The night passed without any problems, which was nice. “And how does my big, bad husband feel this morning?” asked Sky with a smile. “Actually, I feel great,” I answered, “not sure why I had such a bad headache last night, but I was very tired, so maybe that was it.” “I hope so,” she said, “I do not like it when you get headaches, that usually means ‘nowhere’ again.”

“But I had my medication before coming on our honeymoon, so that cannot be it,” I replied, “and how was your visit last night? Do you think anyone saw you?” “If they were watching Penny, they must have seen me,” said Sky, “I made sure to make myself visible enough, but just enough.” “Good, that should make them think a bit,” I said, “they will wonder how you could be in two places at once.”

“Is that really important?” she asked. “Maybe not,” I said, “I just wanted to give them something else to think about. How is Penny doing?” “She is nervous,” said Sky, “but otherwise she is doing fine. She is terribly worried about her husband though.” “That is normal,” I said, “I would be worried if she was not worried.”

“True enough,” said Sky. We all got ready and went up for breakfast. It is a beautiful view from that restaurant. While we were waiting for our breakfast, Chief Darryl came in and sat with us. “Taking a chance,” I told him.

“The boys are watching and if anyone comes near, I will leave right away,” he said, “I got an anonymous tip this morning about Brent and his wife Lynn. We went over to their place and found their bodies in the garden shed out back. We searched that shed before, twice, now it had bodies in it.” “Someone is sending you a message Darryl,” I said, “they want you to back off or you and your wife will be next.”

“I do not scare easily Steve,” he said, “and I will not back off.” “Good, but get your wife and kids to a safe place, and fast,” I said, “and make sure they have protection until they get there. Send them as far away as you can too.” “I could send them to her parents home for a while,” he said, “they live on the east coast.”

“Good idea,” I said, “send a couple men with them, but quietly.” “Okay, I will do that,” he said, “and Dan’s wife and kids are safe too, so it is just Mike to find now. And I do not hold out much hope of finding him alive.” I thought for a few moments. “I think we will find him alive Darryl,” I said, “I just have a hunch about that though, so I could be wrong.”

“Well, I hope you are right Steve,” he said, “now I better get going, you might be getting a visitor.” He left down one elevator and shortly after he was gone, the other elevator arrived with Brink, Chuck and that other guy. Only Brink stopped at our table. “Mind if I sit down for a few minutes?” he asked. “Go ahead,” I told him, “but remember what I said about these cats being able to kill, so please be careful.”

“Just a friendly visit,” he said, “you were right about that Fox guy, hard to find too much info about him though. One of my friends over in Germany had an encounter with him though, seems he likes to hit places then offer protection.” “I did not think they did that sort of thing anymore,” I said calmly. “It can still be very profitable,” said Brink, “and my boys said that your wife visited Penny last night, they were sure of it.”

“That is interesting,” said Sky, “was that before or after you came to visit us?” “It was at the same time,” he said, “which I find odd.” “So do I,” said Sky, “I have no twin sister, or any family actually.” “And how do you know about Mr. M.?” he asked me. “In my business, it is necessary to have good intelligence,” I said, “I do not like surprises, so it was not hard to find out the real owner is Mr. M.

I have not tried to find out who he is just yet, but I will if he tries to bother me in any way. Now, I do believe I said to stay away from Penny. I mean that. You will have your hands full with The Fox, you do not want me coming after you too.” Right then he got up and joined his friends.

“Rather rude man,” said Kat. We got up then and went back to our room and I called Aari. “Mac knows that guy with Brink, goes by the name Blade,” he said, “they were in the same ‘business’, Blade still is, and he is very dangerous. He might be sent to visit Penny. I am sending you a pic of Mr. M.” “Well, well,” I said, “my thoughts were right…”

To Be Continued.

©2023 Steve McLeod.