Steve`s Country
For a smile as wide as a country sunrise
The Investigators, Inc. The Major Case. Chapter 7. Changes.
“Okay, lead the way,” said the new man. Off they went along the path to the docks. The moon was shining illuminating the water and dock area quite nicely. Aside from that there were no lights around. “Are you sure you can do this?” asked Sam. “Hey, you are talking to a pro,” said the new man, “not some young kid. Now, hold the flashlight so I can see what I am doing here.” Sam was a bit nervous being so close to this bomb while Tim changed the timer.
“This way if they did find the bomb, they will know there is 10 minutes,” said Tim, “now, this new timer looks the same and will still say 10 minutes, but it will blow at 8 minutes. So if they have some trickery planned, this will stop them.” “That Milt thinks of everything,” said Sam. “The others with the girl?” asked Tim. “Only Juan and Rich are with her right now,” said Sam, “Pete is at the hotel keeping an eye on the guests, just in case there are more PI’s around. We do not trust that Major.”
“Just remember to do what Milt told you with that girl,” said Tim, “we do not want Major or Victor hunting us down, they have good memories and do not give up. And we do not want to be looking over our shoulders the rest of our lives.” “Yeah,” said Sam, “that would make it hard to enjoy the money.” “There we go,” said Tim, “my part is over. Now over to the hotel for some sleep.”
“Pete is waiting for you,” said Sam, “he is in room 202.” They went over to the hotel, but Sam kept going off behind and down a little narrow trail. Tim went inside and up to the second floor. “Where is Sam?” asked Pete. “He kept going behind the hotel, said he had things to do,” said Tim. “I do not trust him,” said Pete. “I would not trust him either,” said Tim, “you guys have too many people in on this thing anyway. With 5 of you that means you only get 2 million each.”
“Yeah, I agree,” said Pete, “I have been talking with Rich about it and we figure that Sam and Juan should stay behind, then it is just a 3 way split. Where do you fit in?” “Hey, I am on Victor’s payroll too,” said Tim, “and Milt said he would give me 10K from his part. Good enough for me to do this. Where was Sam going anyway?” “Oh, he has a girl on the other side of the island that he visits now and then,” said Pete. Tim sat up in bed right away.
“You let him do that?” asked Tim, “are you crazy? He could spill the whole game to her and that would be the end of us all.” Pete just stared at Tim. That was something he never thought about. “He better not!” said Pete. “Hey, young guys like that cannot be trusted spending time with a gal while on a job like this,” said Tim, “way too dangerous. All he has to do is mention the wrong thing and she will be asking questions and he will be giving answers. That is just plain stupid!”
That had Pete worried now. Pete called Rich right away. “What? He has gone to see her again?” he asked, “I do not like that either. Tim is right, that is just too dangerous. I will deal with him when he gets back.” “Are you staying here at the hotel, or heading back to the others today?” asked Tim. “I am staying here,” he replied, “I will pick up the money when the Major drops it off, then head back to the other island.
We keep our boat hidden in a little cove on the other side of the island. We will leave while it is still dark, then call the Major and let him know where to pick up his little girl. You coming with us?” “Nope, not me,” said Tim, “I leave back to the main island this afternoon on that boat taxi. Like I said, my part is done, I do not know you from here on.” “Okay by me,” said Pete, “hey, how would you like to stay here for a bit, I want to round up that idiot and take him back to the island, just in case he has not said anything yet.”
“That is fine with me,” said Tim, “I need a little sleep anyway.” Pete then left to pick up Sam. Morning arrived and the girls and I left in the boat. Rock was getting ready to go fishing with Benson, while Annelie and the girls were sitting around on chairs at the beach counting the time. Suddenly there was a huge fireball out on the water as our boat blew up. Annelie and the girls just stared. It was only 8 minutes!
To Be Continued.
©2023 Steve McLeod.
Wednesday Words. #2 Strange Happenings.
Good morning everyone! It is another cloudy and milder morning here. I had an interesting kind of day yesterday. In the afternoon anyway. But it is that kind of “interesting” that I prefer to do without. Honest. Probably my fault. I wanted to go for a walk to the river. So I got ready and off I went. That was my first mistake. But it was a beautiful walk, all the way to the river.
It was mild, the trail was well used and fairly hard packed. I got down to the river and sat on my usual stump and enjoyed looking out over the water as it flowed past. I counted no less than 53 ducks on the water, all Goldeneyes. Unfortunately, most of them were too far away for any real nice pics. The river is nearly back to its normal level now. Down about 8 or 9 feet from the summer high water mark. That is good. It looks more calm now, instead of the angry flowing water it was this past summer.
It was quiet and nice to be there again. After a while I started back up the hill. Finally I was at the top of the hill where the trail goes downward a bit for a while, then up again as I cross the little field area. Once back in a very heavily treed area that gets little sunlight, I stopped. I had this strange feeling again, like I get when I am being watched. I looked around but saw nothing. I kept walking, then stopped after just a short distance.
I still had that feeling of being watched. No bears this time of year. Perhaps a wolf? Or coyote? Then this strange thought came over me, that I should tuck my camera under my jacket to protect it. But there was still quite a distance to go before I get back to the street and I might see something. I walked a bit further and went around a curve in the trail and stopped again. I still had that thought to put my camera under my jacket, and do it now. So I did.
I had just zipped up my jacket when I heard a noise in the trees somewhere. I looked around but saw nothing, and the noise stopped. I walked a few more steps and stopped again. I heard that same noise. Then silence. I saw nothing. But that curve in the trail prevented me from seeing behind me. I looked ahead, then heard a noise behind me. I turned to see a rather large dog running full out straight for me.
I had no time to do anything and the dog threw itself into me at full speed! That knocked me flying onto my back with the dog jumping on me. I heard a woman screaming, obviously trying to call her dog who was not listening at all. I tried pushing this beast off me, which was not going so well. Her owner was standing some distance away trying to call her dog. The owner was obviously out of breath, trying to catch up to her dog. Finally she got over to us and pulled the dog back, just barely.
She had trouble holding that dog by her collar. She did have a leash for it, but seemed reluctant to put the leash back on the dog. I got up slowly. The dog broke free again. I was ready this time and the dog did not have the advantage of a full speed run, so I managed to stay on my feet. The owner then put the leash on her. That was very nice. She did apologize. That was nice too. Apparently this was not the first time for her dog to get out of control. She likes to let the dog run loose to get rid of her energy.
The dog is some kind of Russian hunting dog, a pure bred. She told me the name of the breed, but I cannot remember it. The owner is trying to train the dog. I would say the dog is winning. The dog is female, 7 months old, weighs 50 pounds. I looked at the dog. She was big, definitely well fed (that means she was overweight, or fat). I would say closer to 70 pounds. But I digress. She can run fast, I was told. I already found out. Good thing there was a lot of snow on the ground.
In summer I would have landed on solid granite rock. That likely would have put me in the hospital. As you know, I have serious health problems, most notably serious back problems. Today I am in terrible pain, in my back and my neck. I will not be doing much today. Now I know why it was necessary to tuck my camera under my jacket. It might have broken otherwise. I thank God that I was not more seriously hurt.
I like dogs, but… She is just being playful, said her owner. That kind of “playful” is dangerous. And dogs on these trails are supposed to be on a leash, at all times. There is a reason for that. But I digress. I will share more about my walk tomorrow. Time for more coffee, how about you? Sorry for the long post. I hope you all have a wonderful day and God bless!
Steve and Muffin.
©2023 Steve McLeod.
Steve`s Country 