Catch as Cat Can

4

Ollie Barnstable sat open-mouthed, staring after Val Overton through the window as they set off down the street. Then he chomped his teeth together with an audible click, turning a pink face toward Sunny to reassert his authority.

“Now, about Garret. I want you to keep on him. No way are we letting this turn out like the last tenant.”

“Madman Mel’s Pillow-Mania?” Sunny asked in an innocent voice. “Who would have imagined any problems with that? Although now that I come to think of it, using ‘Madman’ and ‘Mania’ in the name of his store might have suggested he was a bit of a nut.”

Ollie was still squirming, but he tried to look like a hard-line executive. “He had a business plan. I didn’t see any problem.”

He had all his retirement savings sunk into a pillow store, Sunny silently responded. And you saw a chance to get rent for an empty property.

The problem was, Mel wasn’t about to give up on his plan—his dream. He fought tooth and nail to hang on even though the public wasn’t beating a path to his door. As he fell behind in rent, his publicity stunts got more desperate—like heading off to outlet-land to show the world how poorly made the competition’s pillows were. Loudly bad-mouthing the “cheap crap pillows,” he tore several open, showering passers-by with chopped feathers or polyester fill. That got him banned from the outlet malls, but it was much harder getting him out of the store.

After the eviction Sunny feared Mel might return to throw rocks through the windows of his former premises—or the MAX office. It made her glad her boyfriend was a cop—she had plenty of police presence on the block. In the end, though, sadder but wiser, Mel went off to Florida to be a greeter for a big box store. And the space next door had been empty until Neil Garret had come along.

“So are you providing me with a cattle prod, or do I need to hire some muscle to scare him off?” Sunny finally asked. “Val Overton looked capable of handling the job—and I think she’d like having you owe her.”

She could hear Ollie struggling to silence his usual temper. “Don’t blow things out of proportion,” he finally said. “Just catch him sometime each day and mention I’m waiting on the rent until he comes across with a check.”

Or a rock, that annoying voice in the back of Sunny’s head hastened to add.

Ollie turned back to his project, finally gathering up all the papers and locking them in one of the file cabinets lining the back of the room. “I’m off,” he said. “Anybody calls, give them my cell number.”

Sunny relaxed a little. She probably wouldn’t see him for another week.

Ollie stopped in the doorway. “And don’t forget about Garret. A gentle reminder—but every day.”

“Sure, Ollie.” Sunny tried not to sigh her response.

With Ollie out of her hair, Sunny finally got back to work. Troubleshooting the shopping cart software went smoothly after a bit of trial and error. She finally got it to recognize the MAX website and even work properly.

By the time she sat back in satisfaction, it was time for lunch. Sunny got the phone and gave her father a call. “Before I feed my face, I figured I should check in. Do we need to get something for supper tonight, or are we going out with Helena and Abby?”

“Looks as if we’re on our own for dinner,” Mike replied. “But those Martinson girls are coming over for coffee. Helena said she’s baking a cake.”

No wonder he sounds so cheerful, Sunny thought. Helena Martinson’s coffee cake was one of Mike’s favorite things.

“She also suggested that we see if Will would like to come, too,” her dad went on.

“You’re sure you want to let him glom onto a piece of that cake?” Sunny teased.

“As long as he restricts himself to just one.”

She smiled. “Okay. I’ll stop off at Zach Judson’s and get some chicken.” For a moment, Sunny considered going next door for fish instead.

No, she decided. Chicken was quicker . . . less trouble in general.

Sunny said good-bye to her dad and then called Will to check his availability for dinner. He agreed, so she went shopping for three.

The evening meal wasn’t fancy—broiled chicken breasts, boiled potatoes, and mixed vegetables, simple fare that could be prepared quickly after Sunny got home. The doorbell rang, and Sunny moved from the kitchen to answer it. She brought Will inside, took his coat, and led the way into the living room. Will looked around. “Wow. Pulling out all the stops.”

The house looked great. Mike must have been cleaning up all day. He’d even splurged on some cut flowers arranged in a vase on the coffee table.

It had been a while since he’d gotten some flowers . . . and then Sunny remembered why. A gray form eeled its way along the side of the couch, stretched low to the floor in stalking mode, gold-flecked eyes fixed on the vase and the nodding blossoms as if they were magnetized.

“Shadow,” Sunny called sharply.

Her voice must have alerted Mike, who appeared in the entrance to the living room, his vivid blue eyes focusing on Shadow in what Sunny called the laser glare of death.

“Don’t even think about it,” Mike warned the cat.

Shadow paid the voices no attention, padding away in an elaborate display of unconcern.

*

There’s always later, Shadow told himself as he paused at the entrance to the hallway. Sunny and her He sat on the big chair, joined by the Old One who also lived here. Shadow was a little surprised to find Sunny’s He at the door. The Old One had fussed around the house all day, driving Shadow out of several napping places with his dusting and cleaning. He’d never done that for another male before.

And then there were the flowers. During warm weather, the Old One spent a lot of time outside in the yard, digging in the ground and fooling around with bushes—another of those weird things two-legs got up to. Shadow had no problem with bushes. They were good for shade, and when the flowers appeared, they could be interesting. But the only time Shadow played in the dirt was for a specific reason—to cover up things that should be covered. And why should the Old One holler when Shadow tried to play with the flowers on those special bushes?

It was even weirder when the two-legs brought flowers into the house when it was freezing outside. He thought they must be very tough to live out in the ice and snow, but they came apart under a curious paw just as easily as the ones that popped up in summertime. And there was even more hollering when he investigated. Like this time. Both Sunny and the Old One had growled at him.

Then they had sat down right in front of the flowers, so there was no chance after that. Shadow went down the hall to the room where the humans messed with food, got a running start, and leaped to the top of the box that made things cold.

That was another thing that drove Shadow crazy. They had a box that kept things cold, and they’d take food out of that and put it in a box that made food hot. He sniffed appreciatively at the aroma of chicken and spices filling the room. Okay, that wasn’t so bad. But if they wanted to keep their food cold, why not just leave it outside where it was cold already?

I suppose the squirrels might steal it. Or the birds, he thought. When he was hungry, he sometimes tried the door of the cold box to find something to eat, but he couldn’t get inside. He had to go and herd a human over to the place where food was kept.

Sunny came in and did things on top of the hot box. Then she came over and gave Shadow a gentle scratch between the ears, talking to him. He closed his eyes in pleasure, then opened them wide to stare at her, thinking, I’m hungry, too.

It must have worked, because Sunny went over to the place where his food was kept. She got some of the crunchy stuff and put it in one bowl and refilled the other with fresh water. Then she went to wash her hands and went back and forth in the room, setting things on the table and getting more things to eat.

She went down the hall and called the others, who came in and sat down.

Now might be a good time to go and see about those flowers, he thought as he watched them pass food around. It would be fun to bat at those drooping heads, maybe even give a shove to that glass thing they were in . . .

He pushed up onto his feet, and his stomach rumbled.

Maybe I’ll stop off at the food first.

*

They had a pleasant meal, Mike happily tucking into what he called “good old-fashioned meat and potatoes.”

Thinking of all the diner food her dad must have consumed during his years on the road, Sunny thought, At least here the meat isn’t covered in grease, and the potatoes aren’t fries.

She’d gotten skinless chicken, preparing it with lemon slices and herbs. It went down pretty easily, with no complaints from anyone.

Shadow decided to be sociable and eat, too. He came over when Will held down a morsel of chicken in his hand, but after sniffing it he went back to his own bowl. “Most times, he’s not interested in people food,” Sunny said.

“Maybe if I were Neil Garret with some fish . . .” Will gave her a grin.

“The tidbits Neil serves up are uncooked.” Sunny returned the grin. “That’s why he wears gloves.” She got a bit more serious. “I don’t know how much longer that store is going to stay open. Neil’s behind in his rent. Ollie wants me to keep reminding him it’s due.”

“That’s a shame,” Mike said. “Garret seems like a nice guy. Better than that whacko with the pillows.”

“If he starts pulling fish apart up in outlet-land and dumping the insides on passing shoppers, I’ll let you know,” Will promised. He put down his knife and fork. “So, Mrs. Martinson’s daughter is back in town. How is she?”

“You’ll have to ask Sunny,” Mike said. “She’s the only one here who’s seen Abby.”

“I played chauffeur for Mrs. M., taking her over to the airport to pick up Abby,” Sunny said. “After two days of cross-country nonsense, I can’t say how she stacks up against Hollywood starlets, but she’s probably in the top one percent of paralegals.”

“Huh.” Will had an odd look on his face.

“Did you know her?” Sunny asked. Will had grown up in the county seat, Levett. While that wasn’t exactly the end of the earth, it wasn’t Kittery Harbor, either.

“Not really.” Will returned to his normal self. “She was in a lot of plays around here.”

“I was telling Sunny, a beautiful girl like that, it’s surprising she didn’t make it in Hollywood,” Mike said.

Sunny shot him a look. It’s one thing to say that to your daughter, she thought, and another to say it to your daughter’s boyfriend.

“Well, I’m not a Beverly Hills cop, just a plain old Elmet County one,” Will said. “From what I hear, it’s mainly a question of getting good breaks. Right now, though, the big question for her is: Will there be cake?”

Mike smiled in anticipation. “Helena told me she was baking.”

Mrs. M.’s coffee cake was famed throughout the county for its deliciousness.

Better to have the conversation swerve to bake-offs instead of beauty contests, Sunny thought as they finished the meal.

Mike excused himself. “I’m going to go keep an eye on those flowers in case the furball gets ideas.”

That left Sunny and Will alone to do the dishes. He picked up the dish towel while she got the sink’s spray attachment. “So did you know Abby Martinson or not?” she asked.

“Not really.” That odd expression was back on Will’s face. “But—full disclosure here—I did have a crush on her. As I said, she was in a lot of plays. I went to an all-boys high school, so if we did a show, we had to import actresses from other schools. She was Kate in Kiss Me, Kate, and I was a lowly lighting tech. A buddy was kind enough to warn me that I was punching way out of my weight class.”

“B–but—” Sunny sputtered. “You ended up going out with the queen bee from my school. How—”

Will held up a hand. “Yeah, I went out with Jane when I was in college. Abby was going out with college guys when we were in high school. It’s just the way things were—and one reason why I’d never wanted to be younger than twenty.”

Sunny went to work on the dishes. Yeah, “the best time of our lives”—phooey.

They finished and headed for the living room to find Shadow in his sphinx pose, his eyes on the vase of flowers . . . and Mike’s eyes watching him like a hawk. Back in her youth, Sunny had taken some scorching looks from her father. With the one he was aiming at Shadow, she was surprised that patches of the cat’s fur hadn’t begun to smolder.

She scooped Shadow and sat in an armchair, depositing him in her lap. Will took the other chair, leaving Mike the couch. After a few minutes of conversation, Mike looked at his watch. “They should be here soon.”

“I’ll get the coffee started.” Sunny rose from the chair, letting Shadow leap to the floor. In typically nosy fashion, he trailed after her to the kitchen.

“Nothing to eat,” she told him as she set up the coffeemaker. “And you’re probably the only person in the house who’s not wild about Mrs. M.’s coffee cake.”

The doorbell rang, and Shadow stared up at Sunny. “There’s the company,” she said, walking down the hall to the door. He trailed along, curious but not necessarily eager to get chummy with the outsiders. Mike was already opening the door, greeting Helena, getting introduced to Abby, and then introducing Will.

“And, of course, you know Sunny,” he said as she joined them.

“Nice to meet you now that I’m awake.” Abby handed her parka to Mike, revealing a sweater that hugged her curves up top and some mutant offspring of jeans and leggings that were so tight Sunny could see the play of muscles in Abby’s thighs as she walked to the living room. Worse, Sunny noticed that Will had noticed. Since Sunny was wearing a turtleneck, a sweater, and jeans cut to accommodate long underwear, she was not pleased.

“What say we get comfortable?” Mike said as they arrived in the living room.

“I’ll bring this back in with Sunny.” Helena Martinson held up a covered cake plate. They left Abby sitting on the couch with Mike. Will had resumed his seat in the armchair.

In the kitchen, Sunny began filling cups and arranging them on a platter while Mrs. M. cut pieces of cake. “So how was your day with Abby?”

“To tell the truth I’m not quite sure,” Helena replied. “We took it easy today, just chatting. But I got the feeling there was something Abby wasn’t saying. She still hasn’t.” She looked up from her work, concern in her eyes. “You don’t think she might have lost her job? Could that be why she was interviewing in Boston? Maybe this visit is a way to look into the idea of moving back with me.”

“I’m sure if there’s something like that going on, Abby will bring it up sooner rather than later.” Sunny arranged sugar, sweetener, and a small pitcher of milk on the tray and headed back to the living room. Mrs. M. followed with the cake, plates, and forks.

After passing the goodies around, Sunny took a seat while Helena sat beside Mike.

“This is nice,” he said, enjoying a forkful of coffee cake.

“Yes, you and Mom seem very comfortable together.” Sunny noticed the edge in Abby’s voice. “That strikes me as pretty incredible, considering the way your daughter and Constable Price seem to spend all their time chasing murderers.”

Will started to open his mouth but shut it when he caught the look Sunny sent his way.

This is not the time to tell her that he’s Chief Investigator Price now, Sunny thought.

“It seems as though my mother has gotten into a lot of things while I was away,” Abby went on. “Things she’d never do.”

“Like helping a lot of families here in town and all through the county?” Sunny spoke quickly. “Have you heard of the 99 Elmet Ladies? Helena was a founding member and runs their food pantry. If you think we’re getting her to do that—”

“Why did you change all the doorknobs in our house?” Abby interrupted. “Putting those handles all over the place.”

“That was quite a project,” Mike said, still not catching on that Abby wasn’t pleased with the change.

“I have to deal with a bit of arthritis in my hands.” Helena carefully flexed her fingers. “Turning those knobs was getting harder and harder.”

“Mom—” Abby burst out, then made a scrubbing gesture with her hand as if to remove the word from conversation. She started again at a lower volume. “You don’t have to kid me along about who the invalid is here. What worries me is that you’re setting up our house for him.” Abby glanced over at Sunny and Will. “And I guess you’ll be setting up housekeeping here when your father goes to live with my mom?”

Helena and Mike looked like a pair of teenagers caught making out on the couch. Mrs. M. sputtered for a moment. “Abigail Martinson,” she finally managed to say. “What are you suggesting?”

“Come on, Mom. When I get you on the phone, all you do is talk about Mr. Coolidge there.”

“Mike,” Sunny’s dad said in a faint voice.

“I mean, it’s obvious you have a relationship, and I’m glad for that—honestly.”

Mrs. M. stared, and so did Mike. “You are?”

“Well, sure. You ought to have someone in your life, and I have no problem with that. But . . .” Abby bit her lip, trying to find words. “When Dad got sick, you took care of him, and I know that was very tough on you.” She glanced at Mike. “Are you ready to do that again with Mr. Coolidge?”

Mike and Helena shared a look—and a different kind of shock. They’d been enjoying one another’s company, but that didn’t mean they’d immediately started on long-range life plans.

Sunny decided it was time for her to speak up. “You know, I’ve been taking care of my dad.”

“From before or after you lost your job in New York?” Abby smiled at the look on Sunny’s face. “It’s amazing, the resources a law firm offers if you want to check into people.”

“Wow, you’re a one-woman intervention.” Will shook his head in wonder. “Come here to save your mom from our clutches.”

“But I think you’ve been in California too long.” Sunny struggled to keep her voice level. “I lost my job because I came up here to help Dad out. But that’s what we do here. We look out for our own. I help my dad. Helena helps folks who can’t put food on the table. And if she needs a hand, I’m happy to offer one.”

Abby looked as if she’d been slapped. “Maybe I have spent too much time in Cali.” She looked down at her hands. “You see a lot of bad stuff there, greed, pretense, back-stabbing. But I worried about you, Mom.” She reached over to take Helena’s hand. “I wanted to see how you were doing.”

That was the moment Shadow chose to make his entrance. He veered a little to rub beside Sunny’s leg, but then he headed boldly to Abby, staring up at her.

She smiled and leaned forward. “Well, hello there, cutey. Who are you?”

*

Shadow hung back, watching as the two visitors arrived. One he recognized, the Old One’s She. The other was another two-leggity female, younger. Shadow wasn’t sure that was good. Some places he’d been, when there was an extra She, fights began. If Sunny’s He got too interested, that might happen here.

That wouldn’t be good.

As they sat down to eat, it seemed as though he was right to be worried. Shadow could feel the tension in the air, and it seemed to center around the strange new female. The Old One and his She seemed almost frightened, giving the newcomer hard looks. Shadow thought Sunny might fly from her chair, even though she didn’t have much in the way of teeth and claws.

He did, though. And if this strange She started making trouble, she’d have him to deal with.

Sunny spoke sharply, and Shadow got ready to jump into battle. But then the mood suddenly changed. The strange She spoke softly, taking the older female’s hand.

Maybe there won’t be a fight after all, Shadow thought, padding forward. He stopped to mark Sunny—and to remind her that he was on her side. Then he walked up to the stranger.

She showed teeth in that odd way humans had and bent forward, extending a hand. But she wasn’t grabby like some two-legs. She politely held it down so he could give it a sniff. Unlike the older female, who always stank of that big yellow dog who lived with her, this one didn’t smell of biscuit eater. He pushed his head against the younger one’s fingers, and she began petting and running her claws through his fur in a very well-practiced way.

Shadow glanced around. Everyone seemed to have calmed down. It’s a shame they don’t know how to groom one another instead of making noises, he thought, closing his eyes to better enjoy Good Petter’s ministrations.

*

The Martinsons left soon after Shadow appeared. Mike volunteered to walk Helena and Abby home, which suited Sunny just fine. As soon as they left, she turned to Will. “Don’t think I didn’t see you checking Abby out.”

“An investigator has to be alert for any possible evidence,” he said in his best Dudley Do-Right voice.

“Oh yeah? And what evidence did you get from her thighs?”

Will shrugged. “That she probably spends a lot of her free time in spinning classes.”

His response was sufficiently out of left field that Sunny laughed. “Well, don’t go letting that old crush mislead you.”

“Are you kidding?” Will said. “A cop falling for someone who works in a lawyer’s office? It’s unnatural. Plus, California hasn’t exactly given her a sunny disposition—or didn’t you notice?”

Sunny smiled. “I may have noticed a couple of clues along those lines.”

*

Sunny stifled a yawn as she pulled her Wrangler into a parking space near the MAX office. She hadn’t stayed up late last night after Mike came back home. Will had left, saying it was a school night, and Sunny had turned in well before the late news. She didn’t sleep well, though, and the morning alarm seemed to go off just as she was settling in for some decent rest.

She had to drag herself out of bed and through the morning routine. Throw in some overnight ice, a fender-bender that snarled up traffic, and she arrived late at the office.

Good thing Ollie didn’t pick today to drop in, she thought as she crossed the street. She wasn’t the only one who was getting in late. The gate was still down over the door to Kittery Harbor Fish. Digging out her key, Sunny went into the MAX office, glad to be out of the wind and freezing weather. A hot cup of coffee would go down pretty well right now, she thought as she started the machine.

Sunny was just getting through the morning’s emails when she heard the rattle of the gate going up next door.

Better go play rent collector, she thought, putting her cup down. If Ollie calls, I’ll be able to tell him I did my duty for the day.

It was just a couple of yards between doors, and Sunny was wearing a heavy sweater, but she still felt the cold as she darted into the fish shop’s entrance. Neil Garret stood in front of the counter, wheeling around as Sunny came in. “We’re not really open—” he began.

Sunny rubbed her arms. “It’s almost as cold in here as it is outside,” she said. “Are you turning off the heat?”

Her question seemed to shake Neil out of a daze. “No,” he replied, heading around the counter. Sunny followed him as he strode to the rear of the store—and an open back door. “Oh, no.” Neil ran to the cash register, hitting buttons to open the drawer. Sunny got out her cell phone and hit 911. “I’m at Kittery Harbor Fish,” she said, giving the address. “There’s been a break-in.”

As she spoke, she followed Neil to the door of the walk-in freezer, nearly crashing into him as he suddenly stopped. Then Sunny saw why—the sprawled form on the floor in a puddle of frozen blood.

“And a body,” she added.