Well, it certainly was a busy day and what an ending we had. I had to talk with Sabina and apologize to her. I didn’t mean to forget about her, but it happened. I was just too busy thinking about other things, which is no excuse. Sabina saved my life and I should have been talking to her about future plans for her. She told me she was getting worried because I had not said anything about what would happen to her, only what would happen to Acadia.

Sabina had no money, no family and no friends and she just didn’t know what to do. So, at times like that she usually gets alone to try and figure things out, which is what she was doing outside so late. That is normally against our rules, but she did not know that, she just figured it would be safe out there since it looked so peaceful. She went to the wooded section that was close to the highway and that is when those two men spotted her. Their car broke down about 2km away so they were walking to town. Turns out, those two men were wanted by the police in connection with 4 rapes and a murder.

They were considered armed and dangerous, which they were. Fortunately Rascal picked up her scent quickly and arrived in time to prevent the man from raping her. She had been tied up and gagged so she was unable to scream for help. He was no match for Rascal’s 35 pounds of muscle and fury! And the arrival of our friendly ghost, Angel, certainly helped a lot as well. Our ‘ghosts’ have quite an effect on people for some reason. Hard to understand why, though, everyone knows there are no such things as ghosts. Yet we have 3 now, or do we? Anyway, because of my stupidity, Sabina could have been raped and possibly killed.

And because the others had to go looking for her, it put them in danger as well. Those thoughts were a little too much for Steve so he apologized first to Sabina, privately, with only her, Jennifer, Kat, Muffin and myself in the library. “What is it you would like to do Sabina?” I asked her, “We can give you a new identity and set you up anywhere in the world that you would like to live. Plus we would give you some money to get you started in your new life. Or, if you would like, we would be very happy to have you stay here with us. Actually, I am hoping you will accept that last offer, I want you to stay here.

You can join our team or we can find other work around here for you to do. We don’t have very high wages, but you get a place to live, your food and all other expenses paid.” “And that includes clothes, Sabina,” added Jennifer smiling, “we would love to take you shopping. Well, the girls would anyway. My job entails staying with this guy at all times.” “Well, we could always bring him shopping with us,” said Kat, also smiling, “right, my dear husband?” Both her and Jennifer giggle. “I am not very talented,” said Sabina, “I don’t know how I could help you on your team, but I would make a good maid perhaps. And, if you two ever have children, I’m a great babysitter!”

“Actually, we do have a daughter,” said Jennifer. “Where is she?” asked Sabina, “I haven’t seen any kids around here at all.” “All the children are in hiding for their own safety at the moment,” I said, “but they will be home soon.” I think that got Sabina a bit confused since Jennifer mentioned having one daughter and I mentioned children in the plural sense. I then called everyone into the library and it sure is a good thing it is such a large room. I apologized to everyone for my stupidity and then asked Beryan to massage my back. Once upstairs in my room I called Samantha and asked for a painkiller, something strong.

She came to my room right away. “And where is Jennifer?” she asked, “She should be here, or you should have 4 bodyguards, you know the rules Steve.” Right then Dawn, Amber and Marlena came in. “There you go doctor,” I said, “4 bodyguards.” “That is only 3,” she said, “Beryan does not count while she is working.” “Angel, come to my room please,” I said. She arrived in less than a minute. “There, 4 bodyguards,” I said. “Fine, now then, what is this painkiller for Steve?” she asked. “I, um, tripped over my own feet,” I said, “and, um, kind of fell, just a bit, and, um, hurt my back.”

“You don’t sound very convincing to me,” she said, “should I believe you, or should I pry a bit more?” “Hey, you know me Samantha,” I said, trying to sound cheerful. “Yes, I do, which is why I was asking,” she said, shaking her head. Well, our case is over once more. Timothy was killed by Trapper, but Trapper got away. The police did recover the stolen loot which made them very happy. With a bit of investigation they discovered there were two other officers in their group that were also members of the Nordic Wolves.

David Bergstrom was likely planning to take over that whole unit eventually, but fortunately that will not happen now. Carlos was arrested and will end up in prison. Lena and Montana, 2 very dangerous women, are on the loose and will likely cause us some headaches at some time in the future. Sabina and Acadia will both be staying with us and hopefully both of them will join our team in some capacity. Sabina has more to offer us than she thinks. She can speak 15 languages fluently and she is working on two more.

She also knows how to fight, rather well in fact. She likes climbing, as does Acadia, and neither of them are afraid of heights which I guess makes sense. Both of them can climb a rope ladder faster than anyone else on our team. Acadia is terribly afraid of cats though. Her parents had used a rather wild alley cat to terrify her when she was a very young child, and that fear has stayed with her. Hopefully our cats can cure her of that fear. The next day Rock and Annelie came home so I had a long talk with Rock. “No Steve,” he said, “I won’t go along with this. Maybe we can compromise.”

The next day Sky and the children came home and Erika came running into the library ahead of everyone else and jumped onto Jennifer first. “Mom!” she screamed excitedly, “I missed you so much! I missed you to daddy!” “I missed you too,” I said, “this is Sabina, she will be living with us now.” “Hi Sabina!” said Erika, “Where is Muffin?” “The usual place,” I said. Off she ran with the other kids once they all had come in to say hi. I then got Sky alone and we talked for a while. “No Steve,” she said. Sigh. Well, I wonder what our next case will be? Hopefully something a bit milder, but it never is for some reason. Oh well.

The End. But a new case will begin soon.

©2024 Steve McLeod.