Chapter 4
CHAPTER 4
All four women looked around at each other contemplating what to ask next and how to word it. They were saved from having to rethink their questions by the next statement.
“Ladies don’t hesitate to ask any questions. I get it, you don’t know me and because I’m Tribal Police you don’t want to offend me. Ask me any questions you need to. I’m desperate here.” Warcloud admitted as he sighed heavily into the phone.
“Okay. Thank you. My next question is this, is it normal protocol for school children to walk from the reservation line to home? How far of a walk is it for them?” Raso asked as she looked at her teammates in confusion.
“From the line where the bus drops them off, it’s roughly four miles for them to walk home. There are a couple that’s even further. The middle school and high school kids are the main ones who walk from the line to their homes. Elementary school kids are usually met at the bus with a daycare van that takes them back to the daycare until their parents pick them up.”
“Mr. Warcloud, with your permission, my team and I would like to meet with you in person tomorrow to look at what you have. We can be your liaison between Redford PD and you to help you find out what’s going on.” Pratt offered, looking over to see the agreed nods from her teammates.
“I would greatly appreciate that. Anything you need let me know and I will make sure I can get it for you.” Warcloud’s voice sounded relieved over the phone.
“If possible, you said there were others, besides the three you mentioned, have the other files as well. If we can, we’d like to see the area they are dropped off and where they walk from.” York responded right off the bat. “It will help us see the locations they walk to.”
“We’d like to meet with the families to get a sense of the girls from them. If it’s okay with the families, it would help if we could see their bedrooms, too.” Raso answered, behind York.
“I know it’s not going to be an easy for them to trust us since we are not Native American or from a reservation, but I can promise you we will do everything in our power to help you find the girls or at least lead you in the right direction. Please let them know we will have to ask hard questions. It will seem like we are attacking them. We aren’t. We have to be able to rule them out and it stand up in court when the real kidnappers are found.” Pratt advised Warcloud over the phone.
“I will let them know. Hank, I will see you and your friends tomorrow morning and make sure everyone is here so you can speak with them. I’ll help you guys in any way that we can help you. I appreciate this more than you know.”
When Hank hung up the phone, the four women of Alpha Squad looked at each other without speaking for several minutes. It was always a joy to watch how they worked together.
“I know you ladies are on vacation…” Hank started to say before he was cut off.
“Yes, but we can’t just sit here knowing there are young girls whose lives are being changed for the worse. While we are here for Gypsy’s wedding, we can do both!” York advised Hank and smiled over at Gypsy.
“Find the girls. I couldn’t sleep at night knowing something was happening to them while I was walking down the aisle. I’ll always have Jerry. He’s not going anywhere. Those girls need you guys.” Gypsy told the four women, who got an agreement from Jerry.
“Hank, you know Warcloud the best. How upstanding is he?” Raso asked, as she looked at the man.
“He’s very honorable. Dedicated to his people. When he was injured on a mission before I was, he came back here to Montana to the reservation. I know for a while he was having a hard time acclimating to the change of life, but he finally overcame the demons he had inside of him after he’d attempted suicide. His cousin is the shaman for the tribe. They made him go through the sweat lodge to detox and then he had to do his vision quest. Seems after that, he was a changed man. He joined the Tribal Police and worked his way up through the years. He’s a good man.”
“I second what Hank is saying. I’ve worked with Warcloud on a couple of missions before he was injured. The man has honor and would never hurt someone, much less condone it.” Highlander advised the women.
“Alright. Are you four going with us tomorrow when we go with Hank to to meet with Warcloud?” Pratt asked, nodding at her husband and looking at the other three men.
“Aye.”
“Yes, if that’s ok?” Viper asked, looking between his wife and the other three women.
“Actually, that would be helpful. You guys can do some looking around the location where the girls get off the bus and in the vicinity. Check along the location they would walk as well. If it’s several miles from the drop off to the locations where they live, someone was lying in wait for those girls to get off.” Pratt suggested as she rubbed her face, her mind whirling with things for them to do.
“Someone knew their schedule. Knew the girls walked and what time they got off the bus. Either it’s someone from the reservation or someone who has watched the girls on a daily from a hidey hole area.”
“What happens if the girls were kidnapped from the reservation?” Sadie asked, confusion in her voice.
“Depends on who the suspect is. If it’s a Native American doing it, then they would be tried by the Tribal Courts. The only problem with that is, Tribal Courts can’t sentence someone to more than three years at this time. So, if we can catch them off of the reservation, or get the Tribal Council to agree to it, then they can be tried in Federal Courts for more time. If it’s a non-Native American, then they will be tried in Federal Courts.”
“So, we have to hope that whoever it is we catch them off of the reservation for true justice to be served?” Sadie asked, looking between her husband and the women of Alpha Squad.
“Pretty much. Real justice would be finding those girls and bringing them home at the same time as we shut down that ring.”