Steve`s Country
For a smile as wide as a country sunrise
The Investigators, Inc. The Case of Carole Ann’s Return. Chapter 11. The Trade.
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.
Saturday Stories. #7
Hello everyone! Well, it is time to sit down with a cup of coffee and relax with another story from my past. It can be hard to pick out a story to share sometimes since there are so many and I cannot remember what I have already shared. Even doing a search on my blog does not always help since it will turn up nothing and yet I am sure that I have shared that story before.
Oh well, for today’s story I need to turn the clock back a few years and hopefully I have not shared it before. It was a nice February day and a year we did not have much snow. There was about a foot (about 30cm) of snow on the ground, so I decided snowshoes were not necessary, I would just go for a walk. During a summer walk I had discovered a small lake and I wanted to see what it looked like in winter.
Heading down to the river.
The temperature was 5F (-15C), so not too bad, and the sun was shining. Off I went and as usual I did not tell anyone where I was going. I drove down this small forest road to a certain spot and parked. From here I walk. The first part was all very tall pine trees and not much undergrowth, which made for very easy walking.
The second part was more lowland area covered thickly with spruce trees, mostly black spruce and some balsam fir. After about an hour I finally could see the small lake in the distance. Really, I should call it a pond, not a lake. During the summer I could not get to the shore on this side of the pond because it was too marshy.
I noticed a deer had walked across the pond recently, so I decided to follow in it’s tracks and I was soon on the other side. I walked up onto a hill on that side of the pond and decided to stop for some coffee and a sandwich. The smell of coffee brought some Canada Jays looking for food. It probably was not the coffee that attracted them, but it sounds good for the story.
I shared my sandwich with the 3 of them, each one landing on my hand to get their piece. They each chirped “thanks” as they flew away. Canada Jays always do that. And it seems no matter where I meet them, they are willing to land on my hand to get their food. They were the first birds I had seen on this walk. After finishing my coffee I continued my walk.
Going downhill close to the river.
I intended on walking around this pond and back to my car. Okay, this pond was bigger than it looked at the beginning, maybe I should go back to calling it a small lake. It was already late afternoon by the time I was getting back to the side I started on, but there was still a long walk back to the car. Then I tripped on some roots of a spruce tree and down I went, hitting my knee on a rock and twisting my ankle and my wrist.
How fun. It seems I hurt myself a lot when I am by myself. Guess that is why Krissy always told me I should have someone with me. That did not always work out however. That certainly slowed my walking though. Good thing it was late February when the days are getting longer, or it would have been dark by the time I got back to the car.
Rocky hillside by the river.
As it was, it was dark by the time I got back to my car. Sigh. By that time my knee was incredibly painful and my ankle seemed to be swollen twice its normal size. During that whole walk the only bird life I saw were those 3 Canada Jays and one raven flying high overhead.
Oh well, it was still nice to get out and enjoy the day. Photos today are more recent and from spots along the river here. I hope you all have a great weekend, and if you can, get outside and enjoy the day! God bless!
Steve and Muffin.
©2024 Steve McLeod.
Steve`s Country 