Background
Murder, missing persons and a twisted family.
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Cindra's patience was wearing out. She was used to getting what she wanted and inside her own timelines. What exactly were these cops doing? What was taking so long to find her daughter-in-law? Such incompetence.
The moment that Janice contacted her, she activated her considerable contacts. Her husband, God love him, wasn't as ruthless as she was and was only putting pressure on the BPD and not taking a more active role.
First thing she did was got Mark onto her private jet. She wasn't going to take any excuses about flight plans or regulations. Just get the damn plane in the air and figure the rest out later.
Then she contacted both her scrupulous and unscrupulous associates. She gave them full access to the house and grounds, but only after the police had left. She didn't want anyone interfering with her work.
She activated every avenue she could find including her internet hacker. He was quickly able to infiltrate the police computers and found out about the task force and the team inside that force. Luckily, she had some dealings with Hayes and was going to squeeze him immediately. He folded like a deck of cards, and spilled about the task force and Terry Smythe. Smythe was one detective that Cindra would deal with later. For now, she was going to Yellowstone to contact that Lieutenant Leven and see what he was about.
There wasn't much on this Leven, it seemed he was a straight shooter and a rule follower. She was still going to see him. Everyone had a weak spot and it seemed for him, it was his wife. The wife was reliant on her husband and mostly a homebody. She had trouble in her teens but now that she was in her 60's there wasn't much pull there, but Cindra would try anyway.
It wasn't long before she was in Yellowstone sitting at a table with the Lieutenant.
"What can I do for you Mrs. Conners?" he looked directly at her. He wasn't impressed by her wealth or connections. It mattered little to him.
"I understand you have been working with the BPD task force and have been helping with finding my daughter-in-law. What can you tell me about the assets and resources that you have been using?" She asked pointedly. She needed a crack in his armour to get him working for her.
"Mrs. Conners, with all due respect, there isn't much more I can tell you other that what BPD has already informed you about. We have a team doing their utmost best to find Mrs. Mark Conners and as soon as we have anymore information, we will let you know." He wasn't divulging anything to her. He could tell that she would be trouble. And no amount of money was going to mess up his investigation.
"Lieutenant Leven, my daughter-in-law is very important to me. Your little police station here in the park could use some of my considerable resources. Some of those resources would, of course, be allocated to its leader." She wasn't really hiding her intent very well. She didn't have the time to pretty it up for him.
"Mrs. Conners. Not me or my station is for sale." His face turned red instantly he was furious. How dare she insult him in such a manner? "I am quite certain you have never heard this before but take your designer ass out of here before I have you charged with attempted bribery!"
"Lieutenant Leven. I was not intending bribery. I was merely showing support for your obvious efforts and offered what I could to make things easier on you and your department. I have made many generous donations to police funds in the past, and it seems your department could use some of the same. I have many associates that could either assist or hinder your precinct and you, I simply wanted to know which route you would prefer me to take. I now understand which way to proceed. However, if you change your mind, you know how to reach me."
She stood straight up and turned away from him. She took a direct exit to her limo waiting outside. This was a colossal waste of time. Hopefully, one of her team members would find a way to squeeze this Leven and soon.
She needed to reach Detective Smythe, however, she wanted to have some kind of leverage. The little she did know about her showed she wasn't one that Cindra would be able push too hard. She was going to have to try a different tactic. She had already left a voicemail to speak to the detective. Cindra was on her way back to Bozeman from Yellowstone, when the call came in.
"Good afternoon Mrs. Conners, this is Detective Smythe returning your call." Terry knew about the Conners, their wealth and their influence. Terry wasn't impressed.
"Thank you for returning my call, Detective Smythe. I was wondering if there has been any new information about the disappearance of my daughter-in-law, Aliss." She offered matter-of-factly.
"Mrs. Conners. I cannot tell you anything new. We are working hard to find her. Unless you have anything to add? When was the last time you talked to her?" Terry was turning the conversation from answering questions to asking them.
"I've already given a statement to your department." Cindra was losing patience, again.
"What was your relationship like with Aliss?" Terry returned.
"Detective Smythe, Aliss is very important to my son and therefore just as important to me and my husband. To this point, we have offered as much help and support as our resources can provide. We have also retained private investigators and other associates in assistance. For both our sakes, I certainly hope we don't find more than your department does. It wouldn't look so good, if we find her before you do." Cindra tried the only tactic she thought she had, intending to appeal to Terry's dedication to the job.
Terry wasn't one to trifle with and not impressed by Cindra's barely veiled contempt.
"Mrs. Conners, if you want to keep our lines of communication open, I would suggest a more careful choice of words. We wouldn't want to jeopardize our temporary relationship in any way." Terry was quick and put Cindra in her place. She was sure that it was going to bite her in the ass later, but deal with it then. With that, both hung up.
Despite Terry's words, Cindra was actually impressed with her. She would be a great asset to Cindra, if she could acquire her. Time, was all Cindra needed, after all, everyone had a weak point.
Cindra was irritated that the day seemed to be wasted. So far, she wasn't able to glean anything new from either detective and she hadn't gotten any news from her team. She was going to squeeze the hell out of her people, they had better come up with something or consequences would have to be handed out.
She placed a call on her cell.
"What have you learned, Erron?" She barked into the phone.
"Well, Terry Smythe has a sister with remarkable disabilities. It seems that she was brutally abused and raped as a child and suffered a psychological break and Smythe helps to take care of her. Her parents are a bit odd. The mother makes soaps and other handmade things to bring in money. The father, Joe, does odd jobs around town. Apparently, he does some driving and deliveries for a local guy. No one seems to know who this guy is, but one time a neighbor saw Joe at a house in their neighborhood. They noticed because the car that Joe drives is an old rusty beater and it looked out of place. I am on my way to that house now. I'll get back to you when I know more."
"You do that and call me immediately. I want to know everything the moment you know it." Cindra's demands were always adhered to.
Author Notes
I write to entertain. I hope I have succeeded with my readers
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