The Investigators, Inc. Case of the Missing Jet. Chapter 13. Cathy Banter.

It has now been 5 days since we put out that reward offer for Carmen and no one has gotten back to us. Carmen’s complex back in Wyoming is gone, completely destroyed. She had ambitious plans, such as “buying” her own little country where she could do as she wanted and make even more money for even more ambitious plans.

All of her plans were evil and cruel, but fortunately stopped, at least for now. However, unless we find her, she will try again. All the innocent victims we found were rescued and of the 9 children involved, 8 are back with their families. One little girl apparently has no family, she had been staying at an orphanage when she was abducted 4 months ago, so she is back there again. Hopefully she can be adopted quickly and get settled into a normal family life.

I am getting very worried. Today is now day 6 and still no word about Carmen and her whereabouts. And what is happening to Sky all this time? I know Jennifer keeps assuring me that Carmen will not kill or seriously hurt Sky, because she needs her right now for protection. That is true, but as the days go by, that need for protection gets dimmer.

But she may also be using Sky in other ways too and that worries me as well. Sky has been through that before, will she survive going through it again? She is a strong woman, but she still gets nightmares about those earlier days. This will make things worse. When we were kids Carmen got much joy from manipulating other kids for her advantage, then “tossing them over the cliff”, as she would say, which gave her even more joy.

She absolutely loved hurting others, especially boys, because they would never pay any attention to her. Except for me. But then I was not very bright. I am still stupid. That is why Sky is gone. It is now day 8 and we still have not heard anything. I know we need to be patient, but that is not one of my best qualities. If it was not for Jennifer I would be screaming and climbing the walls by now.

Somehow she manages to keep me calm and relaxed. Mostly anyway, but I still get times when I want to scream, but she always gets me calmed down before I actually start doing that. Then on day 9 an odd phone call came in for me. I was in the library with several others and I told Annelie to put it on speaker for all of us to hear.

“Hello,” said a woman, “my name is Andrea, you do not know me. Um, I work in a bank and a woman came in today and gave me a note. She has been here twice before, her name is Elizabeth Withers and she does banking for another woman here. Miss Withers gave me a note to call her husband Steve at this number and it said she had been kidnapped, but not to call the police until I called you.

She also included this little poem, “The sky is blue, your eyes are too, the time is right, for me and you”. Does any of this make sense?” “Yes, it sure does and she is my wife, but that is not her real name,” I said, “please do not call the police yet or her kidnapper will kill her. I will get in touch with the police and I will be there tomorrow to talk with you more and show you pictures of my wife.

If this truly is my wife, you will receive a large reward.” “If this is true,” she said, “I do not need a reward, I just hope it works out.” The next morning we were there and talking with the woman at the bank. We had to be careful about it all, just in case someone watches the bank and just in case this might be a trap. I showed her photos of Sky and she confirmed that is the same lady named Elizabeth Withers.

She came in twice a week with a deposit and there was always a man with her who stayed in the waiting area, but he always watched her carefully. That is why Sky had told her to read the note after she was gone. She works for a woman photographer in town named Cathy Banter. I smiled when she said that, it was a name that Carmen used a lot when we played together as kids.

I had called Mr. B before leaving yesterday, so he was also in town this morning waiting for confirmation. He was very happy to know we had found Carmen. He was also very cooperative since he realized I wanted to get Sky out alive if possible.

Carmen’s photography shop was located on the main street of this town and there was a nightclub below it, which is where Carmen was making her money right now. I am sure that Sky was working in that nightclub too, something that scared me a bit.

But how to get in without being recognized could be a problem, I am sure they will be watching for certain people, like myself, to keep those people from entering. We have the building, and this whole area, surrounded, no one will be getting away from here. I just hope this idea that Kat and Jennifer have will work, safely…

To Be Continued.

©2024 Steve McLeod.