It has been a nice quiet 2 weeks since our last case giving us some much needed rest. Now we can start planning our Christmas celebrations. We are going to begin a new tradition around here. Since most of the girls, and guys, have no family to join over Christmas, we are going to have a huge Christmas celebration right here for everyone. And that means we need to start early to make sure everything is just right. We will not take any new cases after the 15th of the month, and maybe earlier if it looks like it may be something more complicated.

Mind you, that doesn’t mean anything, since many of our simpler cases have turned out to be complicated anyway. Ivy, who joined us not long ago, had a long time back made plans to visit her family for the first two weeks of December and since she had not seen them for 2 years, I gladly gave permission for her to keep her plans. I did try to convince her that maybe she should take 3 of the girls along with her, just in case she ran into any trouble.

“Steve, it’s just a small, sleepy type of town,” she told me, “crime is nearly non existent since the only gang in town had been crushed and the four leaders are still in prison. The rest of the gang moved elsewhere. Besides, my parents only have a small house and the only bedroom available is my old one, which is rather small. And mom doesn’t do well with having strangers around, it stresses her.” “Okay, but remember,” I said, “if you need anything at all, phone right away, don’t wait.” “I will do that,” she said, “sometimes I think you worry way too much.”

“You’re right about that one,” said Jennifer, looking at me. Ivy giggled. The next day we drove her to the city and she took a regular commercial jet. On our way home I contacted Cristy. “I want to know everything about that town for the last 2 years,” I told her, “change in civil government, police, crime, new businesses, whether the town is growing or shrinking, you know, regular stuff like that. And anything that you think might be unusual too.”

“Okay Steve, I’m on it,” she said, “but why suddenly now and not before?” “I just started to sense trouble ahead for Ivy after the plane left,” I said, “nothing that felt like it was imminent, but still, it was there.” “I’ll have that info for you by the time you get home,” she said. “Don’t hurry too much,” I said, “I want a thorough check done.” “It will be thorough Steve,” she said, “and I will keep digging even after the initial report.” “Thank you so much Cristy,” I said, “you are wonderful.”

“Aww, thanks Steve,” she said. When we got home I went through Cristy’s report on Ivy’s home town. There really wasn’t much interesting that has happened in the last two years since Ivy was last home. They do have a new mayor, but most of the counselors are the same. There is a new police chief and 3 new officers, but there are still 9 long time officers. Only one new business in town which sounded like a specialty restaurant of some kind. Well, nothing exciting there really except for one thing.

The population of the town is 9,000 and they have 13 police officers. Over the last 2 years since the new police chief came, crime has gone down by some 77%. That’s a huge drop for a small police force. But Ivy did say that gang in town had been chased out, so maybe that helped a lot. That night, I got a phone call from Ivy, in code. “Hi Steve, how are you tonight?” she asked. That phrase began our code talk. “I’m missing you already honey,” I said, “how are you feeling after your long flight?” “Oh, the usual, a headache,” she began, “then trying to remember my way around this town.

I rented a car like you suggested and got my hotel room right away. I haven’t seen my family yet, I needed to relax first, those long flights always make me dizzy and nauseated. Everything is so different since my last visit home. Sure wish you could have come with me though, maybe you could talk with your boss again, mom would love to meet you.” “I can try Ivy,” I said, “but you know how tough she can be. But I’ll see what I can do.” “Well, I need to lie down right away,” she said, “I will call again tomorrow. Bye cuddle bear.” “Bye cuddle kitten,” I said. After the phone call Jennifer looked at me.

“Cuddle bear and cuddle kitten?” she asked, “Who wrote that code?” “Um, I think that was Misty,” I said, turning a bit red. “You should be embarrassed,” she said, shaking her head, “so, there’s trouble, her family is missing, she’s worried or scared, maybe both. She thinks the hotel room still has a listening device, though Sneaker did find one already.” Sneaker is Ivy’s cat and he can find listening devices quickly, plus cameras, drugs and poison. He learned quickly with Muffin, Storm and Snow teaching him. “Sky,” I said. I then felt a tapping on my shoulder which made me jump.

“oooo, kind of nervous today,” said Sky. “Only when people sneak up on me,” I said. “But you called,” said Sky, “so technically I didn’t sneak up on you.” Sigh. I told her about Ivy’s call and I wanted her to go look after her right away. She disappeared and walked into the hotel where Ivy was staying and asked for her room number. The man at the desk asked for her name and phoned Ivy who told him to send her up right away. “That will cost you more if she stays the night,” he said coldly. “I’ll pay when I come down for dinner,” she said.

Soon Sky was knocking at the door and Ivy let her in. First thing Sky did was put out a scrambler so they could talk. Then Ivy told Sky she had gone home but found other people living there and she was told they had been living there for ten years, which is impossible and Ivy told them so. She was raised in that house and still lived with her parents until 3 years ago. That’s when the man got angry and told her to leave or he would call the police.

Then she went next door to talk with Carol, a nice woman who has lived in that house for 20 years and was good friends with Ivy’s mom. But she acted strange and said she had never heard of Ivy or her family and she also said to leave or she would call the police. “It’s like I never lived here,” said Ivy, “and I’m worried that something must have happened to my family, and I just talked with mom last week!”

About that time I drove into the hotel parking lot, or rather, Sherry drove in, with a large limousine. With us was Angel, Macy, Jackie, Charlotte, Kristina and Kailey. We also had Muffin, Storm, Tracker, Tandi, Azura and Princess with us this time. I had Sienna book us rooms for one week, also for those who would be joining us tomorrow. Something very strange is going on in this town and I don’t like it.

To Be Continued. ©2025 Steve McLeod.