Steve`s Country
For a smile as wide as a country sunrise
The Investigators, Inc. Case of the Missing Granddaughter. Chapter 13. Trouble Arrives.
The police and ambulances were finally gone, and the helicopter fire was also out now, but still quite a mess to clean up. Annelie had found what she was looking for too, evidence that the judge was on Butcher’s payroll, amounts paid for allowing several criminals go free and matching deposits made by the judge at his bank the day after getting paid.
She did not tell the police that part, however, it was better to let the police figure that out for themselves, which they did. And the judge was soon in jail, being held without bail. The judge did a lot of protesting his innocence the whole time however. But it did not do him any good. He was caught. And he will be spending much time in prison for what he did.
Meanwhile, off in Germany, Rock and team were tracking down Ransom. According to Lucky he lived in a small city in the east of the country and had about 20 men with him at all times. Lucky even gave them the exact address of where to find Ransom. It was a nightclub with the offices of his organization in the basement.
He had better security than Scorpion, so they would need to be a bit more careful. But, the element of surprise was still the best way to go. Apparently he was always present when the club was open, so that was good. Hopefully Ransom would not know what any of them looked like, but due to his size, Rock would go in last, just in case.
Kate, Rusty, Angel and Storm would also go in last with Rock. That is when the fun will begin. The others went in 2 or 3 or 4 at a time, mostly as couples so as not to attract attention. Everyone was dressed nicely with a special lining in their clothes to prevent their weapons from showing up, but it only blocked the weapons, nothing else, otherwise it would look suspicious.
Finally everyone was inside and it was time for the last of the team. The girls and the cats came first. “Sorry ladies, no animals allowed,” said the one man. “These are special cats,” said Kate, “not just animals. They are for medical reasons to help keep us calm.” Ransom was close by and the other man waved him over. “These ladies want to bring these cats inside,” he said, “they say it is for medical reasons.”
“They help us stay calm,” said Kate, “and they are very well behaved. We can keep them under the table or on our laps so they will not bother anyone.” “Okay,” he said, “but if anyone complains, they will have to go.” The girls smiled and thanked him nicely and in they went and sat at a table, looking around the room to pick out any other guards that might be around. Then the man with Ransom noticed something.
“Hey Ransom, that gal has an orange cat,” he said, “Butcher said the ghost woman had an orange cat, and that she had long blond hair.” “Pick up those two women with the cats and bring them to my office,” Ransom said on his phone to his waiters. They all looked around and spotted the girls. “Looks like we have attracted attention,” said Angel, “okay cats, off you go, you know what to do.”
Storm and Rusty disappeared under the tables. Kat informed the others of the problem. Two waiters came to their table. “The boss would like to invite you to his office,” said one, “and that is an invite you cannot refuse.” He then showed his gun from under his towel. That is when Kat stood up yelling.
“What is this anyway?” she exclaimed, “we have not done anything wrong and you come to us with guns!” She then took the towel away to reveal his gun. “Yeah,” said Angel, “what is this place anyway? I thought it was supposed to be a nice place!” Then Aari stood up too.
“What kind of club is this anyway?” he asked loudly, “I came here to enjoy a nice dinner with my girlfriend and your waiters carry guns! This place was highly recommended, so why the guns used on two women who were not doing anything?” Then a couple more stood up saying similar things. That got the whole crowd in there worked up, standing and yelling at Ransom.
He calmed everyone down saying his waiters had made a mistake, they thought these two women were escaped convicts, but they are not. He apologized many times and came over apologizing to the girls as well and offering them free dinner. They smiled and sat down again.
“I would appreciate if you would come to my office after dinner though,” he said smiling, “perhaps I can offer you a good job, better pay than anywhere else.” “I doubt you could match our pay,” said Kate, “but thanks for the offer Ransom.” He stared at her when she said his name, since that is not the name he is known by around there.
Just then there was a loud crashing as Rock came smashing through the doors and tossed the two doormen aside. Kate looked at him and immediately knew there was trouble…
To Be Continued.
©2023 Steve McLeod.
Fun On Friday! #5 Moving and Smoke.
Good morning everyone! It is a beautiful, sunny morning once again. With smoke. Lots of smoke. It is from the forest fires. It was terribly thick with smoke yesterday, like fog. By late afternoon it was hurting my eyes, really burning them. It was hard to keep them open for any length of time.
And my throat was sore, and it was actually getting hard to breathe. First time it has bothered me so much, I was kind of surprised. It will be very heavy smoke again this afternoon. Oh well. I went to see my new apartment yesterday afternoon. It is very nice and a little bigger than this one.
Above is my little friend Scramble the Red Squirrel.
It is on the sixth floor, which is the top floor in that building. And it faces south, which is perfect for me. I like having the sun, especially in the winter. That apartment was actually cooler than this one and there is no air conditioning in there. I might need to get a window A/C unit for summer use, but I will wait until next summer to consider that.
Above are Clintonia wildflowers.
There is a bit of a safety issue in that area, so I doubt that I will walk around carrying my camera with me. But there is a nice area out behind the building to sit, quite a large lawn area, some nice trees too, and benches to sit on. But, there are things I will miss for sure. Walking to the river and watching the ducks and pelicans.
That was always so enjoyable. Plus all the wildflowers along the path to the river. There are so many different species of wildflowers. Then there are the many species of mushrooms too. Some which are very plain, others that are very different. Some are quite colorful and some are not.
Above is a female Common Merganser napping on the river. I woke her up when I arrived, but she went back to sleep.
And all the amazing variety of insects I would find along that path, and even right here in the yard. There might be insects over at the new place too. There were certainly lots of grasshoppers. Everywhere. All over the place. Even worse than around here, and that is amazing.
Some unusual, but interesting, mushrooms.
I will miss all my chipmunks, and squirrels, and all the birds which have become so friendly over the years. I am so glad that I was able to get pics of birds that normally I would not even see around here without the aid of a bird feeder.
Like the Boreal Chickadees this past winter. What a nice treat that was! However, I am sure that new opportunities will exist in my new location. I will certainly be looking for them. It is always nice to explore new areas. And find new things. Well, time to go out and try for some pics again. Have a great day everyone and God bless!
Steve and Muffin.
©2023 Steve McLeod.
