I had waited an hour before moving, just to make sure that Helene and her gang had truly gone. I figured she must have the room bugged, since those other three men arrived quickly. That is why I put the bubble around us so that we could talk. Claude had a silencer on his gun, so it didn’t make much noise when he shot me.

Makes sense they would use such a thing on their guns while inside the hotel. This new ability of mine to appear dead, even though I’m still alive, is certainly a handy thing. Kat explained it to me before that it would appear my heart and pulse to have stopped, and my breathing too. Very realistic, while still staying very much alive.

Well, as alive as a ghost can be, I guess. Kat still hasn’t told me if I’m really a ghost or not, she just says to wait and see. Sigh. More and more it would seem that I am, except for my back pain. But that disappeared this last time that Caleigh massaged me, and even after lying on the floor for an hour, there is no pain. I would not have been able to do that before.

Maybe I’m only partly a ghost, if that’s possible. Sigh. Caleigh said her bruises only hurt when she laughed, so I decided to test her theory and tickled her. “Hey, no fair tickling me Steve!” she exclaimed, “It hurts!” “Well, now we know for sure,” I said, “and I apologize for being so mean. So next time I’m sore you have permission to tickle me.” She sighed, and smiled.

“I wouldn’t be able to do that,” she replied. It was at that point the door to our room began to open, so we went invisible. It was the hotel manager and the police. They came in slowly and looked through the suite. The manager stayed by the door, obviously very nervous.

“You see? There is nothing wrong here,” said the manager, “it was rented by a wealthy young woman, she and her friends never caused a problem of any kind. She had rented the entire top floor for 10 days, but she had to leave early because of a family emergency.” “I do not like when people play jokes,” said the one officer, “we have more important things to do than to play with jokes!”

It’s a good thing Caleigh remembered to pick up the money before the police came, otherwise we would have lost that money and it would have led to an investigation. Helene had left 50,000 euros for Jennifer and 10,000 euros for the girls. Once we were alone again, I communicated with Jennifer to pick us up.

She asked if Helene was still there because she and her men did not leave the hotel yet. I told her they left more than an hour ago. Apparently Aari and his boys have been watching the hotel since noon, but Helene and her men did not come out. That means they are either still in the hotel, or they have another way to get out of here.

“Perhaps through sewer system,” said Caleigh, “that is a great way to move around undetected. We used to do that a lot back in Montreal.” “Ewwww! Steve, tell her to stop,” said Sherry, holding her nose, “that is so gross!” “How did you manage to get on the Bad Girls team?” asked Caleigh, shaking her head. “Well, I’m not anymore,” replied Sherry, “Steve wants me for his full time driver.”

“Driving with you is worse than walking through sewers!” exclaimed Caleigh, then she giggled and Sherry joined in. We then went down to the main door, invisibly though, to wait for Jennifer to arrive, however, she was already there waiting for us. We got in the car and drove away.

“Aari will keep his boys watching the hotel all night,” said Jennifer, “just in case Helene is waiting for darkness to make her escape.” We then all became visible. “Caleigh!” exclaimed Jennifer, “What happened to you?” “Oh, that is where Steve punched me,” she said. Carine nearly drove up onto the sidewalk when Caleigh said that.

“She is joking, right Steve?” asked Jennifer. “Um, well, it’s like, well…” I began. “It was necessary to make our plan to work properly,” said Caleigh, “and it didn’t hurt too much.” “She didn’t even yell or anything,” added Sherry, “I wasn’t able to watch the second punch.” “This will be such a fun report to write about,” said Jennifer.

“Good thing I write the reports,” I said. “Not this time, I am writing this report, it is just too good,” said Jennifer laughing, “Steve deliberately punches young woman in the face! Then there is the amazing baring escape!” “That’s ‘daring’ escape,” I said. “I’m going to write it truthfully,” she said, still laughing. “I don’t understand why she’s laughing so much,” said Sherry.

“Me too,” said Caleigh, “and what did Helene mean when she says ‘buy nice clothes, not jeans’? What is wrong with jeans? I wear jeans all my life.” “I think she was referring to dresses,” I told her. “Dresses? What good are dresses?” asked Caleigh, “They are no good for running or climbing or fighting or crawling through sewers…”

“Ewwww! She’s back in the sewers again!” exclaimed Sherry. Then she and Caleigh laughed. “I can’t wait to hear Misty and Cristy when they hear this report,” said Jennifer, also laughing. “We have to figure out how to find Helene quickly,” I said, “or she will be after us again soon looking for Kitty. She won’t stop just because she thinks I’m dead.”

“Yes, that’s true,” said Jennifer, “my guess is she will head to where her boyfriend is presently staying, and that is in Paris.” “Hey, that’s great!” I shouted, “How did you find him?” “You’ll have to ask Cristy,” said Jennifer, “but be prepared to watch her dance for an hour first before she answers you.” I just stared at her.

“I won’t bother asking about the dancing part,” I said, “um, but couldn’t you give me a break and tell me?” “I get to write, and distribute, the report this time,” she said. I sighed. “Okay, it’s worth it,” I said. “Spending,” said Jennifer, “she just followed his spending.” “I think I lost on that trade,” I said. “Yep, you lost,” said Caleigh. “I agree,” said Sherry.

“Anyway, we need to find Helene fast,” I said, “we need to hit her when she least expects it, and that is now.” “I agree,” said Jennifer, “she will be thinking we will take time off to bury you, so she won’t be expecting an attack.” “And I doubt she will attack us until after I am buried,” I said, “so we will get things in motion for my burial by contacting our local funeral home. Helene will likely be smart enough to check with them.”

“Kat and her Wildcats, plus Sky and her Bad Girls are already in Paris,” said Jennifer, “watching Wendel and waiting for Helene to show up.” Aari and his boys watched the hotel all night, but Helene and her men did not come out. That means they had a secret way out of there, and the manager of that hotel knows where it is…

To Be Continued.

©2025 Steve McLeod.