While John and team were inside the “home” of Joshua taking care of him and his bodyguards which numbered 8 armed men, Aasta and Karin were in the hall. Aasta bent down and picked up a gun from one of the dead guards. “Can you shoot this?” Aasta asked, showing her own gun. “Yes,” said Karin, “Steve taught me to use a gun and I have kept up with target practice. I have never shot anyone though.”

Aasta tossed her gun to Karin. “Just aim and shoot,” she said, “you watch that way, I will take this direction.” She had no sooner said that and men came from both directions. The girls began shooting, Karin took down the 4 men from her direction.

Aasta got 4 of 5 men from her direction, but then she ran out of bullets. Karin was also out of bullets. The man shot Aasta and she fell. Karin was about to dive for the other guard’s gun but Storm came out just then and when he saw what was happening he quickly flipped over and “Thwock!”, the man was dead.

“Good boy, Storm!” said Karin, then she checked on Aasta, she was still okay, just wounded. Karin breathed a sigh of relief. Then John and the others came out, everyone there was okay. Aari carried Aasta down to the van, then John called the police to come and finish clearing the building. They arrived quickly and were given clearance to leave and get Aasta to the hospital.

Andy Bannerman, alias Andy Talbot, alias, Mr. Fenn, was the leader of the organization and the real Mr. Fenn. However, he used Karin to be the voice of Mr. Fenn so that if anything happened, she would be caught as the head of their organization and Andy would go free, or at least get a lighter sentence. But Kat, or Kate, finished him off for good, her kicks are powerful, no one survives them.

Only Kat and her twin sister Jennifer could do that. Now, time flies ahead just a bit. “That felt nice,” I said as I opened my eyes. I looked up and saw Kat standing by my bed and Muffin beside me. “Well, you are back with us again,” said Kat smiling, “that is good to see. The team needs you, in case you did not know that.” “I expected to see Sky here,” I said, “I am worried about her.”

“Do not worry about anyone mister,” said Kat, “just concentrate on getting better and getting out of this bed.” “How long has it been?” I asked. “You were 2 days in the hospital, and it has been five days since you came back here,” said Kat. “And why are you here looking after me?” I asked again.

“Someone has to do it,” she answered, “and Li Jing is rather busy, so is Bridgette, we need more nurses. Rock and Mac were wounded badly too, and Aasta had a more minor wound. We will talk about why the 3 of you men were not wearing vests at a later time, going against the rules.” “I gave mine to Aubrey to help protect her,” I said.

“Aubrey had 2 girls and 2 cats protecting her,” said Kat, “she did not need your vest. But enough of that for now. How do you feel?” “Actually, a bit hungry,” I said, “do I get food here?” “This has been your food,” said Kat pointing to a bag hanging beside me. “I need real food,” I said. “After 7 days, you will have to build up slowly,” said Kat.

She then told me everything that happened on the end of our case and everything was wrapped up for us with the police taking care of things now. The whole organization in N. America, Europe, India and Australia was being dismantled completely with the information we had found in the hidden office. Aubrey is here with us and so is Karin.

Karin is going through sessions with Galyna to help her get out of the work she was in, kind of de-programming, but she should be just fine when it is all done. Aubrey is here for her protection and has asked about joining our team. That should work out good, she actually brings a lot of expertise to our team if she works out and passes all the tests.

Maybe Karin will too if she wants, we will wait and see. I also found out that Kat and Crystal have taken turns staying with me 24 hours a day. No mention of Sky all this time though. Kat was masterful at dodging my questions about Sky, so I stopped. I knew that something had gone wrong, but did not know what might have happened. Then Li Jing came in and Kat left.

“Sky is alive Steve,” she said, “but the virus came back on her, Annelie and Tracy, they almost died. But Karin had the antidote and we got it just in time to save them. But Sky cannot walk, basically she must stay in bed, though she can sit for short periods. Annelie and Tracy reacted much better and are starting to walk a bit now. So I am sure that Sky will be fine in time, it is just taking longer, so do not worry.”

Another week passes. Rock, Mac and myself are up and walking around, okay once more. Right now Sky and I are in the back garden enjoying a sunny day. She is doing well, still in a wheelchair but able to walk a bit now and then. She has determination and I am sure she will be walking again eventually, but some things take time. We both understand that.

And even if this is as good as it gets, that is okay too. Here comes Rusty, our newest PI cat, still in training though, and he is pulling his new little wagon packed with fresh donuts! He is going to make a great addition to the team! Here come the other 4 cats too, guess that means we will be sharing those donuts. We definitely need a rest before taking on another case. A rest, not a vacation.

The End. But a new story will be coming soon!

©2023 Steve McLeod.