We had taken Kiffany back to our room to talk with her and while we were just talking about some minor things, Friskie nodded to Sky that someone was at the door. So, Sky disappeared when Kiffany wasn’t looking and went out into the hall, standing on the ceiling and looking down at two men listening at our door. “And what are you two doing?” asked Sky. The men turned around quickly but saw no one, but then they noticed Sky on the ceiling. “How’s she doing that?” asked one man.

But before the other one could answer, Sky swung down, kicking the two men and knocking them unconscious. Hearing the noise I asked Friskie to take Kiffany into the bathroom and stay with her. Then I asked the other girls to open the door and Sky came in dragging the two men with her. “They were listening at the door,” said Sky, “I didn’t ask who they are or who they work for.” I then called Kiffany out to see if she recognized the men. “They work for “The Black Star Company”,” she replied, “that’s the one owned by Bruno and Paola Lopes.”

“Tracy, did you get that?” I asked. “Yep, working on it now Steve,” she replied. “Um, you’re starting to scare me,” said Kiffany, “first you talk to cats, now you talk to someone that isn’t there.” “Please don’t be scared,” said Friskie reassuringly, “we are a large organization of private investigators. Some of our team was kidnapped by Zara when she kidnapped Bruno and Paola and their daughter. We are hear to find and rescue them, hopefully before they are killed.

Our friends were here for Anita’s wedding and had nothing to do with anything else. But we are a law abiding group of PI’s, so there is nothing to be afraid of. We will also protect you completely if you will let us.” “Oh wow, that is so cool,” said Kiffany, “I have never met even one PI before, and now a whole team! By the way, Anita and Nico are not involved in their family’s criminal ways, they are both very nice. Nico’s parents work for The Black Star too. His father, Danilo, known as Danny, is a dangerous man, the killer of their gang. They constantly fight with Zara and dozens have been killed in their fighting, including innocent civilians like my best friend. I, I, really don’t want these men seeing me though, I’m scared.”

“Like I said,” repeated Friskie, “we will protect you, there is nothing to be afraid of. But I understand that it’s hard to understand that, however, we can fully protect you if you will just trust us.” She then hugged Kiffany who then seemed to really relax a lot after that. “Snow, go sit with Kiffany and purr for her,” I said. Snow quickly ran over to her and jumped onto her lap, purring as loud as she could. “Wow, she actually understood what you said,” exclaimed Kiffany, “and she is so adorable too!”

We talked for a bit, then those men started to regain consciousness, so Friskie took Kiffany to the next room where some of the other girls were staying. “Who do you work for?” I asked them, but not a word from either man. I didn’t want to let them know I already knew who they worked for or they might know that Kiffany told us. “Why were you listening at our door?” I asked again. Again, nothing from either of them so I nodded to Sky who smiled and went over to them touching them both and giving them a shock. That caused them to jump, but not say anything, so I again nodded to Sky and she gave them a bigger shock which caused them to scream.

Still nothing, so…another shock which really made them scream! “Hey, no more mister, please,” said one man. “Will you answer my questions then?” I asked, “Or should I give you back to Zara?” “What? No, we don’t work for her!” said the other man, “We work for a man named Bruno.” “Oh, you are with the Black Star gang,” I said, “perhaps Zara would really like to have you then.” “She would just kill us,” said the first man, “she knows we are only minor men, we don’t know anything.” “I disagree,” I replied, “you know enough to listen at our door, now, tell me, why is that?”

“Danny told us to find out who you are and why you are here,” said the second man rather quickly. “Oh, that’s good, now we will both be killed,” said the first man, shaking his head. “You can tell Danny that I am not interested in him or the Black Star gang,” I said, “we want Zara, and only her, and her gang. She kidnapped some friends of ours and we want them back. If she doesn’t return them we will destroy her and her organization. Can you tell me where to find her?”

They told us of two main locations to look for Zara. She owns two places called Zara’s Club, so, I told Tracy to check them out for us so we could go in prepared. Then we let the two men go and they left in a hurry. Sky followed them outside, invisibly, to see where they went, but they just went outside and called Danny to send someone to pick them up. They also told him that we were wanting Zara, not them, because she had kidnapped some of our friends. A car was soon outside the hotel and the men got in and they all drove away.

Sky came back and told me. Hopefully that will keep Danny and his men away from us now, or will it? We decided to check the largest Zara’s Club first, it seemed like the most logical one for finding Zara. I went well protected too, Sky, Angel and Friskie came with me, plus some of the other girls. It’s a good thing Tracy warned me what kind of club this is ahead of time. Rock would be handy to have around in this place, the security guards here are rather large, though not like Rock, or Bear. Well, well, look who is sitting at a table in the corner. I decided we would sit at an empty table fairly close to Zara and her friends. Sky had come in with us invisibly so she could mingle with the guests a bit…

To Be Continued. ©2026 Steve McLeod.