Chapter 10
CHAPTER 10
Raso, Pratt and York looked up from the files they were looking at when Catori made the statement she just made. The three women couldn’t help but look at each other.
“Catori, if you felt like that when they were growing up, why do you think he wouldn’t do anything to the girls now that Jace is out of the home?” York asked, handing her file over to Pratt for her and Raso to look at.
“Like Jace said, my father wouldn’t put up with it. No matter how he feels about Hosa, he wouldn’t harm his granddaughters if that meant a way to more power, more money. That’s how he sees a woman. We are bargaining chips for him to gain more of those things.” Catori admitted, as she sighed heavily.
“Can you or Jace set up a meeting with your father so we can talk to him? I would like his take on what is happening to the girls of his tribe and what he is doing about it,” Pratt smiled at the two before looking down at the file she had in her hands.
Raso, Pratt and York spent the next several hours going over the files and talking with the parents of the other girls that had gone missing. With the help of Warcloud, Jace, Hank and Highlander, they were able to split into three groups and get the interviews done faster.
Pratt, Highlander, and Warcloud worked together as one group. York and Hank worked as the second group, while Raso and Jace worked as the third group.
There were more questions than answers for some of them, which had Raso, Pratt, and York wondering if they were going to have a harder time finding the answers or even get close to finding an answer for the families of the girls missing. They admitted to themselves that they had worked with less and had success, but they were on a whole different level here with the reservation and the fact they follow a different set of rules.
They had just finished the last interview when they were contacted by Diesel and her two minions about what they found. They informed Warcloud and Jace that their second group wanted to meet up before they started the rest of what they wanted to do.
“How did the interviews go?” Viper asked as he, Jacko and Diesel joined the group in the parking lot of the police station.
“Interesting. Warcloud, this is our other teammate, Cheryl Diesel. This is her husband, Dean “Viper” McKnight and a friend of ours, Ernest “Jacko” Blackburn. Viper and Jacko will be assisting us in this investigation as well since they have unique skills thanks to their background and training.” Pratt introduced the rest of the group.
“What did you guys find?” York asked, looking over at Diesel.
“Plenty of places for them to be watched for a pattern. There’s a forested area that we passed when we first turned onto the reservation. Jacko and I found several tire treads that seem to link up.” Diesel confirmed what they had suspected.
“Anything from the girls that could have been found in the area?” Pratt asked, looking over at her teammate as she chewed her lower lip.
“Yeah. We found a phone that had been dropped. Looks to be the latest iPhone. It’s dead right now, so no way of knowing who’s it is. The screen is cracked, and we’d have to get a warrant for them to open it unless we can find out who the phone belongs to. Which, again is going to be hard to do with the damage done to it,” Jacko answered, handing the phone over to Pratt, wrapped in a baggie.
“T-that’s Enola’s phone. I got her that a couple of months ago for her birthday. She was scared about going to school since that’s how Aiyannei disappeared. My number and my mother’s numbers were programmed in. All she had to do was say our name and it would call us. I programmed the phone for her.” Jace stumbled as he walked over to Jacko to take the phone out of his hands.
“Jace, I know you don’t like us, and you think we’re trying to take over everything. We’re not. We honestly want to find your sisters and all the other girls that have gone missing. This is what we do. Help us find them. Let us be there for you and your mom. I don’t care about stepping on toes. Your sisters are what we are concerned about. I know you’re afraid to offend your grandfather and the elders. While we respect your culture and everything you represent, right now, we don’t have time to focus on that. Those girls, if there’s still a chance to find them, are on borrowed time. If they are still nearby, now would be the time for us to find them. Feelings be fucked!” Raso emphasized, smiling softly at Jace, showing she meant him no harm.
“Did you truly love my mom?” Jace turned to Warcloud and asked him, looking the man in the eyes.
“Yes. I wanted her to go with me. I had an apartment for us waiting. I wanted to marry your mother the second I met her, but we were still kids. I thought if I joined the Navy, then became a SEAL, it would show your grandfather that I was a good enough man for your mother. It nearly broke me when I found out that she’d married Iyei. When I found out she’d had you, I was led to believe that you were his. I never knew, until today, that you and your sisters were mine.” Warcloud admitted, tears streaming down his face.
“I can attest for the man. I served with him in the SEALs. So did Highlander. Warcloud never dated other women. His call sign was “Monk.” We even made jokes about him being gay. He carried your mother’s photo with him on every mission. Even when we were held down in a nasty gunfight, he would pull her picture out and tell her he was sorry he never proved to be the man she wanted.” Hank clapped Warcloud on the shoulder, smiling over at the man.