-
Subscribe
Subscribed
Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
For a smile as wide as a country sunrise
Well, this mysterious woman on the stairs certainly knows how to handle herself, and others. She seems to be quite fearless, considering she is all alone. She came along, like the other night, dressed all in black, with a large black cape, black hat and a black mask covering her face, except that her eyes were showing. From what I could see, her eyes were a vivid blue. She carried a large gun and also wore black gloves. One thing puzzled me and that was she said that Paul Harder had killed her once already, so he would not be able to do so again.
Is she another “ghost”? She turned to Matt again. “I wish that I could hire you and your gang to help,” she said, “you look tough and I doubt you would be afraid of Harder.” “We are not afraid of anyone, young lady,” said Matt. I tossed the small bag to Matt who then tossed it to Alfred. “How much Alfred?” he asked. “There is enough here Matt,” he said. “Guess you just hired the Knight Riders young lady,” said Matt, “we are like Steve and work on how much a person can afford to pay, we don’t have a set charge, nor do we worry about such things.”
Then the woman looked at me. “Well, this means you have nothing to pay us,” I said, “so we work for free. Don’t worry about that though, we have financial backers who help us on cases like this, so we don’t lose. Now, about your name and identity.” “My name is Sigrid Einarsson,” she said, “my father was born in Iceland and wanted his first born child to have an Icelandic name. My siblings and I were all born in Canada though.” She then came downstairs and over to me, but she looked back at Kat.
“What is she doing, if your wife is already dead?” she asked. “Well, I was maybe a bit hasty when I said she was dead,” said Samantha, “though she is nearly dead. Kat is massaging her heart, hoping to put some new life into it if possible.” “Is she a doctor too?” asked Sigrid. “No,” I answered, “but she does have a way of helping that is quite remarkable.” Then Sigrid removed her mask. “I was told by others that I was beautiful,” she said, “well, not anymore, thanks to Paul Harder.
But this is not why I want him, I want him tried for murder and sent to prison for killing my family.” She had a large scar across her left cheek. “You said he killed you once, so he can’t kill you again,” I said, “what do you mean?” “By killing my family in front of me,” she said, “he killed me too. I am nothing but a hard, lifeless rock now.” I smiled at her. “No, you are not,” I said, “you are still a beautiful woman, just as your name says.” Just then Jennifer came over. “Richard is sending Team 8 over here to help guard this place,” she said, “and the helicopter will take Sky back to our clinic.”
“Will she be ready to go Kat?” I asked. “Yes, I think so,” she replied. “Mandar was poisoned and it doesn’t look good,” said Jennifer, “Mr. B is on his way back to look after things at home. Do you want any more team members?” “Yes, Kitty, Melissa, Marlena, Cathy and Victoria,” I said, “tell Kristina it is Quiet Red Alert and ask Angel to stay close to the kids at all times.” Sigrid looked puzzled now. “She isn’t saying anything, yet she contacts people, how?” asked Sigrid. “Sorry, but certain things need to be kept secret,” I said, “or our enemy might be able to stop that communication.”
“Oh, that makes sense,” she said, “I think Harder has listening devices all over this palace.” We kept talking and in about 2 hours a large helicopter landed on the front lawn. Mandar’s Team 8 got off, fully equipped and two brought a stretcher over, got Sky and took her back to the helicopter. Then off it went back home. “You should have gone back home too Steve,” said Kat. “Not until we get Paul Harder,” I said, “what do you think about Sigrid’s scar?” “Yes, it would be possible, if I knew what knife was used,” she said, “Mac, can you help with that?”
He looked at the scar, then went out to his motorcycle and came back with a knife. “One like this,” he said. “That looks exactly like the knife he used,” said Sigrid, quite surprised, “but how did you know?” “My job,” was all he said. “Would you like that scar gone?” asked Kat. “Well, yes, of course I would,” she said, “but is that possible, really?” “I would have to open it up again,” said Kat, “Samantha can give you something to kill the pain.” Samantha did so and Mac carefully cut that scar open. Sigrid was lying down on the couch and Samantha put a towel over her cheek and Kat put her hand under the towel.
“Hey, that feels weird, what are you doing?” asked Sigrid. “Just helping the healing process along more quickly,” said Kat, “just lie still and it will start to feel better soon.” I sat down and tried to do some thinking. Was Mandar’s poisoning connected to this case, or was it one of his enemies, not ours. Why does Harder want this large house? Perhaps just as his own home, it would make him look more important than he really is. Is he a loner, or does he work for someone else? Someone such as Montana, who also has a lot of money.
Meanwhile, the Wildcats were trying to get in touch with Kat, but without success, so they decided to use one of their cats to contact Muffin…
To Be Continued.
©2024 Steve McLeod.
“I want you to go help Kat,” I said, “I will come in just a minute.” “It is not safe Steve,” said Jennifer, “you come with me or I don’t leave.” “Okay, you win,” I said, “let’s go.” Jenny went inside first and as I passed the basement door one of those cops came out quickly and put a gun to my head. Jennifer turned to say something, but she saw it was too late. We came out into the living room. “Look what I found boss,” said the officer to Paul Gator. “Well, well,” he said, “tell your people to lay down their weapons please. Or you will end up dead like your wife.”
He had this horrible smile on his face. Jennifer was going to do something but I nodded no. I told everyone to put their guns down. “Mr. Harder!” said a woman on the stairs, “You tell your man to give his gun to this gentleman that he is holding. Or I will kill you, right now.” “That would be murder,” he said laughing, “and you can’t do that.” “On the contrary, this time it would not be murder,” she said, “I would be defending a friend of mine, that’s a big difference. Now, do it or die, like you killed this man’s wife!”
I could see that Harder was getting angry, so what is he going to do? “Give the man your gun, and do it now!” he barked. The man gave me his gun and I told my girls to pick up their guns again. “Now Harder,” said the woman, “I want you to leave, immediately.” He stood there briefly but then told everyone to leave. As Harder was going out the door, the woman called to him. “One of these days I will kill you Harder!” she said, “But it will be when you least expect it.” “One day I will kill you young woman,” he said.
“You already killed me once,” she replied, “you can’t kill me again.” He then left, mumbling to himself. The woman then turned to me. “I am very sorry for your loss,” she said quietly, “I wish I had come downstairs sooner, maybe it would not have happened.” “Never worry about the maybe’s,” I said. She then turned to Matt. “Are you the leader of the gang?” she asked. “Yes, I am,” he said, “I am Matt Knight, leader of the Knight Riders.” “You must also be friends with this man,” she said, “you were not just passing through the neighborhood. Although how he managed to contact you is a puzzle.”
“We have ways of doing that,” I said, “when conventional ways are not available.” “Are you Steve McLeod, leader of The Investigators?” “Yes, I am,” I said, “and these are some of my team members. We are supposed to be on vacation. Um, do you need to point that big gun at me all the time?” She smiled and let it hang down. “I’m sorry, just a habit,” she said, “it keeps me alive. A man named Mandar owns this place and he is kind enough to let me live here. I look after the inside of this huge place.
He has only been here once since I began working here. I get a place to live and my food. Not bad really. Paul Harder owns things around here, like the whole town, the police, the lawyers. He wants this place too, but Mandar won’t sell to him. Harder killed my family, my parents and siblings, Henry 14, Silvia 11, Nora 8, Peter 5 and he took Jazzy 17 to work for him, she was very pretty. I don’t know if she is still alive or not. He wanted me too, but I escaped and he has been after me ever since.” She then pulled out a small bag from under the cape that she wore.
“This cape has helped me a couple of times when I had to jump out a window,” she said. Then she tossed the small bag to me. “I know it is not much money, but it’s all I have,” she said, “if you give me credit I will pay off whatever else I owe you. Will you please help me against Paul Harder? I know you must charge a lot considering all the big jobs you do, so it might take me a while to pay you. But I promise, I will pay you, somehow, if you give me some time.” I looked in the bag.
“You have enough here to hire us,” I said, “we work on the basis of what a person can afford to pay, nothing else. But I don’t work for people I don’t know. I would like to see your face and I want to know your name. Do we have a deal?” Meanwhile, before most of this took place, Jennifer had sent a message to Angel. Most everyone was in the library and Angel came in crying. She asked the kids to leave and go play with the cats for a while, which they did.
The girls knew something serious must have happened. She told them that Sky had been shot dead and it looked like the police were going to arrest Steve and the others. “Annelie, we need to contact Mandar right away,” she said. Annelie tried right away, but there was no answer, so she tried a different number she had and Mandar’s right hand man answered. “Richard, I need to speak with Mandar right away,” said Annelie, “there is big trouble with Steve and the others. Sky has been killed.”
“Mandar is in the hospital,” he said, “he was poisoned and his doctor isn’t sure if Mandar will live or not. Where is Baldwin?” “He’s on a business trip, but I will have to call him,” she said, “someone is trying to take over Mandar’s house and property and is trying to get Steve and the others arrested. That is how Sky was shot and killed.” “I will get Mandar’s lawyers on that right away,” said Richard, “and I will send you directions on how to get out there, they are not far away, just over in Spain.”
“We already have Matt and Kat over near there with their teams, so they can help out,” said Annelie, “just want to make sure that things are okay, legally, for the property.” “No problems there Annelie,” he said, “Steve and the others can stay there as long as they want. I will send Team 8 out there too, that is a big place to guard.” “Thanks Richard,” she said, “keep in touch about Mandar please.” “Will do Annelie, “he said, “if there are any other problems, just let me know.” Then she called Baldwin who nearly exploded and said he was on his way home right away…
To Be Continued.
©2024 Steve McLeod.
Steve`s Country 