“Saying hello to an old friend?” asked Galyna, speaking to the woman at the door. “Oh, I thought she was,” said the woman, “but I was mistaken I guess. They do look so much alike.” “Who is that?” asked Galyna again. “Oh, my good friend Denise and her sister Sofie,” she answered, “it will be nice to have Denise move in here with us and get out of that big old chateau. It is not good for her to be alone in that big place, much too scary.”

Galyna noticed there was fresh coffee in the lounge area and asked the woman if she would like to have some and talk for a while. She was very happy to do that and told Galyna her name was Louise. She is actually from London but married a man from Paris, he died more than a year ago and she moved in here. Galyna is very adept at getting information from people without them even knowing that is what she is doing. A real help to us at times.

Meanwhile, at the chateau… The woman frowned and picked something out of the wastebasket in the bedroom Sky and I are using. She called Chung right away. “Yes, it is for Steve,” he admitted, “it is time for his ‘nowhere’ shot. Sky and Angel came to pick it up yesterday, but I was busy with a video call with one of our suppliers. So I gave it to Majori to give to Sky. I put my code on it so Sky would know it was okay.” “I am coming over right away,” she said, “something is not right.”

That worried Chung when she said that. She arrived and showed Chung the used needle. “Oh my, that is not one of ours,” he said, “this is the only type we use here.” He then showed her one. “Yes, that is why I was curious when I saw this in the wastebasket,” she said, “I need to check our surveillance video.” She went with Chung into the security room. They quickly found the time when Sky and Angel arrived and the exchange between them and Majori.

Both Sky and Angel were reluctant to take it from her, until they saw Chung’s security code on it. Backing up from there they found the point where Majori substituted the real needle for the fake one. “I thought we used seals on these containers now so that cannot happen?” she asked Chung. “We have not started yet,” he said, “they should have been here last week, but the seals were delayed. This is not good at all, Steve will need to come in for tests right away.

Meanwhile, I will see if there is enough residue here to find out what was used. You must call Mr. B.” “Mr. B, we need to talk,” she said. “I am having an important business call, it will have to wait,” he said. “It cannot wait,” she said, “our security has been compromised and Steve has been poisoned with something.” “What?!” he yelled, “what do you mean, ‘with something’?” With what?” “We do not know right now, Chung is working on that,” she said, “but Majori did it, she will need to be arrested.”

“Okay, I will get my security people over there right away,” he said. Then she told him what had happened to me overnight, something she hated to do, knowing what would happen next. “Get back to the chateau,” he told Kristina, “why was I not told about last night?” “Everyone has bad dreams now and then,” she said, “that is no cause for concern.” “I guess you are right,” he admitted, “I will take care of things.” He called me while we were searching another secret passage and told me to hand my weapons to Angel, and I would be relieved from duties.

Also to get over to the clinic right away for tests. I gave my gun and knife to Angel. “What is this?” she asked. “It is Code 1-A,” I said. Angel, Sky and the cats knew what that meant. I explained that Majori gave them a fake needle with something else in it to control me. Both girls began to cry, blaming themselves, then they wanted to get their hands on Majori! I settled them down, then told them that Kristina would be in charge since Rock was not here. I had to wait for Walter to pick me up.

Everyone got the notice on their phones, but no one could believe it when they saw that Code 1-A show up and they rushed back to the chateau. Rock and Annelie were lying on the beach when it came through. Both just stared, then Rock called Baldwin and said he would come back right away. Baldwin said no. “Steve is my best friend,” he reminded Baldwin, “I want to be there.” “Okay,” Baldwin said, “but you are wasting your vacation.” “No waste as far as we are concerned,” said Annelie.

To Be Continued.

©2022 Steve McLeod.