The Investigators, Inc. Case of Rossana’s Family. Chapter 5. Lombardi’s Loss.

We are searching Lombardi’s two yachts tonight. Sky and Angel are searching the one that appears to have people on board and there are lights in that yacht as well. Then there is Misty, Kristina, Kitty and I that are searching the second yacht. This one appears to have no people and there are no lights on anywhere in this yacht, at least none that we can see. That part is very strange.

A man like Lombardi would definitely want to have some guards on board such a large and expensive yacht. Someone could come on board and damage, or even sink, this yacht if no one is guarding it. Which is why we brought some of Catalina’s surprise packages with us. I don’t know what we would do without Catalina, she is a true gem.

So far, looking around, none of the rooms have been locked, which is also very strange. But as we entered a large room we heard voices and people coming on board. Just what we don’t want right now. Kat then communicated with me to keep Misty invisible. She said that Lombardi and some guests had just come on board the yacht.

Hmm, I wonder who is guests are? The door to this room opened and the lights were turned on as some of Lombardi’s men came in to look around. It didn’t take them long to check the room, there really isn’t anywhere for a normal person to hide. Then one of them left and three stayed behind. Obviously Lombardi and his guests must be using this room for some kind of meeting.

Time for some fun since these guys don’t know us, so I moved away from Misty. “Hey, where did she come from?” asked a man named Eddy. “Oh, uh, hi guys,” said Misty after realizing she was visible again, “what’s new?” One of them tried to grab Misty but she disappeared just in time. “Where did she go?” asked Grant. Eddy was by himself on the other side of the room and that’s where I put Misty.

“What are we looking for?” whispered Misty to Eddy. “Some woman is in here,” he whispered in return. “I don’t see a woman,” Misty whispered again. “She disappeared…”, then he stopped and looked at Misty. “Hi,” she said, smiling. “Here she is!” Eddy exclaimed. But when the other two turned to look, Misty had disappeared again.

“Well, she was here,” said Eddy, “oh, oh, I hear the boss coming, what do we tell him?” “Nothing,” said Grant, “unless either of you would like to tell Mr. Lombardi about a woman that disappears.” “That’s a good way to end up swimming with the fishes,” said Dorian, “and I can’t swim.” Just then Lombardi and four other men entered the room and sat down.

“You men are sure noisy down here,” said Lombardi. “Oh, sorry Mr. Lombardi,” said Grant. “Have you found out anything yet Gary?” asked Lombardi. “No, but they won’t likely tell me anything,” he said, “I’m just the city police chief, those people are international undercover police. I just don’t like this whole thing, especially with the children.”

“I’m starting to agree with Gary,” said another man, “perhaps we should let the kids go.” “No!” exclaimed Lombardi, “We need those kids to bargain with. I want to know who infiltrated my organization! Anything about that hitman Gary?” “No, whoever it was just disappeared without a trace,” he replied, “it was definitely a pro job.”

“What happened?” asked a man named Mr. Carvell, “Why wasn’t I told about this hit? Who was it?” “Someone knocked off Raven and his two top men,” said Lombardi, “I still think it’s that new bunch in town.” “Yeah, but which one of those two gangs?” asked Gary. “What? Now there’s two gangs in the city?” asked Mr. Carvell, “Who are they?”

“One is just a small gang from France,” said Gary, “not much chance they could pull it off, Raven is much too cautious, he will change his route or his time of arrival along the way just in case someone is following him. But the other gang is a larger organization from Canada, the Black Wolves. They are a tough and dangerous outfit.”

Just then the door opened and another man entered with two that looked like bodyguards. “Ah, Mr. Spence, nice to see you again,” said Lombardi. Spence sat down at the table with them and they began talking about a large drug shipment that would soon be unloaded at dock 10 on the east side of the city. This would take place at 2am.

I communicated this to Kat who in turn let Aari know about it and he had his Black Wolves in place before the shipment arrived. Aari was a bit surprised to see 4 large delivery vans show up just as another yacht was pulling up to the dock. Soon they were unloading numerous boxes and large sacks from the yacht and loading them into the delivery vans.

As they were closing the back doors on the vans, Aari and his men came riding in on their motorcycles. The yacht was already pulling away from the dock, but four of his men used our new launchers to shoot ‘surprise packages’ onto the yacht starting several fires. There was a brief gunfight with the men at the vans, but they gave up quickly when they saw how many men came riding onto the dock.

We had borrowed a team from Mandar to increase Aari’s team. We had one of our own delivery vans to carry the motorcycles of those who would be driving the other vans. Lombardi’s men were tied up and left behind. Aari’s men did not wear any identifying clothes this time and they left the city right away.

Someone from the yacht must have called Mr. Lombardi and he slammed his phone on the table. Then he told the others what had happened. “That was a large haul Lombardi,” said Spence, “you said nothing could possibly go wrong with this shipment. Drugs, guns and people, plus cash and diamonds.” “Where were all your men Lombardi?” asked Carvell.

“No one knew about that shipment tonight,” said Lombardi, “no one except me. My whole organization thought it was coming in tomorrow night. I picked the drivers myself at the last minute. No one could have known about it, no one!” He pounded the table several times with his fist…

To Be Continued.

©2025 Steve McLeod.