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For a smile as wide as a country sunrise
Well, so far our plan was working well, hopefully it will continue to do so. Kat disappeared so that no one would see her mixed up with these criminals working with Trapper. Once away from the others and off in some trees, she pressed a button. “There is my buzzer,” I said, “Kat is ready.” I then called Timothy. “Okay Timothy,” I said, “if you want your loot, now is the time to move in and get it. Trapper is hauling out of its hiding place as we talk. And remember our deal, you get your loot and you stay away from Acadia.”
“Yeah, I remember,” he growled, “I don’t care anything about Acadia and neither does her mother, in fact, Lena absolutely hates Acadia and doesn’t want to ever see her again. Now I gotta go.” He hung up and off he went to deal with Trapper. I did make a big mistake though, I was not talking privately with Timothy so everyone in the library heard every word. And that included Acadia. “Come here Acadia,” I said, and she sat down beside me, “don’t let what Timothy said bother you. Here you have a whole new family that loves you and we want you to stay here with us.”
“I already knew that my mother hated me,” she said, “she has been telling me that since I was 12 years old, it just bounces off of me now.” I put my arm around her because I could see her eyes were telling a different story. She then put her head on my shoulder. “The girls have been telling me you are like an older brother to them,” she said, “I would like an older brother too.” She then began to cry. Meanwhile, Rossana, the new chief David Bergstrom and many other police officers were waiting in another location for their opportunity to move in and hopefully catch me and The Investigators mixed up with these known criminals.
They were standing outside their police van when Tiger and Midnight came sneaking through the tall grass and got Rossana’s attention. “Okay everyone,” she said, “time for us to move in and round up these criminals before they get away with the stolen goods once more.” “I never heard your phone Rossana,” said Chief Bergstrom. “There are other ways of communicating out here that are much safe and quieter,” she said, “but if we don’t move fast we will lose everyone.” “Okay, you take your team and go around that way,” he pointed, and Rossana left quickly.
Chief Bergstrom went to get in his car when suddenly, “Thwock! Thwock!”, and he fell to the ground, dead. The second in command came running over, but it was too late. There was a large fight going on between Timothy and his men and Trapper and his men. Then the police arrived and people were running in every direction. Timothy was shot by Trapper and killed, but when Trapper saw the police move in he, and a couple of his most trusted men, left in a hurry. Lena and Montana never were anywhere near the place, both preferred staying a safe distance away.
Carlos was with Timothy and was arrested by the police, and so were 12 other men. Another 9 men were shot and killed, mainly before the police arrived. The only police officer killed was Chief Bergstrom. Rossana then told Lieutenant Chuck, the second in command, that she had proof that Chief Bergstrom was actually the leader of the Nordic Wolves, a large criminal organization that he had started in Norway and was now spread across Europe.
“That would explain why he wanted to destroy The Investigators,” said Lieutenant Chuck, “he was afraid of them, likely knowing that The Investigators have helped us take down several large criminal syndicates already. If he hadn’t fallen and hit his head on those rocks, we could have put him in prison for a long time.” “Oh, is that what happened to him?” asked Rossana. “Well, it certainly looks like it,” he said, “and it is what I will put in my report.”
Meanwhile, “Well, it is about time you two arrived,” said Kat. Meow.= We need to take long way or get seen, have to run more, now little feet sore. “Okay, you two,” said Kat, “one on each shoulder, now, let’s leave shall we.” Kat then ran to our rendezvous location where she was picked up by Dawn, Amber, Melanie and Cynthia. “How can you run all that way and not be out of breath, even a little?” asked Cynthia. “I guess we ghosts are not affected by such things as that,” said Kat. “Plus you were carrying both cats too,” added Cynthia. “They don’t weigh much,” added Kat smiling.
“You won’t tell me will you?” asked Cynthia. “I already did,” said Kat, “you didn’t listen.” Cynthia just sighed. They all arrived safely back at the chateau after a short ride of 30 minutes. They all came into the library to tell their parts of the story and catch up on what has happened here. I could see that Dawn was looking around the room and frowning and then she ran out. I didn’t think anything about it though, until she was gone for a while. “I sense a problem Steve, but not danger,” said Jennifer. After a couple of minutes she changed her mind a bit. “I sense trouble now Steve,” said Jennifer.
“Okay everyone, get out there and find Dawn,” I said, “stay in groups of 3!” But as they were leaving, Dawn came running back into the library. “Has anyone seen Sabina?” she asked, “I can’t find her anywhere!” “Change everyone,” I said, “look for Sabina, check outside too! Okay you cats, that means you as well, get moving, except Tiger and Midnight, they need a rest.” Rascal and Ginger teamed up and soon picked up Sabina’s scent and they followed it to the edge of a wooded portion of our property out past our swimming pool.
Rascal sent Ginger to find some human help while he continued to follow Sabina’s scent. He was worried now because he also picked up some strange human scent too. Ginger went bouncing across the yard, meowing loudly. Dawn and 5 other girls spotted her and came running. Ginger led them to the spot and they began to follow into the treed area, and they sent out a call, Red Alert Wooded Area B! Everyone went running to that location, but Dawn and the others with her were far ahead, calling for Sabina. “Hey, someone is coming, sounds like a bunch of ’em,” said one man.
“Just more girls, means more fun for us man,” said the other. “I say we leave, I don’t like this,” said the first. Just then Rascal flew through the air, landing on the second man who was up to no good with Sabina. The man screamed and tried to get Rascal off of himself. The other man started shooting towards the approaching girls. The girls dropped to the ground. They didn’t want to shoot in case they hit Sabina. “I don’t hear ’em now,” said the second. Rascal had just jumped off the first man who was now bleeding quite a bit.
It was getting late, though not dark yet. Then a glowing object came running through the trees. “A ghost!” shouted the second man. “You are so right, and now you are going to die for what you did!” said Angel. The man tried to shoot, but his gun would not work, so he dropped it and ran back through the trees to the yard, looking behind him most of the way.
Once out of the trees he ran right into Bear, which was like running into a tree, and the man fell to the ground. Bear picked him up and gave him one punch to the stomach. The man fell to his knees, then flat on his face. Angel went after the other man, giving him one kick to the stomach and one to his head and the man was down, dead. I felt bad when Sabina told me what happened…
To Be Continued.
©2024 Steve McLeod.
Well, after our local police chief warned me to stay away from that stolen loot, I decided to heed his warning. I know at least that he is on our side and he could be right, someone might be looking to pin this theft on us. It would certainly be the proof this David Bergstrom wants to shut us down completely. We need a way to do this without any involvement on our part, or at least, very little. But why does this Bergstrom cop want to put us out of business? We have helped the police a lot, right from when Muffin and I were still on our own.
Hmm, I need to think things through carefully and I need some expert advice to help with that. I called Matt and Aari so the 3 of us could talk things over together. Aari had an idea and asked if I had a photo of this David Bergstrom. I said yes and sent it over to him. He showed the photo of Aaran, our new man from Mandar who has an amazing knowledge of all major crime organizations around the world. When Aaran saw the photo he just smiled and said he was a major crime boss, the head of a criminal organization that started in Norway, where this man was born and raised.
They now have chapters in Sweden, Denmark, Belgium, Germany, Hungary, Switzerland and Italy. “Their main base is now in Italy,” he said, “and they are trying to set up in Spain and Greece as well. He is a very dangerous man, not one to be taken lightly. Word has it that he is also a police officer somewhere, but I don’t know where.” Then Aari told him where that was and that he is after us, to shut us down and put me, and possibly others on our team, in prison. “He is in a position to cause a lot of trouble Aari,” said Aaran, “he has likely heard that The Investigators have helped to shut down other criminal organizations and he doesn’t want that to happen to his. The only way to stop that man would be to stop him.”
Aari called me back and told me what Aaran said. “He has the right idea Steve,” said Aari, “after all, you would be taking down a crime boss, not a cop. He could do a lot of harm where he is now.” “That is true,” I said, “but still, sending someone out to kill him seems a bit against what we do as investigators. I have been trying to think of ways to cause him problems without breaking the law, but that seems difficult too.” “Unless we can get another criminal organization to go after him,” said Matt, “perhaps even this Timothy or his former girlfriend Montana.”
“Hmm, you might have an idea with that one Matt. Let me check around a bit.” Matt then talked it over with his team so everyone would know what is happening. “Let me go after him Matt,” said Mac, “after all, that used to be my profession in another life.” “But if anyone saw you, it would be traced back to Steve,” said Aari, “what we need is a way to expose him for who he really is, then the police could deal with him.” “Won’t a picture be enough to show he is the leader of the Nordic Wolves?” asked Oskar. “Anyone could put a picture out and say he is the leader,” said Matt, “what we need is some solid proof that they can’t dispute.”
“Or take him out,” said Mac again. Meow.=Let cat kill bad man, not can’t put cat in prison. What they going to say in court, cat shoot man? Lawyer people and police look very silly to say that. All the guys just looked at Tiger. “Just might work,” said Aari, “although it would take some extra careful planning.” “That won’t stop the Nordic Wolves though,” said Aaran. “We don’t need to stop them,” said Matt, “we just need to stop their leader who is impersonating a cop. He is the one that can cause a lot of problems for us.
We need to find out where he lives and enlist the help of one other Kat. We certainly can’t let this guy destroy The Investigators, or put Steve in prison. We should also try to convince Steve that now would be a good time for his own vacation.” “That might be the hardest part of all,” said Aari, “but perhaps we can get his bodyguards, plus Samantha, to convince him it is in the best interest of The Investigators. Getting Muffin on our side would also be a big help.”
Meanwhile, I decided to get in touch with Mandar, but since someone may be watching me, it will be necessary to disappear from view. I first had Muffin call Tandi. Meowy meow!=Important message from Muffin, big trouble! “What is it my dear Tandi?” asked Mandar. Meowy meow!=Need call human Steve secret like, must have big talking time. Soon one of Mandar’s private helicopters had landed at our airport, the door opened and no one got off or on, but soon the helicopter was in the air again and flew around for about half an hour, then landed once more.
The door opened, though once again no one got on or off. The helicopter refueled and left. The door of a taxi opened, but took on no passengers, then it drove away. Soon it stopped at our chateau and Dawn came out to the taxi. She handed the driver his money, plus a generous tip. “Thanks so much Francois,” she said smiling. Then off he went. He was a trusted friend of ours and this was the best way to go so no one would follow us.
Meanwhile, “Good day, my good friend,” said Mandar, “sorry I had to leave in such a hurry the other day, but business calls, you know how it is.” “I am surprised you would call me again old man,” said Trapper, “I am busy too, what do you want?” “Well, I believe you are looking for a certain, uh, shall we say, treasure,” said Mandar, “for a mere $100,000 I can literally take you to the spot. Or at least, one of my Wildcats can do so. She happened to stumble upon this treasure, quite accidentally of course, and said she would take you there for that amount of money.”
A little more smooth Mandar talking and he had Trapper convinced. He met Kat at the designated spot and she took him to an old farm. “Hey, Kat girl, my men checked this spot already,” he said, “there is nothing here.” “Do you want this treasure or not?” asked Kat. “Okay Kat girl, lead the way,” he said. She took him down into an old, what we would call a root cellar. “Under those boxes,” she said. Trapper had his men move the boxes. “Now remove some dirt and you will find a door,” she said. They did so.
“Hey Trapper, there is a door down here,” said Tom. It just had a padlock on it which they quickly smashed off the door. They opened the door and went down more stairs. One of the men called up the stairs. “Trapper, it’s here, it really is here!” “Well, start hauling it up then,” he called back down, “okay Kat girl, this is your money.” One of his men handed her two briefcases and she thanked him as she went up the stairs, disappearing before she got to the top. As she walked away through the trees she pushed a button…
To Be Continued.
©2024 Steve McLeod.
Steve`s Country 