I opened the envelope, inside was a note for me which read, “You are a useless PI”. I showed it to Rock. “Means nothing Steve,” he said, “he will find out too.” “Thanks Rock,” I said, “but maybe this guy is right, he is always one step ahead of us. Always.” Back at the Chateau we all sit around in the library talking, waiting for the new girls to arrive, which should be shortly.

“Kat and I are going up to the west tower for a bit to be alone,” I said to Baldwin, “you cats can come along too.” Meow,meow.=Me come, me be alone with you. Meow.=Yep, me come too and be alone. Meowr.=Me stay with my human Angel, it okay? “Yes, Storm,” I said, “that will be fine.” Up we went to the tower, it is the tallest of the two towers and it is a great place to watch sunsets. It is a little early for that however, but the view is still great.

I am glad that Baldwin had that bullet proof glass put in here though. “We should come up here more often,” said Kat, “it is beautiful looking at the countryside from here.” She was right, and we seldom come up here. But then, we seldom seem to be at home lately. “I want to go after this sniper Kat,” I told her, “we have to stop him somehow and he is always one step ahead of us.” “I have been thinking about that too,” she said, “someone in here is definitely sending him information.”

“Yes, either the person who hired him, or just someone paid to help him,” I suggested. Kat looked at me, “do you really think one of us could be bought like that?” “How else is it being done?”, I asked her as we looked out the window. Suddenly a bullet came through the window and Kat was down, bleeding from her forehead. Muffin pressed the emergency button.

“Kat and Steve are in trouble!”, shouted Jennifer. Her, Angel, Rock and Storm ran upstairs. Annelie still cannot do that because of her hip. Jennifer was first in the room. “She is dead,” I said with tears as I looked at Jennifer. She came and knelt on the floor beside me, putting her arm around me. The cats had their heads down. Storm was angry, he remembered his mate being shot and knew how it felt.

He came over to me and purred. Meowr.=me know how it feel. I asked Rock to carry Kat’s body downstairs. “The ambulance is on the way,” said Baldwin quietly, shaking his head. “How did he shoot through bullet proof glass?”, I asked him. He was on the phone right away. “What do you mean you didn’t do it?!”, Baldwin yelled. “We had to wait for more glass boss,” said the man.

“And why did you not tell me that?”, he growled. “I did not think it would matter up there, so I didn’t say anything,” he explained. Baldwin was more than just a little upset by this excuse. I motion to Rock, MC and Storm to follow me. We went out and to the pool change house. MC and Storm checked us for listening devices but found none. Then we went back outside and onto the lawn.

“I am going after the Stinger,” I told Rock, “I should have done this before. He is always one step ahead of us, so someone here must be giving him information. I am going to hunt him down and stop him.” “Hey, you can’t go alone on this one Steve, I will go too,” said Rock. “Thanks Rock, but it might be better to stay here, you are married now,” I reminded him. “Annelie would not want me to stay behind, she would want me with you,” he said.

Meow,meow=Me go too. Muffin had joined us on the lawn. Meow.=Yep, me go too too. Meowr.=Me too go too. “I would like you to stay and look after Angel and the others Storm, okay?”, I say to him. Meowr.=Okay, me do that. Just then the car drove in with the new girls. They came out and introduced themselves. “My name is Axelina,” said the first girl. I look at her. “Will you?”, I ask.

She smiled knowing what I meant, “yes, I will, especially you because you are the leader of the team.” “Good, are you ready to go on a case in the morning?”, I asked her. “I am ready anytime,” she said confidently. “My name is Galyna,” said the next, “and yes, I am.” I smiled this time, she knew what I was going to ask, she will be a good addition to the team also.

The other three were Brigetta, Mriya, and Nyura. Nyura is a nurse, along with Lajla who had arrived before. We all went in to get acquainted and make plans for the morning. Baldwin’s men had found the rifle and usual note the day before from where Stinger shot Kat. We began our search in that area. We must find him…

To Be Continued.

©2022 Steve McLeod.