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For a smile as wide as a country sunrise
Jennifer and the girls returned to our hotel quickly and got settled in once again. It was Misty, Aasta, Beryan and Nakedra who had been captured earlier by Dinah’s men and they were now in our room with Jennifer, Celestine and Dawn. “I’m surprised you managed to get us away from Dinah so easily,” said Misty, “she told us our ransom would be $50 million.
And I know you didn’t pay that much for us, we’re not supposed to pay anything actually which is why I’m surprised you got us back so quickly after those men captured us and they surprised us after we discovered the dead man at the front desk and there was 10 of them and they had automatic weapons so there was no way we could fight back even though I wanted to and I’m sure the other girls wanted to fight as well and…”
Jennifer stopped her at that point. “Misty,” she said. “Yes Jennifer,” answered Misty. “You talk fast and non stop when you’re excited,” said Jennifer. “Yep, guess I do,” she said, “and where is Steve, I thought he would be here waiting to talk with us about everything like why we got captured and who did it and where were we kept and did we see anything and why are Dawn and Celestine looking so sad when they should be happy we’re free now and not hurt and…”
“Misty,” said Jennifer. “Yes Jennifer,” answered Misty. “Slow down and maybe we can answer you’re questions.” “Oh, right, I will do that,” she said, “and I bet I know where Steve is right now, he’s out plotting how to attack Dinah while she’s weak and waiting for her men to arrive and…” “Misty,” said Jennifer. “Yes Jennifer,” said Misty. “Back up a bit please,” she said. Misty took 3 steps back. “Misty,” said Jennifer. “Yes,” she replied.
“I want you to come closer,” she said. “But you specifically told me to back up,” said Misty, “if you want me to come closer then you should say, come closer, not back up and why are you screaming into your pillow?” “Misty,” said Dawn, “you 4 girls are free because Steve offered to take your place, so he is now a prisoner of Dinah. That is why we are sad.” Misty stood there blinking at her. “Jennifer, is that true?” asked Aasta. “Yes girls, it’s true,” she said, “Steve felt it was better for him to take your place, so you could be free.”
“But, but, but,” said Misty, “Dinah will never let Steve go free, she’ll kill him for sure.” “You forget that Steve is a ghost, like me,” she said, “so he will be okay.” “But Steve is only maybe, sorta, kinda, a bit like you,” said Misty, “he still has problems yet.” Jennifer sighed. “True, but Misty, you said that Dinah was still waiting for her men to arrive,” said Jennifer. “Yep, they are not here yet,” said Misty, “not until tomorrow night. I heard the 2 guys talking that were guarding us, and that’s what they said.”
The other girls confirmed what Misty said. “That’s perfect,” said Jennifer, “then we can put Plan B into operation tonight, because our extra people have already arrived, so we should easily outnumber Tobias’ men.” “Yep,” said Misty, “the one man said that Tobias only has 20 men, most of the people working at the Black Swan are just regular employees.”
Meanwhile, “How come we can’t hear anything?” asked Dinah, “You did put those listening devices on those women, didn’t you Herman?” “Yeah, I did it myself just to make sure,” he said, “I don’t understand why none of them are working, unless they found them all. I put them in different places though, so it would be hard to find every one of them.” “All they had to do was find one,” said Dinah, “then they would take the clothes off those women and toss them in the garbage. I bet that’s what they did.”
Back at the hotel. Meowy= “Me smell something not right on human girls.” “Listening devices or trackers,” said Dawn. So the girls quickly changed their clothes and their old clothes were dumped in the garbage bin behind the restaurant. “Good work Jewel,” said Celestine, “I hope you’re teaching that to Sir Night.” Meowy= “Storm main teacher for that, but me help too.” Celestine picked her up and gave her a hug. “I think you probably help a lot,” she said smiling.
Jennifer contacted Sky and Aari and told them it was time for Plan B, and make sure they are dressed appropriately for this event, after all, formal attire only at a place like the Black Swan. And this was the second night of their 4 night special extravaganza, with special shows and prizes. There will be a lot of people at the Black Swan and they discovered that Tobias had hired a security firm to send over an extra 20 security guards for this event.
However, those guards did not carry guns, so they would be shot with our dart guns, as would anyone else that wanted to get in our way. Not that I would be involved, I’m a bit out of action for now. So, back to me for a moment. “I do hope your room is satisfactory, Steve,” said Dinah. “Yes, I am quite happy with it, thanks,” I replied. “You will get regular meals as well,” she said, “anything that you would like?” “Just a light lunch,” I said, “and whatever is on the menu for dinner, maybe bacon, eggs and toast for breakfast would be nice.” “That’s fine,” she said.
“You seem to be treating me rather nicely,” I said, “what’s the catch?” “The catch is $200 million,” she replied, “but, if the money doesn’t arrive on time, then I won’t be so nice.” That I kind of assumed. I then knelt down beside my bed so that it would look like I was praying. “Don’t worry Steve,” said Sky, “I’m just a call away, no one will hurt you. We are putting Plan B into effect because Dinah’s men will not be here until tomorrow night. So, tonight is our night.”
“I don’t know why,” I said, “but for some reason I sense big trouble for me today, and I’m nervous, I can’t do things like you and the other ghosts.” “Hmm, Jennifer doesn’t sense danger for you,” she said, “but I don’t like this anyway. I will leave Angel with you as your guard, no one can get past her. And, Celestine wanted me to give you a present.” Out popped Sir Night, purring. “Maybe I should have brought Celestine,” said Sky giggling.
“Very funny,” I said, “thank Celestine for me, giving up Sir Night is a big deal for her.” Sky then left and I lay down on the bed with Sir Night on top of me. Meanwhile, “Hey, look at this Tobias,” said Herman, “that Steve is a nut case. He’s pretending he has a cat lying on top of him.” Tobias looked at the monitor. “That is supposed to be the leader of the Investigators?” asked Tobias, “I think he has flipped, shattered all his brain cells. I bet his wife is the real leader. No wonder he traded himself for those 4 gals.”
The four guys in the office all laughed. Then they went back to work, except Herman who was watching me. After a few minutes I allowed Sir Night to be visible. “Hey, he does have a cat, a black cat!” exclaimed Herman, “Take a look everyone.” They all looked, but there was no cat. “Where did it go?” asked Herman,
“Honest Tobias, he had a cat on him, all black.” “Well, go take a look,” said Tobias, “though I don’t see how he could have a cat.” Herman came in and began to look around. “Looking for something?” I asked. “Yeah, your little black cat,” he said, “where is it?” “I don’t have a black cat,” I said, “but I do have a huge lion…”
To Be Continued. ©2025 Steve McLeod.
I had to think about that bit of news. Should we go after Dinah Fisher right now while she is here in Vegas? Does she really have 50, or more, men with her this time? How many men does Tobias have? He doesn’t seem to have many men outside of those working at the Black Swan. I called Hannah again and asked her to check all area hotels and see if there has been a large group of men check into one of them in the last day or two.
“That may not tell you much Steve,” she said, “conventions happen there regularly which would draw in large numbers of men.” “But it might help us depending on who is paying the bill for these people,” I told her, “and check the Black Swan first, that would be the most logical place for them to stay. I can’t imagine they would be too far away, so work out from there.” “Shall do Steve,” she said, “it might take a awhile.” “Get Tracy and Wisty to help out,” I said, “even Trixie could help.”
“Hmm, that’s a good thought,” she said, “I will get them at it right away.” “Aha, my King is learning from his counseling sessions,” said Celestine, smiling. “Oooo, what did you two talk about?” asked Misty excitedly. “Different things,” I said. “Like what?” she asked again. “We talked about the beautiful sand beach, the ocean, swimming, hiking,” I said, “plus our team, my family, me.” “Nice list,” said Misty, rather disappointed, “can you be more specific?” “Yes,” I said. She sat there waiting and looking at me.
That got Celestine laughing again. I joined in this time. “I seem to have missed something,” Misty said to Jennifer. “Nothing important,” she said. Misty looked at her. Then she sighed, loud and long. That got us laughing even more. “I’m going down to get a root beer,” said Misty. “Take 3 other girls with you,” said Jennifer. “Okay,” she said. She then went to the room next door and got three others and down they went to the main floor. I finally finished laughing and Jennifer yelled, “Danger, the girls downstairs!”
“Call the other girls!” I said and I disappeared once I got into the hallway. I reappeared downstairs, but the girls were gone and the man at the front desk was lying on the floor. He had been stabbed. I ran outside, but no one was around. However, a police cruiser pulled up and two officers ran inside. I ran around the building, but there was no sign of the girls anywhere. I communicated this with Carine and Sky to let them know. Then I came back inside.
The police officers were talking to the girls that had come downstairs behind me. Interestingly it was the same officers we had seen before. “Why were you running away?” one of them asked me. “I wasn’t running away,” I said, “I’m still here. I just went outside to see if anyone was out there that might have done this. Then I could stop them before they got away.” “That’s a stupid and dangerous thing to do,” said the other officer. “Yes, I suppose it was,” I said.
“Do you have a gun?” he asked me. “No, I never carry one,” I said. “These women that are part of your club carry guns,” he said. “Yes, and they are licensed to do so,” I said. “We could arrest all of you on suspicion of murder,” he said. “And you would be joining us in jail,” I said, “because somehow you knew about this murder before anyone called it in. And you knew he was dead without even checking him. That sounds suspicious to me.” They both stared at me.
“You like to be a wise guy, do you?” he asked. Both officers then fell to the floor. “Thanks Sky,” I said. “You’re welcome,” she replied. “How come the bar is closed?” I asked. “The manager said it would be closed tonight because of something special going on at the Black Swan tonight,” said Milena. “We need to unlock the door,” I said, “so these two officers can get drunk.” It was an easy lock to open and we put the officers in a couple of the nice, comfortable chairs, then helped them to drink a bit. “They won’t be out long,” said Sky, “and they won’t remember anything either.”
“Perfect,” I said, then I called for the night manager who came running from his office. Most of the girls were gone back to their rooms by this time, and Sky was gone too. He called an ambulance and the police, not knowing about the officers in the lounge. We had put a bit of blood on the one officer’s hand, just for good measure. They will have a hard time explaining things, which is good. The real police were questioning us when they found their two friends in the lounge, so they told us we could go. I imagine they will want to question us some more tomorrow.
That we do not need, so I called Mandar and told him. He said if we had any trouble, then he would send a couple of his lawyers to help. Tobias, or Dinah, was behind the kidnapping of Misty and the other girls, so no doubt they will be in touch with me soon. I was right. At precisely 10pm I got a call from Dinah Fisher, she said that if I wanted those 4 women back, then it would cost me $50 million. I told her we didn’t have that kind of money.
“But I know you have a financial backer,” she said, “I don’t know who, but you have one. So, you can get the money.” “I doubt it,” I said, “but, if we do it a different way, then it might work.” I told her my idea and she said for me to come to the Black Swan at precisely 9am, alone and with no weapons. Then we could talk about it. I was there, waiting for someone to open the door, at 9am. “He is alone,” said Gordon, “and it doesn’t look like he has any weapons.” “Bring him in,” said Dinah, “it will be interesting to meet this crazy man.”
I was led inside and searched for weapons. “He’s clean,” said Herman, as he brought me into the very large office. “So, you want to trade yourself, for those 4 miserable women?” asked Dinah, “You are a foolish man, and crazy. I would never do that for any of my employees.” “Well, we’re like a family,” I said. “I wouldn’t do it for family either,” she said, laughing, “why don’t I just keep all of you, and then I could ask even more money.” “You can ask more money just for me,” I said, “I’m the leader, I’m worth a lot more.
But, if you want to keep all of us, then my people are instructed to destroy you, quick and thoroughly. And I do have the resources to do it.” “You would die if they tried,” she said calmly. “So would you and Tobias,” I said, “are you ready to die?” She looked right at me for a few moments. “No, I’m not,” she said. Then she told Herman to get the 4 women and take them out front, which he did. Our limousine was there waiting for them.
Dinah spoke to Jennifer through a loudspeaker and said she wanted $200 million dollars for me. Jennifer told her she wanted to speak to me twice a day, to make sure I was okay. Oddly enough, Dinah agreed, and told Jennifer she had five days to pay. Herman handed her a piece of paper, then she got in the car and they drove away. “Now, to your jail cell Steve,” said Dinah…
To Be Continued. ©2025 Steve McLeod.
Steve`s Country 