“Good morning Steve,” said Mandar, “I wanted to call Mr. B, but I do not have his contact info, so, I am calling you. I have some information for you about Toledo.” “Just a minute,” I said and called Baldwin right away so he could hear this too. “Okay, let me have it,” I told Mandar. “Well, it appears he is in Stockholm at the moment,” he began, “and he is by himself, which would make capturing him easier.

Now, when I say ‘by himself’, I mean that Lavina is not with him, but he will likely have some of his men along. Now, I hate to mention this other part, I know it will be hard for you, but Toledo has been boasting that it was he who shot your wife Kat.” “Thank you Mandar!”, I said loudly, “we will get on it right away.”

“Just a minute Steve,” said Baldwin, “you are not going anywhere right now, you still need more rest.” “But Mr. B, you heard Mandar,” I said, “Toledo shot Kat, I must go after him!” “No,” said Baldwin firmly, “you need rest, your wellbeing right now is more important than chasing Toledo, the team needs you, and alive.” “Your Mr. B is quite correct Steve,” added Mandar, “it is far better that you sit this one out.”

“Yes, and this is why you have trained Rock,” said Baldwin, “to take over for you when necessary, and right now it is necessary.” “Yes, I suppose you are right,” I said quietly, “but how can I rest by just sitting back here?” “We will talk about that later,” he said, “right now, pick the team you want to send, but only a few this time to surprise Toledo.”

“That would be wise,” said Mandar, “as for relaxing, I may be able to help you out with that also, later.” He hung up and I began to talk things over with Rock and Baldwin. “Jenny is not going,” I said, “she is not ready yet. Luvia will go, she is from Stockholm, and Tuva also will go, and Sovia, Sigubjorn, Angel, Carine and John.”

“I think Sigurbjorn needs to stay back, she is your bodyguard,” said Baldwin. “Okay, Ilda will go instead, and Stanley too,” I said, “what do you think Rock?” “Sounds good to me,” he said, “but I think Carine and Angel should stay behind too. We want to go small with this one.” “Okay, it is your team,” I said, “we will do that. What do you think Mr. B?”

“If Rock is satisfied, so am I,” he said. So, they got ready and were soon on their way to Sweden. Luvia, Sovia and Ilda are all from Sweden, so that will be a big help, plus Tuva is from Finland and knows Swedish fluently. I trust Rock, he will do a good job. Their objective is to capture Toledo, alive hopefully, and bring him back to find out where Lavina is hiding.

I think Toledo will give her up in order to stay alive, he is rather weak. I then went upstairs to visit Jennifer and walked into her bedroom. “Do you not knock Steve?” she asked. “Nope, not around here,” I said smiling, “besides, I knew you would be in bed right now.” “How did you know that?” she asked. “Because I told you to be in bed at this time,” I said. “I sure wanted to go on this trip,” she said, “he killed my sister.”

“So did I,” I echoed, “but sometimes we have to sit it out, and wait. And perhaps plan a vacation.” “Like we can ever get a real vacation,” she moaned. Then I heard a picking at the door, so I went and opened it for Muffin and MC. “Where is Storm?” I asked. Meow,meow.=He outside running with human Angel. “Hmm, you two need some exercise too,” I said, “you have to keep in shape.”

Meow?=Why need exercise, not go on case anyway, just stay home, get flabby. Jenny and I laughed. I called Carine to take the cats outside for a run which she was very happy to do. Then Sigurbjorn came in. “Hmm, no time to be alone around here,” I said. “Nope, that is for sure,” she said smiling, “besides, it is time for Jennifer’s massage. And it is time for your walk, Kristina is waiting for you downstairs.”

“Nice that my life is being planned out for me,” I said. “Someone needs to do it,” laughed Jenny. Poor Jenny, she felt so bad that she had broken down under the strain of the last few weeks. Personally, I think she is a remarkable woman. Kristina and I walked, and talked, it was a beautiful day. We should be able to relax, but we cannot. Something is not right. Kristina feels it too…

To Be Continued.

©2022 Steve McLeod.