Everyone was in place now, we are just waiting for the right time to pull this off. That time will be half an hour before the guards shift change, that way the guards are only thinking about going home soon, they’re tired and not paying attention properly. That’s a perfect time to hit and get Alex out of that prison. Misty has just reported to me that the electricians are ready to cut the power to the prison. We could just cut the power to this one section where Alex is being held, but I figured knocking out the whole prison would be better. That way they can’t bring more guards in from other areas to help out in the section without electricity.

Meanwhile, back home at the chateau. “What are you doing Steffie?” asked Friskie, “I was just going to put that jigsaw puzzle away since we don’t need it now.” “Awww, I want to finish the puzzle mommy,” said Steffie pouting, “it almost done and I like doing puzzles. It very nice picture too, ‘cept this part up here in the corner is different than rest of the puzzle.” “What do you mean it’s different?” Friskie asked. “See here?” asked Steffie, “it not part of same picture, it from different picture. Color of trees and sky not the same as rest of puzzle.”

Friskie looked and sure enough, Steffie was right, so Friskie called Jennifer to come and take a look. Helene came with her too and she couldn’t understand that part at all. She said it was not part of her picture and she didn’t know why it was there. She had taken a picture of her house with a drone and sent it in to have it made into a jigsaw puzzle by a company online. Jennifer then called me and I asked Cristy to check on that company. “Too bad we not have rest of puzzle pieces,” said Steffie. Helene told us where to find the last bunch of pieces which were hidden in the little town close to us.

So I sent Dawn and others from her team to go retrieve them. It wasn’t very long and they were back. “Oh, can I put them together Daddy, please!” said Steffie jumping up and down. What could I say? “I love doing puzzles!” exclaimed Steffie, “Grownups too slow anyway.” She had it finished quickly. “Look!” said Steffie, “It castle with cannon and it shooting, that why there is smoke puff. Cannon shooting at Auntie Helene’s house over here.” Then Steffie turned to Helene.

“Um, it is okay if I call you Auntie Helene?” asked Steffie, a bit nervously. Helene smiled at her, then she picked up Steffie and hugged her tight. “I would love to have you call me Auntie Helene,” she said, “you are such a precious little girl and I was afraid that you would hate me for kidnapping your Daddy.” “Well, I was mad at you for stealing Daddy,” said Steffie, “but now I know you wanted him to help you escape, you not want to hurt him.” She then gave Helene a big smile.

“Cristy,” I said, “I want Patrick, find him for me please, he could be living in an old castle or a building that resembles a castle.” “I’m on it Steve,” she said. “The rest of you girls get ready for your part,” I told them, “okay Wisty, now!” Her part was turning off the security cameras which are all controlled from their computers at the prison. This will keep Sky available for other things, like unlocking all the doors in that place that the team needs to use. “Okay Trixie, your turn!” I said. Her part was turning off the alarm systems in the entire prison.

“Okay electricians, your turn,” I said, “just remember to leave the power to the computers.” They moved in quickly, along with Sky who unlocked the compound where everything was kept safe. Just as they opened the gate, two guards came walking around the far corner and aimed their flashlights at our team. But the guards were soon asleep and our electricians were quickly doing their job and soon the electricity was off, including the backup power system, except the backup power for the computers which were all on their own electrical system.

“Okay Tracy, your turn!” I said. Her part was taking control of the computers, so no matter what they tried, they could do nothing. Akila was now hacking into their system and removing Alex completely, it would be just like she had never been at that prison. “All done now Steve,” said Tracy, “they can cut the backup power to the computers now.” “Cut the remaining power and get out of their!” I told our electricians. They moved quickly and some of Misty’s Sneakers made sure they got away safely. Sky had joined Kat and the Bad Girls to go get Alex.

She opened the main door and soon they were inside where they met the first guards, three of them. The Bad Girls took care of them quickly with their dart guns, but as they passed the offices and waiting area, the warden and some guards came out of her office and they began shooting immediately. Kat and Sky began to fight while the girls shot their dart guns. Kat grabbed the warden and took her into her office where she was tied to her chair after Kat punched her several times in the stomach. “How does it feel to be punched my dear?” asked Kat, then she left.

Apparently this warden likes to punch certain prisoners who don’t obey the rules, such as paying her each month for protection. The Bad Girls were soon at Alex’s cell after meeting only 2 other guards along the way. With all the electronic protection systems and alarm systems in this prison, it meant they needed fewer guards, or so they thought anyway. Sky opened the door to the cell and Kat introduced herself to Alex and soon they were taking her out to where Misty and the rest of her team were waiting in vans for them. The whole operation took only 12 minutes.

The guards on the wall of this end of the prison were also shot with darts by Carine and Kristina. Those two also put a bubble over the whole prison which prevented anyone inside from phoning out for help. However, it was a big job for just the two of them, so the inside team had to hurry, which they did. As the team with Alex came outside the prison walls, Kristina and Carine jumped down from the wall and joined them all in the vans and off they drove.

The rest of the team had already gone a different way back to the hotel. These three vans split up after leaving the prison and stopped in a warehouse where they quickly washed off the black paint, returning the vans to their original light green color. They also changed the license plates to the real ones and off they went to the hotel. Everything went nice and smooth, except for one thing, three of the Bad Girls had been shot…

To Be Continued. ©2026 Steve McLeod.

Alex was very nervous right now because a couple of the guards had come to her cell and she knew what that meant. They wanted to beat her and find out what those people were doing here visiting with her. I guess they didn’t believe the false conversation that we were giving them while the real conversation was going on. We have that ability now, that way we can talk safely in our bubble and instead of hearing nothing, people on the outside hear a real conversation. Just not the right one. All we need is a copy of the person’s voice. Anyway, the guards soon had the door open and began to enter the cell.

But, the first guard screamed in terror and pushed her partner back outside the cell and she slammed the door shut. “That was close!” she exclaimed. “What are you so afraid of in there?” asked the other guard. “Didn’t you see that huge lion in there?” she asked, “I don’t know how it got in there, but I’m not going in until it’s gone. Quick, call for help!” “What are you talking about?” asked the second guard, “There was nothing in there except for that brat Alex.” “There was so, it was a huge lion sitting on the far side of the room!” she exclaimed again, “Open the door and I will prove it, but let me get my gun out first.”

So, after she had her gun out the other guard opened the door and went inside. “Look out, there it is!” said the first guard and she fired her gun. But the bullets, three of them, just dropped out of the end of the gun and fell to the floor. “What are you doing?” asked the second guard, “There’s nothing in here.” She then went to the other side of the room. “Noooo! That lion is eating her, swallowing her whole!” yelled the first guard who then shot three more times. But, once again those bullets just dropped out of her gun onto the floor, so the guard ran out of the room screaming and slammed the door shut.

“What is wrong with that woman?” asked the warden, “Go check and see what is going on and take two others with you.” When the other three guards arrived the first guard met them and was talking so fast they couldn’t understand what she was saying. However, they did hear some constant knocking on the door. “Don’t open that door!” she screamed, “It’s probably that Alex brat wanting to get away from the lion! The lion ate Wanda, just swallowed her whole!” The other guards just looked at her in disbelief, then they opened the door and the second guard came walking out slowly.

“What is wrong with you?” she said to the first guard, “You act like you have gone completely crazy! There is nothing in there but Alex.” The other guards went inside with their guns out but they could not find a lion, or even a kitten. Then they were told to bring the first guard back to the office and leave Alex alone. Angel then communicated with me what she had done. “That’s perfect!” I said laughing, “That will teach them a lesson and hopefully keep them away from Alex the rest of today.” And it did too, so Alex had a nice peaceful evening and dinner, which they brought to her cell.

“Um, Steve,” said Jennifer, “I was just thinking, why didn’t you send Sky in there instead of Angel? Then all you would have to do is call Sky and she would automatically bring Alex here. Simple, right?” I looked at her and shook my head. “I overlooked something?” she asked again. I began to shake my head up and down, but she stopped me. “No, I want an explanation this time,” she said. “Fine, it’s like this,” I began, but just then Misty called to say they were landing and they wanted to know what to do next. Sigh.

“Check into a hotel,” I said, “then have dinner, then change into your Sneaker outfits and that includes the Bad Girls. Make sure everyone is ready, then get as close to that prison as possible so our electricians can get to work. The computer girls are ready on this end so it will give Sky more time to operate those doors.” “Right, you can count on us Steve,” said Misty, “I will make sure everyone is ready.” “I wish she hadn’t said that,” I told Jennifer, “now I have to worry.” She laughed. “Misty knows her job Steve,” she reminded me, “even though she’s a bit odd at home, she knows what to do when on a case. Now, back to my question about using Sky to get Alex out safely.”

“Well, she explained that when I call her then only she can come,” I said, “but she can’t bring anyone with her except another ghost.” “But one time she brought several of us,” said Jennifer, “and not all were ghosts.” “That’s because you two ghosts were holding her hands and the other girls were holding you.” “Oh, right,” she said, “that’s true. But what about another time she brought Misty with her?” “Hmm, does that mean Misty isn’t human?” I asked. “I have been saying that for a long time,” said Tracy. “That’s not nice you two!” said Jennifer. But I noticed she was laughing when she said that.

“You don’t really expect me to believe that you have ghosts on your team, do you?” asked Helene. “No, of course not,” I said, “however, there are some things we will try to explain to you later, even though they may be hard to believe.” “I look forward to that,” she said smiling, “especially how Sky can suddenly appear out of thin air. That must be quite an invention you came up with.” “Well, we can’t claim that one,” said Jennifer, “that was someone else who invented that, in a sense, though it’s not even really an invention.” She then sighed.

“By the way,” she began, “do I have any say in my new identity?” “Well, not really,” I said, “what we do is have the girls come up with three identities and names. Then you get to pick the one you like best. Or, we can pick 3 names, you pick the one you like and they will come up with an identity to fit that name which will go back to the time you were born. All identification papers will be real. There will still be 3 identities for you to choose from. If you don’t like any of the first 3 names, then we will pick 3 more until you find one you like.”

“That could take a long time Steve,” she said giggling, “so, I would like you to pick the name for me. If you like it, then I’m sure I will too.” “Ooooooo,” said Trixie and Tracy together. “You girls can take a break,” I said and all four of them went to the kitchen. I quickly ran after them when I realized what time it was, but the Wildcats were in there already. Sigh. I managed to sneak some donuts from the others while they were talking though and took them to Jennifer, Helene and Steffie, who had joined us in my absence. Soon it was time to get things going at the prison…

To Be Continued. ©2026 Steve McLeod.