I had contacted Jazzy earlier this morning to see if she knew anything about Warren Clarke, but oddly, she had not even heard of him. She knew Cairns, but not Clarke, that means Clarke is someone new and that makes him more dangerous. Jazzy is going to check with her contacts though and she will let me know what she finds out. Hannah is also checking with her contacts.

Cristy decided to call Rossana as well and see if the police have any information about Clarke, without contacting the local police. We are presently on our way over to see Martin again and hopefully he will cooperate more this time. Surprisingly no one followed us over to Martin’s house, that kind of concerned me a bit. Like, perhaps Martin is no longer around so no one cares if we go there.

We arrived and went up to the front door. We rang the doorbell and knocked but there was no answer. We knocked at the back door too, but still nothing. Jennifer and Carine (who has now joined us), stayed behind at the hotel to guard Emerald and Cindy (the hotel clerk). Then Jennifer contacted us and said she sensed danger for me. Angel grabbed my hand immediately and told Jennifer she had me safe.

This could mean that there is a trap set for us in the house. “Well, let’s go in and find out what kind of trap is waiting for us,” I said. Sky opened the front door and in we went. We found Martin in his bedroom, sleeping. Kat woke him up, making him jump. “How did you get in here?” he asked. “The front door was open,” I said, “now, get up so we can do some talking.” “I don’t want to talk with you,” he said, “so get out or I’ll call the cops!”

Kat gave him a nice, hard, backhanded slap, knocking him flat onto the bed. “Now, get up and we will talk,” I said again, “we will wait in the living room, except my friend Mac, he will stay to keep and eye on you.” We left and Mac just smiled at Martin and snapped open a nice, big knife in front of him. Mac soon brought Martin out to us. “Nice to see you can move quickly when you want to,” I said.

“I need some coffee before I talk,” he said, heading to the kitchen. But Kat blocked the doorway and told him she was already making coffee. “I like it extra strong,” he muttered. “You will drink it the way I make it,” she told him. “Sit down Martin,” I said, “I want to ask you some questions, and I want truthful answers. Lie to me and you won’t like it. Why didn’t you tell me Amanda worked for Cairns?”

“I figured you would find out for yourself,” he said. “What really happened to her?” I asked. “How should I know?” he asked back, “When people work for Cairns and they disappear, it usually means they died. Or, sometimes if the woman is beautiful enough, he sends them to one of his other places to work. That’s why I figured Amanda is in California.” “What about your kids?” I asked.

“Cairns probably took them too,” he said, “is that coffee ready yet?” “You don’t seem to be worried about your family,” I said, “why is that?” “So what am I supposed to do?” he asked, “If I complain to Cairns I will likely disappear too, and I would like to stay alive.” “I think you know what happened to your kids,” I said, “because I think you sold them to help pay off your debt.” “You do a lot of thinking,” he grumbled, “but don’t do a lot of action.”

Kat put a cup of coffee on a table beside Martin, then gave him another backhanded slap. He groaned rather loudly. “How’s that for action?” she asked. “Who is Warren Clarke?” I asked. Martin nearly choked on his coffee when I mentioned that name. “I, I never heard of him,” he said rather weakly. “You’re lying Martin,” I said, “I want the truth, or we will just leave you here by yourself and let Clarke’s men deal with you. I have talked with Clarke, he knows a lot about you. Now, where are your kids?”

“I have no idea where they are!” he yelled, then he got very quiet, “I kinda sold them to Clarke in payment for my debt. I needed that debt paid and what was I going to do with those 3 brats without my wife to look after them? All they did was give me headaches, I was happy to get rid of them. Hey, this is good coffee.” He then looked up at Kat who was standing next to him, without her head.

That startled Martin so much that he dropped his cup of coffee all over himself and he jumped up screaming. Guess it was hot. He then backed up and looked toward me, but he saw this huge lion standing next to me. “Wh, where did that come from?” he asked nervously. “What are you talking about?” I asked. “Th, that lion! And that woman with no head!” he exclaimed turning back to Kat.

However, her head was back, but her body was gone. Martin just fell back onto his chair terrified! When he looked over at me, the lion was gone again. “You look like you have seen a ghost Martin,” said Kat. He looked at her and she was normal again. “What did you put in my coffee?” he asked, “It must have been something in my coffee…”

To Be Continued.

©2025 Steve McLeod.