Oh, by the way, you and Jennifer are not really married, I made sure of that, your legal papers are all false. And the minister that married you, well, he is not a real minister at all, he works for me. Now, another clue, hmm, do you remember an old stone house?” “Yes, I do remember that time,” I said, “but I still do not recognize your voice.”

“Hmm, well, it is not important right now,” she said, “tonight you will stay on the yacht. Please do not try to leave, getting off the yacht will mean sudden death. I will send food for your meal, please do not try anything though, it really is best to cooperate.” Then there was silence once again. “We could jump them when they bring the food,” said the Captain, “we all carry guns.”

“No, do not try anything,” I said, “I believe her, it is best to cooperate, there is no point in anyone getting killed right now. But, if they try to hurt anyone, then we will fight.” “Alright, I guess that does make sense,” he replied, “unless she does not let us go like she said.” “Good, I agree with that,” I said, “by the way, I am sure she is listening to our conversations, so be careful what you say please.”

“Oh, I never thought about that possibility,” he said. He then went around and told his crew to behave, then we all went to the dining lounge like the woman had told us earlier. I still cannot think of who she is though. I am going over that case, yet her voice is just not familiar at all. There were several men and women that came on board the yacht bringing the food. What a feast!

They were also protected by a group with automatic weapons, and none of them looked very friendly. I had the cats check the food before we ate, but all was okay, so we enjoyed ourselves. There was a very large suite on the yacht, which is where my team and I spent the night. “Do you really think she will let us go Steve?” asked Jenny. “Yes, I think so,” I replied, “there really is no reason to keep everyone if all she wants is me.”

“But why does she want you?” asked Sigurbjorn, “just so she can kill you?” “I do not think she wants to kill me, at least, not right away,” I said, “perhaps she wants help with something.” Muffins ears went straight up when I said that. The other 2 cats looked at her. Then she came over to me and whispered in my ear. I looked at Jenny. Jenny looked back at me kind of puzzled. I smiled.

I cannot believe I did not recognize her voice, but Muffin is right…the voice…it is Jenny! She has changed her voice just a little, making it hard for me to identify her, and I would still be in the dark if Muffin had not remembered. But why? What does she want? I could understand why she might want to kill me, but that does not seem to be her plan. How do I warn the others who we are up against?

Meanwhile, back at home… “Another call coming through from that woman again,” said Annelie. “Well, answer it so we can see what she wants now,” said Baldwin. “Hi my dear,” said the woman, “is your Mr. B. around as well?” “Yes, I am here too,” said Baldwin. There was a pause. “Good, I have some things to tell you,” she began, “so please listen carefully, do you understand?” “Yes, I am listening,” said Baldwin.

There was another pause. “Good, now, here it is,” she said, “I will be letting your people go free tomorrow morning, this is where you will find the yacht. You might want to bring fuel for it as they will not have any left. They will be at these coordinates.” Then she gave them out, repeating it twice, and Annelie copied the information down. So did Baldwin. “Did you understand that?” said the woman.

“Yes, I have it,” said Baldwin. There was another pause. “Good, now, the yacht will be there precisely at 11am, your time, but please do not come near the spot more than 5 minutes early. If you do, the yacht and everyone on it will be destroyed. Do you understand?” “Yes, I understand that, we will not be early,” said Baldwin, trying hard not to sound angry. “Good, everyone will be on the yacht, except your precious Steve,” she said, “he is now my precious Steve, and he will stay with me for now.”

Then she hung up. Annelie was frowning as she wrote. “What is wrong?” asked Baldwin. “A message came through from Muffin,” she said, “at the same time as the phone call. It is in her usual code. You will not believe this, but her and Steve know who the woman is.” Then she paused a bit. She looked up at Baldwin. “The woman is…Jenny!” she blurted out. Baldwin nearly choked on his donut. The other girls gasped at the same time…

To Be Continued.

©2022 Steve McLeod.