I put my gun to his head upon hearing this. “I want them back, now,” I said firmly, “and I want those men, their lives for yours.” He had already hung up on his man Cramer. Mandar sighed and agreed. He called Cramer back and said to bring the young ladies to our hotel room. “Just when we were starting to have some fun with them,” he laughed, “okay, we will be there in a few minutes.”

I was about to hit Mandar with my gun but Sigubjorn put her hand on my shoulder and Galyna shook her head at me. It is a good thing they were in the room. I called Rock and told him and Benson to come back right away and to tell the girls to look for Muffin’s body in an oak tree, and have MC stay to help look as well. “You are a lucky man Mandar,” I said, “and you really should thank these young ladies, it is because of them that you are still alive.”

Amazingly, he did thank them. Soon his men were at the door so I instructed Mandar to let them in. They came inside and pushed the girls onto the floor. Then they looked at us with our guns pointing at them. “Hey, what is this?”, yelled Cramer. “Just be calm and put your guns on the desk please,” said Mandar. They looked at him but did what he said. Galyna picked up the guns and put them on a chair across the room.

“You may go Mandar,” I said, “I will let you know my decision in about 1 hour, after my team has a chance for a meeting.” “Very well,” he said, sounding more cheerful now, “I will wait for your call, this is my number.” He wrote it on the notepad which was on the desk. Then he proceeded to leave. “You men remain here,” he said, “I believe this gentleman wishes to speak with you.” Then out the door he went and at the same time Rock and Benson arrived and came into the room.

“Make sure these 3 do not move,” I told them. Rock pushed them against the wall. Then Galyna and Sigurbjorn untied Kat and Rossana. They told us how they were captured so easily, a car came up beside them and quickly sprayed some kind of gas at them which knocked them out instantly. They also mentioned how those 3 had treated them and that Cramer was the one that killed Muffin, something we already knew.

“Rock, I think Cramer needs some instruction,” I said, “he does not seem to know how to treat animals or women. Please let him know how bad that is. And while you two are at it, Cramer’s friends likely need the same instruction.” But before they began the other girls arrived with Muffin. She was still alive and they put her on the bed. Muffin looked at me and meowed weakly.

Meow,meow.=Me play dead so he not hurt me anymore. He bad man. Sigubjorn checked Muffin. “She has a broken leg, perhaps ribs too,” she said, “I am not sure what else.” “We will head home so she can get the care she needs,” I said, “so everyone get ready. Rock, after you and Benson are finished join us at the jet.” I then had the girls copy the two messages we had and I put them into an envelope and left it at the front desk for Mandar.

I called him on the way to the airport to let him know what I had done. “We will continue to look for this treasure,” I said, “but you are welcome to join the hunt. If you find it first then it is yours.” “Very good,” said Mandar, “I will respect that, first to find it gets to keep it.” I also let him know we were heading home to get Muffin some care with her doctor. And also that his men could be found in the room across from ours, it was empty anyway.

I did not want them found in our room, might look bad. They will not be much help to Mandar for a while anyway, especially with those broken legs. Rock and Benson thought it was only right that they should know what it feels like to have a broken leg. We kept working on the second clue as we flew home, but it just did not make sense at all. Meow,meow.=It look like human Chung writing, not understandable, like his perishable questions.

“Um, that is prescriptions,” I said. Meow,meow.=That what I just say. “Well, it is not regular Chinese writing,” said Susanna, “I know a bit of Chinese, but these do not quite fit.” “They seem to be a mix of two things,” I said, “but perhaps Chung will be able to help out.” Dr. Mriya met us at the airport with our ambulance to take Muffin and I to the clinic. The others went home to rest. “Too much stress lately,” I said, “it is affecting me.” Mriya looked. She knew…

To Be Continued.

©2022 Steve McLeod.