We heard the door of the old house being smashed open! My “bad girl” had a latch on it, nothing fancy, but it helped a bit so no one could come in quietly at night. “Do we fight, or do we die Steve?” she asked quietly. “Are you brave enough to trust me?” I asked in return. She looked at me. “Yes, I am,” she said. “Then hold my hand and don’t shoot unless I shoot,” I said, looking into her eyes. She nodded and smiled. Four men came running upstairs and checked the other two rooms, then they came into our room.

They stood by the door and looked around, then left, yelling downstairs, “No one up here!” “We better find them soon or Sebastien will kill us instead,” said one of the men. Off they went to the next house. “Well bad girl, are you okay?” I asked. “Yes, I am okay Steve,” she said quietly, “and I am sorry, you told me your name, but I did not tell you mine. It is Amerie. I do not understand Steve, how is it they did not see us? And why did I need to hold your hand?”

“Did you mind holding my hand?” I asked, “Thank you for telling me your name, it is very nice, I like it.” She blushed. “You are a married man,” she said, “you should not be so bad.” “I just want to be your friend Amerie, nothing bad about that, is there?” I asked. “No, nothing bad,” she said, “now, why did they not see us?”

“Because I did not want them to see us,” I said, “it is something that is hard for me to understand as well, but one of my team is an inventor and she invented some sort of electromagnetic system to somehow blur molecules to make it look like we are invisible to others. I don’t understand how it works, really I don’t, but it does work.” “Wow, that is so amazing,” she said, “and so hard to believe, but it must have worked.” “That is why I needed to hold your hand, so that you would be protected by this also,” I said, “I hope I didn’t offend you.”

“No, not at all Steve,” she said, “now you saved my life.” “Now, what is this about being a bad girl?” I asked. “I was in prison for 2 years and 2 months,” she began, “it would have been longer, but I was let out early for good behavior. I worked for Sebastien, delivering drugs, selling them too. He also made me work in porn videos, but I refuse to work with men which made him furious at times, so he would lock me up for days and days. He made me work with little children. I know what you think now, yes, she is a bad girl.

I was a bad girl trying to stay alive. In prison we were called bad girls. When I get out and try to find a job, they call me a bad girl because I was in prison and they do not give me a chance. I do not wish to stay a bad girl Steve, I want to change, but no one will give me a chance to change. I just want a chance.” “I will gladly give you a chance if you want to join my Investigators team,” I said, “though you would have to pass our tests.

Even if you don’t want that, there are other ways we could use you to help us, if you have any other skills.” “Are you serious with me Steve?” she asked, “I do not wish to be lied to.” “I am not lying to you Amerie,” I said. Right then more noise of people coming in downstairs, then running upstairs. “That is my friends Steve,” said Amerie. Sure enough, 4 more women came into the room. “Oh, what is this?” asked Suzette, “You have a man with you now?” She was speaking French, but Amerie translated for me.

“This is Steve,” she said, “he speaks only English. He was separated from his friends and Sebastien is after him. They nearly killed him too, so I brought him here.” Next a kitten came scrambling through the doorway and over to Amerie, purring loudly as she picked her up. “Oh, my kitten is still safe,” she said, “I am so glad to see you!” Amerie introduced me to her friends, all of them homeless and jobless, all of them considered ‘bad girls’ by those in the area.

“What are you doing here Steve,” asked Chloe. Amerie then told them I was after Cricket’s parents and that Cricket was dead and buried in Toronto. They were all sad to hear of Cricket’s death and I felt bad that I could not tell them the truth just yet. I just wasn’t sure who I could trust and who I could not trust. We talked some more and I found out that Cricket’s parents now lived in another part of the city, a much better part. Caleigh knew the exact address too.

Altogether we have Amerie, Chloe, Caleigh, Suzette and Colette. Oh, and kitten, with no name. I also learned that Cricket’s mom is Liana’s sister and Troy was their brother. They have one more brother, the leader of the White Cowboys, whose name is Hugo. Rather interesting how our cases are related. Amerie said all of her friends are like her, bad girls wanting to change, if someone would give them a chance. She looked at me with rather sad, longing eyes. Sigh.

Baldwin is going to flip if I bring back 5 more girls, and one kitten. But what am I supposed to do? My head was pounding again so I laid down with my head on Amerie’s lap. Caleigh came over to rub my back and neck, she is a masseuse and we certainly could use another one to help out Beryan. Then we heard some vehicles stopping in front of the house. “New black vans,” said Suzette, “must be Sebastien’s men.” “No, those are likely my friends,” I said, “look to see if women and cats get out.”

“Yes, and they are coming directly to this house,” she said, “how did they know?” “I told my wife where to find us after Amerie described where we were.” “How did you contact them Steve?” asked Amerie, “You have no phone and mine has no power.” “Well, you will have to trust me again,” I said smiling, “are you brave enough to do that?” “You are a strange man Steve,” she said, “but yes, I am brave enough.” Jennifer and Kat came up first.

“Oh my,” said Jennifer, “we are apart for just a few hours and here you are in bed with 2 women.” I explained all that had happened that morning and introduced everyone. Snow was all excited to see the kitten! And kitten was excited to know she would be coming along too. Next stop will be Cricket’s parents, though we might have to wait until they get back home.

Kat went to work on my head and soon my wound was cleared up. Cricket’s parents were not at home, so we had time to arrange a little surprise for them. However, it is possible they went into hiding when they discovered we were back in the city again…

To Be Continued.

©2024 Steve McLeod.