Upon opening my eyes I could see I was in a different room, lying on a bed. I looked around but none of the team was present, but there were two men in the room with me. “Ah, I see you have awakened Steve,” said the older man, “I trust you had a good sleep.” “I suppose, though my head feels like a hammer hit it,” I said, “and you definitely have an advantage over me by knowing my name. Do I get the privilege of knowing who I am talking with?”

“Well, what is in a name,” he answered, “I am sure you would not be interested. Well, except perhaps Baldwin, he might get a chuckle.” “That would be something,” I said, “he does not often laugh.” “Very true,” said the man, “he is much too serious, he needs to lighten up a bit and enjoy things more.” “May I sit up?” I asked. “Oh yes, by all means do,” said the man, “but please do not try anything stupid, Bruce here just loves using his gun, and you are too young to die.”

“I must agree with that last part,” I replied, “so I will behave.” “Very good,” he said, “then let us get down to business shall we?” “Good idea,” I said, “I am curious to know what is going on and how you managed to capture all of us.” “Oh, I only took you Steve,” he said, “the rest of your team is fine, though like you, they have a bit of a headache.” “How did you manage that?” I asked.

“Well, you were all so absorbed with opening that safe that it was easy for my man to come behind you and give you a blast of this sleeping gas that I use. Then he brought you up here and left the others to figure out what happened.” “Was that your wolf we disposed of earlier?” I asked. “Yes, quite a shame really,” he said shaking his head, “it is a hobby of mine, breeding these wolves. I bred two different wolf species together and ended up with these monster wolves, that are really quite dangerous.

I have two more with me as well, so please be careful. Now, I have been hunting for the jewels that M stole over the years, and I have been doing so for 2 years now. Which is why I just do not tolerate others getting in my way. Like Marven, he managed to steal papers from that one safe at the other estate which showed where this one was located. So I assume this is where M hid the jewels, it just makes sense.

But Marven had to be eliminated, so Bruce took care of that. We were hoping that might make you leave, but unfortunately you stayed on.” “We do not usually give up so easily,” I said, “it is bad for business.” “Yes, I can understand that,” he admitted, “but, this time I must insist, if you value your life at all. If you will promise to leave, I will gladly let you go, but I want you gone today.”

“Well, that might be difficult,” I said, “since our chopper is not here right now and it is not big enough to carry all of us at one time anyway.” “Yes, it is a bit small,” he admitted, “but I still must insist, so please call that big man and tell him to come right away and take you out of here.” “Well, as you know, we cannot get any communication outside this area,” I said. “I will lift that shield if you are willing to make the call,” he said.

“Okay, I will need my phone,” I said. “Very good,” he said smiling, “I knew you would be willing to make the right choice.” He gave me my phone and when he lifted the shield I called Rock. “Where are you now?” I asked him. “At the airport,” he said. “Okay, come right away,” I told him, “and hire another helicopter to follow you out here, one big enough that all of us can leave at once.” “Are you sure?” he asked, “did you find the jewels already?”

“No, no jewels,” I said, “but we are leaving anyway. I just do not like the looks of this place, so we are getting out, now.” “Okay Steve,” he said, “I will leave just as soon as I can hire another chopper.” “Good, let me know when you leave so we can be ready to go immediately when you arrive,” I said to him. “Good, I will leave the shield down until he calls back,” said the man, “but another thing, I must insist that all of you put your guns on the table in the dining room, then get your things together and go outside.”

“Okay, we will do that,” I said, “does that mean I may go now?” “Yes, just as soon as you hear back from your man,” he said. It seemed like such a long time, but it was only 15 minutes and Rock called to say they were on their way. “Very good,” said the man, “now Bruce will take you downstairs.” I was blindfolded and taken down a narrow stairway to the main floor in the dining room.

Then Bruce left and I took the blindfold off and called to the others. Everyone came running at once and I then told them the news. They were all perplexed by my decision, but I was quite firm, so they went along with it. Sky was very curious though, but she said nothing right then.

To Be Continued.

©2023 Steve McLeod.