The Investigators, Inc. Mystery of Helene’s Murder. Chapter 9. The Trap.

After Bobby told a couple of his men to dispose of Tobias’ body, he told another one to take Al to the hospital to get his arm checked out at the ER. While the two were sitting talking, two of the Bad Girls came in and sat down near to the men so they could listen. Once Al was called in to see the doctor, Piper and Patti came and sat down on either side of Pete. “Hi handsome,” said Piper, “waiting for someone?” “Uh, yeah, a friend of mine broke his arm,” replied Pete, “so I brought him in to get it checked out.”

“Oh, you are so nice of a friend,” said Patti, putting her arm around Pete, “he will be quite some time, why don’t you come out to our car for some fun while you wait?” Pete looked at the two pretty women and decided that would be better than reading an old magazine or spending time on his phone, so out he went with them. As they got outside a large limousine pulled up beside them and stopped. Patti then opened the door. “Hey, wait a minute, what is this?” asked Pete. By that time Piper had her gun out. “Just get in the car Pete,” she said, “we only want to talk. But if you prefer, I could just shoot you, at least you are close to the hospital, though it wouldn’t help since you would be dead.”

“Yes, dead or talk,” said Patti, “which would you prefer?” So Pete chose to get in the car and two more women were inside. “Hello Pete,” said a woman wearing dark glasses and dressed very expensively, “I would like to talk with you.” “What about?” he asked rather nervously. “It is about your friend, or perhaps I should say, your boss,” said the woman, “the man named Bobby Frank. I wish to find him.” “Why do you think I work for him?” asked Pete.

“Please don’t take me for a fool Pete,” she said, “I know who you are, and your friend Al. That poor man, I imagine his arm hurts terribly. My girls don’t do things like that, they just shoot to kill, it is much simpler that way. Don’t you agree?” “Uh, yeah, I get the point,” he said, “but let’s say I work for this man you mentioned, what’s in it for me if I was to tell you where he is?” She motioned to Amber who was sitting across from Pete. She handed him an envelope with $5,000 inside. “That would be for telling me where he is right now,” said the woman. Then Amber took out another envelope, but held onto it.

“That one contains $25,000,” said the woman, “if you can get him to come out in the open.” “I take it that means you plan on killing him?” asked Pete. “That is the plan,” she said, “he killed my best friend Helene, for that he must pay.” “Did you know that Helene’s cousin is in the city looking for Bobby too?” asked Pete. “Yes, I am aware of that,” she said, “but I am not friends with Aari Jensen. It would be more precise to say that we are enemies. So, I do not care about his plans, only my own.” That gave Pete an idea. He asked for permission to call Frank and the woman said yes.

“Hey Bobby, I got some news for you,” said Pete, “Al will be a while with the doctor, but that’s not it, I met a woman here that says she can take care of Jensen for you, if you’re willing to pay.” “How do you know she can do the job?” asked Bobby, “Who is the woman?” So Pete asked the woman her name. “It’s Ivy Younger,” he said, “and apparently she has a large enough organization to take care of Jensen and his people won’t retaliate since it would mean a rather large war between them, which wouldn’t be good for business.” “Okay, makes sense, but why now?” asked Bobby.

“She has been tracking Jensen who is never easy to find in the open,” said Pete, “and I mentioned where Jensen was staying and that he was after you for killing his cousin. So, she will take him off your hands, for a price of course.” “Naturally she would want some cash for the job,” said Bobby, “I figured that. How much?” “She said 100K would do nicely,” said Pete. “Hmm, that’s a lot, but a fair price I guess,” said Bobby thinking it over quickly, “okay, half now and half after the job is done.” “60 now,” said Ivy to Pete. “Um, she says it has to be 60 now,” said Pete, “in cash.”

“Yeah, I know it would be in cash,” he said, “but tell her I never go more than 50 up front.” “She says you can deal with Jensen then,” said Pete. “Women!” exclaimed Bobby, “Fine, I will do it, where does she want the money delivered?” “She wants to meet you in person to get it,” said Pete, “just to make sure it’s you doing this, not someone else. I can bring her there if you want, but you will have to come out to her limo, she won’t go inside. She says you can have two armed guards with you, she has the same with her.” “Likes to make demands, doesn’t she?” said Bobby, “Okay, I looked her up, she’s legit, but bring her to the back and use route B to bring her here.”

“Okay, we’ll be there in a bit,” said Pete and he hung up. “You did just fine Pete,” said Ivy and she nodded to Amber. She then gave Pete the other envelope containing the $25,000. “Very nice,” he said, “I just hope your girl doesn’t miss, you won’t get a second chance, and neither will I.” “My girls never miss,” said Ivy, “now, where do we go?” “I will give directions as we drive,” said Pete. “Just give me all the directions right now,” said Sherry, “I will remember them.” “Do as she says,” said Ivy. So Pete gave all the rather odd directions for getting to Bobby’s “Cave”.

Then Sherry turned off the microphone and began driving. That way she could talk with others privately and Fluffy recorded the directions so he could tell Sherry all the many turns. She already knew how to get there, a much shorter way, but they followed Pete’s directions so he wouldn’t get suspicious. A detailed plot to get Bobby out in the open. But, we are not really in the business of execution style killing, so, what next? “Is everything set Aoife?” asked Sherry. “Yep, I’m in place if needed,” she said, “but the Wolves will take over after you arrive, that will make it a fair fight.”

Soon they were pulling in behind the hardware store where Bobby Frank lived and where he had the “Cave” which was the headquarters for his gang. “Wow, I’m surprised your driver was able to remember my directions so perfectly,” said Pete. “She is very good at her job,” replied Ivy. “Well, I will go get Bobby out here,” said Pete. “Phone him instead,” said Ivy, “I don’t want you disappearing until I see Bobby, after all, you have $30,000 of my money.” He got a little nervous right then, but he phoned Bobby and said they had arrived.

Sure enough, he came out with 2 men, one carrying a briefcase with the money. The door was opened and Pete got out and the briefcase was handed to Amber who checked the contents. The door was closed, but the window remained open. “Thank you Mr. Frank,” said Ivy. However, when she said that, several more men came out with assault rifles aimed at the car. “Please get out Miss Younger,” said Bobby. “I’m sorry Mr. Frank,” she said, “but it seems you have your hands full of Wolves at the moment.” “Take us out of here fast Fluffy!” exclaimed Sherry. “Me Fluffy, we leave fast!” And they did…

To Be Continued. ©2026 Steve McLeod.