Well, the girls did not learn too much from Blueberry except for the fact that Christopher gambled a lot and likely started losing a lot of money. Plus he changed a lot with worrying and anxiety which he never had a problem with before. ”Hey Annelie,” said Sapphire, “check on Christopher’s health records, see if anything has shown up in the last couple of years that might cause a personality change.” 

“Shall do,” she replied, “that might take a bit longer though.” Then the girls went to see Ralph’s wife, Bertha. Her daughters were at home too, so that made things a bit more interesting. Right away the girls noticed that no one seemed to care that Ralph was dead, or that Christopher was missing. ”Chris got Ralph into gambling,” said Bertha, “that made Ralph a miserable man to live with.” 

“What are you talking about mom?” asked Betty, one of the daughters, “You always said he was miserable to live with.” ”Yeah,” said Brook, “the only reason you married him was his money. I am surprised you did not kill him off ages ago.” ”You hush with that kind of talk!” exclaimed Bertha, “you make it sound like I killed him. Maybe I did not like him much, but I would not kill him. 

After all, without him where are we going to get money? Your brother gets everything, I only get a measly $500,000 a year to live on! How am I going to do that?” ”They still have programs for poor people mom,” laughed Betty, “you will just have to get used to standing in line for a handout.” ”You better not laugh,” said Bertha, “if those Dark Dogs get everything, you will be without a job!” 

Now, the girls had never mentioned the Dark Dogs to anyone yet, so they were surprised to hear Bertha and the girls knew about them already. ”I could get a job with those Dark Dogs,” said Brook, “people like that are always looking for a pretty girl.” ”Who are those Dark Dogs?” asked Catalina, “With a name like that they sound dangerous.” 

“They are some sort of motorcycle gang,” said Bertha, quite casually, “Ralph met them about a year ago, maybe longer. They invested money in the business and Ralph gave them a good return on their investment every 6 months. I don’t know why he did that, the business sure did not need any help, it has been doing great the last 5 years.” 

“Yep, good ol’ step-dad got that business going great finally,” said Brook, “so he was always buying us expensive gifts and taking us on trips all over the world. I will miss that.” ”But you won’t miss your dad though,” grumbled Bertha. ”Neither will you momsy,” retorted Brook, “you enjoyed all the gifts just like we did. You could care less about Ralphie.” 

The girls stayed and talked some more and Bertha gave them a list of the different places Ralph and Christopher went to gamble. Blueberry knew of only one place, and strangely it was not on the list that Bertha gave the girls. After 2 hours the girls decided to leave, amazed at the attitude of Bertha and her daughters. 

At least Blueberry showed concern for her husband, crying quite a lot and just wanting him back home again. Though she could just be a good actress. Meanwhile, “Just remember woman,” said the man, “you only say what we tell you, got that?” ”Y, yes, yes, I understand,” she said, sobbing, “just please, do not hurt my kids!” ”Do what you are told,” he said again, “and your kids will not be hurt, but try anything and…” 

There was a loud groan as he punched the woman in the stomach. She fell to the floor crying and the man left. But, another pair of eyes were watching that man. When he got out to his motorcycle a man was standing there looking at it. ”Look, but don’t touch,” the man growled as he came closer. The man standing by the bike then gave it a kick, knocking it over. 

“I hate dogs!” exclaimed the man. ”Now you just made a huge mistake mister,” said the biker, “no one does that to my bike.” ”I just did,” said the stranger, “you gonna bark at me?” He then laughed. The biker took a swing but missed. Unknown to the biker, another man had come up behind him, punching him in the lower back. 

He groaned and his knees buckled. Then the first man kicked him hard, knocking him flat onto his back. Then a third man came and stepped on his forehead. ”I would suggest you do not move,” he said, “or you will lose all the skin on that forehead, and likely a lot of your hair too. Now, I have a message for you to deliver…” 

To Be Continued.

©2024 Steve McLeod.