There was a snow storm the night before and when I went downstairs to make my lunch, I found Grace in the kitchen and she was making me a sandwich for work. I looked at her and said, "Grace you did not need to do that."
She laughed and said, "Oh I know. But I have been up for a while, that storm woke me and I could not get any sleep. So I woke up and decided to make a coffee cake for breakfast. Your Dad however could sleep through a bomb going off. I made one for here and that one next to your lunch box is for you and Sam. So what case are you working on now?"
I sat down at the table as Grace cut me a piece of the cake to try and said, "Do you remember the Kline Family?"
She put the sandwich in my lunch box and I could sight of some snacks as well. Looking at me she said, "Yes, I do. Kylie and Max kept to themselves but their kids were enrolled in the school before they disappeared. I remember the teachers coming to me after them being out for three days and when I tried to reach out to them no answer. That's when I called their Grandma Penny to see if the kids were sick. I guess my call cemented everything and that's when she went over there. She was shocked as the home was empty the family, the pets and all their belongings were gone. They had a dog and a cat. You know that may be a way you can get a lead. They treated their pets like their kids maybe see if their chips were ever changed with the local vet? Or maybe if they were ever found and brought to the pound or a shelter."
"Grace this cake is so good," I said as I took out my note book and wrote down the information Grace gave me. "As you were a mandated reporter did the family seem to have any issues?"
Sitting down she said, "No. They may have kept to themselves, However when it came to the kids they were both very active in their life and always went above and beyond for them."
Nodding I jotted down the notes and said, "Thank you. I am going to get going it does not look like the plow has been through here yet and I do not want to be late."
Grabbing my bag I went to my car and found it already warming up and I heard Dad say, "Hey kiddo be careful getting to work. I started it for you when I heard you come downstairs and dug you out as I was clearing the walkway and digging out our cars."
I kissed his cheek and switched our keys and said, "Thank you Dad."
Climbing into my car I headed to the station. I noticed the lot was cleared as I pulled in and headed to the office. When I got into the office I put the name of the family at the top of the chalk board and started a time line. I also did a side note on the pets and check with vet for chip note. Using the bulletin board I added pictures of the family and was looking over interview notes adding information to both boards as I could. When Sam arrived an hour later he saw the boards and said, "How long have you been here?"
"Not long," I said. "Oh that pan on the table is Grace's coffee cake and it is so good."
He grabbed a piece and asked, "Want to catch me up?"
"Sure," I said. "Our next case, The Kline Family. Kylie, Max, Patty and Shawn went missing in 1991. After talking to Grace this morning they were discovered missing after Grace tried multiple times to reach the family due to the kids missing school. Grace is friends with Kylies mom Penny and when Penny heard from Grace she went over to check on them. When Penny arrived to the house no one answered so she used her spare key and the house was empty. Every item in the house was gone along with the family and their pets."
"What information was gained from the interview?" Sam asked.
"See that's the thing Sam that perplexed me," I said.
"What do you mean?" He asked.
"Except for the police talking to Penny not much else was done," I said. "The Detective on the case did not follow up very much. He went to the bank and the only notation was that the account they had did not have much in it and no movement on the account since the time the disappeared. Last active case log was four days later with a note that stated, No activity in the bank and no sightings maybe they wanted to move away from town."
"Who was the Detective?" He asked. "Maybe we need to have a talk with him."
"Not unless you have a Ouija board," I said. "Detective Mulson passed three years later in a car crash."
Looking at the board he asked, "Why did you circle the pets?"
"Grace gave me an idea," I said. "They treated their pets like family. Grace had suggested to see if their chips were ever scanned into the system. If they were we can pin point a when and where."
"That's not a bad idea," He said. "I also had another one which I like but again do not like as well."
"What's your idea?" I asked.
"We take the old pictures to the media," He said. "We speak privately with a reporter or news anchor and have them do a broadcast and set up a tip hotline."
"I think we may have the reporter that will be perfect for that," Barbara said from the door. "Sorry I wasn't trying to eavesdrop but I was bringing you the media file I had put together. The first reporter is Grace Mckoy. Grace has done human interest stories for decades and she was here for Thomas's case. She left her card and I know this is something she would do with tact and not make it a spectacle."
"Barbara," I asked. "Do you know why Detective Mulson did not go further with the case?"
She sighed and sat down, "Sit down you to I am telling you this in confidence."
Sam said, "Barbara if this is stuff we should not know about do not say anything to get you into trouble."
"She won't," Captain Milson said from the doorway. "Because I am going to tell you instead."
He came in and shut the door. Pulling the blinds closed he sat down and said, "This may help you a bit on all your cases going forward."
Sam asked, "Captain what's going on?"
"First from now on we are on the first name basis behind closed doors, "Second I have been in charge for close to thirty years and I am not going anywhere anytime soon. But me becoming Captain was not because I wanted it. It was because I was one of the few Detectives that did their job. There was a big investigation and by the end twelve officers were fired. I was chosen to keep people honest but a lot of cases from the 70's till now did not get the attention they deserved as we discovered the corruption was still in the force. We let go of the last of the corrupt officers here three months ago and have slowly been hiring new officers. That's why when you were graduating from the academy we decided to hire Sam and make you the task force."
Sam and I nodded. Then I said, "Those officers then did not move?"
"Oh they moved," Charlie said. "They left after they could not keep a job here. But they reason they moved was because of the stigma of bad cop."
Sam and I nodded. Grace looked at the board and said, "Any theories?"
"No," I said. "But we have a few things to check into."
"Well," Charlie said. "We will let you get to it. If you need anything come see me."
When the Captain left Sam looked at me and asked, "Where do you think we should start?"
"I think we need to go see Penny, Kylies Mom," I said.
Sam said, "Okay but this time I am driving."
We headed out to Sam's new truck and climbed in. We drove over to Penny's house and walked up to the door. I knocked then stood back. We waited a few minutes then the door opened, "Can I help you both? Oh Amy dear I didn't realize that was you, you have grown up to be such a beautiful young woman."
"Hi Miss Penny," I said. "Do you have some time to talk with us?"
"About what my dear?" She asked.
"Kylie," I said. "Mrs. Penny I am a officer now and we reopened Kylie's case."
She gripped the door frame and said, "Please come in and have some coffee."
Sam opened the door and took her arm saying, "Mrs. Penny let me help you to the kitchen."
She chuckled and said, "Oh you just shocked me that's all. After that incompetent asshole Mulson I thought no one would give my family a second thought."
She did let Sam help her and when we got to the kitchen I said, "Mrs. Penny let me help you."
She waved her hand and said, "No sit down Amy I have it."
She grabbed a tray and added coffee sugar and creamer. Then she added a plate of her homemade cookies and headed to the table. After she sat down and poured us coffee she said, "Well I guess your not a normal officer Amy. Good for you. When we cheered for you at your high school graduation we knew you would go far."
Sam asked, "Mrs. Penny all these years have you not heard anything from Kyle or the family?"
She said, "For the first few years after they went missing I would get cards around the holiday's, birthdays and just because. Now they are more sporadic. The last one I got for Christmas did not arrive until after the new year. They were not signed but they said, Thinking of you. We love and miss you. I took the first card to Mulson and he could not be bothered stating that they closed the case and they labeled them as a family that left town."
Sam looked up and asked, "Do you have the cards still?"
"Of course dear," She said getting up. Coming back with a small wood box she said, "Here is all the cards I got with that phrase they all have the cards and envelopes they came in. This envelope here is something I think you can use as well."
Picking up the envelope I asked, "What is this?"
Smiling she said, "The Christmas before they disappeared they all did a Christmas card and they used their finger prints as the ornaments."
Sam took out a evidence bag and said, "I promise we will keep these safe."
I looked at Mrs. Penny and asked, "Which vet did Kylie use for the animals?"
"Why sweetie the same one I still use today," She said. "Doc Kennedy."
Sam asked, "Do you think they were in trouble?"
"Kylie never said anything," She said. "But I will tell you Max did have a problem with gambling. I helped them out a bit when they got behind on bills because of it."
"Mrs. Penny could they have run because Max had more debt than he let on?" I asked.
She sighed and said, "It could have been a possibility. But I had spoken to Kylie when things were rough. I offered to let them move in with me and they could either rent out the house or sell it to get back on their feet. They lost the house to foreclosure. The week after they left the foreclosure notice was put up on the door."
Sam looked at her and asked, "Mrs. Penny do you know of anywhere they may have hidden if things got real bad?"
She shook her head and said, "No I even tried talking to Max's Uncle and he would not say a word to me."
Flipping through the file I asked, "Uncle? There is no mention of him in the file. Mrs. Penny do you have his information?"
She stood up and got a business card. Handing it to me she said, "You know his uncle he has repaired your jeep."
Making a few notes I stood up motioning to Sam. Taking her hand I said, "Mrs. Penny I promise you we will do all we can to figure this out."
Looking from Sam to me she said, "After you brought Thomas home if anyone can get answer's I believe its the two of you. Do me a favor if you do find her and she can't come home tell her I love her and miss her."
Patting her hand we left. When we got in Sam's truck I called Grace. When she picked up I said, "Hey Grace we just finished our interview with Mrs. Penny could you swing by and check on her."
"Of course Amy," She said. "I was going to the store I was going to go shopping for dinner tonight but I will stop there first."
"Thank you Grace," I said. When I was done I turned to Sam and said, "We need to go back to the station for a few. I want to look into Max's Uncle."
"Do you think he is into something?" Sam asked.
"I heard rumors," I said. "If those rumors are true that may be why Max and Kylie ran."
We pulled in and went into the building. When we walking in Miles the precinct secretary said, "Hey Bernard Kline is waiting in the waiting room for you both."
Sam and I looked at each other. Walking into the waiting room he said, "Amy I know the rumors but you need to help me."
Looking at Bernard Sam asked, "Help you with what Mr. Kline?"
He said. "I have information on an old case of yours, I will tell you all what I know."
************
Sam looked at Bernard and said, "Come with us to our office."
When we went into the office and sat down I asked, "Mr. Kline what do you know about them being missing?"
"I know everything about why they left," He said. "I know because I gave them a place to go."
Sam said, "Are you admitting to hindering a police investigation?"
"No," Bernard said. "When Detective Mulsen came and saw me he only asked me one question and it never was do you know about where they are."
"Before I say anything," He said. "I need to say I believe that Detective Mulsen was being paid off to find my nephew and his family by the people he owed money to."
Sam and I looked at each other and I said, "Sam get Captain Milson. I believe he should be here for this."
Nodding Sam said, "I agree. Bernard would you like some coffee while Amy gets our captain?"
I left the room and went to Captains office. He looked up when he saw me and asked, "Amy is everything okay?"
"We need to discuss something," I said.
"Come in and shut the door," He said as I shut the door behind me.
When I sat down I said, "Keep a normal face because after what you told us I do not want to tip anyone else off."
"Of course Amy," He said.
"Was Detective Mulsen one of the people you believed to be dirty?" I asked.
He laughed hard acting like I told him the best joke and said, "Yes."
"Well," I said. "We have Bernard Kline in our room and he believes Mulsen was on the take with whoever was looking for Kylie, Max and the kids. He wants to talk about what really happened but is worried about what could happen."
He nodded and said, "You want me to sit in in case it comes back to any pending charges against the investigators. I agree lets go."
As we walked out of his office he said, "Come on Amy lets go see all those mixed up files you and Sam found. I know they storage was off but I never believed they were that off. But lets take the elevator because this old mans knee is throbbing today."
When we got into the elevator he said, "There seemed to be quite a few officers interested in what you were telling me. When we go in I am going to go to the boxes with you and Sam will have to take the notes. I think I may have to bring in some extra officers from the feds to help weed the stragglers out."
We went to Sam's and my office. When I went in keeping the door open, I said, "Sam Captain here is going to look over all the files we found that were mixed up to see if he can make headway to which case they belong to."
Shutting the door I went to stand next to Captain and Sam nodded. "Bernard this is a smoke screen but Captain has your attention."
Bernard nodded and focused on Sam while Captain and I moved a pile of boxes and opened them to pretend to look. Bernard started his story, "A week before Max, Kylie and the kids disappeared I was invited to dinner at their home. When I got there the kids were not there. Max said we needed to discuss something that the kids should not hear. You have to understand I know I do messed up shit sometimes but Max and Kylie know I would always be there for them and the kids. They could ask me for anything and if it was in my power I would do it for them. We sat down with our food and Max looked like he was about to break down. He said he messed up and took a huge gamble and failed. Max said he owes a lot of money and that the people he owes said they would wipe the debt if he allowed them to have a illegal week growing operation past his fruit fields. I asked him if he was crazy for considering it because of the kids. Max had told me absolutely not. Kylie said the men came here this morning threatening the family and was scared for the kids."
Sam asked, "Did he tell you how much he owed,"
"Yes" Bernard said. "He owed two hundred and fifty thousand dollars."
Captain said, "I have never heard of any of the local bookies ever had bets that big."
Bernard said, "Neither had I. Apparently there was a new player in town. He then told me he didn't go to the guy to make the bet. The guy found him. We spoke for a few hours and I asked what if he said no. Kylie got upset and said they were told accidents could happen. They were not worried about themselves but the kids and Kylies Mom. I asked them if they were being watched and Kylie said she thought so because she noticed a car following her to and from her Moms house."
Sam asked, "When did the plan come up for them to disappear?"
Bernard got sad and said, "During dinner and there was a knock at the door. Before we could get up a man walked in and said we are waiting for your answer Max. I intervened and said he was trying to get the money and have an answer by the end of the week. The guy said we don't want the money we want use of the land. I had asked what if the kids wandered back there they always play in that area. The guy said well we do not like intruders so the kids would be dealt with. Kylie and Max went white and my brain went out of the box. I asked them what if you all got busted and the guy said well its Max's grow operation him and Kylie would be the one in trouble. After he said that he left and I told them a secret I carried for years. I live over my garage but back in my twenties I was in love with a woman and had bought a cabin in the mountains two days from here hoping to move there and live a life of rest and art. We were both artists and made good money. She unfortunately passed a week before our wedding. In her memory I still create art in secret and have a friend who has a gallery and sells it to pay for the taxes as I paid it off years ago. Even though it was hard for me to go there I went up two times a year in her memory and make sure it was kept up. I offered Kylie and Max the cabin to hide with the kids. There was no furniture but we could get them there its hidden and they could live in peace and safety."
I asked, "How can you be sure they would be safe?"
He smiled and said, "I know my reputation around town here but outside this town I am a celebrated artist. I put a video camera system on the property and in the house. Use this login information and go to two weeks ago and pull any camera."
Sam logged into the account via his computer and said, "That's Kylie and Max."
"Yes," He said. "The kids are currently in Taiwan doing over seas studies courtesy of my art and good friend in the art industry. Patty is an amazing young artist and Shawn has a passion for cooking. I checked in with my contact and the kids are safe and protected. Please do not ask how I got them there but they are safe. Shawn called me when he could not get in touch with their parents. I know people think the home went into foreclosure but I own it. I bought it before it went to public auction and again please don't ask me how I managed that. I have been keeping my god son safe until the camera went down last week. When I disappeared for a few days was because I went to the cabin and there is no trace of them. Max got help for his gambling and actually wrote books while hiding and Kylie had a passion for vintage crafts. She actually knows my broker now and send him her things to sell."
Captain asked, "Did you ever share any of this with Kylies Mom?"
"No," He said. "I adore Penny and even though we have our issues between us I did not want to put her in any danger. The cards she gets are sent to me in a package from Kylie and I posted them from other areas to throw off the people looking for Max still. I will tell you that the people did start a grow operation as the house is empty."
I asked, "Bernard are the rumors about you true?"
He let out a hearty laugh that surprised us all and he said, "You mean the RV in the back park of my property and the fact people say I have a meth lab in there. You are more than welcome to go look in the van Amy. The RV is my art studio and the black van that comes is my art dealer who comes to pick up my finished pieces. His mother lives east of us and he is a Mama's boy so he comes through at weird hours heading back to his home and gallery. Its no ones business and to be honest after my dear Mara passed I did not give a damn what people think about me."
Captain asked, "Bernard are you sure there is a grow set up?"
"Yes I am," He said. "I have a friend who is ex special ops who went back and saw it. He reported back to me and told me I had to report it. That's when I heard from Shawn and now I am back here to you. Listen I do not want to tip off the people who they owe the money to. I can say they have money to pay that man back ten fold but after over ten years I doubt that would make a difference. Now Captain I need you to do me a favor I can tell you you have some officers that were not purged when you got rid of the garbage. I need you to arrest me on a fake charge and we need to make a show of it. I have a buddy who is waiting for my call to post bail."
Captain asked, "What about Penny?"
Bernard said, "I need you to tell her but you need to do it outside her home. I believe that her moms house may be bugged. Also please do something about that grow operation on Max and Kylies land because when we find them and bring them home they have their home to come home to."
I looked up and said, "I have a plan for Amy. But Bernard what charges can we use?"
He sighed and said, "One of those cases are my Mara's death. It was truly an accident she was coming home from picking up my wedding gift but I am the one who fixed her car before hand. The car was in perfect condition and the guy who investigated did not want to charge the person who caused it with DUI."
Sam said, "Bernard I do not want to handcuff you."
He laughed and said, "I know son but we need to keep this under wraps for now. Amy please tell Penny I am sorry for keeping this from her but make sure she knows it has to be kept secret until we bring them home."
Captain opened the door and yelled, "Read him his rights."
Bernard got up and said, "But I told you the truth."
Sam cuffed Bernard and read him his rights in the hallway. They led him to the jail as I shut the door behind them. I called Grace. When she answered she said, "Hey Amy I was just going to call you and tell you I invited Penny to dinner tonight."
"Good," I said. "Can you please cook enough for Sam and I as well. We need to talk with Penny some more but please do not tell her that."
"Understood sweetie," She said. "We will see you at home later."
***********************************************************************
Evidence- Card, Vets, Gambling, Max's uncle Bernard Kline
Kline Family. Kylie, Max, Patty and Shawn went missing in 1991
Detective Mulson
Penny- Kylies mom
Bernard Kline- Max Uncle
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