We have finished another case and are presently enjoying day two of some much needed relaxation. Hopefully that will stretch into a week or two so we can get nicely rested before the next case comes along. It is now day 5 and we have been turned upside down here at The Investigators. Our guys live at our old chateau by themselves, except for Penny and Brook who are married to Matt and Miles. So they live there too. Rock lives here with Annelie.

Rock and I are the only two men here normally, though right now Trapper and his four friends are staying in the guest cottage while they take our tests so they can join the team. Having Trapper here right now is good for Giselle. Today she will be getting her official new identity. She is quite excited about that. Her name is now Delphine Roussel. Trapper was the one to pick out her new name from the list and she was overjoyed with his choice. But prior to this, our day began as a rough day for The Investigators.

Half the guys went outside for their exercise period and they were ambushed by some unknown assailants. They sent out a Red Alert, but by the time we arrived it was all over and whoever attacked the guys were long gone. It was obviously done very quickly, and very well planned, so it was someone who knows us well. Aari, John, Clarence and Mac had left their chateau to come here to help with training Trapper and his friends. They arrived just as the Red Alert came through.

There were 16 guys plus Penny and Brook at the chateau when the attack took place. So, eight of the guys were outside exercising and Brook was out there too keeping track of how they were doing. She does this once a week to make sure the guys keep in shape, though they exercise daily. Only half are allowed to go out for exercising at any one time, for safety reasons. It was hard to look at the destruction apparently. I was not allowed to go on this one, I was told to stay home where it was safe.

All 8 guys, and Brook, were killed. That was devastating news. I was waiting for the list of those killed and finally it arrived. Kurtis, Edmond, Vernon, Jeff and Dan, these were Paul’s 5 men that had come with him to join us. Then there was Aaran and Willie, both had come from Mandar’s security some time ago. The eighth was Miles and then his wife Brook. That was such sad news, it was hard to take. Just before lunch we had a visitor who came up in a taxi from the city.

That must have been expensive, I thought to myself. Dawn answered the door and a young woman stood there, speaking in French. Dawn asked if she could speak English, so she tried, with much difficulty, and it just did not work out well for Dawn. But Colette walked by heading into the kitchen so Dawn called her over. According to our safety practices the woman was still outside and Dawn spoke to her through a speaker. Colette asked who she was and what she wanted.

Suddenly Colette was jumping with excitement! “It is my friend Rochelle!” she said excitedly, “She wishes to speak with Steve, um, but, uh, she needs money to pay the taxi.” Dawn asked me about it and Jennifer went to the door and took the money out of the cash we keep in a locked drawer by the door. That drawer can only be opened by certain people on the team. She then put the money in a wall box that slid out by the door for our visitor.

She took the money back to the taxi and he then allowed her luggage to be taken. He actually helped her carry it to the door. Another door opened and Rochelle was told to put the suitcases and backpack in there, another safety precaution for us so it can be checked. Colette asked her if she had weapons, but she said no, so she was allowed to come in, being scanned once inside, plus Dawn checked her just to make sure nothing was missed.

Then she was allowed to come see me. I called the other Quebec bad girls into the library and they all knew Rochelle and were excited to see her, until they heard her story. Someone was out to kill her. She had been living with her 2 sisters, but a certain man, who Rochelle said shouldn’t be called a man, wanted to marry her. She said he was a beast and enjoyed beating his girlfriends, apparently he had four at the moment.

He was a businessman, working with a large insurance company, always well dressed and very polite to coworkers and clients. But at home he was a beast. He needed to get married so he could get a promotion at work, apparently they thought if he was married it would show his maturity and ability to work in his new position. So, he picked Rochelle, not because he loved her, or even liked her really, but she was beautiful and that was important for his job.

She refused, but the next day when she got home from work he was waiting for her inside the house and her two sisters were dead. She then consented to marry him and he called the police, giving them a good description of a man that had been harassing one of the sisters. It was a man he hated anyway, so it did not bother him to do this. But Rochelle planned everything so she could escape and used all the money she had to get her plane ticket over to here.

Now she was asking us to help her and protect her. I told her she could stay here with us and we would look into this right away. Right after lunch something else happened that really turned the day upside down. Baldwin called me into his office that he now has at our new chateau. Jennifer came with me since Baldwin’s voice did not sound exactly cheerful. “I only wanted you Steve,” he said gruffly. “If it involves Steve, it involves me too,” said Jennifer, “so I stay.”

“Very well,” he said, “Steve, you have 48 hours to give me your resignation and move out of this chateau. You will receive one year’s pay, according to our agreement, and I will fly you and your family wherever you wish to go.” He then went on to give the reason for this, and I could hardly believe my ears. We then went back to our bedroom and the only words I spoke along the way was to call Muffin and Storm.

I did communicate with our ghosts to meet with us in our bedroom right away and once we were back I called Sky, since she is not yet hooked up to our communications system for the ghosts. “That is totally ridiculous!” exclaimed Sky, “How could anyone believe such nonsense!?” Apparently several of our girls have claimed that I forced them to spend nights with me or they would be kicked off The Investigators.

Annelie, Penny, Kristina, Valentina, Marria, Chantelle (one of our nurses) and even Honey, have all made this claim. Rock and Matt are ready to kill me since both of their wives are on the list. The timing of this, right after the attack on our guys, is just too much of a coincidence. One of our enemies has found a way to destroy The Investigators…

To Be Continued.

©2025 Steve McLeod.