After visiting with Beryan in the clinic, I disappeared for a while, but I forgot to tell Sky. Soon everyone was looking for me and there was a knock at the door. I opened it and Cristy came crawling inside. “I knew you would be here,” she said, “everyone is looking for you since you didn’t tell Sky where you were going.” “Sky. Right.” I said and she was beside me smiling.

“Oooo, a little hideaway spot,” she said, “you’re being bad. You know you’re supposed to tell me where you go. Jennifer will be upset about this.” “I’m sorry,” I said, “I completely forgot. I needed time alone to think.” “So you two built a hideaway spot,” she said, “and didn’t invite me. That’s double bad.” “No, Misty and I made it for ourselves,” said Cristy, “and Steve found out and sneaked in.”

“Oooo, that’s triple bad,” said Sky. “Did you bring donuts?” I asked. “Am I supposed to?” she asked in return. “It’s a requirement for using our hideaway,” said Cristy. Sky disappeared and returned shortly with Angel. “I brought us each a donut,” said Sky. “That’s all?” I asked. “Hey, that’s all I could find,” she said, “and I had to sneak these ones.”

“Oooo, sneaked donuts,” said Cristy, “they’re the best kind.” “Who is on the computer watch while you’re in here?” I asked. “Pacca is today,” replied Cristy. So I asked Pacca to get in touch with Jazzy for me. We were all munching donuts when Jazzy called. I told her what was going on, including the snipers.

“I doubt the snipers are part of your case,” she said, “but I do know Leopold Meyer, he’s more dangerous than he looks at first, so be careful. He’s very wealthy and certainly can’t be trusted, but you probably knew that part already.” I then told her about Wolfgang. “Killing Wolfgang will bring you a big headache Steve,” she said, “he has 5 brothers and 2 cousins, plus 10 friends that hang out together waiting for contracts to come their way.

Kristina must be quite the fighter if she could take on Wolfgang and kill him. Apparently he has killed 21 men just using his hands and feet. His brothers and cousins are just as good at fighting as he is. Please remember that if they come looking for you or your girls. Even those big guys you have might not stand a chance against that bunch. I will see what I can find out for you.”

Then she gave me some interesting news about an old “friend” of ours in Germany. Maybe he could give me some information about Leopold. Hmm, that might be a thought, but I’ll keep that in reserve for now. Mandar is away again on another business trip, so I can’t ask him about this Leopold Meyer. It’s quite possible that he knows him though since Meyer is quite a wealthy man.

Jazzy did tell me that Meyer is a punctual type individual and he goes for lunch at the same restaurant Monday to Friday at precisely 13:00. I then called Misty and told her this news so she could arrange another visit with Mr. Meyer. Meanwhile, back in Milan. The police were heading back to talk with Misty and her girls at the hotel, but then the police chief called them.

“We’re on our way sir,” said the officer. “Change those orders,” he said, “leave those women alone and that is your new order.” “Um, yes sir,” he said, “but why the change?” “Don’t ask questions,” he said, “just obey the order.” “Yes sir,” he said. “Now what?” said the other officer. “We stay away from them, I guess,” he said. He then called Mr. Meyer and told him the news. “Obviously this woman has some influence,” said Mr. Meyer, “so stay away from her for now.”

He then called Camille. “What do you know about this mysterious, powerful woman you’re sister kept talking about?” asked Mr. Meyer. “Just what I told you before,” she said, “she only told us she had a very good friend who was wealthy and powerful. And this friend would help her out if she was ever in trouble.” “That is not very helpful,” he said, “but she does have influence.

She stopped the police investigation into what she is doing here and why that man Wolfgang was killed. Getting him involved was definitely a bad judgement call you made.” “What?” she asked, “We didn’t call him, we thought you did. We wouldn’t even know how to get in touch with someone like that.” “I assure you it was not me,” he said, “I do not associate with that kind of person.

I only use a better quality hit man, for safety reasons. I do not like the idea of someone else getting involved with things, it can complicate matters very quickly. Isn’t there anyone else in your family that might know about Rose’s friend?”

“Well, we do have another sister, Arielle, that might know something,” said Camille, “but finding her is never easy, she keeps moving around and never gives anyone her address. She prefers to keep her distance from everyone. We also have a brother, Claude, who lives in Paris, but it’s doubtful he would be of much help, he didn’t spend much time with us girls.”

“Contact your brother anyway,” he said, “and I will try to find this Arielle for you.” Back to us. Pacca told me what she heard and the two names of the sister and brother. Now we are getting somewhere. Having hacked into Camille’s phone has perhaps paid off finally. But, now we have another problem.

Who hired this Wolfgang to come after Misty? Is this connected to our sniper “friend”? But why would that person hire a man like this when his snipers seem to do a perfect job on their own? It doesn’t really make sense. But to be honest, nothing in this case is making sense anyway. Then Jennifer called…

To Be Continued. ©2025 Steve McLeod.