After telling her Wildcats what to do, Kat went outside to the parking lot and just stood there looking around the area. Her Wildcats quickly circled the table with the four men that Trapper had pointed out to Kat. The men stopped eating and asked the girls what they wanted. The girls told the men to stand up and go with them outside. The men just laughed and continued eating. The Wildcats then went into action and were soon dragging the men out to their van where they were handcuffed and put to sleep.

Then the girls went back inside to have their lunch. The restaurant owner knew Kat and she told him those men were wanted for attempted murder of me. Kat also communicated the bomb threat to me, so I got things going right away. I also told Kat to ask Trapper to stay around for a while and they will be paid a fair price for their time and any information they can find for us. Kat then went back inside and told this to Trapper and his men.

“Too bad Kat is just a kid,” said one of Trapper’s friends. “Why?” asked Trapper. “She would make a good girlfriend for you,” he said smiling. “Well, in that case, I’m glad she’s just a kid,” said Trapper, “I don’t want to be tied down by a girlfriend.” Back to us, we first started to haul important items from the chateau to the guest cottage for safety. The two buildings are far apart so there should be no damage to the guest cottage.

Our home team and all of the kids went into hiding at the clinic, which was then sealed for protection. Trapper also told Kat why he was here at this time. He was looking for his cousin who had disappeared without a trace a few months ago. Does this fit with our present case? It just might. We rescued 3 women from that old house that Marshal and Lyla had been using for porn. Two of the women had family who were very happy to have them back home again.

The third woman said that she had no family that she knew of. She had been living at home with her parents, but one day as her Mom and Dad returned home from shopping, they were both shot dead, just as they got to the front door. The police believe it was a targeted killing, but they found no suspects or motive for anyone to kill them. The woman we rescued, Giselle, had no idea why anyone would want to kill her parents. She was convinced that someone had made a mistake and were really looking to kill someone else.

But this was obviously a professional job, the gunman killed her parents with one shot each. He was then gone before anyone knew what had happened. After this her younger brother moved in with her, but only about 2 months later he was shot and killed just as he returned home from work one day. Two mistakes is just not possible, someone knew what they were doing. Giselle was now very scared and didn’t know what to do. A friend of hers said Giselle could move in with her, but she didn’t want to do that.

Giselle figured if someone was wanting to kill her family, for whatever reason, then she might be putting her friend at risk too. So she decided to remain at home since no one had tried to kill her yet. She kept trying to convince herself that if these people wanted to kill her, they could have done it by now. But why kill her family and not her? She was very confused by it all. Then one day when she came home after work, the police were at her house.

She was thinking that they must have information about who killed her parents and brother. Instead, the two officers, both women, arrested Giselle and took her away. But instead of going to the police headquarters, they took her to Marshal and sold her for $2,000. Prior to that, however, they had told Giselle that if she signed her house over to them, they would let her go free. So, she gladly did this, not realizing that the police officers definitely couldn’t let her go now or Giselle could have them arrested.

Giselle was the name of Trapper’s cousin, but he had not seen her since she was 8 years old. I asked Penny to check Giselle’s story and find out what happened to her house. I then asked Brook to check on those two police officers, if possible, and see if they are still around. Giselle was now staying at a women’s recovery center in the city. I quickly made arrangements for Kat to bring Trapper over to see Giselle and hopefully find out if she is his lost cousin.

She always called him Uncle Tapper, because when she was 3 she had trouble saying Trapper. He was around her family a lot back then. He also had a photo of Giselle and her parents when she was 8, standing in front of their house. When they brought Giselle out to the meeting room at the women’s center, she immediately had a big smile and shouted “Uncle Tapper!”, ran over and hugged him. Trapper had gone to prison for a few years when Giselle was 8 and he never told anyone in the family, he just disappeared.

Kat was supposed to bring Trapper and Giselle to our guest cottage so we could all talk and perhaps piece some things together. I am convinced now that this fits in with our case. But just as they were about to leave the women’s recovery center, Jennifer sent Kat an urgent message warning her that danger was near. Kat asked Giselle and Trapper to hold her hands as they went out to her van, so they did. As they got out the door they heard some clinking on the sidewalk, it was three bullets.

“That open window in that building,” Kat pointed. Trapper yelled to his friends who were on the same side of the street in their car and they ran over to try and intercept the shooter. They did catch him at the back door and brought him over to Kat. She knocked him out, handcuffed him and the men put him in the back of the van. Giselle and Trapper were already safely inside the van. Trapper yelled to his friend to follow them, which they did. It was hard to tell at that point who the shooter was trying to kill.

Obviously all three, since there were three bullets, but were all 3 the intended targets, or was just one of them? Personally I think that Giselle was the only real target, someone does not want her talking. Meanwhile, “Well, did he get her?” asked Lyla. “No, he missed completely,” said Marshal, “I don’t understand how he could miss from that distance. What is even worse, he was captured by 4 guys who don’t even work for that PI.”

“Hmm, now that is interesting,” said Lyla, “who else is playing around here? Oh, by the way, your 4 gardeners have returned.” “Returned?” asked Marshal, “But they were captured by those Wildcats and taken to that PI.” “Yes, and they claim that they told the PI nothing, so he let them go,” said Lyla, “and yet the PI and his team have moved out of their chateau, well ahead of the time those bombs should explode.”

“Those men expect us to believe they didn’t sell out to that PI?” asked Marshal, “I will kill them myself!” “Amazing, we actually agree on something for a change,” said Lyla, “they are in room 512…”

To Be Continued.

©2024 Steve McLeod.