We had to send Clarence to a hospital in the city because of his wound. A bullet landed right next to his spine and Li Jing did not feel qualified to remove it. That is why I sent some Baldwin security personnel to guard him, otherwise Craig could get at him too easily. Now we have to make some plans to catch Craig.

He owns two Chinese restaurants in the city, so most likely that is where he is staying. With a little more searching we discovered he has a bunker located under each restaurant where he stays when in the city. He likes to make sure he is safe at all times. But this time it just means he has gotten himself trapped. We will not let him leave those places and if necessary we will go in after him.

I prefer to let him come out to us however, if we go in there is a chance we could lose more team members. We have Team 4 and Team 5 with us right now and I ordered more Baldwin security personnel to guard the clinic. We can also call on Teams 3 and 4 from Baldwin security to help us if needed. The Team 4 with us now is from Mandar.

Plus he brought a couple of women along with him before that want to join our team and they too are joining us right now. With 5 of our team down right now it is nice to have the extra help. Plus, Craig will not know about them so that is a big advantage for us. Now, we need to split into 2 teams, Rock will take one and I will take the other.

First of all we need to watch those two restaurants for a while and see if Craig will come out. I doubt he will want to stay underground hiding for very long, he wants to watch over his ‘business’ holdings a little more closely. Well, it has been 2 days and nights but we have not seen Craig or his 3 helpers. Annelie said that Williams has tried to hack in to our computers again. I wonder what he wants this time? Still looking for more information about Kat?

Meanwhile, “Well Williams,” said Craig, “what have you found out?” “I am still working on things,” he said, “they made some changes since the last time I hacked in. Guess they knew someone had hacked and they wanted to prevent it from happening again. But I will get in, just will take a little longer.” Just then Butch comes into the office.

“Hey boss, I have been thinking,” he began, “you still want to get that Kat woman, right?” “Of course I do,” he said, “but how, that is the problem.” “Why not use the warning method?” asked Butch, “You know, kill someone important on the team, then let her know that the killing will continue unless she helps you.” Craig looked up at Butch.

“Mark, make sure Butch gets a nice bonus in his next check,” said Craig, “that is a perfect idea.” “You going to kill Steve?” asked Williams. “No, you idiot,” said Craig, “kill him or his wife would just bring the wrath of that whole team on us. No, we want someone important, maybe close to Steve, or close to Kat, but not too important.

We can then threaten more killings, making them more important each time until she gives up. Who was it that Morgan hired that shot the gal through the car window?” “That would be Mel, the best hit man around,” said Williams, “and an amazing sniper too.” “Get him for me,” said Craig, “he is just the man for this job.”

Now, back to us. “I just got word that Craig has hired a hit man,” said Annelie. “What name?” asked Mac. “Mel Crooker,” she said. “Crook?” said Mac, “he is one dangerous man. Never misses, never gets caught.” “That means he is after us,” I said, “or at least one of us anyway.” “That could be you Steve,” said Sky.

“Possibly, but not necessarily,” I said, “could also be you. What better way to stop me, he could be thinking.” “Would it stop you Steve?” asked Catalina. “No, but it would stop Craig very quickly,” I said. “Craig wants Kat,” said Mac, “so he is going to try and force her to work for him by threatening to kill someone on the team. And he will kill someone to show he means business, then keep killing until she gives up.”

“I agree with Mac,” said Miles, “it fits someone like Craig.” But who will Craig kill? And can we stop him before he kills? “I found the perfect one to kill,” said Williams, “she is close to Steve, so she would be close to Kat also. But she is no longer a part of The Investigators, which makes this easier and less dangerous for us.”

“Okay, okay,” said Craig, “quit with the suspense and tell me who it is!” “A woman named Carine,” said Williams, “she looked after Steve when he was in that nowhere state I told you about…”

To Be Continued.

©2023 Steve McLeod.