Mandar always seems to know just how to handle whatever situation arises, and it was no different this time. When Raymundo mentioned “Steve’s Wildcats”, Mandar knew exactly what to say. “Oh, are they here too?” asked Mandar. “You know them?” asked Raymundo, “Would they be the ones trying to take over my territory?” “Oh, I doubt that very much,” said Mandar, “that is definitely not their cup of tea, as it were.

They are a gang that works for the highest bidder and do not care about the job, as long as they get paid. They will even change sides if the “enemy” decides to pay them more. Have you seen them here?” “Yeah, they paid my club a visit during the night, smashed the place and stole a fair bit from my safe,” said Raymundo, “fortunately they did not have time to find my other safe.

They do not seem very dangerous though, all women that we could see, although I assume the leader is a man.” “Do not write them off, my good man,” said Mandar, “they are much tougher than they look, those girls are hand picked and well trained.” “Have you had encounters with them before?” asked Raymundo. “Fortunately, no,” replied Mandar, “basically, we stay out of each other’s way and have had no need to fight one another.

Steve is from Canada, but from what I have heard, he is not on friendly terms with any of the organizations over there. But I am curious to know why he might be here, and at this moment. I doubt it would be by chance, so I must look into that.” “I also do not believe in that kind of chance,” said Raymundo, “but he did walk off with some rocks that had just been delivered the day before. Would that be reason enough for him to be here?”

“Ah, there we have it my good man,” said Mandar, “someone knew and hired him to steal those gems. That brings us back to Diego, the man who appears to be working for the organization from Canada. Would he possibly know of those ‘rocks’ as you call them?” “Yeah, he did know,” said Raymundo, “he picked up the rocks for me from my contact.”

“That could be your answer then,” said Mandar, “um, would you care to have this man we recovered? He does not seem to be very cooperative beyond what we found out, but perhaps you might have better success.” “I would indeed like to have him,” said Raymundo, “I open at 6, bring him along, leave him outside, then come in to enjoy another meal, on the house.” “Oh, that sounds like a wonderful idea,” said Mandar.

He showed up and handed the man over to Raymundo’s men, then went inside for his meal. Mandar did not give Raymundo the man that talked in exchange for protection, he gave one of the other 2 men. The man who talked told us who had hired them, and how to find the leader of this organization. Steve and his Wildcats waited for this leader to leave the hotel, then followed the two cars out of town, suddenly overtaking and surrounding the cars, bringing them to a stop at a convenient location.

The windows were all dark as we approached the cars with our guns out. Jewel quickly ran under the lead car and attached a bomb to the underside of the car. A man’s voice was then heard. “Your guns will do no good, this whole car is bullet proof.” “Is it bomb proof too?” I asked, “Do not try to get away, or your car will explode in a very large fireball.” “What do you want with me?” asked the man.

“It is not a man speaking,” said Jennifer. “I just want to talk with you to find out why you attacked a friend of mine,” I said. There was silence, then a rear window opened slowly. Jennifer was right, it was a woman, not a man. “I have attacked no one,” said the woman. “True, you hired someone to do it,” I said, “my name is Steve, this is my wife, Jennifer.” “My name is Melanie,” she said, “I do not know what you are talking about.”

“You are not giving the right answers,” I said, “my patience is not unlimited. His name is Albano Delgado, first you smashed his small carpentry shop, then you beat him so that he is in the hospital fighting for his life. I do not like when such things happen to my friends. You are from Canada, what are you doing here?” “You don’t appear to be Spanish,” she said, “what are you doing here?”

“Trying to find out why you hurt my friend,” I said, “you have a short memory.” “Yes, very sorry about that,” she said smiling, “but your friend works for Raymundo, and my boss wants me to put pressure on Raymundo, as much as I can, until she gets here.” “He does not work for Raymundo,” I said, “Diego has given you wrong information.” “Hmm, you are well informed,” she said, “that is interesting.”

“That is my job,” I said, “it is how I stay alive in my business.” “It is possible your friend has not told you of his association with Raymundo,” said Melanie, “things like that do happen.” “Yes, I agree,” I told her, “if you are right, then I will apologize to you. But, if you are wrong, well, I do not like liars, and you will not like what will happen if I discover you are lying to me about Albano.”

“Be careful what you say, you might not stay alive long when Mike gets here,” said Melanie. “Well, well, so Mike is your boss,” I said, “this gets more interesting all the time.” “You know Mike?” asked Melanie. “I have never met her,” I said, “but I have certainly heard of her, she is supposed to be strong willed and dangerous.” “Yes, a very good, and concise, characterization of her,” said Melanie, “any further questions sir?”

“Not at the moment,” I said, “but I will be watching you. Jewel, get the bomb.” She ran under the car and retrieved the bomb she had placed there earlier. “Well, quite the cat you have there,” said Melanie. “She is actually my wife’s cat,” I said, “my wife can do anything with animals.” “I would love to have a cat like that,” said Melanie, “but Mike hates cats. Perhaps we will meet again sir.”

“Somehow I think we will,” I replied. We then moved out of her way and they drove off. “I think she wants out of her relationship with Mike,” said Jennifer. “Perhaps we can use that,” I said. “Be careful my precious,” she said, “a woman can be dangerous.” “So can I, my beautiful wife,” I said.

“Oh, you are just a kitten,” she said, “we girls are the wildcats, and don’t forget that please.” “I just hope that Mike does not put things together and remember who we are,” I said. “That would be a problem,” agreed Jennifer…

To Be Continued.

©2024 Steve McLeod.