The Investigators, Inc. The Case of Steve’s Daughter. Chapter 4. Mr. Flynn.

Back at the chateau the plans have been made for getting those criminals out of prison. All four are murderers and experts in large scale thefts. The computer girls are busy trying to find where this gang is planning to strike next once their friends are out of prison. Kat and her Wildcats are already in Mexico, so are the Black Wolves. With 5 of the 8 ghosts with us, that left Kat with some hard decisions to make. We always leave 2 ghosts at the chateau to help with protection, but she obviously couldn’t do that this time.

Actually, she couldn’t leave even one ghost behind, all three were needed for this operation. Therefore Mandar brought in two teams to help guard the chateau. “Kat,” said Kristina, “I’m worried that we didn’t here back from Sky and the others yet. What could have happened?” “I’m worried about that too,” said Kat, “it just doesn’t make sense. Steve called Sky which means he should have been able to communicate with us too, but he didn’t. No one knows how we communicate, so there is no way they can come up with a way to stop us.”

“Unless they did so by accident,” said Carine, “it might have been meant to stop regular communication and stopped us too.” “Possible, I suppose,” said Kat, “but I still don’t believe it. I wonder how Mandar is making out with Mr. Copeland?” She then called Mandar who told her he had left word at the hotel, but had not heard back from him yet. Apparently he is still at the hotel however. Kat then called the girls who were watching the hotel and they had not seen him leave, so Kat said to go looking for him, forcefully if necessary.

They were happy to hear that last part and in they went, stopping at the front desk to find out Copeland’s room number. The desk clerk was not very helpful, so he ended up taking a nap. They found his room number and off they went to the 5th floor. Emerald called out “room service” and the door opened with a man saying “about time”. They pushed their way in, guns out and had the men disarmed quickly. There were 4 men besides Mr. Copeland.

“Now Mr. Copeland,” said Jazzy, “we need to have a little talk.” “Do you want to see your friends again?” he asked nonchalantly. “Do you wish to see your friends?” she asked in return, “We want proof that our friends are still alive and unhurt or your friends will be staying in prison, and you will be our prisoners. Do you understand that Mr. Copeland?” “Look, we are keeping your friends in a place with no cell reception,” he said, “I can’t just get in touch with them whenever I like. The deal is we go get them when you have our friends out of prison and we swap at the same time.”

“The deal has changed Mr. Copeland,” said Jazzy, “you are not dealing with amateurs. Maybe what you need to do is move them to a different place where there is phone reception.” “Look, we don’t have much time to get my friends out of prison,” he said, “if we do what you say, that will give even less time. So, let’s not change our deal, okay?” “No, not okay,” said Jazzy, “we will do nothing until we have proof that our friends are okay. Now, get busy and tell your people that there has been a change in plans. Oh, and our friends had better be in good health, or your health will match theirs.”

Copeland then got his phone returned to him and he called someone. “Ted, I need you to go get our guests from their hotel,” he said, “or we can’t get the deal done.” “Um, Mr. Copeland,” replied Ted, “that isn’t possible, there’s no runway out there and without water they won’t be in good shape anyway.” “What?!” he exclaimed, “Why is there no water…” Then he stopped suddenly when he realized what he said. Nakedra then put her gun next to Copeland’s head.

“You better tell your man to get some water to them, today,” said Jazzy calmly, “and get a phone to them today as well, or better yet, get them out of there. You and your friends won’t be eating or drinking until we get them back.” “Ted, you gotta do something to get those people out of there,” said Copeland, “otherwise the boys and I will die, slow like.” “I’ll talk with Mr. Flynn, maybe he has a plan,” said Ted. “Mr. Flynn?!” exclaimed Copeland, “Don’t get in touch with him for anything, just figure it out!”

“Okay, Mr. Copeland,” he said, “I’ll see what I can do and get back to you.” He then hung up. “So, Mr. Flynn is your boss,” said Jazzy, “that’s good to know, he doesn’t plan to give our friends back to us.” Then she contacted Kat to let her know what is going on. “He just wants to kill us all,” said Kat, “or destroy as many as he can anyway. He will regret this little plan of his. Take those men back to the chateau and let them know we reward cooperation, but if they don’t cooperate, then they pay with their lives.” Kat then called Mandar to warn him about what Mr. Flynn is doing and he immediately called for another 2 teams to come and help at the chateau.

Driving back to the chateau Jazzy asked Mr. Copeland where we were being held. “Hey, if I tell you anything,” he said, “Mr. Flynn would kill us without even thinking.” “With us you die slowly of starvation and thirst,” replied Jazzy, “but we can protect you if you help us. You just need to tell us where they are and we will go get them.” “It isn’t that easy,” he said, “Mr. Flynn had us dump them in some crazy desert. They parachuted in because there’s no place to land a plane and no way to drive that far in either.” They talked some more and Cristy looked up the desert and she didn’t have good news.

“How did you find a cave if no one could get in there?” asked Nakedra. “I have no idea,” replied Copeland, “Mr. Flynn looked after that part, not us.” “You should be able to drop some water in for them,” said Jazzy, “enough to last them until we can figure out how to get them out.” He then called Ted who told Mr. Copeland it would take time to get it done, but he would do it. “Drop a phone in as well,” said Copeland. “That won’t help them boss,” he said. “Do it anyway,” said Copeland…

To Be Continued. ©2026 Steve McLeod.