The Investigators, Inc. The Friendly Buyer Case. Chapter 1. Sell, or Else.

It has been a beautiful, quiet 2 weeks since we arrived home, just what we needed. Everyone is back to good health again, thanks a great deal to Kat who is able to speed up the healing of certain wounds. Sienna is still with us and she has healed very nicely from all the trauma and stress she went through. I am sure she will be wanting to head back to work shortly.

Kind of sad really, it has been very nice having her around. She has really pitched in and helped around the chateau and she noticed a number of things that could be improved around here if we just had a little more space to work with. So, she is funding the expansion of the chateau so we can have our own indoor gym and spa including a nice indoor pool.

It will also include several more bedrooms so we will have room for guests, like her. She smiled when she said that. The three women we rescued from that prison have asked to stay with us and join our team and they are presently going through our training program. Emerald and Brandy have already completed the program and are full team members now.

Then there are Lance’s two brothers, Mike and Bomber (real name Gerald). Bomber got his name while in the military, he was an explosives expert. So, now we have an explosives expert on the men and women’s side, which is great. Mike was also in the military. He is a big, strong man, great climber, sniper, can drive anything and works great at night.

And there is Lance’s friend, Chester, great at solving problems and planning. Jennifer and I were in the library, she was sitting on my lap while we talked. “Hmm, I seem to need some coffee,” I said. “And donuts too, I imagine,” said Jennifer smiling and off she went to get them. Right then Sienna came in. “Oh look, an empty lap,” she said and sat down.

“Actually, Jennifer is sitting there,” I said. “She must be invisible,” said Sienna. “No, she’s in the kitchen,” I replied. “Then how can she be sitting on your lap?” she asked, “Anyway, I have been thinking about one little detail to change on the new addition.” “Okay, I approve,” I said. “I haven’t said what it was yet,” she said. “I still approve.

Jennifer came back with coffee for Sienna too, apparently she saw her come into the library. Anyway, Sienna wants to make an apartment for herself on the third floor of the new addition, next to the twin towers. For some reason I didn’t remember the third floor or the towers, but she had talked it over with Jennifer already. She also wants space for her office.

She then pleaded with me to let her live with us, she just couldn’t bear the thought of going back to live on her own again, at least not right now. Jennifer thought it was a wonderful idea, and so did I. Sienna has learned a lot about teamwork while being here, plus listening to others ideas and realizing she just can’t do everything herself.

And she has learned the need of having better security around herself when going places. Jennifer and I, plus several of the girls and cats went shopping that afternoon, for another cat or two, though we didn’t mention that part to anyone. We did find three of our special cats at the cat shelter, one for Sienna, one for Sherry and one for Misty.

All three of the girls were so happy they stayed with those cats the rest of the day. Sienna wanted to talk right after the introduction to her cat. She has a good friend from high school days who is married with three young children ages 1, 3 and 5. They started their own business after getting married 11 years ago and put a lot of effort into making it work.

Sienna helped them out with a loan right at the beginning since they couldn’t get a loan anywhere else. The business has been thriving, until a similar business started up a couple of years ago. Sienna’s friends, Tammy and Ezra, didn’t mind some friendly competition opening up so they thought nothing about it. Then one day the owner of the other business came to see them and offered them 3 million dollars for their business, about half what it’s worth.

But they didn’t want to sell, even if they got full value for the business. When the man left he told them they should seriously consider his offer since fortunes can change quickly. Since that time things have been going wrong. Aari was with us, listening to all of this. He recognized this right away. First their security guards at one of the warehouses they have quit suddenly.

All they said was they have families to think of. Ezra and Tammy didn’t understand what they meant. Then the warehouse burned down. That was a total loss of 2 million dollars. Their insurance company won’t pay because their deal was to have security in place 24 hours a day, which they didn’t.

They had tried to hire some temporary guards from a local agency, but when the agency found out who it was for, they suddenly changed their minds and said there were no guards available right now. A number of smaller things have been happening too. Finally, two days ago, their assistant manager who was a good friend of theirs and liked to walk to work, was run down one morning and killed.

It was a hit and run and there were no witnesses, or at least none that would come forward. Sienna asked if we would take this case and she would pay us since her friends couldn’t afford it right now. I reminded her that she already pays us. “That’s Baldwin Corp. that pays you,” she said, “this is a personal favor, so I pay.”

“No, we are getting paid enough,” I told her, “however, we will need a fair amount of expense money. We will need to put on a good front for these people.” “Steve is right,” said Aari, “if we have to cut corners, they won’t pay attention to us.” “No problem,” said Sienna, “spend whatever you need.” We will need our special vans and some limousines, plus motorcycles.

Sienna said they would be ready for us when we land. Denver is where we are heading, so we will leave early in the morning. I told Cristy to check thoroughly into Ezra and Tammy’s business records, imports and sales, to make sure everything adds up.

I explained to Sienna that this was normal for us to do, and necessary for our safety. She understood and she really hoped her friends were not involved in any illegal activity. I hope so too. I told Sienna not to mention anything to her friends about Aari and his Jaguars or Kat and her Wildcats.

For now they will stay separate from us. We will also take several cats with us, the ones that are best at sniffing out bombs of any kind, plus guns and drugs. It was a long, but quiet trip and we are now landing at the Denver International Airport…

To Be Continued.

©2025 Steve McLeod.