Terrier Transgressions

Chapter Thirteen

I bolted out of that room so fast, Breanne couldn’t have stopped me if she’d tried. Maybe I was being a bit overdramatic, but I didn’t feel like being trapped in the same small, enclosed space with a possible killer. Her arrival also reminded me that I hadn’t heard from the animals in quite some time, and I had no idea whether they’d somehow managed to escape outside.

Luckily, I found Octo-Cat almost right away. He stood on top of the fridge with his fur puffed up and his expression angry. Yo-Yo whined and stood on his hind legs scratching the surface of the refrigerator in his desperation to reach the cat.

“Why did you abandon me?” Octo-Cat raged.

I put my hands up in surrender. “Hey, you’re the one who left in the middle of our investigation. You could have come back at any time.”

“Not with Dum-Dum cornering me here,” he ground out.

I knew he was irritated, but so was I. He was supposed to be finding a way to connect with our doggie witness, and that clearly had not happened.

“So, I’m guessing you did nothing useful this whole time?” I asked with a frustrated sigh.

His angry, unblinking eyes fixed right on me. “I defended my life and my dignity, and that is the most important thing of all.”

I shook my head and bent down to collect Yo-Yo. “We have to go,” I whispered to Octo-Cat. “And when the other humans come downstairs, I have to stop talking to you.”

“What’s that?” Breanne asked, appearing suddenly at the foot of the stairs. Seriously, what was it with people sneaking up on me in this house? It gave me the heebie jeebies big time.

“Just telling them it’s time to go,” I answered truthfully.

Charles joined us a few moments later. “I was just gathering our things,” he said, handing me Octo-Cat’s bundled up leash. “And telling Breanne that I would be happy to apply a new coat of paint myself.”

Right, to cover the huge damage I’d made with my light pencil marks.

“I hired you to make things easier for me. Not harder,” Breanne said with a scowl.

“Sorry,” I apologized for all of us. “It was one-hundred percent my fault.”

Breanne regarded me coldly. “Oh, I know. That’s why I want you off my brother’s case.”

A pit of fear formed deep in my stomach. This wasn’t supposed to be happening. Charles and I were supposed to take our new theory about the killer’s height and use it to clear Brock and save the day just in time. That would be much, much harder if Breanne stood in our way.

How could I explain this all without making her angrier? I didn’t know, but I at least had to try. “But…”

“But nothing. All you’re doing is making a mess of my sale property and distracting my lawyer from the job he’s supposed to be doing.”

“Brock’s lawyer,” I corrected without thinking.

Breanne fumed, stomping a heeled foot on the kitchen tile for added emphasis. “Yep. I definitely never want to see you again or your therapy animals. I’ll also be having a talk with Mr. Thompson about my grave disappointment with his firm’s performance to date.”

I gulped and forced myself to keep quiet even though my instinct was to either defend myself or accuse her. Yo-Yo tensed in my arms and growled at Breanne.

“What is it with small scrappy dogs and their hatred for me?” Breanne asked flippantly as she shoved our entire party toward the door. “The homeowners had one just like this. It was the most irritating thing. Definitely reminded me why I’m a cat person.”

“Did she say cat person?” Octo-Cat asked, quickening his pace so he could rub against the realtor’s ankles. The whole thing was uncomfortably flirtatious, and I seriously had no idea what my tabby expected to gain from such an exchange. “I think I like this one,” he purred.

Breanne bent down to pet his striped head, softening a bit as she stroked his silky fur.

“Oh, yeah! I like her very much!” Octo-Cat said, flipping onto his side and presenting his belly. What a traitor.

She sighed. “I guess I can hold off on the call to Thompson, if only for this little cutie. But I still don’t want you working on my case anymore.”

“Noted,” I answered coolly.

“What was that about?” I demanded once Charles, the animals, and I were tucked securely back in his car.

“What?” Octo-Cat shrugged, still calm and collected since the car hadn’t begun to move yet. “Sometimes a guy just needs a little bit of attention from a pretty lady. Besides, I really saved your butt back there, so I wouldn’t be complaining if I were you.”

I groaned and shook my head. If I wasn’t careful, I’d soon have a killer migraine.

“What did he say?” Charles asked, gesturing toward Octo-Cat with his chin.

“Never mind,” I murmured.

Charles didn’t push me any further on that, but he did ask, “Where to now? I think we need some time to catch up with the animals, and I doubt they’d be welcomed back at the firm.”

“No,” I agreed thoughtfully. “But I know somewhere even better we can go. Take a left out of here.”

Nan answered the door in a rose-printed kimono so long it pooled at her feet. Her all-white hair clung to her jawline in a stylish bob that included a thick shelf of bangs that fell just above her brow.

“Looking good,” I said, pushing straight into her house. This had been my home until about six months ago, when Nan had forced me to get a place of my own as part of the whole growing up thing. Even still, I visited her at least a couple times per week. She wasn’t just the woman who’d raised me, but she was also my best friend and the person I trusted most in this entire world.

That’s why I’d brought everyone here now.

Both animals followed me inside as I hooked a thumb back at Charles. “This is Charles. He’s the head attorney on the case you helped me with the other day.”

Wow, had it really only been two days since our dead-end trip to the printing company? Unreal.

“He’s cute,” Nan said, batting her eyelashes.

Charles cleared his throat and glanced toward the ground, which gave me the giggles. Nan had always been a shameless flirt, but she did it for fun, not to land a date. It had been more than ten years since Gramps passed on to a better place, and she hadn’t taken on a boyfriend since. I doubted she’d make an exception for Charles, no matter how handsome we both found him. Besides, she’d no doubt soon associate him with the Hayes’s double murder the way I did now.

Turning back toward me, Nan asked, “Here to work on the case?”

“Yup, you up for helping us out?” I led our party into the dining room as it had the best work area to seat all of us.

“Oh, dear, you know me,” she answered, making eyes at Charles again. “I’m always up for anything.”

He blushed, not quite knowing what to do with the geriatric flirt. “Actually, I’m not sure…”

“You can trust Nan,” I insisted.

“I’ll sign a Non-Disclosure Agreement,” she added.

Charles looked trapped, but ultimately agreed with a shrug. “Fine,” he said. “Do you have a printer I can use to print that NDA for you?”

Nan led him to the little office she kept upstairs, then returned to join me and the animals in the formal dining room. “Does he know about…?” She widened her eyes at Octo-Cat. “Well, you know.”

“I’m afraid he does,” I said with a groan. That was probably another reason why Charles and I could never become an item.

Nan sucked air through her teeth and shook her head in disappointment. “You shouldn’t just go around blabbing your secret, dear. It’s really not wise.”

“Trust me, I didn’t.” I took a quick moment to catch her up on the whole blackmail scenario.

When Charles returned with his printed form, Nan hit him on the chest.

“Ouch,” he mumbled. “What was that for?”

“You’re lucky my granddaughter is such a forgiving person. If you ever blackmail her again, though, you’ll have me to answer to someone much less forgiving. Me.” She pulled herself onto tiptoe and stared at him menacingly despite her small stature.

“Yes, ma’am,” he answered at once as he clutched the NDA to his chest defensively. He almost looked afraid to offer it to Nan now.

I rolled my eyes at them both. “Enough posturing. We’ve got a lot of work to do and not much time to do it.”

Charles unpacked his messenger bag and began to lay out papers on the table, while Nan excused herself to make a pot of coffee. I took the opportunity to head to Nan’s little office so that I could print out the photos I had taken while at the Hayes’s house.

When I returned, Octo-Cat sat in the middle of the table, shedding all over everything as he flopped his tail back and forth.

“He wouldn’t move,” Charles told me with a frown.

“Keeping myself front and center is the best way to ensure you protect me from Dum-Dum,” Octo-Cat explained. “I don’t want you getting so caught up in your work that you forget all about the handsome cat who made this all possible.”

Ugh, he was so vain. And even more stubborn.

“What did I tell you about calling him Dum-Dum?” I asked in irritation.

Octo-Cat yawned unapologetically. “Hey, I calls ‘em like I sees ‘em.”

“Well, if you’re not going to cooperate with us, then we’re not going to cooperate with you. Oh, Yo-Yo!” I called, grabbing the cat and placing him on the floor so that the dog could slobber him with kisses.

Octo-Cat screeched, got puffy-tailed, and fled in the direction of the kitchen, shouting kitty curses the whole way.

Nan appeared a couple minutes later, holding the tabby in her arms and stroking him kindly. “What did you do to this poor guy?” she demanded.

“Don’t believe a word he says,” I shot back. “He is not the victim he makes himself out to be.”

“Oh, hush. He’s just an innocent little kitty,” Nan argued, peppering the smug feline with kisses. Even though she couldn’t talk to animals the way I can, sometimes it felt like it. This was one of those times.

Charles couldn’t help but chuckle. “How does it feel when the tables are turned on you, hmmm?”

Octo-Cat laughed, too, but not kindly. “Your nan likes me better than you,” he teased, then actually had the audacity to stick his tongue out at me to add an extra layer of awfulness.

Nan put him down on the table, then returned to the kitchen to fetch the coffee.

“See?” Octo-Cat said. “If you won’t appreciate me, I can always find someone else who does.”

I picked him up again and was ready to give him back to Yo-Yo when Nan returned and scolded me. “You leave that handsome boy alone. He’s such a good cat. Isn’t he?”

Octo-Cat laughed again and immediately moved to Nan’s side of the table where he snuggled up against her chest and purred at a ridiculous volume.

“By the way, here’s your form,” she said, pushing the Non-Disclosure Agreement in Charles’s direction. “Now catch me up on the case.”

I took a deep breath and explained everything.

“Huh,” Nan said, sitting back in her chair pensively. “You sure have a doozy on your hands, but I think I have an idea.”

I couldn’t wait to hear what she had to say.