The Investigators, Inc. The Case of Richard’s Family. Chapter 3. Tobias.

Here we are looking for Richard’s wife and children and instead we run across some guy that Celestine knows and is very afraid of, which is not good. We are now back in our room so Jennifer and I decide to talk with Celestine about this guy named Tobias. Well, Jennifer decided I should talk with Celestine, and I agreed. Kind of the same thing, sort of. Oh well.

So, I asked Celestine about Tobias, who he was, what he does and what her involvement was with him. “It isn’t easy talking about this Steve,” she said, “all of you will hate me once I tell you what this is all about.” “None of us will hate you Celestine,” I said reassuringly, “but in order to protect you, we need to know what’s going on, and why.” “He and my dad worked together for a few years,” she began, “they actually worked for another man, but I don’t remember his name, they seldom mentioned it.

Anyway, over time dad went into debt because of his gambling and Tobias finally loaned him the money to pay his debt in full and dad quit gambling. Tobias said that he would consider the debt paid if dad gave me to him for his porn operation. So, dad did so and I became the property of Tobias. I was 16 at the time, but I looked like I was 13, which Tobias thought was perfect and he portrayed me as a 13 year old, which brought in a lot more money for him.

I guess you will want me to leave now. But can I ask one favor? Take me to a different city and toss me out, maybe Tobias won’t find me then.” She was crying, Jennifer was crying, Dawn was crying. I hugged Celestine. “No way, my Queen,” I said, “you are not going anywhere. You are part of our family now and we fight for each other. I promise you that Tobias will never touch you again. See Dawn over there? She was sold by her dad into porn at 16, then disowned her for getting involved in porn. You two have much in common.”

Then I said, “Sky.” “You called Steve?” she asked, “where’s the trouble?” “How did Sky get here?” asked Celestine. “Um, we’ll explain that in a little while,” I said, “Sky, can you come if Celestine calls you, please, it’s important.” I then told her Celestine’s story and I told Celestine that Sky had a similar experience as well. Sky then said she would come at Celestine’s call, then she took her aside into the bathroom for a few minutes.

“Cristy,” I said, “I need you to, um, are you awake?” “Naturally I’m awake,” she said, “I have had my customary 5 minutes of sleep so that I can be of service to you the remaining 23 hours and 55 minutes of the day.” “Ooooh, someone hasn’t had their morning coffee yet,” I said. “It’s the middle of the night Steve,” she reminded me. “Oh, right, well, I would only do this if it’s important,” I said. “I know, it always is important,” she said sighing.

“Wow, that was a long sigh,” I said, “anyway, I need information on Tobias Trundle, whatever you can find and quickly please.” “Good thing you added that please on the end,” she said, “just joking, I’m not upset, really.” “I think she’s being sarcastic,” said Jennifer. “How can you tell?” I asked. “It’s in her voice,” she replied. Sky and Celestine came back out at that moment. “I feel a bit strange,” said Celestine. “That will go away quickly,” said Sky, smiling, “but now, when you say my name, I will come to help you.”

“But you don’t ever carry a gun, or knife, or anything,” said Celestine, “what if the bad guys have guns?” “Then I will take their guns away from them,” said Sky, still smiling. “She can do it too,” I said, then I turned to Sky, “how come I can’t do that?” “Because it’s not one of your abilities,” she said, “concentrate on what you have, learn to use them perfectly, others might come along later.”

Meanwhile, in another hotel not far away. “Well, why didn’t you bring her back?” asked Tobias. “We were still outnumbered, and those people are not easy to scare, they just stood up to us and said to tell you to forget about Celestine while you’re still healthy.” “Check with the hotel register and get their names,” said Tobias, “then check out who they are, and do it now!” Gordon was the name of his computer guy and he was on it right away.

He hacked into the hotel computer and checked the register and the only name he found was mine, listed as Steve Moore. He tried getting information about me but was unsuccessful, so he checked with his contacts. One of them knew a woman named Jazzy and contacted her. We had already given Jazzy information to give away about us. She told him we were a smaller gang from Canada called The Lynx Club, all women except the leader. She told him that although we were a small gang, we were tough and we didn’t back down.

She also told him it would be better not to get involved with us because my wife is the sister of the leader for The Black Wolves, a gang also from Canada, but they were much bigger, about 200 rough, tough men that you don’t want to tangle with. Gordon then gave this information to Tobias. “That’s why that guy acts tough,” said Tobias, “when he has that many men behind him. Well, we’ll leave him alone for now, we have this other deal going and I don’t want anything to get in the way of that. But watch those people, if you have a chance to grab Celestine easily, then do it.”

Back to us once more. Sky disappeared and went back to her Bad Girls in the hotel across the street. “Um, what happened to Sky?” asked Celestine, “She’s kind of, different.” I chuckled at that one. “Yes, that’s true,” I said, “some of us are a bit different, but Sky is one of the nicest women you can know, after Jennifer of course.” “Good thing you added that last part, my dear husband,” said Jennifer. Dawn and Celestine laughed.

“Okay, I understand,” said Celestine, “will I ever know what goes on with certain people?” “Yes, everyone finds out in time,” I said, “I’m not deliberately withholding information from you, honest.” “I believe you, my King,” she said, smiling, “oops, I messed up.” “It’s okay,” said Dawn, “I have heard you say that before. But I have yet to see you and Steve playing chess.”

“Um, well, we play secretly right now since I’m not very good,” I told her. “Uh huh,” said Dawn, “well, I don’t believe you. Something else is going on between the King and the Queen.” She giggled, so did Jennifer. Celestine looked a bit worried, but Jennifer told her not to be…

To Be Continued. ©2025 Steve McLeod.