Purrfect Peril

Chapter 26

Odelia listened to the ringing tone once, twice, three times—and wondered why her uncle wasn’t picking up his phone. This was the third time she tried to call him and each time she got his voicemail. Normally he picked up on the first ring so where was he?

She tried Chase instead, who did pick up on the first ring.

“Hey, babe,” he said, his new favorite word for her. She could get used to it.

“Have you seen my uncle? He’s not picking up his phone.”

“Nope. Isn’t at the station, either. No idea where he is, actually. Why?”

“I have a situation here. With his mother.”

“Uh-oh. What has she gone and done now?”

“She’s moved in with me.”

Silence. Then: “I think I misheard. Did you say she moved in?”

“Yup. The Goldsmith gambit backfired and since Mom and Dad didn’t support her claim to fame and fortune she decided to move out of their house and into mine.”

“Um…”

“I know we said you’d move in, but considering this new situation, maybe we should reconsider?”

“I can wait. How long before she moves back out?”

“A week. Tops.”

“Don’t tell me. This isn’t the first time.”

“Last time she moved out was because Dad made her wash the dishes. She told him she wasn’t his flunky and Dad told her he wasn’t her houseboy and things kind of escalated from there. Took them a week to make nice again and for things to return to normal.”

“I can wait a week.”

“You can still sleep over.”

“With Granny breathing heavily in the next room? I don’t think so.”

“I thought nothing could turn you off?”

“Honey, the thing that can turn me off still has to be born or invented, but I draw the line at getting hot and heavy with my girlfriend while her grandmother hovers over the bed with a curious expression on her face. Call me a prude but exhibitionism isn’t my thing.”

As she disconnected the thought occurred to her that this would put a serious crimp in her love life. Then her mind returned to Tracy Sting, the woman who was now their prime suspect in the Burt Goldsmith murder. From what the four most interesting men had told them the woman could hold her own as a gunslinger as well as possessing a black belt in all the known martial arts forms as well as a few she’d never even heard about. Armed and dangerous, Chase had called her, and had told his fellow officers to keep a lookout for the woman. Chances were that Burt’s killer had been right under their noses all along.

She moved upstairs to help her grandmother settle in—or convince her to move out. When she found the old lady bouncing up and down on the bed in the guest bedroom, she abandoned that particular hope. Granny Muffin looked like she was ready to make her granddaughter’s home her new permanent home away from home.

“Did you find the sheets?” she asked, then saw that Gran had. Her finest pink ones, no less. The ones with the Hello Kitty theme. The ones she’d put away when Chase started staying over. Nothing acts as a natural testosterone repellent like Hello Kitty pink does.

“I found a male toothbrush in the bathroom,” Gran announced sternly.

How she would distinguish a male toothbrush from a female one Odelia did not know. As far as she knew toothbrushes were genderless. Nevertheless she blushed.

“It’s possible Chase has been staying over once or twice.”

Gran cocked her head. “Honey, I don’t want to interfere with your love life.”

Hope surged.

“So whenever you guys feel horny just tell me and I’ll put in my earplugs.”

Hope crashed.

“How long will you be staying?” she asked, braving Granny’s ire.

“Forever by the looks of things.” She glanced around at the guest bedroom, a small affair in comparison to Gran’s own room next door. “I like it here. I think I’ll be very happy. Do you have a VCR? I don’t want to miss my favorite shows. I like to tape them just in case.”

“VCR went out the window when the world went digital, Gran.”

Gran’s eyes went wide. “I’m gonna miss my shows? I can’t miss my shows!”

“Relax. I’ve got DVR, and so has Dad.”

“Yeah, ask for instructions. He’s got all the deets. He’s been taping my stuff forever.” A cloud momentarily passed over her face, and her dentures dug into her lower lip at the mention of her son-in-law. The moment passed and then she was strong again. “Better yet, ask Alec. He’ll know what to do. At least Alec never kicked me out of his home.”

“You never lived in Alec’s home, Gran.”

“That’s what I meant,” she said vaguely, then bounced up from the bed. “Now show me how to work the shower. I like it not too hot, not too cold, and Tex never moves the mixer tap. I hate it when people move the mixer tap. Pisses me off big time.”

And as Odelia followed her grandmother into the bathroom, she discovered a newfound appreciation for her mother and father’s predicament. She’d lived with her grandmother for all of half an hour and already she was contemplating geronticide.