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For a smile as wide as a country sunrise
I was having a little fun with Herman, allowing him to see Sir Night briefly, then making him invisible again. Now Herman is down in my little room looking around trying to find this black cat he thinks I have with me. “Where do you think this black cat is going to hide?” I asked Herman. “How should I know,” he said, “but I know you have a cat because I saw him.” “Did your friends see that black cat too?” I asked again. “No, they didn’t,” he said grumbling, “now keep quiet. Hey, move over there so I can look under the bed.”
So, I moved to the other side of the room and he checked under the bed. He then went over and looked in the toilet and I went and sat on the bed. “Hey boss,” said Gordon, “Herman actually looked for the cat in the toilet.” “I hope Dinah doesn’t find out about this,” said Tobias. “What don’t you want me to find out?” she asked as she came in the office. “Herman is looking for a cat in Steve’s room,” said Gordon. “You saw a cat in there?” she asked.
“No, but Herman said he saw a black cat lying on top of Steve,” said Gordon. “And how is he supposed to get a cat?” she asked, “Tell him to get out of there.” “Hey, there’s the cat, on the bed!” yelled Herman. I look around. I even stood up to see better. “Can you see him now boss?” asked Herman. “No, we can’t Herman,” said Dinah, “now get out of there.” “But the cat is sitting right there on the bed,” said Herman. “I think your man Herman is on drugs,” I said. He turned around with an angry look on his face and that’s when he saw Angel.
“Hey, he even has a dame in here with him!” exclaimed Herman. “How long do I have to put up with this idiot?” I asked. “That did it!” yelled Herman and he punched me in the stomach, then he threw me onto the bed. “Get him out of there!” yelled Dinah to Tobias. Then Herman saw Courage. “What is that thing?” he exclaimed, “Stay away from me you monster lion, stay away or I’ll shoot.” “Henry, Charlie, get Herman out of Steve’s room now!” yelled Tobias and they came running down the hall.
Herman was screaming and shooting his gun by the time they arrived, but since Herman was up against the door, they were having a hard time getting in. Then all was quiet and they pushed the door open, but Herman was on the floor. I was standing on the bed, acting suitably scared for my captors. “He’s dead boss,” said Henry, “doesn’t look like there’s a mark on him either.” “Well, get him out of there,” said Tobias, “and make sure no one else goes in without permission.”
“Please accept my apology Steve,” said Dinah, “I didn’t know about this.” “Thank you,” I said, “I thought he was going to shoot me.” “I must apologize again though,” she said, “for something I am about to do. But I need to test something.” I told Angel to hold Sir Night and keep him safe, this was the trouble I had sensed. She did so and suddenly I was holding my head and screaming. Meanwhile, back at the hotel. “Danger, it’s Steve!” yelled Jennifer. Angel was busy communicating with Sky to bring Kat immediately, I was in danger and she didn’t know what to do.
Sky arrived right away with Kat who laid me down and began rubbing my head. I started to feel better right away. Angel told Sky to take Sir Night back to the hotel and she did. “What’s going on Sky?” asked Jennifer. “I don’t know,” she replied, “but I brought Kat to help Steve. Something was being used against him that was hurting his head, but it didn’t bother us.” “Oh no!” exclaimed Celestine, “My dad was working on some kind of weapon that he called a ‘brain killer’.
It’s a machine that sends some kind of magnetic noise wave through the air and can be aimed at a crowd or just an individual. He was going to use it against government officials and other important people…” She didn’t get any further and Jennifer told Sky to get me out of there, quickly. Sky disappeared right away. Celestine just stared. “Um, Sky disappeared just like she appeared,” she said, “is she a real person?” Jennifer came over to Celestine and sat beside her on the bed.
“Yes, Sky is a real person,” she said, “but she, and some others, including me, are a bit different. When this is over I will make sure that Steve explains things to you properly, but please don’t be afraid of us, okay?” “I won’t be afraid of anyone in the Investigators,” she replied. “I also want you to know that Steve felt terrible that he couldn’t tell you certain things,” said Jennifer, “but it’s a rule we have. But you were helping Steve so much and he felt that he was lying to you by not telling you everything and it really did hurt him. I hope you know that Steve loves you a great deal and he wouldn’t deliberately hurt you for anything.”
Tears were now falling down Celestine’s cheeks and she hugged Jennifer. Meanwhile, Sky had returned and told Kat and Angel about this machine that Dinah has. “Sky,” I said, “you and Angel find that machine and destroy it, leave Kat with me.” Off they went to Tobias’ office first. They stayed invisible and listened to the others talking about this machine.
“Gordon,” said Dinah, “this notebook is the only copy telling us how to make this machine, so I want you to copy and save it onto your computer and then print out 4 more copies which we will keep in different locations. That way nothing can happen to it. This machine is the only one that Celestine’s dad made and it works just fine. We can take over any company or even any country with this machine. And we are going to start off with Mandar Corporation and we will be multi billionaires!”
“Hard to believe that something so small can be so powerful,” said Tobias. “Well, it needs to be small so it’s portable,” said Dinah, “now, let’s put this in your safe where it will remain safe.” It was sitting on Tobias’ desk at that moment, so Sky went over and touched it. Sparks and smoke erupted from the machine and it burned itself out completely. Angel then grabbed the notebook and soon it was in flames and was very quickly nothing but ashes.
“NOOOO!!” screamed Dinah, “What is happening?!” Then Sky touched the computer destroying it and every computer in the Black Swan! Although all of this seemed to happen quickly, it actually was spread out over the course of the day and it was now time for the Black Swan to open. Although some things were not working properly, most things were still working and they were able to open on time.
There was already a good crowd of people waiting to get in, including the Black Wolves, the Bad Girls and the Wildcats! Angel then put a little gadget on the wire leading from the monitor in the office into the wall, which was connected to all the security cameras in the Black Swan. This will make things easier for our teams. Then Sky took me back to the hotel before returning to her Bad Girls…
To Be Continued. ©2025 Steve McLeod.
Jennifer and the girls returned to our hotel quickly and got settled in once again. It was Misty, Aasta, Beryan and Nakedra who had been captured earlier by Dinah’s men and they were now in our room with Jennifer, Celestine and Dawn. “I’m surprised you managed to get us away from Dinah so easily,” said Misty, “she told us our ransom would be $50 million.
And I know you didn’t pay that much for us, we’re not supposed to pay anything actually which is why I’m surprised you got us back so quickly after those men captured us and they surprised us after we discovered the dead man at the front desk and there was 10 of them and they had automatic weapons so there was no way we could fight back even though I wanted to and I’m sure the other girls wanted to fight as well and…”
Jennifer stopped her at that point. “Misty,” she said. “Yes Jennifer,” answered Misty. “You talk fast and non stop when you’re excited,” said Jennifer. “Yep, guess I do,” she said, “and where is Steve, I thought he would be here waiting to talk with us about everything like why we got captured and who did it and where were we kept and did we see anything and why are Dawn and Celestine looking so sad when they should be happy we’re free now and not hurt and…”
“Misty,” said Jennifer. “Yes Jennifer,” answered Misty. “Slow down and maybe we can answer you’re questions.” “Oh, right, I will do that,” she said, “and I bet I know where Steve is right now, he’s out plotting how to attack Dinah while she’s weak and waiting for her men to arrive and…” “Misty,” said Jennifer. “Yes Jennifer,” said Misty. “Back up a bit please,” she said. Misty took 3 steps back. “Misty,” said Jennifer. “Yes,” she replied.
“I want you to come closer,” she said. “But you specifically told me to back up,” said Misty, “if you want me to come closer then you should say, come closer, not back up and why are you screaming into your pillow?” “Misty,” said Dawn, “you 4 girls are free because Steve offered to take your place, so he is now a prisoner of Dinah. That is why we are sad.” Misty stood there blinking at her. “Jennifer, is that true?” asked Aasta. “Yes girls, it’s true,” she said, “Steve felt it was better for him to take your place, so you could be free.”
“But, but, but,” said Misty, “Dinah will never let Steve go free, she’ll kill him for sure.” “You forget that Steve is a ghost, like me,” she said, “so he will be okay.” “But Steve is only maybe, sorta, kinda, a bit like you,” said Misty, “he still has problems yet.” Jennifer sighed. “True, but Misty, you said that Dinah was still waiting for her men to arrive,” said Jennifer. “Yep, they are not here yet,” said Misty, “not until tomorrow night. I heard the 2 guys talking that were guarding us, and that’s what they said.”
The other girls confirmed what Misty said. “That’s perfect,” said Jennifer, “then we can put Plan B into operation tonight, because our extra people have already arrived, so we should easily outnumber Tobias’ men.” “Yep,” said Misty, “the one man said that Tobias only has 20 men, most of the people working at the Black Swan are just regular employees.”
Meanwhile, “How come we can’t hear anything?” asked Dinah, “You did put those listening devices on those women, didn’t you Herman?” “Yeah, I did it myself just to make sure,” he said, “I don’t understand why none of them are working, unless they found them all. I put them in different places though, so it would be hard to find every one of them.” “All they had to do was find one,” said Dinah, “then they would take the clothes off those women and toss them in the garbage. I bet that’s what they did.”
Back at the hotel. Meowy= “Me smell something not right on human girls.” “Listening devices or trackers,” said Dawn. So the girls quickly changed their clothes and their old clothes were dumped in the garbage bin behind the restaurant. “Good work Jewel,” said Celestine, “I hope you’re teaching that to Sir Night.” Meowy= “Storm main teacher for that, but me help too.” Celestine picked her up and gave her a hug. “I think you probably help a lot,” she said smiling.
Jennifer contacted Sky and Aari and told them it was time for Plan B, and make sure they are dressed appropriately for this event, after all, formal attire only at a place like the Black Swan. And this was the second night of their 4 night special extravaganza, with special shows and prizes. There will be a lot of people at the Black Swan and they discovered that Tobias had hired a security firm to send over an extra 20 security guards for this event.
However, those guards did not carry guns, so they would be shot with our dart guns, as would anyone else that wanted to get in our way. Not that I would be involved, I’m a bit out of action for now. So, back to me for a moment. “I do hope your room is satisfactory, Steve,” said Dinah. “Yes, I am quite happy with it, thanks,” I replied. “You will get regular meals as well,” she said, “anything that you would like?” “Just a light lunch,” I said, “and whatever is on the menu for dinner, maybe bacon, eggs and toast for breakfast would be nice.” “That’s fine,” she said.
“You seem to be treating me rather nicely,” I said, “what’s the catch?” “The catch is $200 million,” she replied, “but, if the money doesn’t arrive on time, then I won’t be so nice.” That I kind of assumed. I then knelt down beside my bed so that it would look like I was praying. “Don’t worry Steve,” said Sky, “I’m just a call away, no one will hurt you. We are putting Plan B into effect because Dinah’s men will not be here until tomorrow night. So, tonight is our night.”
“I don’t know why,” I said, “but for some reason I sense big trouble for me today, and I’m nervous, I can’t do things like you and the other ghosts.” “Hmm, Jennifer doesn’t sense danger for you,” she said, “but I don’t like this anyway. I will leave Angel with you as your guard, no one can get past her. And, Celestine wanted me to give you a present.” Out popped Sir Night, purring. “Maybe I should have brought Celestine,” said Sky giggling.
“Very funny,” I said, “thank Celestine for me, giving up Sir Night is a big deal for her.” Sky then left and I lay down on the bed with Sir Night on top of me. Meanwhile, “Hey, look at this Tobias,” said Herman, “that Steve is a nut case. He’s pretending he has a cat lying on top of him.” Tobias looked at the monitor. “That is supposed to be the leader of the Investigators?” asked Tobias, “I think he has flipped, shattered all his brain cells. I bet his wife is the real leader. No wonder he traded himself for those 4 gals.”
The four guys in the office all laughed. Then they went back to work, except Herman who was watching me. After a few minutes I allowed Sir Night to be visible. “Hey, he does have a cat, a black cat!” exclaimed Herman, “Take a look everyone.” They all looked, but there was no cat. “Where did it go?” asked Herman,
“Honest Tobias, he had a cat on him, all black.” “Well, go take a look,” said Tobias, “though I don’t see how he could have a cat.” Herman came in and began to look around. “Looking for something?” I asked. “Yeah, your little black cat,” he said, “where is it?” “I don’t have a black cat,” I said, “but I do have a huge lion…”
To Be Continued. ©2025 Steve McLeod.
Steve`s Country 