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For a smile as wide as a country sunrise
We were with Martin and like the first time he did not want to be very helpful. We did get him to admit he sold his kids to Warren Clarke in order to clear his debt with Cairns. Or was his debt to Clarke? How does Clarke fit into this picture? If he is the main character here, then why do Jazzy and Hannah not know him? Jazzy especially should know him, but she doesn’t.
That means he is a very new player around here, but how did he get so big, so fast? Or is he just trying to act big? We will find out when he reacts to our returning of his dead men, something he will view as a challenge. Now, back to our talk with Martin. We had been playing around with him a bit to make him nervous, our ghosts are really good at that.
Still wish I knew how they do such things. Oh well. Martin thought we had put some kind of drug in his coffee and this is where we rejoin our conversation. Also, this time we are going to let Cairns listen in at certain points in the conversation, just enough to get him upset. “Martin, we didn’t put any drugs in your coffee,” I said, “that is not how we work.”
“Then why was I seeing things?” he responded loudly. “Perhaps you are just getting nervous,” I told him, “but I’m willing to make you an offer.” “Hey, Mr. Cairns, we’re getting a connection now,” said Eddy, “that PI is making Martin an offer.” “What kind of offer PI,” said Martin. “I was thinking of $100,000 for information about…” That is all Eddy heard and it went scratchy again.
“The PI is giving Martin $100,000, but I don’t know what for,” said Eddy, “these bugs are no better than the ones we used before.” “Who sold them to us?” asked Cairns. “It was Fenbrook,” said Eddy. “Kill him,” said Cairns. “I will get Freddie on it right away,” said Eddy. “Wait, tell Freddie I’ll give him $20,000 to kill that PI,” said Cairns, “but tell him to aim high, he wears a vest.”
“Okay, shall do,” said Eddy, “hey, here’s more.” “Okay, we’ll add a flight to anywhere you want to go, plus the cash,” I said, “that’s not bad just to tell me…” That’s where it ended again for Eddy. “It stopped again!” exclaimed Eddy. “Well, Martin won’t live long enough to enjoy his money or his trip,” said Cairns, “and I don’t see what Martin can tell that PI about me that he doesn’t already know.”
That’s when Eddy noticed a large man standing in the doorway to the office. “You will cancel that order for Freddie,” said Clarke, “and you will leave Martin alone. Do I make myself clear?” “Yes, Mr. Clarke,” said Eddy, “everything is canceled.” Then Clarke turned his attention to Cairns. “I told you before to leave Martin alone,” he said, “he might be an idiot, but he’s a useful idiot, for now at least.
And what do you think would happen if you killed that PI?” “Hopefully his friends will see that it’s too dangerous here and leave,” said Cairns, grumbling, “we can’t have them poking their noses into our affairs, they might uncover something.” “I don’t know how you stay alive Cairns,” said Clarke shaking his head, “instead of leaving, his whole team would be after us, plus Kat and her Wildcats.
That PI’s wife is Kat’s sister and I’m sure she would be willing to help her sister. Plus this Aari Jensen and his Jaguars would join in because he’s their older brother. All 3 of those groups together would have no less than 200 people behind them, and possibly more. Then there is the other woman, Sky, and her gang called Sky’s Bad Girls.
It seems Steve saved her life once and she is committed to helping him now. I could find no information on her or her gang and that concerns me a bit. I like to know who I’m up against. So, don’t try killing Steve or any of the other leaders.” “Okay, okay,” said Cairns, “I just don’t like having them around, that’s all.” “Neither do I,” said Clarke, “but the only reason they are here is to find Amanda and her kids.
You should have told me that Amanda had an influential friend that could afford to hire these people.” “I didn’t know either,” said Cairns, “Martin never said anything about Amanda having any kind of friends, and she didn’t say anything either.” Meanwhile, back to us.
While talking with Martin, Jennifer communicated with me to let me know the kids are in Dallas at a place called Triple Star Photography Studio which specializes in taking photos and videos at kids birthday parties. I communicated back to send Aari and his Jaguars, plus Carine. They were soon flying down there on one of our jets. Having those bugs planted in Cairns office is finally paying off.
“Okay Martin,” I said, “where is Amanda? And don’t tell me you don’t know.” Meow!= Yeah, you know where human wife is, so better confess or I get my big brother to come back again! (said Rusty) Martin just stared at him. “Surely you don’t expect me to believe a cat can talk,” laughed Martin. Rusty jumped over to Martin’s chair.
Meow?= You laugh at me? Maybe I should bite you. “Now Rusty,” said Kat, “be nice. You can bite him if he doesn’t cooperate with us.” Meow!= Oh good, you tell me when and I bite hard! Kat then picked him up and put him on her shoulder and he disappeared. That got Martin’s eyes nice and wide, but he said nothing. Then that huge lion returned and looked at Martin.
“Ha!” he said, “That lion isn’t real, no lion is that big, it’s just some kind of holographic image!” But our lion walked over to him and put it’s big paws on his legs, put his head right in front of Martin and began breathing in his face. “Get it away, get it away!” he yelled. “Close your eyes,” I said, and he did immediately. When he opened his eyes the lion was gone and Angel was sitting next to me again.
“Now, where is Amanda?” I asked again. “I really don’t know,” he said, “but Cairns has a place close to Los Angeles, called Triple X Ranch, if she’s still alive, that’s where she will be. But I doubt she’s alive now. Cairns would have killed her when he found out you wanted her.” Martin could be right about that.
I think Amanda, like Emerald, has important information about Cairns, and maybe Clarke too. That’s why Clarke wants Emerald dead. Acadia (one of our best photographers) told Jennifer she got a good photo of Clarke when he went into Cairns’ nightclub and he was still inside.
Jennifer let me know and she then sent the photo back to Jazzy and Cristy. We decided to leave Martin since we were not getting anywhere with him. It didn’t take long after we pulled away and a car was following us again. “Time to set our trap,” I said…
To Be Continued.
©2025 Steve McLeod.
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.
Steve`s Country 