Deadly Diamond

“There are many cat quotes: some are clever, some are funny, and some are true, but a true ailurophile knows that we are as unique as any human.”––Murfy

CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT: A Problem With the Security System

It was almost bedtime. The phone rang and at first, no one moved. Alyx answered on the second ring. “Sorry for the late call, Ms. Hille. I thought you’d want to know that there seems to be a problem with the alarm system at Antiques & Designs.”

Alyx sat up, and I scooted closer. “What kind of problem?”

“The alarm is malfunctioning at its location. Would you like to have someone take a look at it tonight or wait until tomorrow?”

She hesitated for an instant. “I think you’d better send someone tonight.”

“Alfred Simms is on call. He’ll be driving his own vehicle rather than a company car and will meet you there in about fifteen minutes.”

Alyx was still wearing the shorts and tee shirt she’d put on that morning. She slipped into a pair of sandals and quickly went out the door with me on her heels. We pulled up behind the shop and the second I saw the parked black sedan, I immediately recognized the heavy-set man waiting by the back door––the same man who’d tried to run her over at the train station.

Alyx parked in a lighted section of the parking lot. She opened the door, and I catapulted out of the truck. Hissing violently, I galloped ahead, and lunged at the man’s head. He raised his arms to protect himself and knocked me flat against the brick wall. Alyx quickly got the picture, but instead of running away, she started running towards me. He pulled out a gun that was tucked in his waistline, fired a shot and missed. Alyx ducked behind a cement light pole five feet in front of her.

“It’s your fault; you should have minded your own business. I tried to warn you but you ignored the note on the truck and you ignored what happened at the train station. Why didn’t you leave it alone? The old bitch never did anything for anybody.”

I recovered enough to creep behind him and plan my attack while he blubbered on. He almost sounded sorry when he said, “You should have stayed out of it. I have no choice. Now I have to kill you.”

He took a step forward, and at that moment, I leaped up and sank my fangs deep into the fleshy part of his right leg, right above the ankle. He repeatedly tried to knock me off with his gun and missed for the most part, succeeding only in making me determined to hang on. The rest is a blur until Tim Schaumburg, a private investigator and a friend of David Hunter said, “Okay, Murfy, you can let go now; I have it.”

I hate the taste of human flesh, and so I promptly let go. Tim didn’t expect me to understand what he’d said, and, as it often happens, that look of amazement mixed with doubt appeared on his face. It was like catnip to me.

Alyx made a fuss over me while she checked for wounds, and held me gently, careful not to touch the tender spots.

“Thank you so much for your help, Tim. How did you happen to be here?”

“I’m not here by accident; David asked me to keep an eye on you.”

“David Hunter asked you to do that?”

He nodded once. “I was watching your house, intending to leave when you went to bed––hoping it would be soon. When you drove away instead, I knew it meant trouble, and so I followed you. I called the police on the way, and I called David who’s going to meet us at the police station.”