Chapter 17
CHAPTER 17
The women knew they were early for their appointment with the principle. They did that on purpose because they wanted honest reactions to their visits and not the ones that they were coached on by others.
As they had expected, the receptionist was surprised they were here earlier than wanted and stuttered through her letting them know she would inform the principal. They also knew she was going to be informing Redford PD that they were there already.
They knew how to handle them and knew it would be a dick measuring contest. They had informed the four men with them to stand back and let them handle it.
If they needed their assistance, especially Hank’s, they would let them know with a simple gesture. They did decide to let Hank do the introductions since he was from Montana, and they were basically assisting him at his behest.
When the flustered principal came out five minutes later, they knew for a fact that he had contacted the local police department because he kept looking at the door and then his watch. The four women couldn’t help but laugh at the nervousness of the man’s actions.
“Um, hi. I’m principal Smallers. I thought our appointment was at one?”
“It is. We preferred to show up and do our own investigation. We don’t rely solely on what’s already been investigated. Sometimes fresh eyes are better than just the one.” Hank informed the principal, realizing why the women liked to do their surprise pop ups.
“I was under the understanding that Detective Smith was handling the case.” The principal stuttered some more.
“Oh, no worries. We still plan on talking to him about his portion of the investigation. We prefer to talk to principals without someone coaching them on what to say. If we find out you’re lying to us, then we have fun in making sure your life is ruined for allowing young girls to be harmed. But don’t worry, we make sure those who helped out along the way get the same punishment.” Diesel smirked at the principal as she waved her fingers at him.
“Look, like I told that Indian guy that came demanding answers and accusing my bus driver of not doing her job, we have nothing to do with those girls missing!”
“There’s a difference between asking and demanding. Asking a question to get a better understanding of what happened before the girls went missing isn’t demanding an answer. It’s trying to find out what the bus driver may have seen when they dropped off the girls at their location or if the girls may have gotten off at a different location instead. If you’re that hard up just because a question was asked, then that means you have something to hide.” Pratt stepped up next to Hank, staring the principal down.
The women watched as the man’s mouth opened and closed several times before clearing his throat. They knew he was stalling for time.
“You ladies aren’t authorized to investigate here. I will be contacting your superiors about you overstepping your bounds.” A male voice declared coming in from the doorway.
“Please do. And when I’m contacted, I will inform their superior that I requested their help since Captain Warcloud of the Tribal Police requested my help in finding the missing girls that you have yet to return his calls on. I will also call the mayor of Redford, whom I have a friendship with. I will also contact the governor as well. These ladies can go even further to senators they have a working relationship with as well as the president himself. This is a serious issue and one you’re ignoring obviously,” Hank stepped in front of Pratt.
“Who the hell are you?” The man demanded standing straighter at the threat.
“I’m Hank Patterson. I own Brotherhood Protectors which Captain Warcloud reached out to ask for assistance in finding the missing girls. These women you’ve just threatened are working for me since they are on vacation. Not once have they threatened anyone, stepped on anyone’s toes or yours. They simply asked questions. Questions that you and your department should have been asking.”
“Questions have been asked. Questions have been answered. What the hell do you people want?”
“First and foremost, you to drop the fucking attitude, detective . Second, what questions we have may be different than yours since missing children is our specialty,” Diesel stepped up next to Hank, showing that they weren’t afraid of the detective.
“Watch your step! I am a detective for the missing children division!” The detective defended himself, moving to get into Diesel’s face.
“I’m curious, though. How many children go missing in Redford and how many have been actually found? Remind me to have our techie tech do some in-depth research on the Redford Police Department and their case solving records. Also have them look into the principal and how many kids have gone missing or dropped out of school.” Raso looked over at Pratt as she stood up from the chair she had taken a seat in while they waited for the principal.
“You’re overstepping your bounds!” The detective seethed as he looked at the women.
“Go ahead and contact our superior. Her name is Captain Katherine Irby. You think we are rude, when you explain to her, and trust me she will know if you’re lying, why you’re pissed, she will be way worse than we are right now. So, sure, let me dial her number for you.” Pratt smirked as she pulled out her phone and dialed their captain.
“Detective Pratt! Missing everyone already? Don’t you have three other teammates there with you?”
“Hi, Cap! Sorry to bug you. I have a detective…I’m sorry in your rudeness, you failed to identify yourself.” Pratt quirked her eyebrow at the detective waiting for him to identify himself.
“Smith. It’s Detective Smith.” The man sneered at Pratt as he stepped forward with his hand raised to take her phone.
“Detective Pratt, I thought you were in Montana for a wedding?”
“We are ma’am. Hank got a request for help from a friend of his back in his Navy days. It led us to the high school and a detective who’s refusing to assist in the case of several missing girls. All the missing girls attended Redford H.S. They are tied to the Blackfoot Native American Reservation here in Redford, Montana.”
“So, this detective isn’t wanting to find missing girls? Is he pussy footing around the investigation?”
“Pretty much ma’am. He’s blocking us from talking to the bus driver and the principal who’s a bigger pussy in answering questions.” Raso chimed in with her answer.
“You’re allowed off the chain, ladies. I’ll make the calls to get you involved in the investigation. Hank, make your call to the governor since the detective doesn’t want to find the girls.”