Once the noise of the shooting was over, another noise caught our attention. “Helicopter!” screamed Jennifer. Sure enough, a helicopter was taking off behind the house. My heart sunk. I knew what that meant immediately. But it was too late. We could not shoot the chopper down for fear of killing everyone on board and I knew the passenger list contained Sky, Aasta, Honey and Agata.

I checked with Annelie right away to see if perhaps they did make it inside, but she said no. Kat returned with a large envelope addressed to me. I just stood there looking at it, not sure what to do. The girls brought me back inside to the library where everyone was gathered already, except for those locking up our prisoners. I called the police to come and get them.

Then I read the letter. “Hi Steve, so nice of you to give me these 4 girls for my studio business. But I have been thinking, I really do not need new girls right now, what I need instead is new guys, mainly one new guy and that is you. So, tell you what I am willing to do, I will let these 4 girls go free if you will surrender yourself to me.

After all, you really do not want that sweet little girl getting involved in my business, do you? Be at the Fountain Cafe at 9am tomorrow and we will make the trade. You may have one person with you, your driver, who can then take your precious girls back home. But do not try anything stupid, or everyone will die. I do hope you have a nice day Steve. Carole Ann.”

“Well Steve,” said Baldwin, “what does the note say?” “I will let you know when the others get here,” I said. Then I called Aari. “I’m sorry Aari,” I said, “but I failed you, terribly. Carole Ann has Aasta.” “Just Aasta?” he asked. “No, Sky, Honey and Agata too,” added Jennifer who was sitting beside me, “and Steve did not fail.” “I agree,” said Aari, “we all fell for her trap, but she is going to pay a big price.”

The police came quickly and picked up their prisoners, apparently these men were wanted for escaping custody, for drug smuggling and for killing two guards. So they will be in prison for a while which is good. Then we had our meeting. “Carole Ann will trade the girls for me,” I began, “plus a guarantee that we will leave her alone. We make the trade at 9am tomorrow.

I need a volunteer from the men to take me there and bring the girls home again.” John had his arm up so fast I barely saw it move. “Could be dangerous John,” I said, “if she does not keep her word, she just might kill us both.” “I am not afraid of Carole Ann or her animals,” said John. “Steve, you know that she will not keep her word,” said Baldwin, “it is just a trap to kill you and then she keeps the girls too.”

“Then you find her and crush her,” I said, “and I am sure she knows that too, so that is our insurance. And once you have the girls safely out of the way, do what you want. I am not the Team Leader right now since I am still on recovery, only Rock or Mr. B can give any guarantees, but Carole Ann does not know that. Kind of sneaky I guess, but she needs to be stopped.”

“And you die,” said Jennifer, “let me drive you to the city tomorrow, you might have a chance at least.” “I agree,” said Baldwin, “Jennifer will go with you, as you said, you are not the Team Leader, so you cannot make final decisions.” Hmm, shot down with my own argument. However, in the morning John and I left nice and early before Jennifer was even out of bed.

As we were getting close to the city we managed to get a flat tire. “This thing is built like a tank,” said John, “but a nail on the road can stop it.” “Good thing we left early,” I said. John did the work while I snoozed. Finally I heard the door open and in climbed Jennifer. “That trunk needs to be cleaned more often, it is dusty in there,” she said.

“Did you happen to have something to do with that flat tire?” I asked. “Flat tire? Me?” she asked in return. Sigh. We arrived with 15 minutes to spare, so we ordered coffee. We just received our coffee when a van pulled up and stopped. Out came Sky and the other girls, plus 2 men. I told the girls to sit down, kissed each of them, then got into the van, which then sped away…

To Be Continued.

©2024 Steve McLeod.