Matt called to tell me what had happened and I told him to drop Aaran off close by so he can walk over here and Chantelle would take a look at his wound. We can’t afford to have a hospital visit right now, it would draw too much attention. He agreed and soon Aaran was here. The bullet went right through without hitting any bones, so that was a good thing. Matt came back and picked him up a short time later. Then Pacca called with more information for us.

“Those other two nightclubs are owned by the same person,” she said, “a certain woman that we know well and is presently with you guys. Lauren owns them and they are quite profitable for her since she offers much more than just gambling, alcohol and food. She also offers drugs and sex, at an inflated price, since she basically owns all of that action in the city. I still don’t know what Enid does, but she must have a good income, her and Viktor’s lifestyle would never fit on his income alone.”

“Yes, I figured she must have money of some kind,” I said, “perhaps her and Lauren work together. Enid does not seem anxious for us to find these secret doors and passages, but that is likely where the treasure, or inheritance, is hidden.” “By the way, I was just talking with Trapper again,” said Pacca, “he told me those men who jumped you tonight didn’t work for Lauren or Jazzy, but he didn’t know for sure who they worked for.” “Did he have a little guess perhaps?” I inquired.

“His guess was either Enid or a man,” she answered, “but not Viktor. Trapper was sure there was a man involved there as well as the ladies. There are too many enemies over there Steve, just remember, that back of yours can only take so much beating, and then you’re not walking anymore. Kat is worried and wants to come help.” “Okay, tell her to come and bring her Wildcats along,” I said, “but send everyone else at the chateau to protected area A first.” “Good idea Steve,” she said, “I will let her know right away.”

Our new protected area A is finally finished and is located under our clinic, but is nearly 4 times larger. It can accommodate our entire team for a long time. And, of course, our clinic can be sealed off completely, so it is also a safe area. Now, we need to think about who this man is that we are up against. Meanwhile, “This ray that you had developed is working great,” said Gordon, “goes right through the windows perfectly. I even used it to kill a couple of their cats and it works great on the kids too.

I shot a couple of them as well.” “You idiot!” said the woman, “I said not to touch the kids! That ray could kill them, and I have better plans for them. One more mistake like that and you will die. Soon Steve will know that he is not the only one with ghosts working for him.” “Is she ready to go?” asked Gordon. “Yeah, everything is ready,” said the woman, “she will obey me alone and she will soon kill Steve.” She then laughed heartily at the thought, as did those around her.

Back to us again. Well, we now know why Lauren is here, though it still seems rather odd that she chose this city. But she may not have known about Jazzy when she moved here. For that matter, she likely doesn’t know, or at least she didn’t know, that Jazzy was Toledo’s wife. That fact still surprises me. I’m not sure which of those two women would be the most dangerous, but either one can give us a lot of trouble. Then there is the problems back home, I really don’t like what is happening there.

Is it related to what is going on here or is it something totally different? Still so many questions and so far we are getting nowhere on the inheritance part of this case, if there even is some inheritance. I think that was just used to get us here. I hope Viktor is not involved in luring us to this city though, that would be hard on Oskar. He and Viktor have been friends since childhood. But, sometimes these things happen. Meanwhile, we return to Jazzy. “Who shot that man?” she asked, quite angrily.

“That was me Jazzy,” said one man, “I thought maybe if we caught them off guard with a sudden shot like that, then we could take them.” “Did it work?” she asked. “Um, well, not quite the way I expected it to be,” he said, “guess they are tougher than I thought they were.” “I should kill you for what you did,” she said, “but you need to pay for all the damage to this place, and you will indeed pay for it all out of your salary. That means you will be working free for quite some time.” “But, but, I have a family,” he said.

“You should have thought about that before you decided to make your own decisions,” said Jazzy, “around here I make the decisions. You should know that. Get yourself a second job if you need money.” She then went back to her office after telling her workers to clean up the mess. “Jakob, figure out how much he owes for damages,” she said back in her office. “Shall do Jazzy,” he said, “I checked on those Knight Riders, they are a tough bunch with chapters, as they call them, all over Europe.

They are a bad bunch to have on our backs right now.” “I agree, find out how to get in touch with them and set up a meeting for me with their leader,” she said. “I can do that,” said Jakob, “how do you want it set up?” “Just him and me, no weapons,” she said, “at Wester’s Cafe, 9am tomorrow.” Matt got the call and agreed to meet with Jazzy. Then he called me and told me about it. “You enjoy taking chances with meetings like that,” I said, “probably not a good idea, but I guess you want to do it anyway. But please be careful.”

“Seems I was trained by a man who also likes taking chances,” he said, “I will be careful, it only looks like I take chances.” Well, off we went to that nightclub again. I had told Enid we would try the other nightclub this time, but we went to the same one. This time there was no “welcoming committee” waiting for us, so in we went. Sky came with us and her Bad Girls would be coming inside about 15 minutes later, unless we needed them sooner.

Unfortunately Lauren was at the other nightclub this evening, but the manager came out to talk with me. I asked about Viktor and was told he was a regular visitor here, but he only had a small debt with them, nothing serious at all. That was kind of strange, but he may not have been telling the truth. He also said that Viktor wasn’t there this evening, something we already knew. He asked why I was interested and I told him his wife had hired me to find out what he was doing with all of their money.

The manager chuckled and said that had been done before by a few wives over the years. I asked how long Lauren had owned these two nightclubs and he said about 15 years. We stayed for a little while and then left. Sky had told her Bad Girls not to bother coming inside, so they kept track of what was going on outside instead. We went back to Viktor’s and he still wasn’t home yet, so we all went to our rooms.

Just a few minutes later Angel said that someone had come to the main door and was asking for me. Angel has amazing hearing. Enid came and told me there was a woman at the door looking for me. “She said that she worked for you at one time,” said Enid, “her name is Carine, she is from France.” Angel had already told this to me, but I was still in shock. I also sensed trouble. “Sky…”

To Be Continued.

©2024 Steve McLeod.