Jennifer and I were in our bedroom talking about different things while waiting for the dinner bell to sound. “It is terrible we had to give Sebastien back to that gang,” said Jennifer, “couldn’t we have given him to the police or something?” “We had to keep our word,” I said, “or news would quickly get around not to trust what we say. And we might need to make a trade again in the future.” “Hmm, I guess you are right,” she sighed, “and they are not really part of our case, as such, only the 9 people over here.”

“Wrong, my beautiful wife,” I said, “they have attacked us, kidnapped some of our members, killed one and tried to kill our cats. Plus don’t forget their plan to kill Mandar and Baldwin. And, they brutally killed Cricket’s friend and want to do worse to Cricket.” “Something tells me I’m going to suggest we go after them with a big surprise attack,” said Jennifer, “before they come after us again.”

“A very good idea Jennifer!” I said emphatically, “I agree with you totally on that one. I knew you would come up with a good plan quickly!” “Thank you so much, my dearest husband!” she said, “When am I going to tell the others about my brilliant idea?” “Why not at dinner?” I asked, “Everyone is around then. Well, mostly anyway. And Aari is already over there with his team, so I know you will want to keep them there rather then bring them back here and then send them right back over there again.”

“Um, and what about Cricket?” she asked, “What am I doing with her while they wait for us to get there? Just leave her with all those rough and tough Knight Riders?” “Oh, there’s the dinner bell,” I said, “I’m sure you’ll think of something by the time we sit down to eat.” “If we left right now, what time would we arrive over there?” she asked. “Um, about 2am,” I said, “but…”

“Good, tell Kat to get her Wildcats ready, and get some of the other girls to pack some food for us so we can eat on the way,” said Jennifer, “and make sure the other plane is ready with the motorcycles and other gear we will need, so they can leave with us. And tell Aari how many rooms we will need and Cricket will be in our room.” “With us?” I questioned. “Yes, with us,” she said, “now go!” It’s amazing how quickly we can get things done when necessary.

Kristina and her team, which includes Angel, will be staying behind for now. Tracy, who is a Wildcat, will also stay behind to look after the computer. Cynthia will stay with her. Most of my team will also stay behind, but 4 will come with us. Vlora and her Angels will be joining us on this trip as well. Kat and Jennifer would like to involve them more on cases from now on, instead of just leaving them on guard duty all the time. Mandar is sending Team 6 over to help guard the chateau while we are away.

We are hoping that if we attack this gang at home, then Liana and her group will leave the castle and come to help. If we try to attack them in the castle they would certainly have the advantage over us. Even with larger numbers and a map of the tunnels, they would know the tunnels better and could have traps set throughout those tunnels as well. We would likely lose too many people with such an attack.

There is another way to get them out though, but no guarantee that we would catch them. Liana would be smart to leave and hide somewhere until we are finished with our attack of the main gang, then she could head home and start over. We are hoping she won’t be that smart. We arrived close to 2am and Aari met us with some of his team. They took us directly to the hotel and Cricket was still awake, nervously waiting for us to arrive.

Aari called her to let her know we were just outside her door. Aari opened the door and in we went. He introduced us to Cricket, but only stayed a few minutes. “It is so nice to meet you Cricket,” said Jennifer, “you don’t need to be nervous anymore, we’re here to be your friends and to make sure this gang can’t hurt you. Steve only looks scary, but really, he’s very nice.”

“Very funny,” I said, “thank you so much for helping us Cricket and I hope you will enjoy living with our rather large family.” “Hey, I’m sure I will sir,” she said excitedly, “Aari has told me a lot about your amazing team and huge chateau and all the girls and everything!” “Ooo, she called you sir,” said Jennifer, “she must think you are important.”

“Um, yes, well, in our team we use first names with everyone, even with leaders like my wife Jennifer,” I said, “her and !her twin sister Kat are the leaders of The Investigators. I am just a has been leader, so please, no more sir, okay?” “Oops, sorry sir, I mean, Steve,” she said smiling, “I hear you have 5 daughters, is that for real?” “Yes, it is,” said Jennifer, “but all have been adopted. I’m not able to have children.”

Suddenly there is a knock at the door. We were not expecting anyone, so I pulled my gun out and Jennifer answered the door. It was Aasta. “Hi, I need a room, the others are full,” she smiled. “Come in Aasta and meet Cricket,” said Jennifer. They began chatting right away. “Um, it might be nice to get some sleep,” I suggested, “you can continue talking in the morning.” “Um, I don’t have anything to wear, at night like,” said Cricket.

“That’s okay,” said Aasta, “I brought extra pyjamas for you. Daddy said you and I were about the same size, so I brought extra clothes too.” “Fantastic!” said Cricket, “I was a little nervous about tonight with Steve in the room, now I won’t be.” The two girls giggled. Somehow I don’t think there will be much sleeping tonight. “Can I ask a question?” asked Cricket. “You just did,” I answered. “Very funny,” she said, giggling again. “Go ahead,” said Jennifer.

“Um, why did you answer the door without a gun and your husband stood back here with a gun?” she asked. “Well, you wouldn’t want me to answer the door and stick a gun in Aasta’s face, would you?” I asked in return, “That might have scared Aasta.” “Oh, I guess,” she said, rather puzzled. “You will find out in time,” said Jennifer, “but right now it’s a secret, is that okay?” “Oh, yeah, for sure,” she said smiling. Just as I opened my backpack a little gray head poked out.

“Muffin, you were supposed to stay home,” I said. Meow,meow.= Me want to see female cricket, not know there is difference looking between male and female. We all laughed, except Cricket, who didn’t know what was going on. But she did get excited about seeing Muffin. “Oh, a pretty kitty!” she said excitedly and Muffin went over to her. “Muffin, this is Cricket,” said Aasta, “you were thinking of the wrong kind of cricket.”

Meow,meow.= Oops, me think it bug cricket, not know there are human crickets too. “No, silly, her name is Cricket,” said Aasta, “just like my name is Aasta and your name is Muffin. “Um, I seem to be missing something here,” said Cricket, “you’re talking like you can understand her and she can understand you.”

Meow,meow?= Why that is strange? So, I explained that Muffin is a special cat and can communicate with people and can understand us too. “Super wild!” said Cricket. It took an hour, but I finally convinced everyone it was time to sleep…

To Be Continued.

©2024 Steve McLeod.