Retriever Ransom

Chapter Twelve

I spent much of that night tossing and turning as I replayed my conversations with the mayor and Nan's suspicions regarding his motives as a pet owner. Clearly I was missing something big… But what?

That question kept me from entering the deep sleep I so desperately needed.

Octo-Cat quickly grew frustrated with me and went to sleep somewhere else in the house. I missed his warm presence in bed, but it beat listening to him complain about my anxious insomnia.

I’d hoped to sleep in a little the next morning, but Nan would hear of no such thing. As soon as light began peeking from beneath the curtain, she burst in with Paisley yapping at her heels. "Good morning! It's a great day for a run! Our second run! You're going to feel terrible," she said with a sinister smile, "but we have to keep going and then you'll feel great. No time to waste. Chop, chop!"

I pulled the pillow over my head, not caring if it smothered me. Nothing could be worse than running with Nan on almost no shut-eye.

Then Octo-Cat, proving things could always get worse, appeared with a dead rat in his mouth and dropped it directly on me.

I shrieked and pushed the covers, and the rat, to the ground. Paisley quickly zoomed in and took possession of the deceased rodent.

"This is yummy! What a big fat rat.” Her voice came out muffled, but undeniably glad.

"Why would you do that to me first thing in the morning? Why would you do that at all?” I asked Octo-Cat, still shivering with disgust.

"Consider it payment. Not a gift. I need something.”

"I don't want it as a gift or a payment! I don't want it at all!” I shuddered again. These little gifts—or payments—of his were made that much worse by the fact I could talk to rats, too.

Octo-Cat never minded making me uncomfortable, though. All that mattered was his own needs.

“You really made me uncomfortable last night, Angela,” he began with a sigh. See?

“With all that tossing and turning and mumbling in your sleep, I could scarcely catch any winks myself. That just won't do. I need my own bedroom. My own bed."

"You've got to be kidding me. I can't handle this right now. Nan, I don't feel well. I can't go for the run. I need to save all my energy for the case."

She waved away my concern. "Nothing like getting your blood pumping first thing in the morning to wake up that tired brain."

I groaned. Why couldn’t they leave me alone for just five minutes? Was that so much to ask? Five minutes would help so much.

“I’m guessing there's no way out of this?"

"Nope," Nan answered pertly and then tossed a water bottle my way. I didn’t catch it. Instead, it bounced back to the floor.

Paisley had already left the room, rat in mouth, which I desperately hoped I wouldn't be seeing again. I also would not be letting Paisley lick me until she had a good solid teeth-brushing.

"Let's go. Hurry up," Nan said, taking her role as my personal trainer far too seriously.

Octo-Cat jumped on the bed and stared daggers at me through his amber eyes. “Seeing as you accepted my payment, I’ll expect services to be rendered by nightfall. Don't forget. When you get home, I get my own bedroom and it better be a nice one. This is my house, after all.”

I ignored him as I got ready for what I already knew would be a terribly exhausting day.

Paisley was still off somewhere with my rat payment, making it easy to sneak away without her. Unfortunately, we still had far too much snow for her to be safe and warm outside.

For both of our sakes, I hoped the weather improved soon, but I knew better than to expect that of Blueberry Bay in early February.

Nan drove us to Cujo's house, then grabbed him from the side yard and clipped on his leash.

"I expect you to do better today.” The disapproving muttsky narrowed his eerie eyes at me. "Yesterday's performance was unacceptable, but I'm glad you're here to try again. We'll make a runner of you yet."

"I don't know why it's so important to you,” I mumbled. "You don't even know me."

"Oh, but I know running," Cujo answered with a chuckle as he kicked his legs back in the snow.

And just like that, we were off.

"So," Nan said as we rounded the first block. "I still think there's something fishy going on about that missing golden retriever."

I knew I wouldn't be able to run in peace. Even small miracles were denied me as of late, it seemed.

"What's this now? A missing retriever?" Cujo asked, still running at breakneck speed.

I, for one, felt as though my shoulder might pop clear out of the socket as I tried to maintain my grip on Cujo’s leash and keep pace with both him and Nan.

"Yes," I panted, already overexerted. "It's our case."

"Case?" He asked, his ears twitching and turning with interest.

"I'm a private investigator."

Gasp.

"Me and my…”

Gasp.

“Cat."

He snorted. "You can't give a cat a job. Cat doesn't care about getting it done. You need a dog. Luckily, I volunteer. You give me a job, and I'll get it done. That's what we working breeds do best. So tell me, how can I find this missing golden retriever?"

"What's he saying?" Nan asked and I remembered that while she couldn't make out the words, she could hear the barking and guttural noises uttered by Cujo and other animals as we conversed.

"He wants to help find Marco,” I explained, taking several deep gasps for air yet again.

"Perfect!" Nan replied in her normal, unfatigued voice. Here I was about to drop dead and she hadn’t even worked up a sweat.

“We'll head straight to the mayor’s after we finish our run,” she decided aloud.

"No. Please no. I need to rest,” I begged. “It's too much all at once. “

"There you go. Disappointing me again," Cujo remarked with a soft growl. "Yes. You definitely need me on this case. I'm part husky, you know. And part Akita and even part Great Pyrenees. All the great strong breeds combined in one. That makes me the greatest."

Wow, this dog had quite the ego. As much as he didn't like cats, he actually reminded me of one.

I hesitated. “I didn't say you were hired.”

It seemed to me having to look after Cujo would make the investigation more difficult.

"Of course he's hired!" Nan cried merrily. "Good boy. You tell us how you want your payment, and we’ll make sure to get it to you. Do you like rawhides or bully sticks? What can we give you?"

I translated this to Cujo who sighed and said, "A job well done is payment enough, but it’s nice to be appreciated.”

He glanced over his shoulder and gave me a disapproving look before continuing. “Catch me up on the case so that I'm ready. I'll solve this in record time. You'll see."

I found it quite difficult to relay the facts while continuing our horrible run—but somehow, just barely, I managed. When we finished forty minutes later, rather than yesterday's thirty, I crumpled into the snow, content to die right there so I could finally get some rest.

"What are you doing?" Nan asked with a laugh.

Cujo was far less amused. "Get up! Now is not the time to be lazy. We can't rest until the job is done."

I made a snow angel, ignoring them both until my heart finally slowed to a steadier beat. Moderately refreshed, I got up and dutifully headed to the car

"Now that wasn't so bad. Was it?” Nan asked as she ushered Cujo into the tiny back seat. It barely contained his one hundred pounds of fluffy bulk, but he didn’t seem to mind.

I laughed a bitter laugh and closed my eyes, leaning back on the headrest.

The sooner we solved this case, the sooner I could return to trying to get some shut-eye. Hopefully by the time we returned home, Octo-Cat would have forgotten all about his demand for a new bedroom.

Then again, when had he ever forgotten about anything? Or at least anything that concerned him?