The Investigators, Inc. The Missing Jewels Case. Chapter 3. Kidnappers.

This organization called “Intimate Jewels” is quite a stubborn group. They don’t appear to be very large, though they seem to be well funded. We have found out there are two brothers that run this organization, Hugh and Bradley Kingston. Hugh is the older brother by about 5 years, but Bradley handles most of the financial end of things. There is also another man, named Blake, the one in charge of the selling of women, though only for a night at a time. Then there is another key man, named Garret, the one who kidnaps the women.

We plan to destroy this organization, but first we need to get our girls back, safely, and that may not be easy. So, we need more leverage. Sky has taken Mac back to Australia and he will let Aari in on the plan. Mac came up with this idea and Aari likes it and said it should work well. I hope so. Time is not on our side in this one, I want those girls back quickly before they are hurt or killed, or even used in this horrible sex for sale scheme. But for now, let’s see how things go with Sky, Angel, Cynthia and Soleil.

I then asked Sky to come back and take Friskie and Kitty back with her as well. Having more ghosts around will be handy with this case, which isn’t supposed to even be a case. We just can’t live normal lives, no matter how hard we try. Meanwhile, back in Australia, Sky just received a phone call from a man named Philip. “My boss wants to meet and talk with you,” he said, “just you and him, about the present situation.” “Fine, I will meet him,” she said, “here in the hotel restaurant in one hour.”

“No lady,” said Philip, “my boss sets the rules, he will meet you at a little park not far from you, at 12 noon.” “Does Hugh Kingston plan on bringing my friends with him?” she asked. “No, but that’s what he wants to talk about,” said Philip, “a trade for Bradley.” “Fine, I will be there,” said Sky angrily, “and he better not be late.” “It’s all set Mr. Kingston,” said Philip, “she will be waiting for you.” They both laughed. “Now, get those women to site C,” said Hugh, “just in case they decide to try and rescue their friends.” “How can 4 women hope to break into our little gallery house?” asked Philip.

“Well, they likely don’t know what they would be up against,” said Hugh, “but I don’t want to take chances, get those women out before they go over there to watch the place.” “Right Mr. Kingston,” he said, “I will get it done right away.” A little later at the front of the business location of Intimate Jewels, a larger truck pulls up and a man gets out and pushes up the back door. A few minutes later our 13 girls are led outside, in chains, and put into the back of the truck, along with four armed men.

The first man gets back into the truck and drives away. There is another man standing on the sidewalk watching and he suddenly feels a sharp knife pushing against his back. “Come with me Blake,” said a deep voice, and they walked back to a car and Mac then checked him for weapons, then told him to get in the car. Then they, too, drove away.

Meanwhile, back to us for a moment. I opened the door to Bradley’s safe room and Rock pushed Blake in. “I think you two know each other,” I said, “you are indeed a foolish man Bradley. By the way, time is fast running out, for both of you.” Rock just stood there and smiled at the two men. Then we left them alone again. “They tried to convince me we’re in Europe,” said Bradley, “they must think I’m completely stupid.” “Yeah, he tried to tell me that too,” said Blake, “the girls are safe now and Hugh is going to try talking sense into the woman in charge.”

Now, back to Australia. Garret is in a restaurant talking with a couple of beautiful, young women. “You will be well taken care of,” said Garret, “good food, great place to live, all the clothes you could ever want, private pool…” Then he was interrupted by another woman. “Did he also tell you that you will be kept chained in the basement until needed,” said the woman, “and you will be beaten and starved if you complain, and some of your customers might also beat you, drug you and rape you repeatedly?” The two women got up and walked away quickly.

“Sorry to scare away your new prospects Garret,” said Kat, “but you must come with us now.” Four of her Wildcats were standing with her and Garret quickly took out his gun, but dropped it just as quickly. “You are a fool like the Kingston brothers,” said Kat. Then she pulled him to his feet and searched him for more weapons, but he had none. Then they took him out to their van. A little while later I opened the door to Bradley and Blake’s room and brought Garret in to show them our latest catch.

“You’re starting to lose your top people Bradley,” I said, “sadly there isn’t enough space in here to keep all three of you overnight, but for now I’m sure you can make do. I’m not expecting to keep you overnight anyway, unless your brother turns out to be a very stubborn man. I hope, for your sake, that doesn’t happen.” We then left the three of them alone. Back to Australia again. “I got some bad news Hugh,” said Philip, “both Blake and Garret have gone missing.”

“Well, well, those little girls have been busy,” said Hugh, “but the next missing person will be Sky. Is everything ready?” “Yeah, she is going to be one surprised little girl,” said Philip. The two men laughed loudly. Soon the noon meeting time was here and Sky was waiting on a bench alongside the road through the park. It was the fourth bench, which is the one she was told to sit on and wait for Hugh. At 11:59 a van drove up and stopped beside Sky. The side door slid open and a man jumped out.

“You’re not Hugh Kingston,” said Sky, scowling at him. “Never mind,” he said, “I will take you to him.” “That is not part of the deal,” she replied angrily, “you are a big fool like Hugh Kingston!” Another man then jumped out as well holding an automatic weapon pointed at her, but he suddenly dropped it. Sky then touched each man on the chest and they both dropped dead. Then she jumped into the van and soon the two men in front were also dead. She then disappeared. A little later a car drove up and four men got out.

“You’re not going to like this boss,” said Philip, “all four of them are dead and not a mark on them. But she left you a note.” “What does it say?” asked Hugh. “She says that she followed your rules, now you follow hers,” said Philip, “they have Bradley, Blake and Garret and they will be returned once you return her 13 friends. She wants to meet you in her hotel restaurant in one hour and she said not to be late.” “They have been busy,” said Hugh, “I just don’t see how they could track down those two so quickly, especially Garret, no one ever knows where he is until he shows up.”

“Yeah, how did they even know what he looked like,” said Philip, “we don’t keep a picture of him anywhere. Maybe we should give back those women.” “Let me think about this for a while,” said Hugh, “get back her quickly.” “Hey boss,” said Ruben, “we got more trouble.” “What now?” asked Hugh. “Some gang kidnapped those 13 women from site C,” replied Ruben. “What?! Who were they?” asked Hugh.

“Never heard of them before,” said Ruben, “they call themselves the Black Wolves. They killed the 4 guards, took the women and left this note.” He handed it to Hugh. “They want one million dollars in US currency for their return,” said Hugh, “how could this happen? How did they even know about those women?” “I talked with the truck driver,” said Ruben, “he told me there was a guy with a motorcycle not far from the warehouse and he had ‘Black Wolves’ on his vest.”

To Be Continued. ©2026 Steve McLeod.