The Investigators, Inc. The Missing Jewels Case. Chapter 1. 13 Jewels.

It has been 2 weeks since our last case and although some of us were wounded on that case, we are all out of the clinic now and doing much better. However, we do have some strict orders from Samantha to take it easy for another 3 weeks. Misty and her team were hit the hardest with four of them being wounded. Poor Misty is quite embarrassed that it’s taking her so long to recover after just one brief encounter with Wong. I keep trying to tell her that Wong was not just any man, he was a trained fighter, and he caught her off guard.

Maybe I shouldn’t have said that last part. So, I am now on my way to find Misty and have a nice long talk with her. I knew where to find her, the twin’s den. Except she wasn’t there. So I got everyone looking for her. “Uncle Steve,” said Steffie, “what is all the girls and cats looking for?” “We are trying to find Auntie Misty,” I said, “so I can talk to her. I said something to her I shouldn’t have said, so I need to find her to apologize.”

Steffie looked at me, then she thought for a moment, then she waved at me to follow her. She took me to the top floor, then up to the south tower. She went over to the wall and pushed with all her strength on one of the stones at floor level and a small, secret door opened. She pointed and smiled. I whispered to her to tell Auntie Sapphire I said to give her 2 fresh donuts. She was gone like a flash of lightning. She is one amazing girl, how did she ever find this spot?

I crawled inside and there was another door, which was locked. “Please open Misty,” I said. No response. “I’ll tell Steffie if you don’t open,” I said. “Click”, and I opened the door and crawled inside. Misty was surrounded by pillows and covered with a blanket. She even had a battery powered light. “Um, can I borrow a pillow to sit on?” I asked. She swung one around, thwacking me on the face with it. “Sorry,” she said. “That’s okay,” I replied. “Did you close the outer door?” she asked. “I don’t know how,” I answered.

She went out quickly and closed it. “I don’t want Steffie finding this one,” she said as she sat among her pillows. “You need more pillows,” she said and she then gave me 3 more. “How did you find this spot anyway?” she asked. “I’ll give you one short guess,” I said. I think that was the largest sigh I ever heard from Misty. “She found this place about a month ago,” I said. “She found it before I did,” said Misty, “but how?” “Same way she found your other one,” I said, “I brought some fresh donuts.”

We talked for a while and Misty said she found out about this spot from an old journal in our library, but since Steffie isn’t reading much yet, she obviously found it a different way. “Curiosity,” I said, “I wonder how many other secret ‘hidey’ spots she knows about?” “Do you think she does?” asked Misty. “Well, when I asked her where to find you,” I said, “she had to think for a few moments. That makes me think she knows about other spots.” There was another large sigh from Misty.

“Please don’t tell anyone about this spot,” said Misty, “it’s better than my last one, and too many girls know about that one now.” “Who told them?” I asked. “Cristy has a hard time keeping secrets like that,” she sighed. We came out after about an hour. Sky and the Bad Girls are on vacation right now in Australia. Misty wanted to take her team on vacation too, but they can’t go anywhere until Samantha says they are okay to travel. So, right now they are making plans, mainly trying to decide where to go.

Meanwhile, in Australia, at a very nice hotel in Sydney, Sky, Angel, Soleil and Cynthia were down in the hotel restaurant to have breakfast. Right now, though, they were waiting for the other girls to arrive and they were wondering why the others were late. While sitting, talking and drinking their coffee, Cynthia noticed 6 men at a round table. One man, with a slightly graying beard, probably in his 40s, kept looking over at their table. Finally Sky decided to go looking for the others since they were not answering her calls.

She went into each room, but no girls were around. She then came back down and the front desk clerk stopped her and handed her an envelope. Sky asked who left it, but he didn’t know, so she came back to the table and told the others that the girls were not around anywhere. Then she opened the envelope and read the note inside, which said, “To whom it may concern, Thank you for coming to our wonderful country and for bringing with you such beauty. We have been looking for some new ‘talent’ and these women fit perfectly for our needs. We wish you to come with us as well. Please do not make a scene, it is so troublesome to deal with uncooperative women. You will find us sitting at the round table. Thank you.”

Sky was outraged but she remained calm and told the others to stay calm also, but she wanted them to read the note. While they were reading, Sky communicated with Jennifer, Kat and myself what had happened. I was wondering why I didn’t sense any trouble, and more importantly, why Jennifer didn’t sense danger. Thirteen of our girls disappeared overnight and we sensed nothing. That made no sense to Jennifer and I, though Kat offered an explanation.

If the girls had been secretly drugged somehow, they may have gone voluntarily with these men, thus no danger would be sensed. I’m not so sure about that one, but since I had no other explanation, then we will have to accept that one. Unknown to Sky and her team, I had already sent some backup, just in case it was needed. They are already in position and will be in touch with Sky shortly. The Wildcats have had a break, so they are part of the backup, plus the Black Wolves. This could be a tricky situation though and we don’t want any of our girls getting hurt or killed. But, we will have to move quickly, since it’s not hard to understand why they want our girls.

Back to Australia. Sky and her girls got up and went over to the men at their table and Sky dropped the note in front of the man who looked to be in charge. “Explain,” said Sky, “then I will decide whether or not to kill you.” One of the men went for his gun, but Cynthia had hers out first putting it next to his head. She then removed his gun, putting it in the middle of the table. The other girls, likewise, took the guns from the other men and Sky did the same with the boss. Then the girls put their guns away.

“I notice you did not produce your gun,” said the boss. “If I decide to kill you,” she said, “I will do so with my hands. Now, explain, quickly.” “We have been looking for new ‘jewels’, as we like to call our ladies,” he began, “to work for us, and we want you as well.” “You want new slaves to do your bidding in a very horrible manner,” said Sky, “speak the truth when you speak to me. I know your kind, I was enslaved by others of your kind at one time. But I was freed and all of them are dead. Now, release my friends and I will forget this happened.”

The boss looked at Sky. “You seem to forget who is in control here young lady,” he said. “You seem to forget that your life is in my hands, sir,” said Sky calmly…

To Be Continued. ©2026 Steve McLeod.