“Okay Jake,” I began, “how do you think we can find Stinger?” “Go outside the door and you will likely find him real fast,” said Jake, “you are on his list now, the girls no longer matter, his money is gone, and he is angry with you for messing up his career. He will want you real bad, and forget about protecting your forehead, he will go for whatever spot he can hit. And if he cannot kill you, he will disable you, remember that. Let Rock take the girls out and chase him, you stay home.”

“I can’t do that,” I said, “stay in hiding while everyone else does the work? I am going out too.” “Why man?”, said Jake, “you are important to that team of yours, stay home and send the others out.” I thought for a moment. Okay, now I see what he is trying to tell me. “Hmm, maybe you are right,” I responded, “I can use the time to try and find out where John might be hiding.” “Now you are making sense,” said Jake, “gotta go, but I am here anytime.” “Thanks Jake,” I said.

“Bye Jake,” said Annelie. “Bye girl, and make sure that guy stays home, tie him up if you have to,” he said and hung up. “Do I have to tie you up Steve?”, she asked. “No, I will stay here,” I said, a bit discouraged, “okay Rock, you can take the girls and head after Stinger.” “Which ones?”, he asked. “All of them,” I said, “we want to get this guy fast and make it hard for him to attack without being found out.” Just then Muffin and MC came in dragging two scramblers with them.

Meow,meow.=My human say to plug these in here. Kat took them and set them up. “Okay, now we talk,” I said, “I wanted John to hear that first part.” “So you will be coming with us?”, asked Rock. “No, I am staying here like Jake suggested,” I said, “Annelie will be here too to help protect me. I need to go through Shirley’s stuff and see if there is any info we can use to find John, after all, she found him.” “You will never get into her phone,” said Angel. “I can do that,” said Aurela.

“Good, because you are staying here also since you are not yet an official member of our team. Angel, you can stay too if you want.” “I would rather go,” she said. “Okay, the cats will also stay behind, all 3 of them,” I said, “and perhaps our spy should stay as well.” I looked over at Lajla. Kristina quickly had a gun pointed at her. “Wait,” said Lajla, “I have ID here for you.” She brought it over to me. “So, you really are a spy,” I said smiling.

“I prefer to think of it as being an undercover agent,” she said, sounding a bit nervous, “because of all the killings associated with Baldwin, and his importance in so many critical companies around the world, it was necessary to find out what was going on, so that is why I am here. And I am quite satisfied that there are no problems.” “I am glad to hear that,” said Baldwin sounding very relieved. “I am planning to leave tomorrow,” she said.

“Too bad, it would be nice to have you join us,” I said. “I will give that some consideration,” she answered. The next morning, early, Rock and the others were ready to leave and search all through the area, since we figure Stinger is not likely too far away. So they will first check within a 30 km radius of the chateau. “I should be staying here,” said Kat to me. “No, if I am going to stay locked up inside, then you have to go and do my work,” I told her.

“Fine,” she said, and then told Annelie, “make sure he does something while we are gone.” “I will do that Kat,” she said laughing. After all the others were gone, Lajla said, “are you sure that is the wisest thing to do?” “What do you mean?”, I asked innocently. Annelie looked at me frowning. “Now I get it,” she said, “you are deliberately setting yourself up as a target to bring Stinger out in the open. So you had to get rid of everyone so he would feel safe enough to come after you.”

“Actually, it was Jake’s idea, and a good one too,” I said. “Hmm, I need to talk with Jake about that one,” she said, “Kat is not going to be too happy with you.” “Hey, I have protection with you, Aurela and the cats,” I said, “and I will stay inside. Mostly.” “You have me too,” said Lajla, “I am staying until Stinger is caught.” “You might lose your job,” I said. “So, I was offered another one anyway,” she answered. Baldwin had gone to ‘clean house’ at 2 of his companies. The rest of us were working on different things when MC came into the library. Meow.=Me hear noise in upstairs, we all downstairs…

To Be Continued.

©2022 Steve McLeod.