta talkin’ to him. In fact, it usually ends up costin ’ me something.”

“Did you ever find out if he sold the van?”

A third shrug. “I called him that day to tell him about it, but he didn’t say ‘Thanks for tryin’ or anything like that, so I’ve been givin’ him the cold shoulder ever since. Why?”

“No reason. What kind of van does your brother have, Mrs. Hargrove? Specifically, I mean.”

“I can’t be sure, hon, but I think it’s a Ford. A white Ford, and really big.”

“What about the outside? Anything unusual about it…?”

“No, not really. It might have a ladder rack. Apart from that, it’s just a plain-old white panel van, maybe a little dinged up. Walter isn’t a very good driver.”

Naomi got to her feet, sweeping a lock of dirty black hair behind her ear and trying hard not to show her excitement. “That’s great, Mrs. Hargrove. You’ve been very helpful. Do you think I could use your phone?”

“Sure, hon. Anything you need.” She hesitated. “Um, Walter’s not in trouble, is he?”

Naomi looked up and said, with complete sincerity, “Trouble? No, not at all. In fact, his information could be vital to national security.”

“National security? Walter?” Lindsay Hargrove thought about that, appraising the disheveled state of her visitor once again. She lifted an eyebrow. “Huh.”

When the call came in to the TTIC, Jonathan Harper had to stop her twice before she slowed down enough to give him a coherent account of the conversation.

When Kharmai was finished, he said, “But you don’t know if the van was actually sold or not?”

“No, but the story he told her doesn’t sound right to me, sir. Maybe he was just trying to keep her out of the loop, you know? One less witness he’d have to worry about.”

Harper heard the excitement in her voice, and had to admit that it sounded promising. He looked at his watch. “Jesus, Naomi, they’re wrapping up the speeches right now.”