The Investigators, Inc. The Strange Case. Chapter 1. The Invitation.

One day while in the city shopping, something strange happened. Or at least it seemed strange anyway. We were tired out after a morning of shopping and decided to stop at a nice restaurant for lunch. Well, okay, it was me who was tired of shopping following Sky to everything clothing store that she, and the other girls, could possibly find.

And we are still only half done with our shopping. Sigh. Since there were only 8 of us, we just used one vehicle, the largest van we had. As we got back to the van from our last store with enough packages to half fill that van, so it seemed, there was a car parked beside us and a man in the front opened his window and asked if I knew how the best way to reach a certain village.

He had a map in his hand and fumbled around trying to get it out the window to show me. Fortunately I knew the village he was talking about and I proceeded to show him the shortest way to get there. The girls had all boarded our van, except for Sky who was standing beside me. Suddenly there were 4 men with automatic weapons pointed our way.

“Do not try to resist Steve,” said the man, “we do not wish to cause any problems, but our boss would like to have a word with you.” “And who is your boss?” I asked. “That must be kept confidential,” he responded, “but it will be revealed in good time. He needs your help.” “It does not appear like he needs much help,” I said.

“Please Steve,” he said again, “we do not wish to use force, but we will if necessary. You will understand soon.” That is when one of the men put his gun right against Sky’s head. “Oh, and tell the other ladies to stay put,” he said again, “it is simply not worth a fight you cannot win. There are more of us waiting in cars around us right now.”

I did see more men in other cars, so I consented and got inside the car, in the back with 2 other men. Then we drove away after warning Sky not to follow, and I told her the same thing. Once out of sight Sky called the distress signal. Back home the alarm sounded loud and clear.

Red Alert, Code A1…Red Alert, Code A1! Everyone rushed into the library just when Sky called Nelson. “Someone has kidnapped Steve!” she exclaimed, “in broad daylight, right from us! They told us not to follow, but we are following anyway while we have a good signal from Steve.” “No,” said Nelson, “worst thing to do. Stay back and return home right away.

Obviously they do not wish to kill Steve, or they would have done so already. Let us be patient and wait to see what happens. Although it is a rather unorthodox manner to hire someone, it might be the only way for this person to do things if he wishes to remain unknown.” “But we could lose Steve!” said Sky.

“Nelson is right Sky,” said Rock, “return home for now. Annelie says we have Steve’s signal clearly here too, so we will know where they are taking him anyway.” “Okay Rock,” said Sky, “you guys win, for now. But I will not wait indefinitely.” “Neither will we dear Sky,” said Nelson, “neither will we.” The girls arrived home in a couple of hours, looking rather dejected and humiliated for losing me without a fight.

Meow,meow.=Me say you do right thing by not fighting. You outnumbered, and maybe inn with scents people might get hurt too if you fight in parking lot. Meowr.=Yep, me agree with Muffin, it best not to fight now, fight later when we have upper paw. Sky looked at them and smiled. “Yes, I guess you two are right,” she said and gave them both a hug, “but how long do we wait?”

“Maybe a couple of days,” said Rock, “if we have not heard anything by then, we will set out to find Steve.” Those two days were going to be hard for Sky and she began to count the hours. That day Lars and Sapphire, both from Team 4, officially finished their tests and training and were welcomed in as full members of our team.

But the official acceptance would be held when they get me back safely. Sapphire had her own cat too and he was being trained by the other cats, though mainly Storm and Rusty. He is a beautiful calico cat, 2 years old, and he can talk too, but he never did with Sapphire because he thought she might be too scared of him if he started talking to her.

But she was thrilled to find out. She had just adopted him 6 months ago. On the second day after being kidnapped a car dropped me off by our gate. “Hey Annelie,” I said, “are you going to open this gate, or must I climb over it?” “Steve is back!” she screamed…

To Be Continued.

©2023 Steve McLeod.