[PNPGFF] - Chapter 2

Zipporah Tano watched her horses galloping around the pasture. One of her dogs, Hunter, whined beside her. She smiled, he wanted to be out there running with the horses too. She decided to oblige him and opened the porch door. Like a rocket, Wolf shot out the door howling for joy and his two brothers were running downstairs to join him. Zipporah smiled to herself, those three loved the woods as much as she did.

An alarm beeped on her phone. She frowned, she wasn’t expecting anyone and was looking forward to a slow day without an agenda.She checked her phone and smiled as she recognized the car that was on it’s way to her house. It’s been awhile Jared, what have you been up too? She scrowled through her camera feeds, tracking the car. A notification popped up notifying her that two men in the car—Police Officer Jared Clemmings and Officer Robert Johnson. Officer Johnson was one of the many officers that Zipporah had never met. Despite that, she knew more about him than a few of the officers she did know. She continued to track the car as it transversed through her long driveway. Her three dogs heard the car and came running to greet the visitors, or keep them away, she wasn’t always sure which. Jared parked his car in front of her house and stepped out. Officer Johnson didn’t seem as eager to address the welcoming committee. Zipporah chuckled, Wolf had decided to patiently wait outside Officer Johnson’s door for him. Out of the three dogs, her Kai Ken was the quietest and most patient. His demeanor resembled a wolf quite well, hence his name.

Zipporah stepped out onto her porch and whistled. All three dogs turned to her immediately. She did the sign for heal and they obeyed instantly.

“Morning Zipporah,” Jared greeted her, “how have you been?”

Fine, she signed.

Officer Johnson finally stepped out of the car and approached them, eyeing her and the dogs.

Is he afraid of dogs? Zipporah asked.

Jared shrugged, “I think he’s getting over it.”

She whistled to her dogs and signed “inside”. They obeyed immediately. She turned to her guests and beconed them inside. Do you want a drink?

Jared turned to Robert, “You want a drink?”

“Beer, please.” Robert replied.

“I’ll take a soda, thanks.”

Zipporah nodded and waved them over to the couches. She opened her refrigerator and grabbed two sodas and a beer. She handed out the drinks and seated herself on her favorite rocking chair.

“You have a beautiful home.” Robert remarked.

Zipporah smiled and nodded, Thank you. She turned to Jared, What have you been up to?

“Nothing much, things at the station have been calm lately.”

The calm before the storm?

“That’s what I’ve been thinking.”

She signed and shook her head.

Robert shifted and murmered something in Russian.

Jared turned to him, “What?”

Zipporah chuckled, He’s just complaining that we left him out of the conversation.

“So, you know Russian too?” Jared asked.

She smiled and shrugged.

Robert continued in Russian, “Но ты не можешь этого сказать (But you can’t speak it).”

Zipporah narrowed her eyes at him, Not everyone is blessed with the ability to speak, Officer.

“Ты только что ругался на меня? (Did you just swear at me?)”

She rolled her eyes, Translate what I said to him. She signed to Jared.

“Oh, right, sorry. She said that not everyone is blessed to be able to speak, Officer.”

“Thought she swore at me.” Robert replied, in English.

“She should’ve, what’s wrong with you?”

“Geez, sorry.”

Why are you really here, Jared?

Jared sighed, “Yeah, about that. I, well, one of the other detectives, has this missing-women case and it seems kinda off to me. Her husband got drunk and was arrested Friday for disturbing the peace in his neighborhood—which was a bit unusual in itself since he rarely drinks and has never “disturbed the peace” of anyone. He kept going on and on about how his wife was kidnapped by some group and that he was never going to see her again. When the officers go to check it out they don’t find anything that points to a kidnapping; there were no signs of forced entry, no evidence of a struggle, some of her clothes and essentials are missing, and her car isn’t there. Ask around a bit and no one can explain why she would even leave, those two had a great relationship and loved each other dearly; there were no signs of discontent on either party.”

“Seems like she just left him to me,” Robert remarked, “maybe for a better guy or something.”

“Yeah, but something’s just off.”

What makes you think that?

“Well, the husband for one—he rarely drinks and he was dead drunk that day. After he was released on Saturday he went home and two hours later called the police to report his wife was kidnapped. He kept saying that over and over, even after the commanding officer told him there was no evidence for his claim and that she probably just left him. The poor guy was in a daze for the rest of the weekend and went to see Johnny first thing Monday morning; seriously, first thing, he was waiting right outside the building before it even opened and right outside Johnny’s office till he got there an hour later.”

Who’s Johnny?

“Sorry, Johnny Smith is another detective at the BPD. He knows the Williams and hangs around them a bit. Greg and Cassidy Williams are the couple.”

Zipporah nodded, Continue.

“According to Johnny, Greg was positively sure this group caled Followers of the Cougar had kidnapped Cassady, but he wasn’t sure why. He never liked the leader and swore the guy kept hitting on Cassidy. She, on the other hand, didn’t like the attention—or the guy—and never flirted back. Both Johnny and Greg doubt she just up and left like that, but, like I said before, there wasn’t any other evidence to suggest otherwise and they searched for three days. It’s all just weird. There’s absolutely no sign of her anywhere; her car was spotted leaving Boise and disappeared after that.”

This group, Followers of the Cougar, what have you found on them?

“It’s just some small group of middle-aged adults who meet a couple times during the week just to hang out. None of them have any criminal records and none of them have been up to suspicious activity.”

Can I see the house?

“Umm, maybe. I’ll have to call Johnny and check. It’s nearly seven now, Greg should be home.”

Zipporah nodded and Jared stepped out of the room.

“It’s just a waste of time,” Robert rolled his eyes, “there’s no evidence of anything wrong.”

Zipporah shrugged. A memory creeped into her mind&emdash;a young girl running and hiding from a group of men who wanted to kill her. No one had believed her and she didn’t tell anyone when she ran, not even the one man who might have, could have, helped her.

“Johnny called Greg and he said we could come over.”

Zipporah blinked and looked up at Jared.

“Great,” Robert scoffed, “can we get this over with already? I’ve got a bed waiting for me.”

“No one said you had to come, you could’ve gone home to your precious bed.”

“Yeah, sure, whatever.”

Jared chuckled and turned to Zipporah, “You going in your truck?”

Zipporah nodded.

“No problem.”

The three headed out and into their vehicles. Zipporah started her truck and followed Jared out.

That girl almost didn’t make it out alive, not without help from an unexpected place.