The Investigators, Inc. Case of the Kidnapped Family. Chapter 13. Crying Kids.

We are now hoping that Aari will be able to get some information from Ms. Cameron after she hears what Haugen and Cairns have to say about her. “No one is allowed in to see this prisoner,” said one of the police officers outside the door to Ms. Cameron’s room at the hospital. His name is Lester, he and the other officer with him, Phil, work for Cairns.

Aari then showed them his ID and the letter from the Chief of Police there in Dallas. “He should have talked with you already,” said Aari. “Well, he didn’t,” said Lester, “and this paper means nothing to me, anyone could produce that.” Aari then phoned the Chief who was already at the hospital, just in case, and he arrived within 5 minutes with several more officers.

They arrested Lester and Phil and the Chief unlocked the door for Aari and Carine. They could have broken in without problems, but they wanted to do things legally. “Okay Ms. Cameron,” said Carine, “there are only the 3 of us in here, don’t you think it’s time to give us the information we want?” “Why should I?” she said, “You are PI’s, find out for yourself.”

“That is exactly what we are doing,” said Carine, “now, listen to this.” Aari then played the conversation between Haugen and Cairns. Ms. Cameron pretended not to be interested at first, but when her name was mentioned, and her death, it really caught her attention. They did not tell Ms. Cameron that the 2 police officers had already been arrested.

“Now, all that Cairns has to do, and probably has already done,” began Carine, “is to call Lester and tell him to make sure you die, accidentally of course. Then you won’t be able to talk anymore. Instead, why not turn it around and tell us what we want to know, starting with where we can find Amanda’s children.”

“I don’t know why you want those crying brats!” she exclaimed, “The whole time I had them they cried and cried. Those 2 little boys whining for their mother. I just couldn’t take it anymore and started dragging those 2 boys out of the filming room and their sister ran at me from behind and knocked me down, breaking two teeth! I picked her up and threw her against the wall!

Then I took them all out to the oak room. If they are still alive, which is unlikely, that is where they will be.” Aari was calling John right away and told him where to look. “If those kids are dead, you will be too,” said Carine, “I will kill you myself.” “Ha! That would be murder,” said Ms. Cameron, “you would spend the rest of your life in prison.” Carine smiled.

“That would not be long,” she said, “because I am already dead, and you can’t put a dead person in prison.” “Hey mister, your girlfriend here thinks she’s dead,” laughed Ms. Cameron. “She is dead,” said Aari, “she’s a ghost.” Ms. Cameron just stared at him. They found out also that she was Governor Haugen’s girlfriend, even though he is married with 4 teenage children.

That could create quite a news item. They kept talking for a while longer as they waited to hear back from John. Meanwhile, we return to us. We had managed to sneak Kat into the hospital where they had taken Felicity. It’s easy to sneak into places when you can go invisible.

Just as we thought, there was no one guarding her room, but at least she was in a private room so that made things easier for Kat to work. Some of her Wildcats were sitting in a waiting area which, thankfully, was close to Felicity’s room. So they were able to keep an eye on things and warn Kat if anyone was about to go into the room. After a while Felicity opened her eyes.

“How do you feel?” asked Kat. “Like, well, like I was dead and now I’m alive,” she replied. “You will be just fine,” smiled Kat, “now, we need to get you out of this hospital. The people who tried to kill you will try again, but if you come with me, we can protect you. Will you trust me?”

“Well, I know who I can’t trust,” she said, “so, yes, I will gladly trust you.” “Okay,” said Kat. In just a few seconds the door opened a bit and a hand reached inside with some clothes. Kat took them and handed them to Felicity. “These should fit you for now,” she said. Felicity quickly dressed and Kat held her hand as they walked out of the hospital and to their waiting van.

“That was cool,” said Felicity, “it was like no one could see us.” “People get busy sometimes and don’t pay attention to what is going on around them,” said Kat. Soon they were back with us and that meant it was time to visit Haugen and Cairns. Jennifer and Kat would stay behind and look after the girls we are protecting.

Sky and Angel would come with me, along with the Bad Girls. When we arrived at Cairns establishment, the door was locked. However, that did not stop Sky, she just unlocked the door with her amazing ability and in we went. Haugen and Cairns had just sat down to enjoy their steak dinner when we entered the room. “Get out!” yelled Cairns, “Or I will call the cops!”

“That’s a good one Cairns,” I said, “the criminal will call for the police to protect him from…who? Another criminal? Or a private investigator perhaps? Or maybe from the Governor? Or maybe from the Governor’s girlfriend, a Ms. Cameron? Or maybe a black-haired Raven? I would think that talking would be a good idea right about now, because you two, and a certain Governor, are in big trouble.”

Just then 4 men came rushing out of the hallway to Cairns’ office carrying assault rifles. Sky was holding my hand to keep me safe and she raised her other hand and from each finger shot a bolt of electricity, killing the four men and burning a rather large hole in the wall. The other men at the table pulled out their guns now but the Bad Girls were on the table, kicking the men so fast, they never had a chance to shoot.

Haugen and Cairns tried to run while this was happening, but Courage, the lion, trapped them against the wall. They both had their eyes closed, pleading for their lives, when the police came rushing in. “What’s wrong with them?” asked the police Chief. “Apparently they think one of my girls is a huge lion,” I said. He looked at Angel, then back at me.

“She isn’t even huge,” he said, shaking his head. The police quickly arrested Haugen, Cairns and their men and since they had a search warrant, they began looking through the place carefully. Hopefully they can put those two in prison for a while, but I would really like the Governor to join them. This puzzle is not quite complete…

To Be Continued.

©2025 Steve McLeod.