I was still talking with Aari about his two sons. ”Steve, you should have taken care of those sons of mine too. They are dangerous and want to kill Aasta so they will get the inheritance. I should never have told them I took them off my will and all goes to Aasta, though I did not give her new name, just Macie. Please watch over Aasta Steve, I know about the photos, I also know how they got them, that is why I took them off my will.” 

“I will make sure Aasta is safe Aari,” I said, “I promise you that.” ”Those boys like to work at night, so be extra careful then,” he said. ”I will have her stay with me in my bedroom,” I said, “it is completely safe, no one can get in after I lock to door.” I was hoping you would do that,” replied Aari. ”That is, if she wants to,” I said. 

“You forget easily Steve,” he said, “do you not remember what she said before? She meant that.” ”Yes, I remember,” I said. ”You should let Mac and Matt deal with those two boys,” he said, “they know how, they are likely in that hotel in town, they never stay in a fancy hotel.” ”I will look into it,” I said. We then hung up so the guys could go look for some snowmobiles. 

I do not like this at all, two things going on at once is not good. I sent Mac, Matt, Tracy, Penny, Cinnamon, Aoife and Roxette to town to see if they can find out anything. The guys wanted to go alone, but I thought some pretty women might be good bait to bring those rats into the open. Mac agreed it just might work, especially since they did not see any of these girls. Off they went to town. 

Meanwhile, back at the cabin. Rock and his team found the snowmobiles and sleds they needed and figured out how much gas they needed to bring with them, plus other supplies. Then off they went to try and reach the girls before nightfall. The girls were still trying to find Kristina but found nothing, she really did vanish. Their only clue was being dragged into that wall under the stairs. 

Somehow there is a door on that wall that opens, but why can the cats not find it? Something is not right. ”Storm,” said Candace, “could you maybe use this pin to open that lock?” Storm looked at it. Meowr.=Yep, maybe it might work, me try. The girls went back to the third floor and noticed that all the furniture had been moved around and the white sheets had been removed. But why? 

It made no sense. Anyway, Storm got busy with the lock while Candace held him in place. Soon the lock was open and Sky threw the door open quickly with Storm and Tiia running inside the room and hiding. This room was very nice and filled with lovely furniture. And there was no dust anywhere. ”Looks like someone lives here,” said Dawn, “must be that person pretending to be a ghost.” 

“Right,” said Sky, “but where is he now?” They spread out, looking throughout the room. At the far end was another smaller room and Sky opened the door quickly again. ”Kristina!” she yelled. Kristina was there, hanging on the wall, tied to iron rings that were fastened to the wall. The girls quickly cut her down and began to carry her downstairs. 

Then they heard shots, so the two girls carrying Kristina stopped and let the other 3 girls get ahead of them. When they arrived at the main floor Chantelle was busy with Engla who had been shot. ”I have never removed a bullet before,” said Chantelle. ”Do you have what you need to do it?” asked Sky. ”Yes, I do, but…”, she began. 

“Then you will have to do it,” said Sky, “you can, just take it slow. Who shot her?” ”No idea,” said Crystal, “we saw no one, just heard a shot, but it must have come from over there.” Over there was a wall with a large fireplace. The girls were not wearing their vests, they left them in the SUV’s overnight thinking, why would they need them out there? 

Now those vehicles are nearly completely buried in the snow. ”There must be a way to get in from that fireplace,” said Dawn. She and a couple other girls began to look, along with the cats. Tiia came out of the fireplace and shook herself sending black soot all over the large room. Dawn was holding Storm up high and he noticed an odd hook on the side of the fireplace and told Dawn. 

She tried to turn it, which was amazingly easy to do, and a door opened on the inside of the fireplace. It was now late afternoon, it would be getting dark soon so they did not want to search that hidden passage today. Then they heard a strange noise…

To Be Continued.

©2024 Steve McLeod.