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For a smile as wide as a country sunrise
I found out from Richard that his wife had a brother, named Dean, who disappeared at the age of 16 and no one ever saw him again. He was 2 years younger than Richard’s wife Delena. We checked to see which of our guys might look close enough to Dean at the age of 33, so that if necessary, we can bring her brother back. “You wanted to talk with me Steve?” asked Trapper.
I told him my idea and asked if he would be willing to play her long lost brother. We won’t do this right away, but we will keep it as a possibility. He accepted the challenge. Fortunately after 17 years, her brother would have changed quite a bit, and that is helpful. We gave him basic knowledge of the family. Apparently he never got along with his parents, but he was fairly close to Delena.
I have a terrible feeling about this kidnapping which is why I’m doing this. I’m not telling Richard why, it might be too devastating for him to ponder right now. “What makes you think this is a set up Steve?” asked Celestina. “Just a hunch really,” I said, “money can do strange things to people sometimes.” “Yeah, like Whitaker and his men,” she said slowly. She then went back out to be with the others. “I think something happened to that girl,” said Jennifer, “someone did something to her and she’s trying to hide it. But it bothers her at times, I have noticed it before. So, someone needs to talk with her about it.”
“Well, I…” and that was as far as I got. “I agree, you should be the one to talk with her,” said Jennifer, “after all, you know her best and she trusts you. Thanks for volunteering Steve, I knew you would do the right thing.” The right thing would be for me to keep my mouth closed at certain times. I thought Jennifer should do it. Hmm, and then there is Misty. “Oh, and don’t even think about passing it to Misty,” she said and then went out to talk with the girls. Sigh. She always knows.
Well, it didn’t seem to take long and we arrived in Vegas. Sienna had vans and cars waiting for us, plus one nice limousine. Sherry loves driving these cars, but I don’t think Sienna enjoys it so much. The last one needed a few repairs. Oh well. It was a rather intense chase. We went directly to our hotels, each team was staying in a different hotel, but not far apart, just in case we need each other quickly. We arrived just in time for an early breakfast and our hotel had a nice, large restaurant.
I asked if our cats could join us, but the manager just laughed, so we took pancakes and bacon up to the cats in our room. “I sense trouble in here,” I said to Jennifer and the message was passed along around our two tables. The restaurant was not too busy, but it was early. There were 3 men sitting at one table and I was sure they were the source of my trouble senses. Jennifer agreed with me. Celestine looked quickly over at them, but also quickly turned away and put her head down.
That was a rather strange reaction, I thought, but I didn’t want to say anything right then. A little later those men left and the trouble left with them. Meanwhile, not too far away. “Guess who we saw at the restaurant this morning boss?” asked Herman. “You know I don’t like playing games,” he said, “if it’s important, just tell me.” “It was Celestine,” said Chaz, “she was with some guy and a bunch of women.” “And you didn’t bring her back with you?” he asked. “There was 20 of them boss,” said Herman.
“Hmm, I wonder who she is with?” he asked, not expecting an answer, “go back there and watch for an opportunity to grab her.” So, off they went right away. “Well Celestine,” said the man to himself, “I am going to teach you a lesson you will never forget. No one runs away from me, no one!” Now, back to us. The girls had gone back to their rooms, but Jennifer and I stayed behind to talk with Celestine about those men.
However, when I saw the men returning, we decided to head back to our room. “Dawn, get down here right away please, with some of your girls,” I said, “those men have returned.” Dawn and 5 others came running into the restaurant, so we then got up to leave. As we got closer to the men, one of them called out. “Hey Celestine, Tobias wants to see you,” he said.
Jennifer kept going with Celestine, but I stayed behind with the girls. “You tell that Tobias, whoever he is,” I began, “to stop thinking about Celestine, it will be healthier for him that way.” “Maybe we should bring you back to Tobias,” he said, “he would love to hear you tell him that.” He then stood up, but with 2 kicks from Dawn, he was sitting again.
“By the way,” I said to those guys, “I only give one warning.” We then left and went back to our rooms. This is not starting off the way I thought it would. We are no longer members of The Investigators, so that part is good. We are now our own gang, here on a vacation. That will make it harder for them to check on us…
To Be Continued. ©2025 Steve McLeod.
We had been trying to figure out where those kidnappers might be located when Celestine came into the library and gave some fresh coffee and donuts to Mandar and I. Then she made a brief comment and went back to the kitchen. “Celestine,” I said in a normal voice. “How do you expect her to hear that?” asked Mandar, “There’s too much chatter in this place!” Everyone was suddenly quiet when he said that. “Did you want me Steve?” asked Celestine.
“She has very good hearing,” I said to Mandar, then I turned to Celestine, “now, you can’t make a remark like you did, and then leave without explaining yourself.” “Oh, I’m sorry,” she said, “my parents and I lived in Las Vegas for 2 years when I was 14/15 and I just didn’t like it out there. Of course, I didn’t have any friends out there either, so that didn’t help. But if it’s going to be hot, I prefer to be by the ocean, not in the desert.”
“What makes you think they were in Vegas?” asked Mandar. “They said so,” she replied, “the men talking in the background. May I leave now? I don’t want my muffins to burn.” She then smiled. “Um, yes, go ahead,” I told her, then I called for Carine. “That young woman bakes too?” asked Mandar. “Yes, she’s a great baker and a wonderful cook too,” I said. “She looks like she’s about 16,” said Mandar.
“Actually, she’s 21,” I said just as Carine entered the room. I then asked her to listen to the recording and pay special attention to any background noises or conversation. Afterward I asked her what she had heard. She said that two men were talking about wanting to go gambling because they were in Vegas, but their boss had told them no. They were not there to have fun, it was all business.
“Okay Aari,” I said, “get your team on the road, the plane will be waiting for you. Carine and Kristina are ready to go.” “I will make sure your vans are waiting for you when you arrive,” said Sienna. I was going to send their motorcycles along, but I decided that vans would be less noticeable and we don’t want to draw attention just yet. “Okay Sky and Dawn, get your teams ready,” I said, “we will be on the second plane.” “Oh, am I going along too?” asked Celestine.
“Well, I…” was as far as I got when Mandar interrupted me. “Of course you will be going my dear,” he said, “this case is too important to leave your quick thinking behind.” “YES!” she said, “I’m already packed!” Off she went to get her suitcase and backpack. “She’s got a perfect score with a handgun,” said Dawn, “I mean, she didn’t miss even once, and it was the first time she has even held a gun.” “Kind of sounds a lot like Misty,” I said to Jennifer.
“Yes, she certainly does,” agreed Jennifer. “Reporting for duty Steve!” said Misty as she stood there saluting me. “Misty,” I said. “Yes Steve?” she responded. “You’re saluting again,” I said. “Ooops, sorry,” she said and down went her hand. “What do you mean, reporting for duty?” asked Jennifer. “Steve called me,” she said smiling, “I just knew he would want me along too!” Jennifer and I looked at each other and sighed.
After our plane was in the air Misty asked why we didn’t bring her team along. “I already said Dawn’s team could come on this one,” I told her, “and we need to leave enough people at home to look after the chateau. So, we could only bring you along. Besides, your team gets more case time than Dawn’s team.” “That’s why you make such a good leader,” said Misty, “always knowing what to do.” Then she went off to talk with the other girls.
“You must learn to talk faster,” said Jennifer. “And think faster,” I said. “Agreed,” she said. It was a terribly long flight, but fortunately we have our own bedroom, so we, or at least I, could sleep much of the way. Why sleep so much when I’m a ghost? It’s the best way to spend all this time in the air. Except for time we spent going over a variety of scenarios for locating Richard’s family.
Besides, even as a ghost, I still get tired, something the other ghosts don’t have a problem with, though they do sleep, just not much. Kind of strange really. Anyway, Sir Night and Jewel are certainly getting along well and Sir Night just came into our bedroom to talk with us about Jewel. He wants to marry her and is asking for permission. That is so cute.
So, we naturally said yes and I gave him a tiny box which he pushed out the door and over to Jewel. He meowed. She meowed. Then they touched noses. They are now engaged and he flipped the lid off the box revealed a beautiful, but small, diamond which we will put on her collar when we get home.
It reminded me of Mr. Cat and Muffin, so I had to go back into the bedroom. We were soon landing, refueled and headed to our final destination, Las Vegas. I just hope we guessed right or we will be wasting a lot of time…
To Be Continued. ©2025 Steve McLeod.
Steve`s Country 