Sky and Carine had been intently studying one of the walls in that tunnel and finally they are coming out. It will be interesting to know what they were looking at for so long. But, before they came out of the tunnel, my head began to hurt and I held my head, groaning mildly. “What’s wrong Steve?” asked Aasta. She had been standing next to me while we waited for Sky and Carine.

When she asked her question I yelled loudly and hit her, knocking her to the floor. Kat was close too and she paralyzed me somehow and began rubbing my head gently, which felt so good. She kept telling me to relax which was easy to do with her rubbing my head. “What happened Steve?” asked Sky.

“I’m not really sure,” I said, “but I suddenly got this pain in my head, it felt just like Nowhere was back again. It got so bad that I didn’t know what was going on.” “Then you hit Aasta hard enough to knock her to the floor,” said Sky. I just stood there staring at Aasta. “Did I actually hit you?” I asked. “Yes, you did, hard too,” she said, “hope I don’t end up with a black eye.”

“Hey, I am so very sorry Aasta,” I said, “I, I, didn’t know what I was doing. Please forgive me.” “Of course I forgive you Steve,” she said, hugging me, “you didn’t do it deliberately.” “We have to report this to Samantha,” said Kat, “she will likely want you back home.” “No, please don’t do that right now, please,” I said, “I want to remain on the case, it’s important to me, I need it.”

Everyone was looking at me now. “I should be reporting this Steve,” said Kat, “as the second leader it is my duty. However, I will leave it up to Aasta.” “Me? Why me?” asked a surprised Aasta. “Because he hit you,” said Kat, “so you have the right to have Steve recalled by Samantha.” “What? No, I won’t do that,” said Aasta, “after all, I could have hurt myself when I fell.

I might have tripped over my own feet when I walked backward. Or something. I’m not going to have Steve recalled. Nope, not me.” “Thank you very much Aasta,” I said, “maybe I have been overdoing things today and need a rest.” “Yes, you have been here with us for 10 hours now,” said Kat, “that is much too long. If you agree to take it easy, perhaps 4 hours on and 2 hours off.

Then I won’t report this either, but if it happens again, then you will have to go back home.” “Okay, I agree with that,” I said. Angel was picked to take me back to the hotel and stay with me, plus Sky would send some of her girls over to help out with me as well. Sky also sent her cat, Azura, with me since I wanted Muffin to stay at the museum.

Dawn, Amerie, Suzette, Chloe and Caleigh, along with their cats Ginger, Moonbeam and Frisky. Caleigh began massaging my back as soon as she arrived and that sure helped a lot. All the girls remained amazingly quiet, which was rather disturbing to me. “Why is everyone so quiet?” I asked. “Just thinking about the case,” said Dawn, “and we are worried about you too.”

“Stop worrying please,” I said, “I am feeling fine now and I like to listen to you girls talking, it’s relaxing.” Angel had gone out to get us all something to eat and suddenly I sensed trouble. “Trouble close by girls,” I said, “be ready. Sky, I need you.” “What is wrong?” she said, as she appeared lying on the bed next to me. “I sense trouble, and it is close,” I told her.

Azura was at the door and suddenly she hissed and her tail became twice as big as usual. Chloe went to the door, Dawn and Suzette stood close with guns out. Then Chloe pulled the door open quickly, but no one was there. The girls quickly went out into the hall, but no one was there. However, Azura and the other cats continued hissing and growling.

Then we heard a voice telling us to go home and stay away from the museum. “This is too dangerous for amateurs like yourselves. Go home before you begin to die. You have been warned!” Then the cats settled down and I no longer sensed trouble. The girls came back in the room, along with Angel who had just returned in time to hear the voice.

Ginger wanted to go back outside the door, so Dawn and Angel went with her. Chloe held the door open and Ginger sniffed the floor. Meowy meow.= Look under carpet. Dawn pulled back a piece of carpet, then lifted a piece of the floorboard revealing a small gadget with the recording that we just heard. “Someone put it there just now,” I said, “and then left.”

“They must be getting worried,” said Sky, “and they knew you had returned to the hotel.” “Yes, that is interesting too,” I said. “Something else is interesting,” said Sky, “we didn’t get a chance to tell you what Carine saw in that tunnel earlier. With me specially lighting that wall, Carine was able to see through it.

There was a room on the other side with 2 men and a woman talking, though we couldn’t hear what they said. However, the woman and one of the men are 2 of the directors for the museum. One of the men had crawled into that room through a small opening in the opposite wall. That means it came from one of the offices.” “Time to check those offices and find that opening into the hidden room,” I told her.

“We were about to do that when you called me,” she said, “so I will head back there now, but don’t hesitate to call again if something happens.” After Sky left we ate our food, then Caleigh began to massage my back again. Then Cristy called with some more news for us. “Everything going okay Steve?” she asked. “Yep, we have found a hidden room,” I told her, “the girls are going to try and find a way into it now.

I am back at the hotel, taking a break, 10 hours was too long.” “Hmm, that is a good idea Steve,” she said, “now for my news. The present directors are all fairly new, within the last year. The 7 they replaced did not have a good ending. Two were married, it was their children who were found murdered, so they quit their jobs. The police did not link the murders to their jobs, however.

Another married couple died in a mysterious house fire, but the police did not think it was related to their jobs. Another director, a man, was found drowned in a pond where he swam on a regular basis. The remaining two directors, a man and a woman, not related, disappeared without a trace on the same day. The police figured they ran away together.

However, they had never been seen anywhere together, and had never dated.” “That is way too much of a coincidence for me,” I said, obviously someone wanted to change the directors of this museum so they could use it for criminal activities.” “Yes, it would certainly seem that way,” she agreed, “you sound sad Steve, are you sure everything is okay?”

“I’m tired from a long day,” I said, “and Caleigh is massaging my back while we talk.” I then told her about the mysterious voice we heard. “Be careful Steve,” she said, “these people have killed before, they will again if they feel threatened.” “We are being careful,” I said, “let me talk with Jennifer…”

To Be Continued.

©2025 Steve McLeod.