“Well Marven,” said M, “are they talking or napping?” “They talked a bit about the heist, then I guess they went to sleep,” he said, “not a sound from them right now except some light snoring.” “Very good,” said M, “now, have you been checking their paper trash?” “Yep, every scrap of paper,” he said, “nothing on them except drawings of the heist or just doodles. They are kind of a boring bunch.” M laughed.

“That is a good thing,” he said, “they must really be getting on board with this. They do seem to be quite excited. It is almost a shame we have to kill them.” “We still shoot them when they come out?” asked Marven. “Why yes, that is the best time,” said M, “we do not want them getting away or that PI just might change his mind and come after us. We cannot have that, not at all. Now, you keep listening.” “Okay, but I wish they would talk about something else for a while,” said Marven.

M then left for his nap. Marven wanted to nap as well, but he knew better. Still, he did not like the thought of gunning down those beautiful ladies, they just seem to be so nice. He did not care about shooting me, after all, shooting a guy is different, but shooting an unarmed woman like that, well, it just was not sitting well with his conscience. But there was nothing he could do about it. He certainly was not going to argue with M, that would just get him killed too, and he did not like that idea either.

Meanwhile… Sky and the others got settled into the hotel, and now came the hard part. Waiting. Sky was so worried about all of this. What if we had said the wrong thing to M and he got in a rage and killed us. Or perhaps just killed me. Then what would happen to the girls? But she thought it was even more likely one of the girls would say or do something wrong, especially if M tried to flirt with them. It would not take much, it seems, for M to get into a fit of rage and beat one of them.

And she knew that I would not sit by and let him do it without a fight. Sigh. Sky was thinking of dozens of scenarios of how things could go wrong. Meow,meow.=You looking worried again. Should not be worried. My human, he know what to do. You relax. We need you to be relaxed or others get worried too. “Yes Muffin,” Sky replied, “I know you are right, but, it is hard not knowing what is going on.

And now we have to just sit here and wait. We do not even know what day they will try to steal the diamonds. There are 4 days left.” Meow,meow.=Me know, wait not easy part. Need to be like cat waiting for mouse, have much patience for big prize. There is a knock at the door and Macey answered. “Daddy!” exclaimed Macey, “I am so glad you are here.”

“How is my girl doing?” he asked. “Good, except for being worried,” she answered, “although I think Sky is the most worried.” “Hello Sky,” he said, “now why are you so worried? I am sure Steve can handle things on his end, he is not exactly new at this sort of thing.” “Hi Major,” she said, “yes, I know, but it is a little different with M, he is too unpredictable. It would not take much to set him off and he could beat Steve or one of the girls, and maybe even kill one of them.”

“Well, that is a good point, normally,” said Major, “but right now M needs Steve and the girls so I think he will try to control himself until after the heist. And by then he will not be in a position to do anything. I will not be letting him get away this time.” Sky smiled. “I must admit, it feels better having you here,” she said, “usually Steve or Rock is here to make the final decisions, now it is up to me.”

“And I am sure you can do that just fine,” he said, “but not if you keep worrying. Worry clouds your ability to make good decisions.” “Hmm, Muffin was just telling me the same thing,” replied Sky. The Major laughed. “And how are you Muffin?” he asked. Meow,meow.=Me good, but maybe little bit worried too. MC jumped onto the bed beside Muffin. Meow.=Me good too and me not worry, except maybe worry when we eat.

That got everyone laughing. “I am still amazed at those cats,” said Major. The cats giggled. “I am a little hungry myself,” said the Major, “and the restaurant is open now. Bring the cats along, I will talk with the manager.” Oddly, the manager then allowed the cats to come into the restaurant. Meanwhile… “Hey M,” said Marven, “take a look at this. They changed the alarms at that museum…”

To Be Continued.

©2023 Steve McLeod.