I called the older lady in Paris and discovered that the 8 in her address was actually a 3. Sigh. I called Sky and she, with her team, wanted to continue with their case. I told her to be on heightened alert and to alert us immediately if something is wrong. Off they went and found the house. It was a large old house that was in excellent condition, outside and inside.

All the furniture was old and beautiful, and the lady of the house was very nice, so that put Sky and the girls at ease, a little. But they were going to stay alert anyway. Meanwhile, back with us. “What day did Engle’s family die in that fire?” asked Annelie. “The afternoon her and I were out at that old shack,” I said, “which is why we never went back there.”

“I have been thinking,” said Nelson, “what if this is not about inheritance?” “What else could it be?” asked Beryan. “It would seem that whoever killed her family, meant to kill all of them, including Engle,” he said, “perhaps her parents were involved in something, like a gang, and had stolen from them.” “And they hid the money out at that little shack,” I added, “we need to be careful about saying such things around Engle though, at least for now.”

Galyna had taken her out to sit on the porch for a while. Beryan said it was time for my massage and that I was not allowed to delay it. “Okay,” I said, “off we go.” Suddenly the cats came running into the library all excited, jumping up and down. Meowy!=Danger coming, we feel it! Meowi!=Yep, both of us feel it, something real bad going to happen!

Just then Crystal came in, “There is a man at the gate who would like to talk with you,” she said, “and he added that you would want to talk with him.” “In that case,” I said, “I definitely want to speak with him. Everyone else leave the room, except Kat and Dawn, I do not want him to see you.” Everyone else left and the man came driving up to the house and came to the door.

“Please stand still,” said Crystal, “okay, you may come in now.” The door opened for him and Andrej was waiting. Andrej is tall and muscular, the visitor is rather short and chubby. “You will need to be frisked for weapons,” he said in a monotone voice. The man allowed him to do so. Then Andrej brought him into the library, handed me two items and then left.

“You may sit down, Mr. uh, Finkle,” I said, “it says here that you are a police officer from Sweden.” I quickly scanned his ID and sent it to Annelie. I gave his ID to Dawn who returned it to Mr. Finkle. “And this is in Swedish,” I said. So I called Andrej back in to read it for me. “It is an Arrest Warrant for a woman named Karen Eriksson, seems to be in order, but not legal here though,” he said, and handed it back to me.

I said he could go again and to return the warrant to Mr. Finkle. “Now, what would you like from me?” I asked. “Well, obviously to hand over Karen to me,” he said. “Well, there is no one here by that name,” I said, “but even if there was, why should I give her to you?” “Because she is a wanted woman in my country,” he said emphatically, “and I know she is here, I have seen her!”

“Oh, you admit to spying on us,” I said calmly, “for that I should just have you thrown out of my house, literally. “Now look here!” he yelled, “I thought we could do this as gentlemen, but I see that is impossible, so now I must demand you hand her over to me!” “Andrej, throw his man outside,” I said firmly. “Now wait here,” said the man, “if you do not give her to me, you will never see your wife or her friends ever again! I will give you just 24 hours to think it over.”

“Wait Andrej,” I said, “prove to me that you have my wife and her friends.” “I need to call my man in Paris,” he said. I told him he could. I was soon talking with Sky who confirmed they had been captured, again, but had been treated well. That was all she was allowed to say. “Mr. Finkle,” I said, “I will give you just one hour to release them, unharmed, with everything they had, or you will die. Do you understand that?”

“Ha! If I do not come out of here in another 15 minutes,” he said smiling, “then your wife and friends will be killed. Are you ready for them to die?” “You now have 14 minutes,” I said, “release them or you will die. Are you ready to die?” I tapped the arm of my wheelchair and Andrej stood in front of the library doors while Kat and Dawn took out their guns and pointed them at Mr. Finkle.

“I will call your bluff,” he said smugly. I texted Annelie to call Mandar to go pick up Sky and her team and just wait at the airport for now. “You have just 5 minutes left Mr. Finkle,” I said calmly. “Well, guess I should go then,” he said and stood up. Andrej hit him with a hard back handed slap, knocking him back into his chair.

“Time is running out for you,” I said, looking right at him, “Dawn.” She then shot once putting a hole in the wall beside his head. I think he was now getting the hint that I was serious. “I, I will need to call my man again,” he said nervously. I said he could do so. Ten minutes later Sky called to let me know they were free. I told them where to go, but in numbers, so Finkle would not understand.

“You may now go,” I said, “make sure he leaves safely Andrej.” Crystal and Aoife went out also, watching until the man had gone out the gate. I then called Mandar and told him Sky and team were on their way. He told me not to trust Finkle, he was a police officer, but he also worked for a large underworld crime boss. That certainly fit with what we had been thinking…

To Be Continued.

©2023 Steve McLeod.