“Oh, they are more than willing to come and help me,” said Avina, “but there is a slight problem.” “I kind of figured there must be something,” I answered, “and the problem would be what?” “Well, each of them are in custody right now,” she began… That is when I could not hold Susan back any longer and she got a bit hysterical. “What?!!”, yelled Susan, “these people are in prison and you want Steve to break them out in just 3 weeks?!!”

I managed to hold her back at that point before people heard her, fortunately no one was close to us which is quite amazing in itself. “I can see why your daughter gets so hysterical,” said Avina shaking her head, “she obviously gets it from you.” I held Susan back again before she caused some real problems. “How am I supposed to find these people?”, I asked, “I do not recognize their names and I do not know what they look like.”

“Oh, I am going to help you out with that,” said Avina, “here are their pictures and the locations of the various prisons and jails where they are being held.” I looked at the photos and locations list. “Each of these people are in a different country,” I said, “except 2 of them in the US. And only 3 weeks, that does not leave enough time Avina.”

“Well, I notice you have your own private jet,” she said, “so that should help you.” “Well, the jet is not mine,” I said, “but I do have use of it occasionally, and I will certainly need to use it for this caper. It would have been nice to have a bit more time though, could you possibly add another week or 2?” “No, I am sorry about that Steve, really I am,” she began, “but it must be done in 3 weeks. As you get them for me you can hand them over to me right here at this park.”

“No,” I said firmly, “there will be no time for that, I will keep them all and we will make a trade once I have them, and yes, it will be here at this park.” I could tell she did not like that, obviously she must have been hoping to get them working on whatever she has planned as I got them for her. “Okay,” she agreed, “we will do it your way, but remember, you have just 3 weeks from today, not one day more, or that girl dies.”

“And you remember,” I added, “if Krissy is harmed or killed, I will hunt you down, no matter how long it takes.” “Yes, I assumed you would say something like that,” she said, “and I do take it seriously, I know you can be very stubborn and determined. I will be in touch.” Then she got up and walked away. At that point Susan began crying.

“Hey, don’t worry Susan,” I said, trying to comfort her, “I will get Krissy back.” “I trust you Steve,” she said sobbing, “but I am just so worried about Krissy.” “That is understandable,” I said smiling, “come, back to your apartment for you.” I stayed with her for awhile since I could not meet with John for another hour anyway. I called Kat too.

“No time for talking really at the moment,” I began, “I am sending some pics, names and locations of the people we need to get for Avina. I need Annelie to find out what she can about these people by the time I get home, I definitely need some information about each of them, even if it is not much. Also I need information about the prisons where each are being kept and the best possible times to break them out.

Ask Rossana if there is some way we can get help from the prison authorities for that. We will bring the people back. Also I want everyone to memorize the photos and names, plus everyone ready to go, fully packed.” “You are asking for a lot Steve,” Kat said, “and, are you serious? Do we really need to get these people out of prison, in just 3 weeks?”

“Yes, I am totally serious,” I answered, “Krissy’s life depends on us right now. I must get going so I can see John before heading home.” We said a bit more then hung up and I was on my way to meet with John, in another park. I bought a bag of bread crumbs to feed the pigeons, like John told me and sat down on his bench.

He sat reading a newspaper. “Well, what is up now Steve?”, he asked, “I am kind of surprised you wanted to talk with me again so soon.” I asked him if he had heard of Avina and he said yes. Then I got Muffin to hand him the pics and names to see if he knew any of them and what they might be good at doing.

He did help out with 4 of them. I then asked if he knew of anything important coming up in about 3 to 4 weeks, but he did not. He said he would keep his ears open and let me know. We talked a bit more, then he left. We left shortly after and were soon on our way back home.

To Be Continued.

©2022 Steve McLeod.