Meanwhile, as soon as Carine had asked for Sky’s help in destroying the bracelets on her wrists, there was a reaction elsewhere. “That traitor!” yelled Lauren, “Now you will die and not come back!” She then pressed the button on her device just as Sky shot the electricity into those bracelets. But, who was first, Sky or Lauren? “There, you miserable traitor!” screamed Lauren, “Dr. W. can’t help you anymore, so you will stay dead this time!

$10,000,000 I paid him for you, then I spent the last 2 years programming you to hate and kill. And you decide to betray me! I hate traitors more than I hate men! All that money and all that time, wasted! It was a perfect plan, it couldn’t fail, how does that man always manage to escape me?! How!? I will get you yet Steve, one day I will kill you and that’s a promise! As long as I’m alive you will never be safe!”

Now, back to us. Carine lay motionless on the floor. “Kat, please help her if you can,” I said, a bit choked up. “Sure you want to help her?” she asked. “I remember someone else who hated me terribly and tried to kill me,” I reminded her, smiling. Kat smiled too. “Yes, I guess you are right,” she said, and she went to work. But, in the darkness of the kitchen Enid was making a phone call. “Lauren,” she said quietly, and it was all she said.

Suddenly Amerie kicked her arm, knocking the phone from her hand. Dawn caught the phone and said, “I’m sorry Lauren, but your phone call has been cut off.” She then hung up on her. Now back to Lauren. “They caught that idiot Enid calling me!” screamed Lauren, “Now they will know Enid is working for me. I want her dead! Edgar, get me Arthur Lund, he’s the best hit man in the country. I want him to kill Enid and Steve, I don’t care how much it costs. Those two must die!”

Now, back to us again. The girls then brought Enid out to me in the living room. “She was calling some woman named Lauren,” said Amerie, “but she was only able to say her name, nothing more.” “You cost Lauren a lot of money just now by getting rid of her ghost slave,” sneered Enid, “but she will kill you yet. I don’t know why she thinks you are worth so much money and effort. This is how much I think you are worth!” She then spit on me.

That was too much for Amerie, however, and she kicked Enid in the stomach, then punched her hard on the side of the head, knocking her to the floor groaning. “That is what I think of someone like you,” said Amerie, then she added in French, “she cannot do something like that to my brother.” “Thank you for your love, my little sister,” I responded in French. Then Katresa arrived with a wet cloth to clean me up. “It is not fitting for the top leader to walk around like this,” she said smiling.

I warned Enid that it would be safer for her to stay in the house than to walk around outside right now. Lauren would likely want to kill her too now that we know she works for Lauren. “I work for no one but myself,” she grumbled, “but you are likely right, I don’t trust Lauren or Jazzy or…” She then stopped herself and went off to her bedroom. We all went to our bedrooms too, the girls carrying Carine up to our bedroom. They carried a mattress in from one of the other bedrooms for Carine to sleep on.

Sky decided she should stay with Angel and I that night, just in case we need some extra help. Kat was staying too, but in one of the other bedrooms. Oddly, Viktor is not home yet and it is 1am. He needs to be at work tomorrow by 8am, so normally he doesn’t stay out this late on work nights. I wonder what happened to him? The night passed quietly and quickly and the girls were busy making pancakes for breakfast by 7am.

Then Cynthia called while we were eating breakfast and she seemed to be quite excited for some reason. “Is there a fireplace in there somewhere?” she asked. “Yes, in the living room,” I said, “and in another room that was likely a library at one time, but is now being used as a home office.” “Fantastic!” she said, “that is where you begin to look for the old treasure and/or the inheritance. It is likely the same thing.” “Um, there was absolutely nothing in those clues I gave you that even hinted at a fireplace,” I reminded her.

“That’s because you were not reading the clues correctly,” she said, “you were likely reading the clues forward, but you need to read them backward.” Something is backward, but it isn’t the clues, I thought to myself. I didn’t actually say that to her though, she seemed so excited and I didn’t want to ruin that for her. “It mentions having fire in your bones,” she said, “that’s the fireplace, the bones are wood. It’s so simple I almost missed it.”

“Why of course,” I said, “it makes perfect sense now that you mention it like that.” I was trying to sound enthusiastic, but Sky looked at me and shook her head. Then Carine came into the kitchen. “Any pancakes left for me?” she asked, “I’m sure hungry.” “There’s lots more,” said Katresa, “you may sit here, I’m finished.” Viktor didn’t come home last night at all, a first for him. I called Matt and cautioned him about meeting with Jazzy this morning after what happened here last night. She will not be in a good mood, I’m sure.

However, he still wanted to go and see what she wanted. He had an idea that maybe she wants him to kill me. That would be an interesting predicament. “Don’t worry Steve,” he said, “I do not believe in taking chances unnecessarily.” I wish people would stop telling me not to worry. That only makes me worry even more. Matt was sitting at the cafe at the appointed time, but Jazzy did not show up until 20 minutes later.

“Sorry for being late Matt,” she said, “but there were some problems I needed to take care of this morning.” “I understand how things work sometimes,” he said, “so, what are you wanting to talk about?” “I want you to eliminate someone for me,” she said, “actually, 2 people, and perhaps a third, I’m not quite sure yet.” “If you are thinking about that PI, then the answer is no,” he said, “that man has more lives than a cat, and he has taken down organizations larger than mine.” She chuckled.

“No, he’s not the one, though that would be nice too,” she said, “I will take care of him myself. I want you to eliminate a man named Viktor and his supposed wife Enid. They hired Steve and his team to come here and help them find some long lost treasure that doesn’t exist. If it wasn’t for them, Steve wouldn’t even know I was here.”

“Okay, that is simple enough,” he said, “I was supposed to bring him back to London, but the man who hired me there has changed his mind, though he wouldn’t tell me why. I still got paid, so I don’t care. I get half up front, the remainder when the job is done.” She handed him her bag and he quickly checked the money, then off she went. A van then came to a sudden stop and picked up Matt. He dumped the money out and let Squirrel smell the bag. Meow.= It okay, no bomb.

To Be Continued.

©2024 Steve McLeod.