Well, we have been recovering for a while now and all feel nicely rested which is good. Aari and his team responded well to the antidote we gave them. The others who were injured are recovered except for 5 that are still not back to normal yet. I think everyone is actually getting bored right now. Our new recruits have all passed their tests and are now full members of The Investigators.

“The morning mail has arrived,” said Dawn and she hands it to me. “Not much here,” I said, “you can give these to Baldwin, that should make him happy when he arrives. Just make sure his coffee and muffins are ready at the same time that he gets his mail.” “Then he will spit coffee all over the floor again,” sighed Amber. “Does he do that a lot?” asked Cynthia.

“YES!”, said several girls at once. “The guys should be here soon,” I said, “I hope there is enough muffins for everyone.” “Well, we made 300 of them,” said Sky, “so it better be enough. If they are still hungry then they can have toast. Look what else we got in the mail!” The girls brought in several boxes and began to open them. “Hey, our new outfits!” everyone screamed.

“Don’t forget that one of those is mine,” I said. “Yes, here it is Steve,” said Dawn, “I can’t wait for an opportunity to wear this!” Little did she know how soon that would be, none of us knew. Just then the guys came scrambling into the house, well, kind of a house. We are still living in this office building we received from Mandar and renovated into a house.

That also means we are in Switzerland. Our old chateau is being renovated for Baldwin and the guys to live in, since there are more guys now on the team and Baldwin’s house is just not big enough. According to Baldwin anyway. Mandar bought another chateau for us on the other side of the clinic, about 20 minutes north of it. Baldwin and Mandar are sharing the cost of making it suitable for us to live in.

It is larger than our last one and has 32 bedrooms. “Oskar,” I said, “you have a letter here, it is marked “Urgent” so you better read it right away. Astrid will get you coffee and muffins.” He sat down and began to read. He seemed happy to see it was from his sister. She married a Spanish man and they now live in Spain and have started a small carpentry business. They have 2 young children.

But Oskar’s smile quickly disappeared and replaced by a frown, then by anger. “Bills, bills, bills!” exclaimed Baldwin, “that is all the mail I ever get!” “Steve,” said Oskar, “I would like to request some time off to, uh, visit my sister and her family. Her husband is in the hospital, hurt bad, and she needs help.” “Perhaps you should tell me the whole story,” I told him. He then did so.

When they started their business some men came around and told them to close their carpentry shop, there was already a large one in the area. But his brother-in-law was only doing small jobs which the larger company did not want anyway. So he said that he would stay. The men told him again to pack up and leave, or something might happen.

That night the shop was broken into and a lot of damage done and tools stolen. They called the police, but nothing was done. The next day the men came back and warned him to leave before something worse happened. He told the men to get out of his shop and they left. But that night men broke into their flat and beat his brother-in-law so bad that he is in the hospital.

“Now the men have threatened my sister and her two young kids,” he said, shaking his head, “how does this happen?” “There is an organization in charge of that territory,” said Aari, “no doubt about it. And they do not want competition around, not even small competition.” “This is not a job for Oskar alone,” said Mandar, “you need to take on this case Steve.

And perhaps I can be of assistance too, I feel the urge for some excitement.” “You should be enjoying retirement,” said Sky, “not getting involved in a gang war.” “Oh my dear Sky,” he said, “please do not use that horrible word around me, that is for old people.” “I must admit Mandar,” I said, “you do seem well suited for a job like this, and we will make sure you are well protected.”

“Now that is better!” said Mandar excitedly, “Aari, you and I need to talk things over, you will be looking after the ‘muscle’ end of things, you know how these organizations operate and how their leaders think.” “Hey, we get to wear our new uniforms,” said Dawn enthusiastically. “Who said you would be coming along?” I asked, “After all, I cannot take everyone.”

“Pleeeeeease!” she said. “I have been out of the room for exactly 38 seconds and you already have a girl on your lap,” said Sky shaking her head. “There was nowhere else to sit,” said Dawn, “and I needed to beg.” “You want to wear those new uniforms, don’t you?” asked Sky smiling, “They certainly are nice.” They say “Steve’s Wildcats” on them, with the head of a cougar.

Annelie has made a whole new identity for us while on certain cases, like this one. Annelie has a whole new identity ready for Mandar as well, his team will simply be called, “Mandar and Company”. He will have all the men with him, minus me, plus 2 of the girls who will be his bodyguards. Mandar, the guys (14 of them now), plus Penny and Ginnifer left first, my girls and I would arrive the next day.

I will have 15 girls with me. Jennifer will come to protect me and Kat will stay home to protect Sky and the kids. Well, we have arrived in Zaragoza, Spain, a nice, rather old city of around 700,000 people, with enough hotels to keep us happy for a long time. Lots to see and do, but we are not here to see the sights.

Mandar left Oskar, Bear and William to stay with Oskar’s sister last night, just in case, but all was quiet. Mandar will be meeting someone tonight at his nightclub. That will tell us what our next move will be…

To Be Continued.

©2024 Steve McLeod.