Chapter 11
“So sweet of her to get so emotional over your gift,” said Scarlett once they were back in the car.
“Yeah, I hadn’t expected her to start blubbering like a baby,” Vesta said. “But don’t let that distract you from the mission, honey. She could very well have been playing us.”
“Her tears looked real to me. And trust me, I know fake tears when I see them.”
Vesta smiled. Scarlett knew what fake tears looked like because she’d probably employed the method herself on more than one occasion in the past, and knew how effective it was. “Did you manage to plant those bugs?”
“Yeah, I put one behind the bed, one behind the toilet and one in her home office.”
“I distributed the rest around the living room,” said Vesta. “So we should be good.”
“Let’s give it a test run,” said Scarlett, sounding upbeat and happy after a successful mission pulled off without a hitch.
And as Vesta steered the car in the direction of Town Hall, Scarlett fiddled with her tablet for a moment, then suddenly Charlene’s voice sounded through the car loud and clear.
“I don’t have cat kibble for you guys,” the Mayor was saying, “but I do have some turkey. Do you eat turkey?”
“Does a fish swim in the ocean?” grunted Vesta. “She really doesn’t know the first thing about cats, does she?”
“What are you going to tell her when you take Max and Dooley out of there again?”
“I’ll make something up. Maybe tell her I miss my babies too much and I underestimated how important they are to me.”
“I think we did a pretty good job back there, pardner,” said Scarlett, and held up her hand for a high-five.
“Damn near perfect job, pardner,” said Vesta, and reciprocated the high-five with a high-five of her own. “Except for the lock picking. I feel like we should practice some more.”
“And here is the perfect opportunity,” said Scarlett as they entered the Town Hall parking lot and found themselves staring up at the modest one-story building.
“We better wait until it’s dark,” said Vesta. “Breaking into Charlene’s house is one thing, but breaking into Town Hall is a different kettle of fish entirely.” Especially since Town Hall, contrary to Charlene’s home, was probably equipped with an alarm. Too bad her son wasn’t answering his phone, or she could have asked him for the combination.
Charlene stared down at the two cats, who were both staring up at her intently, as if expecting her to do something, or to say something, or whatever.
“Um… so do you want me to take you guys for a walk?” she asked now. She was unsure of how to proceed. She hadn’t lied when she’d told Vesta that she was a dog person. She and Alec had recently even opened a dog kennel in town, though in actual fact it was an animal shelter where all pets were welcome, whether great or small, canine or otherwise inclined. She wondered if she should call the manager of the shelter and ask her for some tips and tricks on how to deal with cats, but then decided against it.
How hard could it be to care for these cuddly creatures? And they were so sweet, too.
Though the way they were staring at her, their gaze unwavering, their eyes never moving away from hers for even a second, was frankly making her feel a little uneasy.
“So, um… how do you guys feel about suddenly being donated to a new human? A little weird, right, this Poole family ritual?” She’d known that the Pooles had this thing about cats, but this whole thing about giving away cats to new partners entering the family was something she’d never heard of before. Alec hadn’t mentioned it either.
“Look, if you guys expect me to talk to you, I’m very sorry but I can’t. I don’t speak your language, I’m afraid,” she said when they just kept staring at her, not moving a muscle and not saying a single thing.
“So, um… just make yourselves comfortable, and I’ll go and get you some food and, um…” And as the biggest of the twosome, the cat named Max, smacked his lips a little, she swallowed uncomfortably and quickly turned away. Oh, how she wished Alec was there.
“She seems nice enough,” said Dooley.
“Yeah, she’s great,” I said.
“Nervous, though. And unhappy.”
“What do you expect, Dooley? Her boyfriend just got kidnapped before her eyes and who knows what these maniacs are up to next?” I sighed and glanced around. I already missed my favorite spot on Odelia’s couch, and I knew I wasn’t going to be able to sleep as soundly as I usually did. Not to mention the fact that Charlene probably had never heard of the words ‘litter box,’ something Gran conveniently forgot to mention.
“I think we’ll have to do doo-doo and wee-wee in the backyard, Max,” said Dooley, who’d noticed the same thing.
“Yeah, looks like it,” I said. Which posed another problem: no pet flap!
Grandma Muffin had definitely done it this time. Giving us away? That hadn’t been part of the deal. Did this mean we’d have to stay with Charlene forever? I didn’t think I liked that. She was nice enough, sure, but even cats get attached to their own humans.
“Do you think we’ll have to stay here forever now, Max?” asked Dooley as he glanced around. The living room was minimalistically furnished, all black and white, the entire house constructed in plenty of steel and glass. Not exactly the coziest environment I’d ever encountered, as it lent the place more of an office feel than a real home.
“I hope not,” I said.
“I think Odelia won’t be happy when she finds out that Gran has given us away to Charlene,” Dooley surmised.
“And it’s not as if she can take us back either,” I said. “It’s hard to take a gift back once you’ve given it. Especially a wedding gift.”
“I never thought I’d be a wedding gift, Max.”
“Me neither, Dooley.”
But when Charlene returned from the kitchen carrying two porcelain plates heaped high with pieces of turkey, I quickly perked up. So maybe this new human of ours wasn’t so bad after all? We’d just have to break her in, like cats do with all of their humans.
Chapter 12
Odelia glanced around and frowned. “Have you seen the cats?” she asked.
“Didn’t your grandmother take them?” said Chase. He was on the couch surfing on his laptop, busily going through a list of convicts Uncle Alec had collared. It was a long list.
“Yeah, but they should have been back by now,” she said. “Unless she took them along on one of her neighborhood watch patrols.”
“Then that must be it. You know how she loves those patrols.”
Odelia hadn’t seen any sign of Harriet and Brutus either, but then they spent most of their time next door, at her parents’ place.
She decided to wander over there. She needed to talk to her mother anyway. But when she entered her parents’ kitchen, neither her mother or her father were in evidence, and of the cats there was no trace either.
Weird. People just kept disappearing, though of course the case of her uncle being kidnapped had everyone on edge, so things weren’t exactly normal right now.
And as she walked out again, she noticed a flyer her mom or dad had put up on the fridge with magnets. She read it with a rising sense of surprise.
‘Madame Solange will tell you everything you need to know about your future. Schedule a consult now, and find out what the future holds in store for you and your nearest and dearest.’
There was a phone number, and someone had circled it twice, adding a few exclamation marks for good measure.
And just as she was about to walk out of the house, her dad came walking in, his hands laden with bags of groceries, followed by Odelia’s mom, likewise occupied.
“I’m sorry, honey,” said Mom. “Did you want us to get something for you?”