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For a smile as wide as a country sunrise
Everyone was excitedly talking about my new abilities and trying to figure out if this means I’m a ghost or not. Sky didn’t say anything, nor did Kristina, they both just sat quietly and smiled, with Sky smiling the most. I don’t think I have ever seen Sky so excited, except perhaps for the day we got married. Honestly, I’m not quite certain why she is so excited.
Well, maybe it’s the fact of us being sort of ‘twins’ now that I can do what she does. This is something that can prove to be very helpful for our team now, though I did enjoy the ability to call Sky anytime, anywhere and she would show up, even with food. But, I guess we can still do that. Does this mean I can’t be killed now? Does this mean I’m dead and now a ghost? Or am I alive and now a ghost?
This is kind of confusing. Hopefully Jennifer and Kat can clear up my confusion once this case is over and we can spend some time talking about these things. Suddenly it was back to reality. “Hey, my dear husband,” said Misty, “my sister is on the phone, waiting patiently for you to talk with her.” She was sitting beside me as I laid on the bed, she was smiling and holding the phone.
“Oops, I hope she’s not angry with me,” I said and took the phone, “I’m so sorry Misty, I was daydreaming and it took a bit for Cristy to wake me up.” “I think you’re still daydreaming Steve,” she said, “I’m Cristy, she’s Misty, remember?” “Oops, sorry again,” I said as all the girls laughed. I could hear Cristy sigh on the other end.
“Anyway, I have been checking on this Chambers guy and there is no such person,” she said, “not anywhere, yet he is the owner and CEO of that company. There are no photos of him available anywhere either. He has no driver’s license, no health coverage, nothing. He just does not exist. I even got Cynthia to help me out, but still nothing.
I asked Hannah, Carolyn, Jazzy, Mandar and Rossana, but still nothing. He just does not exist. He doesn’t even file his taxes each year, yet he makes a lot of money as the CEO, some $400,000 per year.” “Did you check him out as a woman too?” I asked. There was silence. “Are you still there Cristy?” I asked.
“I’m tired Steve, I need to go to bed,” she said, “is that okay? I’ll call back in the morning, like, real morning, not in the middle of the night morning.” “That’s okay Misty,” I said, “you are probably tired, it’s been a long day for you, why not go to bed?” “Why didn’t I think of that?” she said sighing, “And my name is CRISTY!”
“Oops, I’m sorry,” I said rather sheepishly. The girls were laughing again and Cristy hung up. “I hope she’s not mad at me,” I said. “Why would she be mad at you for keeping her up super late,” said Misty, “and forgetting her name and basically telling her she’s stupid for not checking on this Mr. Chambers as a woman.
I mean, who would ever think of checking on a “he” as a “she” when everyone calls him Mr. Chambers? And his name is Wendel, who would call their daughter Wendel, it’s a boy’s name. And…” “Um, I get the message,” I said, “I will apologize to Misty when she calls back in the morning.” “Steve, look at me,” she said, “who am I?”
“Misty,” I said, “I called her Misty didn’t I?” “Yep, a few times,” said Misty, “and after all she does for you too.” I kinda felt bad about that now. “Maybe I should call and apologize,” I said. “No, she went to bed,” said Misty, “you are not waking her up.” “Good idea,” I said, “let’s go to bed, I’m tired.”
“Steve, there are 4 other girls that sleep in here,” said Misty, “are you going to order them to bed this early?” “Good idea Misty,” I said, “everyone, time for bed.” Everyone groaned. Sky came and sat beside me and put her arm around me. “You’re just having some problems because of what is happening to you right now,” she said, “that’s normal at the beginning, it will settle down after a while.”
I looked at her, she was smiling again. “Promise?” I asked. “Yes, I promise,” she said. I then looked at Misty, who smiled too. Then I whispered to Sky. She giggled. “That won’t be a problem,” she said. “What did he say?” asked Misty. “Did you hear what he said?” asked Sky. “If I heard what he said I wouldn’t be asking what he said,” she replied.
“Well, if you didn’t hear what he said, then how do you know he said what you didn’t hear?” asked Sky. Misty stared at her and blinked a couple of times. “Steve is right, it’s time for bed,” she said. There was a lot of loud sighing suddenly, but we all went to bed and the night passed quietly. Good thing we went to bed early though, Jennifer, Angel and the rest of the girls and cats that had been security guards were told to leave by Sienna.
The police were taking over completely now, so it seems our part is now over. They are also investigating the murders of Tammy’s parents. They will also investigate Finders, Helene and Wendel Chambers. I didn’t care about them taking over Finders, but Helene and Chambers attacked us, which makes them our case first of all.
However, there were several law enforcement agencies involved now and they didn’t quite see things our way, so we were politely told to stay off the case. Ezra was free to go so Sienna asked us to bring him back to France with us. His sisters wanted him close by for a while and he, with his kids, will be living with his sister and her family that are close to us in France.
On the flight home Ezra was asking a lot about our team, what we did and who is allowed to join. Perhaps he is thinking about joining us and that would be okay, we can always use more men on our team. However, there is the problem of what to do with his children. Apparently he has already been discussing this with his sisters.
The one in Germany will be taking the baby and raising her as they are unable to have children of their own. They may take the other girl, who is 3, as well. And if Ezra worked for us, he would be close enough to still spend a lot of time with his kids. This might indeed be good for everyone. “Misty, I want you to know that I truly appreciate all the help and sacrifice you do for us,” I began,
(she tried to interrupt saying, “me? but…”), “and you never complain about it either even when I get impatient (“me? yeah, but”), and playing the part of my wife is not an easy job (“yeah, but”) and yet you do your job perfectly not asking for anything (“yeah, but”) and you have fit into your role so nicely, like it was just natural for you
(“yeah, but”) always volunteering for things even if it’s something new for you (“yeah, but”) and from now on you and Cristy are going to get the recognition you both deserve (“yeah, but”).” I stopped and looked at her, she stared back, then threw her arms around me and said, “thankyou”.
Well, this case may be officially over, but yet, it isn’t. It’s terrible when a case doesn’t really end the way it should. Helene is still around and we need to find out more about Mr. Chambers. Meanwhile, we wait for another case.
The End. But another case will come along soon.
©2025 Steve McLeod.
We had gone back to the hotel to relax for a while and we ordered something up to our rooms for dinner from the hotel’s restaurant. While eating I noticed that Sky was smiling a lot, just like she did when we huddled before that explosion. She’s hiding something, but I’m not going to give in and ask, I want her to tell me.
She’s waiting for me to ask though. But it will not work. I can hold out longer than she can. Her excitement always gets the better of her and she talks first. This time she is really testing me. Meanwhile, I am enjoying my dinner. I had asked Aari to check on that car. We had found out it was not stolen but was actually owned by some company called Mountain Investments and Insurance.
It has been in operation for some 10 years now and is doing quite well. The owner is a man named Wendel Chambers. Cristy is checking on him now. It is after midnight back home yet she is still at her job without complaining. I think her and Misty need some recognition for all they have been doing for us. Cristy keeps pushing her recognition to others all the time, trying to make me think they do all the work and she just kind of puts it all together.
However, Cynthia has told me differently now, especially concerning this case and Cristy’s work on the financial records for Ezra and Tammy’s business. Cristy also found out for us that this whole company idea was Tammy’s and she is the sole owner of it. Ezra is just listed as an employee responsible for minor office duties and advertising, plus looking after the security end of things.
That is good for Ezra right now. The police have told me they likely won’t be laying any charges against him, only Tammy. She was with us, but once charges were laid against her we handed her over to the police. So, she is presently in jail. We also discovered that Ezra’s two sisters live in Europe. One sister lives with her husband and 3 children just about an hour from us.
The other sister and her husband live in Germany. Meanwhile, Aari had gone to check about the car and asked to speak with the owner. He was told that Mr. Chambers was on vacation and would not be back for another 3 weeks. He did get to speak to the manager but was told the car in question had not left the parking lot all day. He also told Aari that he should learn to mind his own business.
He was told that poking into other people’s affairs can be dangerous. Aari smiled and told the manager that being uncooperative can also be dangerous and that a weaker man should never threaten a stronger man. The man was visibly angered by that last statement but Aari remained calm. Aari, Kristina and Bear then left.
Bear had never seen Aari at work before and once they were back in their car he just laughed and laughed. Alfred was the driver and he had stayed in the car to make sure no one had tampered with anything. They dropped Kristina off at the hotel and she came up to our room to tell us everything that happened.
By that time I couldn’t take it any longer and I asked Sky why she was smiling so much! “Yes!” she exclaimed, “I knew I could out wait you!” “Ha, ha, very funny,” I said, “okay now, tell me what’s up.” “Hold your hand like this with your fingers slightly curled, like you’re holding a ball.” I did so and electricity came out of the ends of my fingers.
“Now remember what Kat told you,” she said. I then moved my fingers a little more and a ball of electricity formed in my hand, just like what Sky makes when she wants to throw it at something larger. “Um, how do I get rid of it, considering I don’t want to throw it in here?” I asked. Sky giggled. “Just open your hand,” she said. I did so and it disappeared.
“Cool!” everyone said. Sky ran over to me and hugged me tight. “You’re me!” she exclaimed, “We are twins now! You should be able to do whatever I can do now. Well, maybe not quite everything, but mostly, we’ll practice! Try this.” She jumped up to the ceiling and stayed there like she was on her hands and knees on the floor.
“Don’t jump to hard or you might go through the ceiling and end up in the room above us,” she said giggling, “the people might not like that.” “I wouldn’t like it too much either,” I said. Everyone laughed. But I did it perfectly on my first try and Sky was so happy. I even floated down nicely like she did and landed on the floor without any problem.
She also quickly showed me some other ways to use my new electrical ability. Then she told me to go downstairs, which I did. She then said my name, just in a normal tone of voice and I was immediately by her side.
“We can add someone else who can call you if they are in danger,” she said, still smiling, “like Jennifer, or maybe Misty would be better since she is only normal and she plays a dangerous part as your wife.” “Um, I will talk it over with Jennifer in the morning when she is back from guard duty,” I suggested.
I had been talking with the manager downstairs when I suddenly disappeared during our little test. Apparently he fainted immediately and had to be taken to the hospital. Kind of odd behavior. Cristy then called with more information about this Wendel Chambers…
To Be Continued.
©2025 Steve McLeod.
