Trouble's Wedding Caper: Book 8 of Cat Detective Familiar Legacy mystery series

by Jen Talty

  “Do you think whoever it was saw us coming?” Annabel asked.

  He glanced over his shoulder at his building. It sat a good city block from the road. Only a couple of lights lined his balcony, but one could easily see inside. “It’s possible.” He looped his arm around her waist. “I hate to ask you this, but have you pissed anyone off lately?”

  “Other than my ex, which was months ago, not that I know of.”

  “How exactly did you upset Devin and more importantly, would he retaliate?” Ethan had only met the man that once at his sister’s wedding. He thought Devin was a player as well as an arrogant ass. Ethan suspected Devin’s business dealings were on the shady side and didn’t trust the man. That said, Ethan had to muffle his opinion since it was based on a personal bias and not a professional assessment.

  “He didn’t think I’d actually leave New York. He figured he could stop by whenever he wanted when he wasn’t seeing someone else.”

  “Are you saying he wanted you in his bed, but not in a relationship?” Ethan clenched his hand.

  Annabel nodded. “We were over as a couple the weekend of the wedding. But it’s hard to end something that’s been part of your life for such a long time. There were a couple of attempts on his part to reconnect. I sorted through my dependence on the relationship and made plans to move back here. When he found out, he flipped, which was kind of funny when you think about it, but I doubt that he’d do anything crazy like hire someone to hit my car. He doesn’t care that much, and I haven’t heard from him since I left.”

  “If you do, I’d like to know about it, okay?” Ethan hated sounding like a jealous boyfriend, and he really wasn’t. He just didn’t trust Devin.

  “Sure.” Annabel nodded. “Where’d Trouble go?”

  “He’s over there.” Ethan pointed toward the side yard of the house where Trouble sniffed about. Curious cat didn’t begin to cover the feline’s behavior. “Trouble,” he yelled.

  The cat barely raised his head before going back to whatever had caught his attention.

  A Palm Beach Sheriff’s patrol car rolled to a stop ten feet away, lights flashing, but no sirens blaring. Palmetto stepped from the driver’s side.

  “What are you still doing on duty?” Ethan asked.

  “Covering for a buddy whose wife is in labor.”

  “We appreciate your coming out, but the car in question is already gone,” Ethan said, not hiding his frustration.

  “What car?” Palmetto asked.

  His response caused Ethan a moment of pause. “The car that ran Annabel off the highway. At least we think it was the same car.”

  “Unfortunately, that’s not the reason I’m here,” Palmetto said.

  “Right,” Ethan said. “How could you know. I guess I just assumed…” He’d known the sheriff for a long time, but they weren’t close, and he found it odd that in the course of twenty-four hours, he’d run into Palmetto so many times.

  Ethan pushed that thought to the back of his mind. Paranoia didn’t suit him, and Palmetto had sworn the same oath. That said, too many strange things had happened to ignore all possibilities.

  “Someone tripped the alarm in that home over there. Second time today,” Palmetto said. “Probably a faulty connection or something, but I still need to talk with the homeowner.”

  “Mind letting me know what you find out ASAP?” Ethan laced his fingers between Annabel’s, tugging her close.

  “I’ll shoot you a text the second I know anything one way or the other.”

  “Thanks. I appreciate it.” He turned on his heels. “Come on, Trouble. Let’s go.”

  Trouble darted from the lawn, heading in their direction.

  Ethan leaned in, kissing Annabel’s cheek. “See, its nothing. Even Trouble isn’t interested anymore.”

  “Only because he didn’t find anything,” Annabel said.

  Ethan knew she was right.

  Chapter Seven

  It’s been said I’m an excellent judge of character. One of my numerous gifts. It’s often a burden to be so talented. Everyone constantly wants a piece of me, and the jealousy is exhausting.

  Ethan is most definitely a smart man. He’s a kind and considerate gentleman with a keen sense of right and wrong.

  He’s clever enough to know that I will keep a watchful eye over his condo and Annabel while he fetches the necessary nourishment we all need to keep up our strength. So far, the food here is fantastic. The fish dishes, especially the potato crusted grouper, is mouth-wateringly delicious.

  I know Ethan will take another look around the perimeter. He knows something hinky is going on, and he’s concerned for Annabel’s safety.

  I can sense he has reservations about the sheriff. I’ve had only two interactions with the man, and while I sense he’s not necessarily on the same page with Ethan, Palmetto couldn’t have been the man in the bushes, nor the man who ran Annabel off the road.

  That doesn’t mean he doesn’t know something or isn’t keeping something from Ethan. I know male humans often get their knickers in a twist over things such as jurisdiction, and while Palmetto gives the idea he’s sharing what he knows, not everything is always as it appears.

  “It’s difficult for any human to impress me, but as for becoming a great detective, Ethan shows great promise, as humans go. I do another sweep of the premises, making sure no one lurks in the shadows. I find my way through every room, under every piece of furniture, and into every closet. I also do a double-check of the outside while I stroll across the balcony. I act nonchalant. I don’t want to upset or worry Annabel unnecessarily, but I don’t trust that whoever owns the dark sedan hasn’t managed to sneak his way inside the building or is crouched down under one of the bushes. Crooks are nowhere near as shrewd as I, but some aren’t complete wankers. I suppose I should thank the more intelligent ones, since they do keep me in business.

  Annabel sits at Ethan’s kitchen table. She and Ethan brought up a box from his car, and she’s dumped the contents out, examining each piece of jewelry. She holds the bent ring between her fingers, holding it up to the light.

  I jump up onto the table so I can examine the ring a bit closer.

  Annabel sets it on a velvet piece of cloth next to a stunning set of pearls and a couple of other engagement rings. She takes out her pad of paper and jots down a few things before opening another notebook she’d pulled from the storage unit.

  While she taps her pencil against her forehead, I head toward the balcony. Ethan might need a strong set of eyes from higher ground. I perch myself on a table near the edge and stare down at Palmetto’s patrol car. I can see Ethan walking around the corner.

  I also note a few dark, four-door sedans that had recently parked beach side.

  I’m on full alert now.

  The nice thing about living in this part of Jupiter was the fact that Ethan could walk just about everywhere he wanted to go. Beach access was right across the street, and restaurants dotted the main drag from his place down to the inlet. Not to mention Wind Harbor, though that was a bit of a hike. Thank God for Zulu’s golf cart service. Those who used the service after drinking too much and had to leave their car overnight in a parking lot could leave Zulu’s card on the dash and the Jupiter police wouldn’t ticket them as long as the card was dated. If they tried to cheat the system, they got towed.

  Take-out on his balcony wasn’t how he planned on spending his evening with Annabel, though he wouldn’t complain. He glanced up at his condo as he stood in front of Palmetto’s vehicle. He could see the silhouettes of Trouble on the porch and of Annabel at his kitchen table, something he factored into his thinking about the car they’d both seen.

  There were a lot of nondescript, dark, four-door sedans, and currently two were parked across the street, though they didn’t have the three license plate letters Annabel had rattled off earlier.

  He wanted to think nothing of it, only Trouble seemed to be disturbed by the vehicles and that alone was bothersome.

 
The click of a door echoed in the night. Palmetto stepped onto the sidewalk in front of the house where the suspect sedan had been parked earlier.

  “What are you still doing out here?” Palmetto asked. He looped his thumbs in his belt and stood tall.

  Ethan raised his hand, holding the plastic take-out bags. “Getting some grub. You were in there a long time.”

  “Yeah, well, turns out this is an ongoing dispute between a broken-up couple. The ex-boyfriend has been harassing the young lady who lives here, and now that she has a new boyfriend, things have escalated.”

  “Did she see the ex tonight?” Ethan asked, peering over Palmetto’s shoulder into the light filtering from the family room. A thin piece of fabric covered the picture window, making it impossible to see anything. He combed through his memory, trying to figure out if he ever knew who lived there, but he came up empty-handed.

  “Said she saw him sneaking around, so she tripped the alarm to scare him. It worked.”

  “What about the car? Was that the ex’s vehicle?”

  Palmetto shook his head. “Her ex drives a silver SUV, so no idea on the car you and your friend saw.”

  “What’s the potential suspect’s name? Maybe I can help.”

  Palmetto scratched the side of his face as he glanced off toward the ocean. “I don’t think this is connected.”

  “Maybe not but it doesn’t mean I can’t help.” Ethan knew it was one thing to share information about related cases linked by a single criminal, and quite another to give out any intel on what appeared to be totally unrelated. “Besides, this happened right in my front yard, and with all the weird things happening around my friend, I’d appreciate the facts.”

  “Craig Morris. His ex is Sarah Silvers. She’s got a restraining order against him.”

  “I know Craig,” Ethan said. He didn’t know the man well and to Ethan’s knowledge, Craig had never been in trouble with the law. That said, he had a reputation for being a shark in his field and a bit of a ladies’ man. “He’s a local realtor.” Specifically, Annabel’s boss, and that gave Ethan pause.

  Palmetto nodded. “I’m going to his house to ask him a few questions, file a report. Hopefully nothing will come of this, but I have a feeling it’s going to get worse before it gets better between those two.”

  “That’s too bad. If you find anything that I might be able to help with, or is pertinent to the cases we’re working, let me know. Also, if you don’t mind, I’m going to email you the police report for my friend’s car accident, in case you get any leads on the plate number. She’s pretty shaken up.” Actually, she was holding up pretty well, considering everything that had happened to her over the last few months. It couldn’t have been easy for her to leave a lucrative job like the one she had in New York. His sister had told him that the last place she’d sold had netted her three hundred grand. But then she up and quit, just like that.

  All because her ex had no idea how good he had it.

  “So tell me, Ethan. What’s with the pretty lady? Who is she?”

  “My younger sister’s best friend.” Ethan couldn’t hold back a smile. His sister had had a few obnoxious friends over the years, but never Annabel. She’d always breeze into his house and brighten everyone’s mood. She’d always been a glass half-full lady.

  And she’d proven to be the kind of friend Rosie needed, always standing by her side, never once letting anything get in the way of their friendship.

  Not even boys.

  Except Devin. Rosie had hated him with a passion and never missed an opportunity to let Annabel know. Much like she’d done with him and Quinn.

  Rosie hadn’t gotten it wrong yet.

  “New girlfriend?” Palmetto asked.

  “Not exactly.”

  “Uh huh.” Palmetto’s expression told Ethan he wasn’t fooled. “I wish you all the luck in the world. You deserve a good one.”

  Ethan nodded and shook Palmetto’s hand before briskly walking toward the lobby of his building. The doorman waved him in, and Ethan jogged to the elevator just as an older couple stepped in.

  Once out of the elevator he rammed his key inside the lock. “I’m back,” he yelled.

  “Welcome home,” Annabel said, her sweet voice like honey dripping from a beehive.

  Slow down, he reminded himself. He didn’t need to go bulldozing his way in. The slower he took things, the better the chance they had to see if whatever they felt for one another was more than attraction. “Let’s eat outside.”

  “Sounds wonderful.” She gathered up the items she’d laid out on the table and tucked them back into the box. Then she followed him outside where Trouble still sat on one of the coffee tables, looking out over the street below as if he were looking for something or keeping watch.

  Ethan was starting to like cats more and more.

  He set the Styrofoam boxes on the table on the patio. He inhaled sharply as his gaze took in Annabel’s beauty. The moon and the stars glowed over her long, russet hair that curled at the ends over her shoulders. Her indigo eyes sparkled like the ocean dancing against the shoreline. Her smile sucker-punched his ability to speak.

  He cleared his throat. “Sorry it took so long.”

  “It smells wonderful. I’m sure it will be worth the wait,” Annabel said. She lifted the wine bottle they had opened earlier from the ice bucket and filled their glasses.

  “I even got a feast for Trouble.” Ethan took a small portion of the extra fish and dropped it into a plastic bowl.

  Trouble sniffed before tentatively tasting the pink meat. He glanced at Ethan and gave him a quick nod before taking another bite.

  “I’ve never seen such a polite cat before. Hell, he even eats with manners,” Ethan said as he settled back into the sofa on the balcony, his meal on his lap. He’d ordered the fish tacos, so best he kept his napkin handy. The tacos were notoriously messy, and he didn’t want to wear them on his shirt.

  “Your cop friend just left.” Annabel pointed to the street before lifting her fish sandwich and taking a hefty mouthful.

  He’d always been amazed by how much she could pack away and not gain an ounce. Her muscles were lean and well-defined. She had all the curves a woman should have and in all the right places, but her athletic frame is what got his motor running.

  He chomped on his taco, pushing those thoughts from his mind. Tonight was a first date, and he wasn’t going to muck this up by going too fast. Just because he’d known her nearly her entire life didn’t mean he knew enough about her.

  “Yeah. Turns out it was a domestic dispute and not related at all to the hit-and-run,” Ethan said.

  “So, that wasn’t the car?” she asked.

  “I have no idea.” Ethan didn’t want her worrying too much, and since the car had disappeared by the time they made it down to the parking lot, there was no way he could be sure. From the balcony, it had been impossible to see if there had been damage to the passenger side of the car that had Trouble so agitated. “What do you think? You’re the one who saw him and the car earlier.”

  Trouble glanced up from his dinner and meowed as if he were trying to answer.

  And just like that, Ethan decided he’d be getting a cat.

  She shook her head. “I can’t be sure. I’ve been thinking about the events of the day. My boss was served papers this afternoon. I don’t know if that has anything to do with this or not.” Annabel waved her fork in the air. “He sent me to run an errand right after the guy served him. I dropped off the paperwork for a closing at the bank then I headed toward Tequesta, and that’s when I got side-swiped.”

  “Are you thinking that whoever hit you might have been after your boss?” He held his taco a few inches from his mouth. There were certain rules and protocols regarding the sharing of information about an ongoing case with anyone outside of law enforcement officers. Until he spoke with Palmetto again, he was duty bound to keep the majority of what he’d learned to himself.

  She let out an audible sigh. “Whe
n you put it that way, no. I mean, my car is very different from Craig’s, and it was just escrow papers, so that really doesn’t make sense, does it?”

  “If Craig does anything strange or makes you feel uncomfortable in any way, promise to give me a call.”

  “He’s harmless.”

  “Not the point. Please. Promise me.”

  “Is there something you’re not telling me?” She dropped her food back into the tray and stared at him with big, pleading eyes.

  Trouble meowed, sitting in front of him with his head cocked.

  “I honestly can’t discuss it right now.”

  “All right. Fair enough. I’ll keep an eye out at work. I can ask him questions. I’m good at that,” she said with a hint of excitement in her voice.

  He shook his head. “Please don’t. Just act like you know nothing.”

  “That’ll be easy, because I don’t know a thing, other than he’s been served.”

  Ethan wiped his fingers on the napkin. “I really don’t like your being alone. There are too many weird things happening, so why don’t you consider staying here for a while? I have plenty of room.”

  She coughed just as she took a mouthful of her sandwich. “Why, Ethan Ferris, your mother would have your head on a platter right now.”

  He laughed. “I didn’t mean it that way.”

  She patted his leg, her warm hand sending signals to places he needed to stifle.

  “I know, and I appreciate the concern, but I’ve got a ton of work to do with this new storage unit I just acquired. That’s what’s in the box on your kitchen table.”

  “Acquired? What does that mean?” Ethan had been trained to notice things, remembering all the details about any area he found himself in. He knew she’d had jewelry, rings and a necklace, to be specific, along with a couple of notebooks, sprawled out on his table. He hadn’t thought anything of them.

  Annabel was a woman, and she liked jewelry. She wore a few tasteful pieces every day, so he didn’t find her looking at the items to be strange. But now, maybe he needed to take a closer look.