( Author’s note, Chapter 23 stated that was the end of the story, but today’s chapter 24 is actually the end, sorry for the mistake, not sure how I did that). Now we pick up the story where Lauren had told her two killer dogs to kill the cats that had jumped onto Baldwin’s big desk…Before the dogs made it to the desk, Kat called to them. They stopped and she pointed to the closest dog and said “die”! 

The dog immediately fell over, dead. Lauren told the other dog to attack Kat, but before he had a chance to move, Kat did the same with him and he fell over dead. ”She is a witch, or something!” said one of the men. Lauren was furious that she lost her dogs, so she pulled out her gun and tried to shoot, but nothing happened. ”You cannot kill someone that is already dead,” said Kat, “I am a ghost, and as a ghost I have strange powers. I would suggest you leave.” 

Lauren looked over at the man on the other side of the room. ”That is why I wanted her,” he told Lauren, “she does have unique, shall we say, abilities, which can be of great help to me.” ”Grab that box and get out of here!” shouted Lauren to her men. ”Touch that box and you will die next,” said Kat calmly. The man just sneered at Kat and bent over to pick up the box. 

Kat pointed at him and said, “die”! The man fell to the floor, dead. ”Let’s go Lauren,” said Michael, “I smell a trap.” So all of them ran out the door and right into our trap! Matt yelled at them to surrender, but Lauren’s men began shooting. Our team returned fire and this kept on for a while giving Lauren and Michael opportunity to escape. 

They ran out to the road where another car was waiting to pick them up with two men inside. Lauren’s escape plan worked, she and her remaining men disappeared into the night, never to be found. Most of the men she left behind died in the fight, the remainder surrendered. The next day Rossana showed up with her team of experts and with the help of Alfred identified the gems and who the owners were for most of them. 

The experts were amazed at Alfred’s knowledge, not only of the gems and their value, but his knowledge of who owned which gems and when they had been stolen and where they were stolen from. Rossana knew all about Alfred and just smiled. She did tell me later that I should give Alfred a new identity, for his own safety. I told her I would try to do so, but he had said no the first time I mentioned it. 

Well, this case is over, except for those who need to recover from injuries. Cheryl was not surprised by the reaction of her family. She told Galyna and myself that her dad had sold her to Lauren when she was just 15. She is now 17, though she thought she was older, time had just kind of disappeared for her. She came to me the next day with Aasta and literally got on her knees and begged me to let her stay with us. 

She also wants to join our team. ”Well, our rules state you must be 18 to join,” I told her. ”But I was only 17 when I joined,” Aasta reminded me, giving me that cute pouting look she has. I brought it to the team for a vote and Cheryl got a 100% yes vote, so she is a full team member now. She still must pass our tests, however, she is still a member. 

Mandar asked me if his helper could join our team too, so we now have 2 new team members. My back was more seriously hurt than originally thought, so my recovery will be quite long. Meantime, Rock will take over and I will direct things from home. I can barely walk and can really do nothing on my own, needing help with everything for now. 

Sky has picked out some of the girls who will be my permanent helpers during this time since she cannot do everything by herself. Ginger began a remarkable recovery after returning to the clinic and receiving a visit from Kat and Rusty. I am sure Kat had a hand in that, but she did not claim to do anything. 

All of the others are in various stages of recovery. Sky is still not back to normal yet either and Dr. Kerstina is a bit worried about that, but Sky is back home now, however she cannot exert herself too much. This was a long case, I wonder what will come our way next? 

The End. A new case will show up very soon.

©2024 Steve McLeod.