For a smile as wide as a country sunrise
Carvell had just contacted his men to attack the van and cars that are protecting it and bring the family to him instead. Unfortunately for him, I was able to let Lorenzo hear his conversation and when he brought Carvell back to the meeting room he immediately told Lombardi about Carvell’s plan. I also communicated this information to Sky, Kat and Kristina.
I had told Aari to move in as quickly as possible before Carvell’s men get involved, or we would not have a chance to get the family alive. The vans we are using this time are ones built by Baldwin Corp. These vans are built like a small tank with extra reinforced front end for ramming other vehicles. They won’t have any trouble with regular cars.
Aari already noticed someone else following which would be the Carvell vehicle that is in charge of his operation. That shouldn’t be a problem for Aari and his boys to handle. A Catalina surprise package tossed out the back of the van will be enough to stop them. Now, back to us. Carvell was now very nervous and he suddenly stood up with a gun in his hand, pointed at Lombardi.
Hmm, I didn’t want any of them getting killed just yet, we may need more information about the family, just in case this move is just a decoy operation. The family may still be at the original house and will be moved later once this first decoy move is far enough away. Just a thought, a terrible thought, but I had to consider the possibility, Lombardi is not stupid and doesn’t leave things to chance.
I’m just hoping the news about Raven being still alive will be enough to get Lombardi to act quickly, like it appears he has done. However, he probably had emergency moving plans in place long before now, just in case. And it would be plans, not just one plan, and that is what makes him so dangerous. Lombardi was actually part of Victor’s original organization and when Victor’s organization collapsed, Lombardi just moved in to take over.
And Lombardi quickly rebuilt the whole thing, making it worse than before. However, our job is not to take down the organization, but to rescue the family so the police can move in and do what they can to destroy it and hopefully get their people out alive before Lombardi finds out who the infiltrators are. Lombardi would not treat them nicely, he is a vile man.
I would love to put a dent in his organization though, just to weaken him a bit. Anyway, I didn’t want any of these men killed just yet, so I intervened a little. Suddenly Carvell screamed about his gun being hot as fire and he quickly shook it out of his hand and onto the floor. Lorenzo then grabbed Carvell, hitting him a few times until Lombardi told him to stop.
He then sat Carvell back onto his chair. Then Gary bent down to pick up Carvell’s gun, but it was still too hot. “Whoa, what’s with that gun?” asked Gary. Then Lorenzo tried, but it was too hot for him also. Mr. Spence looked at Lorenzo, then he too bent down to pick up the gun, which he had no trouble doing.
“Kind of odd that you 3 had ‘trouble’ holding this gun,” said Spence and he handed it to Lombardi who then called a man named Carter to bring his boys to the room. He was there quickly with 4 other men. “Mr. Lombardi, no, I’m loyal,” said a very nervous Lorenzo, “I don’t work for Carvell anymore, honest.” “Do you think Lombardi is a fool?” asked Carvell.
“Take those 3 out and talk to them for a while,” said Lombardi. After they left Lombardi got a phone call from one of his men. “We found the spot where our stuff is hidden,” he said, “but Raven and his men are here guarding it.” “Keep watching them and I will send some more men out there to help you,” said Lombardi, “hang on a moment.”
Lombardi then asked Spence if he had any men to spare as his own men were kind of spread out right now. Spence made a phone call and sent his men over to help. Lombardi then told his man to watch for Spence’s men. “Raven will wish he had stayed home,” said Lombardi, “he was pretending to come here to join our organization. He will learn what happens to men who betray me.”
“That reminds me,” said Spence, “I thought Bobby Lansdown was supposed to be here?” “It seems his boss was out of town,” said Lombardi, “and the usual man that would take his place was off sick, so he had to stay in London.” I thought I recognized that name. I immediately communicated with Jennifer what I just heard and told her to use the emergency number we were given. She did so right away.
Meanwhile, back to Eddy and the girls. “They should be here in less than a minute,” said a nervous Eddy. Another van had come along already with our girls in it and they emptied the other van, with Eddy’s help, of the dead bodies. They put the bodies behind some bushes for now.
I then sensed trouble and knew exactly where it was and without thinking I went directly to Sky and told her and the others to watch out for trouble that is close by. Unfortunately Misty got left behind somehow. “Hey, where did that lady come from?” asked a man named Travis. “Oh, uh, hi guys,” said Misty smiling, “what’s new?” “How did she get in here?” demanded Lombardi.
“I just walked in,” said Misty casually, as she walked over to the table, “you see, I’m a ghost.” Everyone had a good laugh. “Well, how else would you explain that I just suddenly appeared out of nowhere?” she asked, “Can any of you do that?” She was now close to Spence and she moved quickly, wrapping her arm around his neck, choking him.
She then pulled out her gun and pointed it at Lombardi. “Tell your friends to put their guns on the table,” said Misty to Lombardi, “and do it slowly. Any wrong move and you will die first Lombardi.” He hesitated briefly but then told his men to do what she said. They all did so, then she told them to move over to one corner of the room so she could watch them easily.
Meanwhile, “Uh, Steve,” said Sky, “where’s Misty?” “Oh, oh!” I exclaimed and disappeared, ending up beside Misty and she also disappeared again. “Hey, where did she go?” asked Spence. “Search this room!” shouted Lombardi. He then put out a call to the rest of his men on the yacht to search for a young woman who managed to sneak onboard.
“Everything is going crazy tonight!” yelled Lombardi, “but everyone will regret trying to make a fool of me!” Back to the park. The van with it’s escort of 3 cars pulled up close to Eddy and the girls. But Eddy went running over to the lead car yelling at them to leave or they would be attacked…
To Be Continued.
©2025 Steve McLeod.
Hi everyone! Here we are on July 1st, Canada’s birthday. A time to celebrate this great country that we have and enjoy! From coast to coast to coast, the natural beauty of this country is immense. Just in our small area alone the flora and fauna is truly amazing, from tiny insects to large and powerful mammals.

And from incredibly tiny flowers and their equally tiny pollinators to large trees reaching toward the brilliant blue sky. It was mostly sunny this morning, now it is mostly cloudy and we could end up with some thunderstorms later this afternoon.

Hopefully that won’t materialize since most people plan their barbecues for late afternoon and it would be terrible if they got rained out. I can’t remember if I mentioned this before or not, my blogging hasn’t been too regular lately. My new neighbor has 3 cats, younger ones and all females, that have not been spayed.

That makes them more territorial and more willing to fight. The other day I was making supper and heard Muffin yowl so I thought the neighbors cats were in the hallway again. Then I heard another yowl and I knew that wasn’t Muffin, but it sounded like it was in my apartment, so I went to look.

Muffin had been on the balcony, which is normal for her, but one of the neighbors cats had found a way to get over to our side of the balcony. And she got into a fight with Muffin. My neighbor’s cats are young and Muffin is an older cat, she can handle herself with one other cat, but that one went back home and returned with the other two cats, so there were 3 of them.

Muffin would get severely hurt in a fight like that. I chased the other cats back home and talked with my neighbor, so she said she would try to watch them better. The problem could be fixed easily, but our landlord won’t do it and won’t allow me to do it either. Sigh.

Spotted Coralroot, one of our smaller wild orchids that possesses no chlorophyll, which is why it is brown.
Oh well, hopefully it won’t happen again and from now on Muffin will only go outside when I’m out there too. I am going to show you a few more of my favorite photos today to celebrate Canada Day. Have a great day everyone and God bless!
Steve and Muffin.
©2025 Steve McLeod.