The Investigators, Inc. The Secret Vacation Case. Chapter 6. Trapper Returns.

While Kat was working on Sigrid’s cheek I noticed that Sigrid had fallen asleep. “Hmm, next time I can’t sleep,” I said, “I will call you to help me.” “This had nothing to do with me,” she said, “Samantha gave her something to relax her.” “Yes, she likely doesn’t get much sleep out here by herself,” said Samantha, “so I thought this would be good for her. She has become a very hard young woman, that is so sad to see. She is the oldest child in the family, but she still can’t be more than 20.

I hope we can help her, not just with Paul Harder, but with softening her heart back to the beautiful woman that she is.” “Well, I’m hoping we can talk her into coming home with us,” I said, “all of you girls can really be a big help to her.” “And she would also benefit from having a nice, older brother around too,” said Dawn, “just like the rest of us girls do. She needs to know there are nice men around too.” “Yes, you always seem to forget the big role you play in our lives Steve,” said Beryan, “Sigrid would really benefit with having an older brother.”

“I agree with the other girls Steve,” said Jennifer. Suddenly Muffin came running into the room, bouncing up and down. Meow, meow!= Have big news from Wildcats! They see human Trapper in town. “Tell the girls to stay hidden for now,” I said. She sent the message to them right away. “This is not good,” I said, “for one thing, Trapper knows all of us, including you Matt.” “Yes, that will make it hard to get around and do things without being noticed,” he said, “he also knows all about Mandar’s crazy Wildcats.”

“Yes, you and your team will have to stay here,” I said, “we do have lots of empty rooms to use. I guess we should have the Wildcats stay out here too.” “That might not be a good idea Steve,” said Kat, “although it would be normal for us to stay out here, it would not be normal for Matt and the Knight Riders, since Mandar and Matt didn’t really get along.” “Hmm, that is a point,” I said, “sorry Matt, but you and your boys will have to leave. We will have the Wildcats come out here after dark.” I had Muffin send another message to the Wildcats.

Then Storm turned toward the kitchen and began to growl. Melanie and Melissa went to check, but there was nothing in there. Meowr.= Noise outside door. “I don’t sense and danger or trouble,” said Jennifer, but she went with the other 2 girls. There was indeed a noise at the door, a light scratching sound. Jennifer opened the door. Muffin, Storm and Jewel were right there, ready to pounce on whoever it was. There on the porch was a kitten, trembling in terror when he saw people he did not know. “Aww, he is so adorable,” said Jennifer, as she picked him up.

Mew,mew!= You not hurt me, please, me just kitten! Then Jennifer’s hand felt wet and she looked. It was blood. “He’s hurt and bleeding,” she said, “and he talks.” She brought him into the living room. Kat had finished with Sigrid. Mew, mew!= My human people! She look after me, kinda. “I have another patient for you Kat,” said Jennifer. “Look at him Samantha,” said Kat. “He’s been shot, very recently too,” she said, “the bullet went right through though, a small bullet of some kind.” The kitten was trembling again with so many around him.

“Too many people around,” said Kat. “Hey, little one, your human will be just fine, she is having a nap,” said Jennifer, “this is Kat, my sister, she is very nice and she can make you feel better real quick. Will you lie very still and let her help you?” Jennifer was talking so softly to the kitten that he immediately trusted her and Kat went to work, third time today. Mew, mew.= It was bad man that own my human, he have small gun always carry in pocket. He angry when leave and see me, so he shoot. He very bad man.

He catch my human one time, have big man punch her lots times until she fall sleep. That when he cut letter H in her cheek, then he say she belong to him now, but she escape. He very bad man. I think the rest of us were ready to go after Harder right then and teach him a lesson. “Well, we know something more about Harder and Sigrid,” I said, “we need to be careful, I think Harder is more dangerous than he appears, and if Trapper works for him, that is even worse.

That means that Montana is involved too, but why is still a mystery. Mandar never heard of Montana before, so what is the connection?” “Well, she is a relative of Toledo,” said Matt, “so there is a connection to us anyway, and she likely has found out about Mandar’s connection to us, he doesn’t really keep it a secret, like Baldwin tries to do.” “Good point,” I said, “he relies on his security to protect him, so sometimes he takes too many chances. And something about his past has made him quite bold too.”

“Perhaps something like us Steve,” said Matt, “now we better leave and get back to our hotel, I imagine he has had enough time to check out our rooms by now. He won’t find anything interesting though.” They were soon on their way. That little kitten, well, not really so little, was an interesting color combination. He was a very rich rusty orange color with white feet, a white tip on his tail, a white tummy and his face was half white and half orange. He likewise fell asleep as Kat held him and worked on his wound.

Back in town Matt decided to let Trapper know they were around so when they saw him go into the restaurant across the street from their hotel, they went over as well. Trapper and three friends were sitting at a table by the windows and Matt walked right past their table. “Greetings Trapper,” he said, “never expected to see you here.” He and the Riders just kept walking over to tables by the far wall. “Now what are the Knight Riders doing out here?” asked Trapper, not really expecting an answer from his friends. “Maybe they’re on vacation,” said Brent, “lots of people vacation here in this area.”

“I doubt it,” said Trapper, “they go where there is money, someone must have hired them.” “Maybe that gal hired them,” said Conrad. “That would take a lot of money,” said Trapper. “Yeah, but that Mandar guy might finance her,” said Ricardo. “Maybe, that would make more sense,” said Trapper, “and it makes things more dangerous, these guys are tough and they don’t scare easy.” “Only 15 of them, that’s not so bad,” said Conrad. “Apparently that guy has at least 50 men ready to join the fight at any time,” said Trapper, “I wouldn’t want to go up against 50 guys like them.”

“That would be too many for me too,” said Ricardo. “What about that PI?” asked Brent. “Harder said he had 6 gals with him,” said Trapper, “and his wife, that Harder was stupid enough to kill. Now that PI is going to be like an angry hornet, which is not going to make things easy for us.”

Now, back to us. “Well, what do you think Sigrid?” I asked, “Does it look okay.” “Look okay? Why, it is just amazing!” she exclaimed, “I look like me again! No more letter H showing that I’m owned by Harder! I just don’t understand how you could do that, thank you so, so, so, so much Kat!!” “How old are you Sigrid?” I asked. “You will probably think I’m just a kid,” she said, “I’m 18, just one year older than my sister Jazzy…”

To Be Continued.

©2024 Steve McLeod.