Peace River Village by Christopher Amato

Author:Christopher Amato [Amato, Christopher]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Black Rose Writing
Published: 2024-03-14T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

“Good morning, Cora, come in,” Lois said, standing at her front door.

“You said you wanted to talk before leaving this morning?”

“Yes, I did. Come here.” She gave Cora a full embrace. “We should talk again about what happened yesterday at the police station and come up with an idea on how best to approach this.”

“I just want Jennifer back.”

“I know you do,” Lois said. “You’ve already had your cup of coffee, I’m sure, but how about a glass of orange juice?”

“Don’t go to any trouble, Lois.”

“Trouble? What trouble? I’m pouring the juice from a jar into a glass. Now, please sit down and keep me company because I’m not as strong as you. I need more than one cup of coffee to start my day.” Lois winked at Cora and smiled.

. . .

Lt. Grand checked his watch. He scooped the handset out of its cradle and entered the numbers and waited.

“Peace River Village Security, Captain Thomas Boren speaking.”

“Good morning, Captain, it’s Dan Grand, Sunland PD. We met a year ago at a police dinner function. I don’t know if you remember me.”

“Yes, sir, of course, I remember you. To what do I owe the pleasure of your call?”

“Well, Captain, you may be familiar with Ms. Cora Guthrie who lives in Peace River. Nice little old lady. First thing yesterday morning, she came here to report her granddaughter as missing.”

“How unfortunate.” Boren raced to type the name into the computer locator software program. “Let’s see, yes, Ms. Guthrie lives on Cypress Court.”

“That’s correct, Captain, uh, or may I call you Tom?”

“Of course, Lieutenant.”

Grand knew he needed to butter up the nitwit on the other end of the line first. “Please call me Dan. For crying out loud, we’re in the same line of work and you outrank me!”

When Grand laughed, Boren joined in with a machinelike cackle.

“Well, Tom, I’m hoping you understand I would appreciate it if we could keep this conversation quiet.”

“That will not be an issue, Dan. I can assure you our conversation will remain between us.”

“Excellent. As I was saying, Ms. Guthrie reported her granddaughter missing, but it sounds like a runaway situation. We’ll do what we can, of course.”

“I’m certain.”

“But we’re busy here solving real crimes, and it’s a bit of a stretch to assign someone to chase after a teenage girl because she got in an argument with her mom, you know, over dirty dishes in the sink or clothes left on the floor.”

Boren joined in again with monotone laughter and said, “That sounds logical to me, Dan.”

“I’m sure you understand this all too well, running your department in Peace River Village, but with our limited resources, we have to prioritize where we can. Am I right?” Grand asked.

“Yes, I agree with you, and I find it quite satisfying to commiserate with someone who understands the pressures of management and leadership.”

“Right.” Grand rolled his eyes. “She’ll come home from a boyfriend’s house tomorrow, but if not, as soon as we can free someone up, I’ll turn it over to a detective to be looked into further.

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