The Investigators, Inc. The Sniper Mystery. Chapter 12. The Mansion.

Jennifer called Kat to let her know that Jake was here and what he had told them. “Rock and I will meet you in town,” said Kat. “No,” said Jennifer, “you and Rock need to stay there in case anyone shows up, we can handle this.” Kat thought about it for a moment, then talked it over with Rock. “Okay,” said Kat, “we’ll stay here and watch things at the clinic. But, please be careful, remember that Stinger is dangerous, he has killed 6 of us already.

Steve, Annelie and Lajla are in bad shape still.” So Jennifer knew that Aurela had died, that really hit her hard, Aurela was the youngest one on the team. “We will be careful Kat,” she said slowly, “and we will stop him.” So everyone got ready and Jennifer came from her room. “I know you two gals are twins,” said Jake, “but you look identical to Kat right now.”

“Thanks Jake,” she said, “that is a nice compliment.” “You sure you have everything now?”, asked Baldwin. “Yes, we have all we need,” said Jenny, “except maybe the cats. I wish they could come.” Then Baldwin turned to Jake. “Take care of Jennifer,” he said. “I’ll do that Mr. B.,” he said, “you can count on it.” Off they went to the mansion, talking over plans as they went. Then it suddenly hit Jake and he looked at Jennifer.

“I know what you are doing Jenny girl,” he said, “and I do not like it, much too dangerous.” “Yes, I know it is,” she admitted, “but I figure it is one sure way to get Stinger in the open.” “And get yourself killed in the process,” he said with a frown, “don’t do it.” “My mind is made up on this one,” she said, “don’t try to talk me out of it.” “I could go over your head and call Mr. B,” said Jake, “he is in charge, you have to listen to him.”

Jennifer just looked at Jake. “Okay Jenny girl,” he said, “but only if you do things my way.” She smiled, “that is fine with me.” They were soon at the mansion and they stopped the car just past it so they would not be seen. Then they walked up through the trees along one side of the mansion. It was a large, sprawling house which would have looked quite nice in its day, but it had been neglected for years. It was all on one level, but sort of U shaped and it had a basement besides.

There were 22 rooms on the main level, they had no idea what might be in the basement. They also had no idea how many men might be inside. The whole place was dark, it could be everyone was asleep, or perhaps no one was there right now. There was an outside door leading to the basement, but it was locked. Jake took over that part and had the door open in no time. Down into the dark basement they went. Up some stairs and they were soon in the kitchen.

There was a kettle on the stove about to boil. They waited. Two men soon came in and the girls had them overpowered quickly, but neither one would talk. They were both handcuffed and ankle cuffed, plus tape over their mouths. Some of the girls went down one hall with Benjamin to check rooms and some went down the other hall with Jake to check rooms. Jennifer stayed to guard the prisoners, so she said.

But after the others were gone she left to check out some rooms by herself, definitely a bad idea. As she entered the large living room she was attacked by 3 men and a fight began. But Jennifer knew how to fight, hitting, throwing and kicking the three men. Finally with 3 last kicks the men were out and on the floor. Most likely they would not be getting up again. “Great fighting Kat,” said a man.

Jennifer looked at him, it was too late to bring out her gun, he had his trained on her and he was out of reach for a kick. “Good to meet you Stinger,” she said coldly. “Your first and last meeting Kat,” he said, “I might have missed getting your husband, but getting you will hurt him bad, very bad and maybe that is even better than killing him.” “You won’t get away with it,” she said, “our team will hunt you down.”

“No one will ever get Stinger,” he said, “and now the sting of death.” “Stinger!”, said a mans voice. Stinger turned his head and two shots rang out. Stinger lay dead on the floor, two bullets in his forehead. “Good timing Jake,” said Jennifer. “Hey, I promised Mr. B I would look after you Jenny girl,” he said, “that is why we did things my way.” “Thank you anyway Jake,” she said, “I must admit to being a bit nervous. Um, maybe…” “Not to worry,” said Jake, “none of this gets out.”

To Be Continued.

©2022 Steve McLeod.

Wandering Through Wednesday. #18

Good morning to all of you! It was such a beautiful sunny morning earlier, then the clouds moved in and now it feels quite chilly again. The forecast states that it will be sunny all day, guess the forecasters forgot to tell the clouds that little bit of information. Seems like the forecasters would be able to see all this cloud cover out there before issuing their forecast this morning. But perhaps the clouds hid behind a cloud so they could not be seen.

Female evening grosbeak

I just could not resist that one. Oh well. Because of the sun and all the birds around I decided to go out for some pictures before writing my post this morning. In 10 minutes it was cloudy. It takes about that long for the birds to start coming back to the feeders after I go out. I stayed another 10 minutes but the clouds got heavier and it became quite dull out there, not exactly the best for good photos.

It does work with birds at the feeders, but it still looks nicer with the sun shining. Especially with certain birds, like grackles. They are really a beautifully colored bird when seen in the sun. One was a purple head, one was a blue head and the other was part of both. Then with their shining bronze bodies having that metallic sheen, they are beautiful. Even though they might not be the nicest bird to have around, they can take over a feeder and eat everything in sight.

Male (left) and female evening grosbeak

But really, all birds look more colorful in the sun. Sometimes clouds can be good for certain types of photos, but I still prefer sunshine. It was so nice standing on the deck early this morning and listening to that chorus of birds in the trees, warming themselves in the morning sun. A robin had been singing since before daybreak, such a wonderful spring treat. A white-throated sparrow was also singing, and the fox sparrow.

So far there is only one of each, which is very odd since it is so late for both of them. A south wind is supposed to start up today so maybe that will bring in more birds. I hope so. After Friday we will be back to several days of clouds and rain, plus cooler temps again. But all of May is supposed to be like that, cooler than normal and more rain than normal. That will cut down on my photo opportunities, so I will have to be busy on the nice days.

A bit of arguing at the hanging feeder. How many grosbeaks can you see?

Yesterday was certainly nice and sunny and I managed to get a lot of good photos of birds at the feeders. Plus a few of chipmunks coming onto my lap to get peanuts. If the sun actually comes back out today I am going to check the path to the river and see how far I get. While standing outside this morning I heard a loon calling, oh, that was so beautiful. I just love the call of the loon. Great way to start the day. Well, thank you very much for joining me this morning everyone! Have a great day and God bless!

Steve and Muffin. (Praying for the people of Ukraine)

©2022 Steve McLeod.