Well, it is time to see what is going on with Matt and the Knight Riders as they go to the pub where Mandar disappeared. They parked their bikes in the side parking lot and went inside, along with their two cats. As they entered they were greeted by the owner, so they asked if it was okay to bring the cats inside. The owner thought the cats looked great in their little uniforms so he said it would be okay, as long as they didn’t wander around too much and trip someone.

The people were all anxious to see the cats so they went from table to table meowing nicely for everyone. But at one table the men told the “rats” to go away, so they did so, heading to the next table with 3 women who were very excited about the cats and their uniforms. But soon the owner brought the cats back to Matt telling him those men threatened to call the health authority if he let the cats wander around anymore.

Matt then went over to the men to apologize, but the biggest man quickly swung around and hit Matt in the stomach, catching him off guard and making him groan a bit. Rock, Oskar, John and Mac saw what happened and went over to the men to “chat” with them. The big man started to get up but suddenly felt the cold blade of a knife at his throat, so he sat down again. “Not nice hitting our boss,” said Mac, “and him coming to apologize. Bad mistake.”

He then used his knife to shave some of the man’s beard off. Rock picked up another man and “dropped” him onto the floor and Oskar did the same. John just gave his man a back handed slap to the side of his head. Then Mac tossed his man’s drink at his face and Mac said, “Next time, be nice.” Then the four Riders returned to their tables and the other four men left the pub out the front door and drove away in a white car.

They did learn that those men worked for Carmen and that the “trap was set”, whatever that meant. “Carmen doesn’t want those gems,” said Aari, “she wants Steve, one of two ways. Either she gets to keep him in place of Mandar, or he gets handed to the police, ending up in prison, giving the Investigators a bad rap and thereby effectively destroying them.” “I was thinking about the same thing,” said Alfred, “this is a rather elaborate scheme to get those stones.

But, if we do it, she gets the stones, which she keeps in a safe the rest of her life. Not much fun in that, but that’s what some people do with their collections. If we fail, Steve and others end up in prison for a while and, yeah, the Investigators are finished.” Meanwhile, Kat, who is now in London with her Wildcats, called to let me know a friend of ours was in town. “It’s that handsome Mr. Trapper again,” she said, “and his 4 friends too, what do you think cute little PI man?”

“They might be helpful to us,” I said, “and they won’t really be involved, but we will pay them each $5,000. First we need them to find a way to contact Carmen for me.” I then mentioned what else we wanted them for and Kat went to work right away. Trapper and his friends were sitting outdoors at a cafe enjoying some coffee and cake when Kat came behind him, covered his eyes and said, “Guess who, Mr. Trapper?” “That must be my good friend Miss Kat,” he said smiling.

One of Trapper’s friends took a chair from the next table for Kat and she sat next to Trapper. “You always seem to find me Miss Kat,” he said, “that is quite amazing.” “Guess it’s because you’re so handsome,” she said, smiling, “and I really need your help too. It’s a easy job and pays $5,000 for each of you men.” She then told them what she wanted. The first item on the list would be the hardest, but Trapper figured they could do it today. They had no guns, however, so Kat gave them some, and also knives.

Then they went to that pub and waited a while. Soon some men arrived and sat next to them, which was convenient. They heard the name Carmen once so Trapper spoke up. “A man named Steve wants to speak with Carmen,” he said, “very important.” The men sat up quickly, “And who are you?” “Just someone giving you the message,” answered Trapper, “Carmen will want to know.” Trapper and his friends made sure these other men saw their guns, then they got up and left.

It was just 10 minutes and Carmen called. “What is it Steve?” she asked. I told her I wanted to meet at a park, I would be alone and unarmed, she could come with up to 4 armed men. There was silence, then she agreed. Beryan was massaging my back and I was thinking, or daydreaming really. Then Sky was suddenly lying on the bed beside me. “Don’t worry about Carmen, Steve, she won’t hurt you,” said Sky, “I will be with you.

Trust Jennifer, Steve, she can protect you, and Kat and Angel too. I see you made the Bad Girls team by adding some of the other girls, the choices are perfect. Listen to your new bad girls too, they won’t betray you.” She said some more, then decided to leave, Beryan was watching us now. Carmen and I met by a children’s playground area, something I usually like to do since it’s a bit safer. I was sitting waiting until 10 minutes after our appointment and was about to leave, but Carmen came driving up right then.

She sat on the bench beside me. “You know, Steve, we could make a great team,” she said, “we could be king and queen, no one could stop us.” “Well, perhaps if you changed sides and came our way, it might work,” I replied. “Then we couldn’t be king and queen,” she said, “and you’re married, I want you all to myself.” “Well, that is a problem,” I said, “because I love Jennifer and that won’t change.” “Men are so stubborn sometimes,” she said, shaking her head, “now, what do you want?”

“We need a bit more time to arrange things,” I said. “It is Monday, just after 4pm,” she said, “you can have until Thursday 4pm, at that time we meet back here and make the trade. Please don’t be late, it would be a shame to lose your friend Mandar.” I agreed to the new time, then asked her to listen to a recording of some men at that pub. I did not tell her who got the recording however. But the men were clearly talking about a plan that Brielle had to get rid of Carmen and keep Mandar so she could control Mandar Corporation.

“I thought she was acting differently lately,” said Carmen, “I won’t ask how you got that, you and your team can do incredible things it seems. I will see you on Thursday, and… thank you.” Well, that gave us one extra day, I didn’t really expect much more, but I was hoping. I asked Annelie about the guards for the room that had the control panels for the alarm system, and other things.

There were 3 doors to go through to reach this room and 4 guards at each door, 2 on each side. Apparently they changed the guards every 8 hours, so Matt’s men would replace the guards who would be there over noon. We just needed the right uniforms to fit our guys, not an easy task in itself. We would steal the gems at noon on Thursday and make the trade at 4.

Richard knew the owner of the company that made the uniforms we needed, so we soon had enough, although he had none that would fit Rock or Oskar, but that’s okay, we don’t need them for guards. Precise planning is everything for this job…

To Be Continued.

©2024 Steve McLeod.