“How are things going?” I asked Sky. “Nothing yet,” she answered, “I just do not know how Bridgette could disappear in that bathroom. The cats have gone over it several times, there just is no secret door in there.” “Hmm, that is odd,” I said, “but they did hear her voice in the hall…” “Nothing there either Steve,” said Sky, “we really have checked everywhere. Benson and Rock cleaned all that junk out of the basement and there is no secret door there either.”

“Well, Storm did not disappear into thin air,” I said, “there has to be a door there somewhere.” “The scary thing is, why did Storm not try to contact us,” she said, “he must have had a little time to press his transmitter.” “Yes, that is also odd,” I admitted, “all you can do for now is keep looking, and be careful.” Later Sigurbjorn came to give me my massage.

“You are very tense tonight Steve,” she said, “you need to stop worrying so much. It will not be good for your heart either.” “Yes, I know,” I said, “but it is kind of hard when 2 of our team are missing and we are completely in the dark.” “That is true,” she said, “I still think it is maybe someone who knows us, otherwise taking Storm makes no sense.”

“Yes,” I said, “but we really do not have any enemies at the moment, unless we did something without knowing it.” “What about those young guys in the boat?” asked Crystal. “I do not think they are capable of something so complicated,” I said. ‘Yeah, guess you are right about that,” she admitted.

Back to the team at the hotel. It was now morning and the cats were checking the basement again for the third time, but now it was empty, except for that huge box of rocks. Meow,meow!!=Look here, blood!! Sky and Rock went over to look. Sure enough, it was blood, but they could not tell if it was blood from Storm or someone else. But it was quite fresh and it went under the box. “It could have run under the box,” said Sky. “Nope,” said Benson, “the floor slants that way, away from the box.”

“But how could that big box move?” she asked. Rock had an idea and he pushed the box at an angle upward. Sure enough the box lifted quite easily that way, even with the rocks in it. There was quite an elaborate system of gears under the box in a stairway that allowed the box to move in that direction smoothly. The rest of the team was called and they divided themselves into 2 groups, one to follow down the stairs, and the other to stay at the hotel.

Benson found some old iron pipes to put against the box so it would not close again. Rock led his team downstairs, each one with flashlights, and guns. Sky stayed behind with her team. A few miles away there were some other people in an old jail. “I should never have listened to you!” shouted M, “talking cats! But I will admit I am a bigger fool than you for listening to that garbage!” “Honest M, these cats do talk,” said Mike, “I have it on good authority.”

“Do not ever say anything more about talking cats to me,” said M, “do you hear me?” “Um, yeah, I hear you,” said Mike. “Now, toss that thing back in the cell,” said M, “now young lady, talk, how many are watching Steve right now?” “Meow,” said Bridgette. “Make fun of me will you?” M roared, “I will teach you some manners!” By the time M was finished, Bridgette lay on the floor, badly beaten.

“Come on everyone,” said M, “we have things to do and no time to waste. And toss away that toy you have, it makes me nervous!” “Well, it is not a toy,” said Mike, “and…” He then tossed it on the floor and left. After they were gone Storm squeezed through the bars on the cell door and came looking for Bridgette. On the way he spotted his collar that Mike had tossed aside and he picked it up.

He immediately pressed his transmitter and then went in the room where Bridgette lay on the floor. Meow!=Storm send help message, transmitter working! Benson called down to Rock and his team to come right away. Rock and his team were soon out following the signal while the others stayed behind. What they found angered Rock, but if he only knew what was coming…

To Be Continued.

©2023 Steve McLeod.