I opened my eyes slowly, everything was blurry. I thought I could hear my name. Then suddenly my eyes opened fast, Muffin was licking my lips. Meow, meow?!=See? That the way to do it, work every time. My brain was still foggy and I asked, what are you talking about Muffin? Meow, meow.=I show Karin how to wake you up. She kiss on cheek, on forehead, I say, no, that not right, need to kiss on lips like this. Okay, okay, no need to do it again, I’m awake. At least I think so, but where are we? We’re not in that big house anymore. I don’t know where we are, said Karin, this is the room where we all woke up. We were in that bedroom, I was looking out the window and it felt like I was stung by a bee or something. Meow!=Yes, Muffin and me feel sting too, then go to sleep very fast. Hmm, some kind of a dart with something on it to put us to sleep, I said, quick and simple.

What do you see out the window, I said as I sat up on the bed. Nothing, said Karin, it’s frosted glass. This house seems to be fairly old, the bedroom is small, no closet, wood floor. I guess we have to wait and see who is behind this, I said. I notice my backpack is here and the cats have their backpacks too. I check theirs first, everything is in place. Then I check mine, everything is there, except my guns. My wallet and ID is missing too, I said. Same here, said Karin, guess they want to check us out. No doubt about that, I said. At least the cats still have their slingshots, guess these people didn’t know what that was for. Then we hear footsteps coming towards our room. The door is unlocked and…Sofia, said Karin in shock. Now I’m getting confused, that’s not the Sofia we met before who is really Anna.

Anyway, she doesn’t say much except to come out to the living room. Sofia stayed behind us with a gun. In the living room was…Katharina! It definitely was the same woman in the picture I was given, except she had dyed her hair a vivid red. Sit down, she said, all the while pointing my gun at us. Now, tell me why you are looking for me, she said, then she tossed me my wallet and ID. Who hired you?, she asked. A man named Karl, who claimed to be your father, except he wasn’t. Turns out he was a PI like me, and he’s now dead. I figured he was working for you, he said you had been kidnapped and he wanted me to find you. I never heard of the man, she said. During the conversation I discovered this is the real Sofia, the other one who is Anna took her place when the real Sofia disappeared with Katharina.

I’m sorry Katharina, said Karin, but I had to work for Anna and do whatever she said, even if it meant killing Steve, which she wanted to do because Steve killed her sister, well, actually Muffin killed her but she blamed Steve. Your cat killed someone? Yes, she did, she is quite an amazing cat and so is Mr. Cat who is still in training. Katharina looked at the cats in disbelief and just shook her head. I also told Katharina there are people out to kill her, including Anna and another group who tried to kill us with a bomb. Katharina looked a little scared when I mentioned that, Sofia looked very scared. You found some important information about your step father’s business dealings, didn’t you?, I asked.

Yes, he is involved in a big drug syndicate and the last associates of his who stayed at my house left some papers behind that really give a lot of information, who is involved, contacts, locations, and other things. Why not just go to the police?, asked Karin. I would never get to the police alive, I barely got away as it is, and it’s only because of Sofia that I made it out of there. At that point I stood up and asked for my guns. Why would I do that?, asked Katharina. I was hired to find you and help you, that’s why we’re here. And I don’t like having my own gun pointed at me. Now if you will look at the cats, those slingshots are deadly and they know how to use them. That’s right, said Karin. Sofia handed me her gun, then Katharina did also. Good, now we can work together and start to trust each other. If we take our car, maybe we can get out of here. What car?, asked Katharina. Someone else is here Steve, said Karin.

To be continued.

©2020 Steve McLeod.