Well, it has been 3 weeks since I had my rest away from everything. There was a bit of excitement too, but mostly it was a rest. My team didn’t do so well in trying to find me, except for Misty, Dawn and the cats. Everyone else failed. The ghosts, however, were not included in the test since they have an unfair advantage over the rest of the team. Those who failed were given the same mark by Jennifer, which was 0%. Those who passed received 100%. Plus donuts.

And they will be given no chores for one month. Jennifer was in charge of the whole thing. She also gave me a failing grade because I failed to keep Celestine safe from Whitaker and his crew which allowed Mr. Fats to punch Celestine twice, on her face and her stomach. Celestine intervened on my behalf, however, she thought it was totally unfair to make me fail since I was relying on Sky’s word that no one was in the house.

She also said that Sky and Angel should have stayed until we got home, so that Whitaker and his men would not be able to come along after they checked the house, which is what happened. “Besides,” she said, “Steve was there to relax and find himself again, he wasn’t there to protect me.” Kat agreed with her and Jennifer sighed. “And who would teach this course if Steve is in the class?” asked Celestine. “Well, I…” was as far as Jennifer got when Celestine interrupted her.

“That’s a great idea Jennifer,” she said, “you and Steve teaching it together would bring all the best abilities into that course!” Jennifer just stared, then sighed again. “You need to learn how to blink,” I said. “Blink?” she asked. “Yep, like Misty and Cristy,” I said, “it’s a blank blink.” “A blank blink?” she asked again. Then she sighed again. The next day Jennifer and I were in our bedroom relaxing when I told her I sensed trouble and it wasn’t far away.

“I don’t sense any danger,” she said, “but perhaps we should get ready, in case.” Then Dawn’s voice came over the room communicator. “Mandar is here Steve,” she said, “and he appears a bit agitated.” “I will be right down,” I told her, then I turned to Jennifer, “there is the source of trouble.” “And why no danger with it,” said Jennifer. “Where is that man?! exclaimed Mandar, “Did you tell him I was here?!” “Yes, I told him,’ said Dawn, “but he and Jennifer were upstairs, relaxing together.”

“Relaxing?” he asked, “This is no time to relax! This is an emergency!” We both arrived at that moment. “You never said it was an emergency Mandar,” I said, “besides, I needed to get dressed.” “In the middle of the day?” he asked, shaking his head, “you can relax at night, but not tonight, this is an emergency my good man. Don’t you understand that?” “I might if you would tell me what’s it’s all about,” I said, “come in the library and sit down so you can tell me.”

“And I will get you some coffee and fresh donuts,” said Jennifer. “This is no time for…” he began, “um, did you say fresh donuts?” “Yes, now go sit down and tell Steve what is bothering you,” she said. He sat down, then stood up, then sat down, then Celestine came over and took his shoes off. “And what are you doing young woman?” he asked, rather surprised by what she did.

“You need to relax,” she said, “you can’t do that with your shoes on. Taking your shoes off let’s your feet cool off and breathe, that helps you relax.” “Now listen here young woman,” he said, “I don’t need you fussing over me like this. I know what I need and what I like and…oh my, that feels wonderful.” Celestine was now massaging his shoulders. “Where did you find this one?” he asked. “I didn’t find her, she found me,” I said, “and she helped me to find myself.” He stared at me.

“Sometimes I wonder about you Steve,” he said, “now, let’s get on with business while this delightful young woman continues massaging my shoulders.” “My name is Celestine,” she said nicely. “Anyway, this is an emergency Steve,” he said, “and only you can help. Richard’s wife and two children have been kidnapped by person’s unknown. You must get them back before something terrible happens to them.” “Okay, stay calm Mandar,” I said, “who kidnapped them and where did they take them? Have they given a ransom note?”

“I don’t know who, my good man,” he said impatiently, “I already said that. They want £ 50 million! I could pay it, of course, but as you know, that wouldn’t get Richard’s family back. Only you and your team can do that. I will pay whatever you need, just get it done quickly before something happens to that beautiful family.” “Do you have some idea where we can start looking?” I asked, “That would save a bit of time.” “No, I don’t,” he said, “why do you think I’m hiring you?”

We talked for about an hour while at the same time getting the teams ready that I will be using. That will be the Black Wolves and Sky’s Bad Girls for sure, and there will be one more team as well, but I’m not sure which one yet. I called Richard to try and get more information about the who and where questions, since that would help us a great deal. Richard wasn’t really any more help than Mandar, which makes things a bit difficult.

We do need to know where to look, even a general idea, otherwise it’s like looking for a needle in a haystack, or even worse. He did say they recorded the phone call from the kidnappers, so he will send us a copy of that. That might give us some clue where they might be. I certainly hope so, or we won’t be going anywhere. Richard will keep us informed of any more phone calls. They will be calling again to let him know where to bring the money.

That will help, but it won’t give us much time. We will have everyone ready to go at a moment’s notice. I asked Dawn about our new girls to see if any were ready to go on a case yet. She said Kailey, Charlotte, Melody and Trixie were ready, but not Wisty, Autumn, Mylah or Audrey. That’s okay, I might leave them all at home anyway, but it’s good to know some are ready, just in case my team will go along.

Well, actually, my team is now Dawn’s team. Jennifer and I will just go with whichever team might need us the most, which will likely be Dawn’s team since she has no ghosts on her team. Well, Richard sent the recording and I had all the team leaders listen to it, just in case one of us might pick up something. None of us did however, which was rather discouraging.

Then Celestine came in with more coffee for Mandar and me, along with a couple of donuts. She also made a comment. “Oh, I hated living there,” she said, “the summers were so hot and nothing around there but desert. No ocean, just desert.” Then she went back to the kitchen…

To Be Continued. ©2025 Steve McLeod.