For a smile as wide as a country sunrise
We all managed to get outside without being detected and Jennifer, Kat and I looked all around for Mike, but could not see her anywhere. I guess that would not be unusual, with all the attempts on her life since arriving here, she is likely being extra cautious now. But, knowing how Mike is, she will be here somewhere. Suddenly Jennifer looked at me. “Are you okay?” she whispered.
“Yes, I am fine,” I told her, though I was lying at that point. I felt like the whole world was spinning around and pain gripped my whole body. “You are lying to me Steve,” she said, “I can tell. We need to leave, now.” Dawn, Aasta, Beryan and Kitty were also close by, so they came with us and we headed back to the hotel. I left Kristina in charge of the Wildcats and told her not to take chances. Right after saying that, I fainted.
Meanwhile, back at the hotel. I had left Melanie, Melissa, Alizea, Cynthia and all the cats in our room at the hotel. I figured if Mike saw them, she would not care about anyone else, she would just seek to kill those three right away. The girls had just finished some pizza made by Ferdinando, the owner of the hotel. Apparently he is a great cook and is the cook in the hotel restaurant, among other things. His granddaughter, Pacca, is also a wonderful cook.
He had told the girls he would bring up a special dessert for them in a little while, so they were anxiously waiting for him and Pacca to return. Melanie, Melissa and Alizea were sitting together and Cynthia was sitting by herself in a corner of the room. Then there was a knock at the door and Ferdinando calling out that he was back. Alizea went to open the door, but as soon as she had it open just a bit the door was pushed hard, slamming her against the wall with the door pressing hard against her.
Ferdinando was tossed onto the floor, obviously he had been beaten, and Pacca was likewise tossed into the room falling onto the floor. In walked Mike, with 4 big men. “Well, well, look what we have here,” she said, “it looks like 3 runaways. And you know what I do with runaways, correct? Yes, I kill them, but slowly, and this man here is very good at that as you know. He will begin with feet, legs, arms, stomach, then perhaps your head. Running away from me was a very stupid idea.”
“You are the stupid one Mike,” said Cynthia casually. Meow,meow.=Attack Mike woman Rascal. He obeyed Muffin right away, jumping from the bed and landing on Mike causing her to scream. That got Melanie, Melissa and Pacca attacking the men. Poor Alizea was not doing too well after being sandwiched against the wall by the door. Then, “Thwock!” and one man fell. “Thwock!” and another man fell. Muffin and Midnight did that.
Then Storm jumped out and “Thwock!”, another man fell. Then Pacca kicked the fourth man three times knocking him against the wall and “Thwock!”, and he fell to the floor. That one was from Bandit. “Okay Rascal, stop now,” said Cynthia, and he hopped off Mike back onto the bed. “Now you will not hurt anyone ever again Mike,” said Cynthia. But Mike pulled her gun quickly, though not as quickly as Cynthia who shot 3 times and Mike fell to the floor.
We were in the lobby when the shots were fired and I told the girls to get to our room fast, which they did. The girls were amazed at what they saw. Jennifer said there was no more danger so up we went. “So, this is why we could not see Mike with her people at Raymundo’s,” I said, “she sure was able to get around, but no more.” “I am very sorry Steve,” said Ferdinando, “they beat me, but I told her nothing. Then they were going to beat my Pacca, I, I, could not endure seeing that, so I brought them up here.
I am ashamed of myself. But they would have beaten my Pacca, you understand, yes?” “Yes, I understand,” I said, “you did the right thing, Cynthia and the cats were ready.” “Actually Steve,” said Cynthia, “the girls, including Pacca, got into the fight right away. Then the cats helped them. I just shot Mike, that’s all.” “You should be very proud of that young woman Steve,” said Ferdinando, “she remained so calm, not a bit afraid of that woman.” Cynthia was over beside us now so I put my arm around her.
“Yes, I am very proud to have her on our team,” I said, “you know Ferdinando, she has been through things in her life that you and I could never think possible. Yet she has turned into a very beautiful, caring and loving woman.” “Yes, I can see that,” he replied. “Oh, stop that Steve,” she said, blushing, “I am the one who is proud to be on your team and be a help to you.” He then called the police and he moved us into a different room for the night.
I also called Rossana and she called the police here to let them know who we were, so that we would not be arrested too. Sandra and Bess, two of Mike’s top people were arrested, but Arielle and Fabien, two other top people, got away with about half of Mike’s gang. Undoubtedly they went back to Canada and to Quebec where those two lived. But Mike has been stopped totally now. Eina was also arrested and will be spending a long time in prison.
Oskar has another sister, she and her husband will be raising the two children. They have one son of their own about the same age. Pacca was too worried about her grandfather so she did not wish to come with us, so, we brought Ferdinando along too. He can help with the cooking for now and I am sure there are other things he can do as well. Melanie, Melissa, Alizea and Pacca passed their tests perfectly and are now full members.
We had the sad task of burying two of our members, Amandine and Charly, once we were back home. We are also in our new chateau now and it is very nice, with 28 bedrooms, plus numerous other rooms to use for various things. There are also two other very old stone houses on the property, both have 6 bedrooms.
There is also another stone building with 10 rooms, all the same size. We are not sure what it was used for, or how we might use the building. Hopefully we can get some rest before the next case comes our way. Melissa would like to check me thoroughly for any traces of drugs in my body. I hope she does not find anything. We shall see.
The End. But a new case will be coming soon.
©2024 Steve McLeod.
Kat left the pool area quickly, hoping that if she did so that Mike would let that little boy go without hurting him. She thought about disappearing and going over to Mike’s side of the pool, but she was too worried about the boy and did not want him getting hurt, or perhaps even killed. This way she will blame Raymundo and go after him. That way we might be able to set a trap for her again, hopefully one that would work this time.
As Kat came around the corner of the hotel, Cowboy was there waiting for her. Of course, he did not know his gun would not work on Kat, but he found out quickly. He tried shooting once, but nothing happened. He then shot the ground which worked fine so he quickly aimed and tried to shoot again. But once again, nothing happened. “Having trouble Cowboy?” asked Kat.
“Cowboy!” yelled another woman behind him. He turned quickly, gun ready, but 3 shots were fired by Kristina and Cowboy fell to the ground. “That car at the door is from the Arrow Club,” said Catalina, running over to Kat and Kristina, “Rusty said he could put this under the car.” Meow.=Yep, me can do it, Muffin showed me. Just then Mike came running out of the hotel and into the car.
“Go Rusty!” exclaimed Kat. Rusty ran fast and under the car and then he came running back out even faster! There was quite an explosion and the car went up in flames! “So much for Mike,” said Kristina. “Do not count on it,” said Kat, “she did not have enough time to go inside, change and come out casually like she did.” “I agree,” said Melanie, “that was not Mike.”
The girls could not wait around though, the police would soon be here, so they got in their cars and off they went. “Anyone else that Mike can rely on at the top?” asked Kat. “Yes, Sandra, Bess, Arielle and Fabien,” said Melanie. Kat looked at her since she did not sound very happy. “What is wrong Melanie?” she asked. “Uh, nothing, um, no, nothing,” she answered.
“What did Steve tell you about not lying to us?” asked Kat. Melanie quickly looked up at Kat. “This, this doesn’t count, does it?” she asked nervously. “What is the problem?” asked Kat again. “Oh…I saw another of my friends at the hotel,” she said, “the terrible look on her face as she mouthed the word, ‘please’. She wanted help.” “Turn around Cassie,” said Kat, and she did so quickly, without slowing down.
“Hmm, Cassie is getting better with her driving,” said Kristina. “Really?” asked Melanie, a bit shocked. The other girls laughed. “This will go fast, if your friend is still around,” said Kat, “but you will need to point her out to me. What is her name?” “Her name is Alizea, she is from Quebec,” said Melanie, “if we can get her from Mike, that will make Mike so furious she won’t be able to think straight.
Alizea is Mike’s top planner and financial advisor.” Kat smiled when she heard that one. “She is still outside!” exclaimed Melanie. Because of the police and fire vehicles they had to park on the street a little further down than they had hoped. Kat, Melanie, Kristina and Marlena walked quickly back toward the hotel. Melanie managed to get Alizea’s attention by holding up her hand with two fingers.
Alizea looked over toward Mike and saw that she was busy talking with a police officer so she ran as fast as she could toward Melanie and the girls. But Mike spotted her and yelled out to stop that woman because she was involved in the explosion. Mike just used that to get the police to stop her. But Alizea was a very fast runner and reached the girls quickly.
Three officers were chasing her but they suddenly stopped when all the girls just disappeared. Their car drove past again and stopped briefly to pick up the girls. The officers watched the back door open and close, then the whole car disappeared. They decided to just tell their superior that the woman got away. They could hardly say all the girls and their car disappeared. “I wonder why they suddenly stopped chasing us?” asked Alizea, “They did not even try shooting at us.”
“Too many people around that might get hurt,” said Kat. Our girls tried hard not to laugh, but were unsuccessful. Melanie and Alizea just looked at each other. Back at our hotel I had to explain to the girls that Kat had invented a way to make things, including people, go invisible for short periods of time. “I enjoy inventing things too,” said Melanie.
“Yes, and she is very good at coming up with lots of ideas,” said Melissa, “and some even work.” “Thanks Melissa,” said Melanie, rolling her eyes. We all laughed. Then there was a knock at the door. It was Pacca. Cynthia let her in. Pacca looked a bit embarrassed, but when she saw the other girls in the room she was more relaxed and willing to talk freely. “Trouble Steve,” said Jennifer. “Amber, take some girls and go down to the lobby quickly,” I said.
They were in the next room and were soon running down the stairs. Pacca was about to leave as well, but I told her to stay with us, her grandfather would want that. I had sent Kat downstairs too. “You never touched your phone,” said Melanie, “it is still in your pocket, how did Amber get the call?” “Once I speak the name, the phone automatically calls that person,” I said, “even if they are in a different country.”
“Oh, that makes sense,” she said. The girls found the hotel owner unconscious, but not seriously hurt. Was that Mike, Marcelo or something random? Apparently it turned out to be someone wanting money. I am not so sure though. That evening we were at Raymundo’s club. He moved all customers to a different room he used for other things, so then we could fill his normal room with his men and my Wildcats, plus Mandar’s men. We split the men up with my girls to make it look more normal in there, then we waited, and hoped that Mike would show up.
Unfortunately, she did not show, and it was now closing time. “Steve, there is trouble coming our way,” said Jennifer, “but it seems to have stopped close by.” “Any other way out of here Raymundo?” I asked. “Sure is,” he said. Soon we were all going through a secret door to the building next door. “I wish it was darker out there,” I said, “but this will have to do.”
The Wildcats went first, followed by Raymundo and his men, then Mandar’s men. Mandar had brought in some of his security people to join our guys. Mike’s people were waiting all around the cars, bushes and wherever else they could hide. But is Mike there too? Guess we will find out…
To Be Continued.
©2024 Steve McLeod.