Pierre liked the idea of hitting Jacques first while he was cut down in numbers. Pierre had enough men, and better men, than Jacques did. “Any idea where he will be tonight Trapper?” asked Pierre. “Yep, he was heading out to his country house until his mercenaries get here,” said Trapper, “then he would quickly get things under his control.”

“That would take a considerable amount of cash,” said Leroux, “does he have it?” “After killing his family,” said Trapper, “he inherited the family fortune, around 30 million dollars.” “Banker, give Trapper an envelope, the brown one,” said Pierre. “Not necessary Pierre,” said Trapper, “I just wanted to see Jacques get taken down.” Banker handed him an envelope anyway, so he took it.

“Pierre must like you,” he said, “the brown envelope is the best one.” “I don’t mind paying for good information,” said Pierre, “and this is good.” “I still think we should get ourselves some of those little girls,” said Leroux. “You would be smart to stay away from them Leroux,” said Trapper, “that one, Miss Kat, could kill you before you had a chance to use your gun on her. You don’t want to lose any men right now Pierre.”

“It’s his choice,” said Pierre, “let’s see what this gal can do.” Trapper started to walk away but Leroux jumped up and put a gun to Trapper’s head. “Trouble Kat,” said Kera. “Men can be so stubborn,” said Kat. She got up and went flipping over and over, landing in front of Trapper and Leroux. “Put your gun away,” said Kat, still in her little girl voice, “and I will forget what you just did.”

“I want you and some of your little girlfriends to come with me,” said Leroux, “then I will let your Mr. Trapper go free.” “You’re a liar!” exclaimed Kat, “now your gun is hot!” He yelled and dropped his gun and Trapper moved out of the way. Then Kat went into action, kicking the man 3 times, then once more, lifting him off the floor and landing on Pierre’s table, dead.

“You always get mixed up with bad men Mr. Trapper,” said Kat as they walked out the door. “I didn’t even see that girl’s legs move,” said Banker. “Neither did I,” said Pierre, “and the way she made Leroux’s gun get so hot, that was an amazing trick.” “Yeah, knowing that trick could come in handy,” said Hubert, “especially when the cops come around!”

They all laughed at the thought. Then the manager came over and asked about the dead man. “Just tell the ambulance and police that it was a heart attack,” said Pierre. Banker then slipped him some money. “Yes, right, a heart attack,” said the manager as he walked away smiling and counting his money. Pierre wasn’t worried since the coroner was on his payroll too.

Jacques decided he would keep all his men together with him at his country house, something we already knew by planting a listening device at Jacques’ office, in his car and on Jacques himself, plus one of his men. They will likely find the last two once they relax at the country house, but by then it doesn’t really matter so much.

Pierre is in motion now and will go out to finish off Jacques and his men tonight. Or so we thought. But Pierre had a different idea, why not join up with Jacques? Then he wouldn’t need to hire those mercenaries, Pierre could supply all the men that they would need to take over Paris first, then move on to the rest of the country. Jacques has the money, Pierre has the men. It was a perfect deal for both sides.

Pierre phoned Jacques and said he wanted to talk about a merger of their two sides. Jacques liked the idea right away and invited him out that evening to talk about their plans together. “Do you think it’s a good idea Jacques?” asked Francois. “Why not?” asked Jacques in return, “It could be better, and cheaper, to join with them, Pierre knows a lot of good men in Paris and beyond and they all know this city inside out.

Plus, mercenaries are good at the beginning, but they can cause problems if things don’t work out fast enough for them. Doesn’t hurt to check him out and see what he has in mind.” “True, Pierre has a lot of good men indeed,” said Florian, “I hear he can raise 40 men or more whenever he wants.” “That would give us enough to take out all the smaller gangs real quick,” said Jacques, “and we would pick up a few men from those gangs as well.”

“I wonder how he knew you were looking for men?” asked Carvell. “Good question,” said Jacques, “one that I will ask him, no one should know that yet.” “Pierre knows everything that goes on in this city,” said Francois, “before anyone else does. He has a way of finding out information.” “Claud, take off your jacket,” said Jacques, “it’s not cold in here.”

“Oh, yeah, I just always wear it,” he said. But he took it off right away and something dropped onto the floor. He picked it up and no one said a word, they all knew it was a listening device. Jacques motioned to him to take it outside and throw it away, which he did. “So, Claud,” began Pierre when he returned, “you talk with Pierre a lot, do you?”

“Me? Uh, no, never, really,” he replied nervously. Meanwhile. “They found one of the listening devices,” said Aari, “if they find the other one right away then they will know it was us.” Then there was silence as Jacques and his men checked their clothes for more and Jacques found one on himself. “Hey boss, you got one too,” said Claud. Then there was a strange sound.

“I would say that someone just ate that one,” said Aari chuckling, “guess that’s all we hear from Jacques. So Kristina communicated this news to Jennifer and she asked me what we should do. “Well, I’m sure you will think of something,” I said, “like telling Aari to find Pierre before he meets with Jacques to tell him about Jacques’ plan to kill him and Banker so he could take over his gang easily. And perhaps do something to make sure Pierre gets the message clearly.

And you know also that Mac, as Carver, once knew Banker who owes Carver 3,000 euros. I’m sure Aari and Carver could come up with something on their own after that.” “Whew, I sure do think of things quickly sometimes,” said Jennifer, “I keep surprising myself more each day.” “Yay, Jennifer, she’s the one, with her around it’s always fun! When Steve comes along we shake our head, his ideas are bad, so we hide in bed!” said Misty as she worked in her puzzle book.

I looked at Jennifer. “Now you know,” I said. “You knew all along,” she replied. “Well, almost anyway,” I said. Meanwhile, as Pierre and 3 men were having dinner at a nightclub, some tough looking men came in and sat at a table next to theirs. Then another group of them came in, but one stopped at Pierre’s table and looked at a bearded man.

“Well, well, if it isn’t Banker,” said the man, “you live in Paris now?” “I don’t recognize you,” said Banker. “But we know each other Banker,” he said, “we just haven’t seen each other for a few years. Maybe you can help us, we’re looking for a man named Pierre.”

“I’m him,” said Pierre, “what do you want?” The man smiled. “Do you know a man named Jacques?” asked another man. “Yeah, I know him,” said Pierre, “what of it?” “He paid us 50 thousand euros to kill you,” said the man.

To Be Continued. ©2025 Steve McLeod.