The Investigators, Inc. The Hotel Case. Chapter 10b. Fight and Fire.

Sky and Angel decided to go looking for another way out of here, following the map that they found. I wasn’t so sure it was a good idea, however, there was no stopping them. And I do have the cats for protection. The cats and I were on the mattress, I was thinking, they were sleeping. One of them should have been awake, but they looked so contented sleeping that I decided to let them sleep. I was half asleep myself, or maybe fully asleep, when I was suddenly awakened by a large man picking me up and smashing me against the wall, which nearly knocked me out.

Two other men had caught the cats and threw them against the wall too. “Where did you get the cats PI?” asked the big man, “And where is that girlfriend of yours? Talk fast or you won’t live long!” I barely was able to say “Sky”, then the man punched me in the stomach and let me drop to the floor. He then kicked me 2 or 3 times, I wasn’t sure which. Then I heard a roar and thought I saw a tiger leap through the air, knocking the big man against the wall.

It was Sky and she was angry, more angry then I had ever seen her. Instead of killing this man quickly, she decided to fight him. Angel took care of the other two and both her and Sky finished at the same time. “How did they catch you and the cats off guard Steve?” she asked. “I let the cats go to sleep while I watched,” I said weakly, “but I must have fallen asleep too.” I couldn’t say any more than that. The cats were not hurt too badly and I didn’t want to give ourselves away just yet, so we decided to spend the night here.

But, about 3am Sky woke up and sat up quickly. “Wake up everyone!” she said, “There’s a fire down the corridor!” Angel and I did not smell any smoke, but Sky did. “We will have to leave out the restaurant door,” I said, “you girls will have to help me walk though.” I was right, once they got me on my feet, I could barely move. The cats were stiff and sore too, so one sat on Sky and the other two on Angel. As we headed toward the restaurant door we could start to smell the smoke and it became strong quite quickly.

As we passed Granger’s office we noticed it was empty. “Granger started the fire,” I said, “after they left, in order to kill us, including those upstairs.” “The fire alarm is not working up there,” said Angel, “so it must have been turned off.” “Yes, Granger is hoping to kill all of us,” I said, “and hopefully our team won’t find out until after they get those men out of prison.” “We need to stop him!” said Sky angrily. “First we need to get out of here,” I said.

“I hope your idea works,” said Sky, “it’s the only way to get you out of here.” “It will work,” I said. I was sure hoping it would anyway, but I wasn’t going to say I did have some doubts. The smoke was heavy by the time we got to that door. “Feel around the door for an electrical charge,” I told Sky, “that will be want you want to short out, if you can.” She felt around and sure enough, she did notice an increase in electrical energy around the door. Suddenly all the lights went out.

“You got it Sky,” I said, “now try to open the door.” Angel was beside her and I sat on the floor, too weak to stand, and barely able to breathe because of all the smoke. “Here Steve,” said Sky, “this is fresh air for you to breathe. Don’t worry, I won’t blow hard.” “Hey, I got it!” exclaimed Angel. Sure enough, the door was now open. But the smoke was just as thick on that side. Everyone was running outside but Angel called for help.

Amerie and Suzette were overjoyed to see us and came running over to help carry me outside. Jennifer came out right behind us and was so relieved that I was out. “What happened to you Steve?” asked Jennifer, “You look like you were beaten.” “He was,” said Angel, “a great big guy was beating Steve and he called Sky for help since her and I were off looking for a way out. You should have seen Sky fight that big guy! She was a tiger! The men hurt the cats too, so be careful with them.”

“Thank you so much Sky,” said Jennifer. But there was no response. Everyone looked around, but Sky was nowhere to be seen. Growlrr= Ghost Sky go sit on big rock, then disappear, said King, one of Car… I mean, Hannah’s caracals. “Go find her Jennifer,” I said, “before she is gone and never comes back.” Jennifer went running over to the rock and disappeared.

“Whether you like it or not,” said Amerie, “you are my brother and I will kiss you.” And she did, a very long kiss too. “Maybe you do not approve,” she said again, “but that is how I do things.” She then smiled so nicely. “I enjoyed it very much,” I said, still weak. I guess I must have fainted at that point and when I awoke I was in a strange, brightly lit room…

To Be Continued.

©2024 Steve McLeod.