It was hard to wait for the men to arrive from the Major, but I agreed to do it. I am not sure what good it will do though. But, we continued looking through the paperwork, especially the large notebook that had mentioned Victor. “I cannot understand this one either,” I said, “you would know more about it I am sure.” I then handed the book to Ralph. “Whoa,” he said, “this is amazing. It details money shipments that have gone missing from Victor’s people in Mexico and corresponding bank deposits in Switzerland.

The numbers match. And the bank account numbers are all here too. And this here proves that it is Carnival that is doing it.” “That could be why the lawyer was killed,” I said, “he may have tried to use that to get out from under Carnival by threatening to show Victor.” “Not smart,” said Carver, “just got him killed instead.” “Yep, but people do not always think that it will hurt them,” I said, “people get desperate to get out of such a bad deal, that they do not think, they just try something. I wish he had looked for help first.”

“Yep,” said Carver, “people that do not know should not get involved without help.” “I need to get MC to a vet,” said Saranna, “I am sure those are broken ribs.” “I noticed a vet not far away,” I said, “we can take him there, except they would be closed now. They must have an after hours number though.” Saranna, Angel and Macey decided to take MC over there right away. “Maybe I should go too,” said Carver. “Good idea,” I said. Off they went and discovered that the vet was still there and let them in.

They found out he had 2 broken ribs. The vet wanted them to leave MC overnight and she would fix him up in the morning. Saranna said no, it must be done now and she would be willing to pay whatever the extra charge would be. The vet looked at them and finally said okay. She then went in another room and started to make a phone call, but Carver was right there and stopped her. “Just work on the cat,” he said firmly. The vet seemed a bit worried, but she did what she was told.

Meanwhile, “I know what to do,” said Carnival, “take the woman back.” “Uh, they will likely be waiting for me,” said Rodney. “Too bad, it was your idea in the first place,” said Carnival, “now get her out of here, maybe that will keep the Major away, and the Lieutenant too. Take her to that park, the one close to the hotel, and drop her off there, and make sure she has whatever you took from her.”

“Even her phone here?” asked Rodney, “I cannot figure out how to open it, it has some kind of weird lock on it.” “Naturally it would,” said Carnival, “it is from Victor’s organization. He would have something hard to break open. Now get moving and get rid of that woman, nicely though, do not hurt her!” “Okay, I am on my way,” said Rodney. He took Crystal over to that park and stopped.

“You get out here,” he said, taking the blindfold off and handing her phone back. “You could at least be a gentleman and open the door for me,” she said. “Dames, always giving orders,” he said. But because Carnival said to be nice, he got out and opened the door for her. Crystal got out and Rodney closed the door. He turned to her and was about to say something when she kicked him in the stomach, then another kick to the head and he was out cold.

She then called me to let me know where she was and she had a surprise too. John and Ralph went to get her and were quite surprised that she managed to kidnap her kidnapper. They brought Rodney back to our room and sat him in a chair. I tossed some cold water in his face which helped him to wake up a bit. He looked around the room.

“Never trust a dame,” he said. I then slapped him hard. “Never trust who?” I asked angrily. “A woman! I meant to say woman,” he said. “That is better,” I said, “now, where is Carnival hiding himself?” “Hey now, I brought your wife back,” he said nervously, “if I tell you where to find Carnival, he will kill me.” “If you tell us where to find him,” said John, “he will not be able to kill you.”

“Yes, and I will let you go free,” I said, “otherwise we let Carver talk to you.” “Talk?” he asked, “he will just kill me! Some choice I have.” “Seems like a good choice,” said John, “help us and you live, do not help and you die. Seems simple enough.” Just then a knock at the door and someone yelled, “Open up…”

To Be Continued.

©2023 Steve McLeod.