Steve`s Country
For a smile as wide as a country sunrise
The Investigators, Inc. The Warning Mystery. Chapter 1. Ghost.
I am having trouble sleeping tonight, not sure why, but I just cannot get my thoughts settled down. It has been a week since the end of our last case chasing those crazy clues and no other cases have come our way. But that is not it. I am alone. And I really felt it the last few days. “Hi Steve, are you awake?” said a familiar voice. I sat up quickly and there was Kat standing, looking right at me.
“Surprised to see me?” she said. “You are not my wife, who are you?” I demanded. “I have not been gone that long, have I?” she answered, “I am your wife, Kat, and I have come to warn you.” I pressed my alarm buzzer on the table beside my bed. “That alarm will not work Steve,” she said, “not until I leave.” “This alarm will work,” I said firmly. Then I grabbed the gun under my pillow and shot the bedroom door 3 times.
Carine and Sigurbjorn have a bedroom right across the hall from mine, but I will still amazed how quickly they arrived. “What is wrong Steve?” asked Sigurbjorn. I pointed over to Kat. “I do not believe in ghosts,” said Carine. “Neither do I,” added Sigurbjorn, “who are you?” “I am Kat, surely you can see that,” she answered, “and I have come to warn Steve that by midnight next Monday he will be dead.
Stay with him at all times girls, do not let him out of your sight. Never leave him alone…never leave him alone…never alone…” Then she was gone and Carine was standing at the spot that Kat had been standing. “Stay there Carine, I want to mark that exact spot,” I said and went over to put a mark on the floor. “Why did you not press the alarm button?” asked Sigurbjorn. “I did, but it did not work,” I said, “let me try it now.”
I pressed it and it worked just fine. “Rock, wake up, Steve is in trouble!” yelled Annelie. Rock was out of bed, grabbed his gun and was running up the stairs fast! For a big man he can run fast, even up stairs, good thing he is in such good physical condition. “What is wrong?” asked Rock as he burst into the bedroom. “Kat was just here,” I said. “What?” he asked in surprise, “are you feeling okay?”
“He is telling the truth”, said Carine, “but it was not Kat, likely a hologram of some kind.” “And she was here to warn Steve that someone was going to try and kill him,” said Sigurbjorn as she returned to the room. “Not quite,” I said, “she told me I would be killed by midnight Monday, not that someone would try to kill me.” “Oh, that is true, sorry,” she said, “I think I am still a bit asleep.” Right then Baldwin phoned to find out what was going on. Annelie had called him.
“I was just warned by Kat that I would be killed sometime between now and midnight next Monday,” I told him. “Kat!” he shouted, “are you okay?” “Yes, I am okay,” I said, “Carine and Sigurbjorn saw Kat as well. But it was not her, just a hologram, but I want to know how that happened.” “So do I!” he yelled again, “tomorrow I will have that room torn apart!” “Yes, that would be a good idea,” I agreed, “the interesting point though is she said I would be killed, not that someone would try to kill me.”
“You will not be alone at any time for the next week,” said Baldwin, “Jennifer, Sigurbjorn, Carine and Kristina will take turns staying with you 24 hours a day.” “Why…” I began. “Because I trust them completely!” he yelled again. He is going to give me a headache with all this yelling. I told the girls what Baldwin said, except the trusting part, I did not want the other girls thinking he did not trust them. I know that is not what he was saying anyway.
“That should not be so bad,” said Carine, “that is only 8 hours each.” “I think your adding is a bit off,” I told her. “Not if we overlap the time we guard you,” said Sigurbjorn. “Oh, I see, that makes sense then,” I said. Now how will I sleep? Someone is going to kill me, or try to anyway, and Chung still wants me to relax. This is not going to work. Jennifer took the first shift guarding me, along with the cats, all 3 of them. Angel insisted that Storm help out too, which was okay with me.
“It will be okay Steve,” said Jenny, “really, all of us will be guarding you.” “Yes, I know, but they still got in here without us knowing,” I said, “that gives them one win already.” “Hmm, you have a point,” said Jenny, “but that will be their only win.” I am glad she is so confident, and I must admit, I do feel more relaxed knowing she is in the room. But who is this new adversary… I was soon asleep.
To Be Continued.
©2022 Steve McLeod.
Steve`s Country 
Indeed! Who coukd it be? And why would they warn you? 🤔🤔 It’s a ploy… a misdirection! While the girls are busy watching you, whoever warned you could be doing something else to set you up!!😳😲
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Yes, that is quite possible. It does seem odd that they would give me a warning which would only make it harder for someone to kill me. But what else would they be up to? Avina’s husband is still out there somewhere, perhaps it is him. John said he likes working with holograms. 🤔👩😾😾😾🕵️
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But why would John do this?🤔🙄
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I meant to say that John told me Avina’s husband liked to work with holograms. He would be a good suspect after what we did to stop Avina. But what is he, or someone else, planning to do that he wants us tied up like this for a week?🤔👩😾😾😾🕵️
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That’s where I would start my search! But also have someone keep an eye on the other team members!🤔
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How can I do that? They are watching me! Personally I trust all of them, but Baldwin is a bit more picky. I will get the rest of the team looking for Avina’s husband. Annelie will start the search. I know Baldwin trusts Rock too, but he doesn’t want him tied down watching me.🤔👩😾🕵️
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Probably best to keep Rock as a quick reaction guy!!🤔
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Yes, I am sure he will not stray too far away from me either, he just won’t hang too close. 🤔🕵️
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But what could whoever this is be after?? They certainly want to keep you tied down at home along with your team!🙄🤔
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Yes, that has me wondering too, they must be planning something, but what? And why keep us at home? So it must have something to do with someone else, not us. Perhaps they are actually after Baldwin?🤔🕵️
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Ooooo… now there’s something I haven’t considered 🤔🤔
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Yes, and he even sent some of his guards over here to help. I must talk with him about that in the morning. 🤔😯🕵️
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But how would they put you and him together??🤔 You’re very careful about that!🤔
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Yes, that is true, but someone might know. It might be someone that knows Baldwin and doesn’t like him and wants him out of the way so he can get some of those big contracts that Baldwin gets. But how he would put us together though is not clear. But it only takes a careless word spoken once in the wrong place and the word is out.😯🕵️
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That’s exactly right! I wonder who and when it could have been??🤔🤔
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Baldwin would be a good place to start, he isn’t always too careful when around his business associates. 🙄🕵️
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Ah ha!!🤨 Now there’s a great place to start!!
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Problem is, he has so many business associates and so many meetings, it would be impossible to track down when he might have said something, and to whom. 🤔🕵️
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But who has an issue with him?? Never know!!🙄🤔
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Although Baldwin does things fairly, he is still likely to step on toes along the way. Some of his “friends” in other businesses might get outbid on contracts by Baldwin. If that happened too often it could create hatred enough to want Baldwin out of the way, perhaps even permanently! 🤔🕵️
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Perhaps Rock should stay close to Baldwin?? Just in case!🤔😳
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Baldwin has Benson, plus Stanley and Franklin live with Baldwin too, so he has good help. 🤔🕵️
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He does have a lot of others but they’re not Rock!🙄
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Well Benson might not be rock, but he is strong and a great bodyguard to have around!😂🕵️
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He definitely can be of use!😊😁
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Most definitely!😁🕵️
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I’m guessing he’d agree??🤔🙄😂
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Hard to tell, he doesn’t say much. 🤔🕵️
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Strong silent type!🤔🤔 Let’s not bother him then!🙄😬😂😂😂
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It appears that someone wants to have you in fear and following their instructions. In this PI business you have to surprise the enemy with an unexpected tactic!
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Hmm, now that is a good perspective to consider! Never thought of that, you may have a good point. 🤔👩😾😾😾🕵️
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Yes, be the first one to strike and don’t follow their instructions. Throw some surprises at them! Also, get some good sleep! You think better when well rested! 😊
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The problem is, we don’t know who to strike. It could be anyone, or possibly someone after Baldwin, not me. This could be tough. 🤔🕵️Yes, I will get some needed sleep for sure.😴
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Trouble, trouble ! Isn’t Baldwin suppose to be the “calm” before a storm ? Way back when I mentioned Baldwin could be the one who is the person to be aware of ! You replied that he could be trusted…hmmm🤔…I will have to think about this ! It has to be someone close to you…Watch your step around everyone…even the poor cats ! Someone may have control of one of the cat ! Horrible to think of that ! 🕵️♂️😲😲😲🤭🤭🤭❗️
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I am thinking that someone wants me tied down to the chateau for a week and doesn’t really want to kill me. He might be after someone else, such as Baldwin. He would likely make enemies with all of his businesses and the many government contracts he gets. Or there might be a different reason. But I am sure now that someone just might want me in fear, or just keep me tied to the chateau for a while. Whichever is the case, I cannot live in fear, I need to fight back and find out who this is! I do not believe it is someone in our organization though. 🤔👩😾😾😾🕵️
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