The One's You Love (Cat Johnson Chronicles Book 2)

by Katerina Degratte

  I hope HQ can come up with something soon so she won’t have to be away from me for too long. It’s like a piece of me is missing with her gone, despite how cheesy that sounds. She’s my soul animal. Not in a romantic way; just that she’s there for me.

  “Maori’s in the woods. We can go visit her,” Charming tries to tell him, but it’s just lost as meows on his ears. Hopefully, I’m never questioned by someone who can speak cat, or else the little runt would give everything away. I could only speak to those cats under my care though, Minx’s words just coming out as meows.

  “How did you get this one? He’s cute,” Colin asks, petting Charming. The kitten meows as he’s held up in the air like he’s some specimen to study.

  “A neighbor moved away and left one of their kittens behind.” Another partial truth. Well, everything I said was true, but I left out a few details. I can’t exactly tell him that Maori dragged his ass into the apartment. She kept her human voice to a minimum around others, not wanting to engage in long conversations. Humans, she said, were dull, insolent creatures that she didn’t want to deal with. She reminded me about that regularly.

  Colin frowns. “That’s sad.”

  I nod. “Let’s pop in one of the movies you brought over,” I suggest, changing the subject. But Colin is looking at me in a way like he’s questioning if I’m telling the truth. Or maybe I’m just imagining it because I know I’m hiding something.

  Chapter 7

  Brian

  “When am I going to get to see my sister?” He asks the ever-annoying question once again. I suppose it’s my fault since I told him she’d be here shortly. And while she will eventually be here, it isn’t in a way that’d be what he was expecting.

  “Just go back to playing the video games.” My temper is short from having answered it too many times already. God, did he ever stop asking questions?

  “I want to go home if she’s not coming here.” Going home isn’t an option. I miscalculated how long he would stay distracted by the video games. Even being special needs, he understands something is up. “I don’t know you.”

  “I agreed to hang out with you until she got here.” I try to keep my voice even, not wishing to go off. It isn’t his fault that he has such a shit sister. I don’t want to go too far with things.

  “So you’re a friend of hers?” he asks, attention going back to the video game.

  “Something like that.” I can see by his face he has more questions, but we sit with a comfortable silence between the two of us.

  “Why are there two of me?” he says out of the blue. Shit, he wasn’t supposed to see that.

  “That must have just been a dream,” I reply, but his jaw is firmly set. Not letting me determine what he saw.

  “No, there were two of me. I recall seeing the other one before I fell asleep.”

  While his attention is diverted, I put another syringe in his neck. These questions are getting annoying, and I have other things I need to do.

  “Why am I so sleepy? I thought I just—” The words are cut off as the serum does its work. What am I going to do if he keeps catching on to things like this?

  Chapter 8

  Cat

  “It’ll be okay, baby,” I coo to Charming. I give him a light pat on the head as I lean over to grab my phone. Him, disgruntled as he buries his head in my chest. Too cute! My phone chimes, and Charming meows in protest.

  Can you and Colin come over? I have something to talk about. I see the message from my dad coming in at 9 a.m. I go to the couch Colin is snoozing on and wake him up.

  “Colin, you need to get up. Dad wants us to come over.”

  It must be something serious if he didn’t wish to describe it over text. I try to stop the crippling anxiety from taking over my brain, popping one of my daily anti-depressants in my mouth. Welcome, Paxil.

  “Can I have one?” Charming runs over, wondering what nommie I must have eaten. Just no, he doesn’t need that.

  Colin grumbles, “I’m up. I’m up.” He looks ready to fall back asleep at any moment. Instead, he goes to another room to get ready. It’ll only take a few minutes to get there, and then I can go to my previous engagement, being Susan’s funeral. I was on the fence, but decided to go anyway so I could get some closure. My brother and dad live in the same apartment complex on opposite sides of the building.

  We’ll be over in a few. - I text my dad back.

  Colin puts his shoes on, grabbing his keys, and we make our way over. “What does he want to talk about? Am I in trouble?” His mind goes to that automatic assumption, worry creasing his eyes as he bites his lip.

  “I don’t know. I don’t think you are,” I try to reassure him. I knock on the door.

  “Come in.” He calls, as I push the heavy door open.

  “Hi, dad.” I greet him, taking in the surroundings. The apartment is clean as usual in its steampunk decor. An overnight bag on the table stands out. He’s going somewhere? That was abrupt, as nothing like that had been hinted at in past convos.

  Our dad clears his throat, “As you know, your grandfather’s been sick for a while. He needs someone to help him around the house.” And no one else can at the moment, since he’s the only one that has the ability to work remotely, and doesn’t have younger kids to care for. “I’ll be there until this weekend or the next.”

  I worry about Colin, as he’s standing stoic, not saying anything.

  “If you want, you can stay with your sister during those nights,” Dad tells Colin. Colin is twenty-six, eleven months younger than me, but he and I are close. He’s high-functioning autistic, so I always knew I’d have to take care of him when I was older. It’s not a burden per se, just the thing to do for your family.

  “Try to stay here at least one night a week, though,” Dad adds, and Colin nods. “I have some packages coming in later this week if you wouldn’t mind bringing those inside when they come.”

  “No problem.” I smile.

  The air is quiet, signaling the end of the conversation. As there’s not much left to say.

  “Love you guys.” He gives us both hugs. Then he checks his phone to see when he needs to take off, the ride must be on their way. “Hope when I go that it doesn’t get dragged out that long.” Morbid humor, and few words a few traits in the family.

  Don’t we all wish that for our own doom?

  “Bye, Dad.” We wave, ready to leave.

  “Cat, can you stay for a second?” he asks me, and I signal for Colin to wait outside. He gives a slight huff, but goes to wait on the outside stoop to the apartment. Maybe the neighborhood cat would keep him company.

  “Sure.”

  “Taking care of Colin is going to be a task. Make sure he wakes up for work on time and keeps his room clean.” I nod while thinking Colin should have some responsibility for himself. He has to go in at 6 a.m. a lot of days with his work schedule, and I don’t want to mess up my own spotty sleep schedule.

  “It’ll be fine.” I try to reassure, throwing on a smile while my mind is tempted to go into meltdown mode over the idea. I had roommates just a few weeks ago. And finally managed to get the other room cleaned out, then this is dropped in my lap. But no, I didn’t want to be selfish with how grandpa was doing. It was the right thing to do.

  “Make sure he puts his clothes away. The other day, I tried to do his laundry, and he had a few baskets. Couldn’t tell what was clean and what wasn’t.” Lovely. He’s quiet for a moment.

  “You okay, Dad?” I ask.

  “Your grandfather was tough to be around growing up. He was mean towards his children and wife.”

  “Sorry to hear that.”

  He shrugs it off.

  “See you kids later. Love you. You two need to make it work. I can’t have Colin moving back in six months, saying it won’t work.” As if that would happen. How hard could it be?

  “Got it dad, see you later.” I give him a short hug, careful with closing the apartment door. Sighing silently, before opening the
outer door that leads to these townhouse apartments. How could Colin react? Would he be freaked out, go in a rage?

  “Colin, are you okay?” I asked him after I go out of the door and meet up with him back outside.

  “I think living with you will be fun,” Colin answers. Expected more of a response then this is fun to his life being turned sideways, but okay I’ll take it. I had too many other things to deal with to quiz him to death over it right now. The trip back to my place is quick since it’s only a building over, so a few minutes of walking and then boom, there!

  Movie night, every night, rules that would need to set in place, all that fun stuff. I wouldn’t let him kill himself by subtending off of only junk food. Our dad already had the talk with Colin and me about him living with me in the future. He wanted to make sure it was something I would be okay with. What if I were to get married or have kids of my own? If I had a long-term relationship like that, Colin would just be part of the package. Kids-wise, the closest I figured I would get to that would be a few hair-brained kittens running around. I thought I had at least another few years of my freedom left …

  “You guys are finally back!” Charming tries to run out the door as we go in, but I stop him by lifting up the little furball in my arms. He pouts.

  “Not today, bud.” I smile, enjoying the affection he’s giving me. I’m worried about my grandfather and recalling my grandmother’s last days. I would call her every day, and sometimes more than once. So much so that my godmother said I was the last person she ever talked to when she was telling me she loved me. I wish she was around to talk to now. I could undoubtedly use that.

  I don’t know how this living situation was going to end up, especially with adjusting. I really hoped things worked out with Colin living with me. Dad had mentioned he might move to Mount Vernon eventually, so I didn’t know if I could count on him coming back to watch Colin again. We’d work this out. I had to be strong for my brother.

  It would be nice to have someone to talk to, to not be as strong around. I check the chat thread with Raven again to see if I’ve gotten any type of response. Still a whole lot of nothing. I shoot another text, letting her know to call me when she gets the chance. Bad Cat, always going for the ones who are unhealthy for her.

  Chapter 9

  Cat

  Colin leaves early, as I have other plans to get to. I’ll have to get on his case about helping me clean the office soon and move his stuff over. I'm wearing a simple black dress as I take a Lyft to the party of the year … “Thanks,” I mutter, stepping out of the car, making sure to go to the app to add a tip. Motions as if I'm on autopilot; I didn't expect the last time I would see her would be like this, the showing.

  I pause in front of the white building, just staring for a moment before I push open its heavy doors. Were they really that heavy, or was this just having this much of an effect on me? “Are you here for Susan’s funeral?” A man in the lobby asks. An older gentleman, with a gentle expression.

  I nod, not trusting myself to say anything without breaking into tears.

  He points towards the stairs. “Just up that way, first door on the left. You can’t miss it, sorry for your loss. “Not like he cares; he was just doing his job.

  All the walls in the building are white, colorless, and the building wreaks of death. I shake a shudder away as I make my way up the steps to make a left, and see a nearly empty room. A few others, like the woman I ran into at Susan's apartment and the child who must be the woman's young son she mentioned. A man with shady eyes in the corner, probably was someone she worked with if my assumptions were correct. If I didn't know any better, I would have said he had a hand in the killing. Other than that, the room is void, though. No parents to see the child who died before her time because they have been gone since she was six. And her grandmother that raised her when she was younger died long ago. Her grandmother was a kind woman, so it's almost surprising that Susan held so much anger. Anger that got her killed.

  Susan’s casket is a simple wooden box with engravings all over it like different animals, which is kind of funny since she experimented on them. There’s a board of pictures up from when she was a kid. There’s a picture of when she was five and carefree. To see a picture at seven where you can already see the calculating look in her eyes, it’s kind of sad.

  Along with several other pictures that must have been taken by her grandmother over the years. Some older ones must have been from her collection or taken by colleagues. I smile as I see a few pictures of us up on the board, ones I hadn’t even realized she still had. Old memories bring a sad smile to my face, even with how things ended there were good times. One with the two of us posing with a young defiant Maori. A celebration as we clinked our champagne flutes together, smiles big on our faces; the specific occasion not coming to mind. I’m surprised to see pictures with me in them. Still, even with how beautiful Susan was, she typically shied away from cameras.

  "She was a beauty, wasn't she?"

  I nearly jump out of my bones as I hear the man's voice behind me.

  I turned towards him. It’s Mr. Shady's eyes. I nod. "Gone before her time. What's your name?" I ask, wanting to get some confirmation of what part he played in her life.

  "Jack." The name sends chills down my spine. It was the one Maori had mumbled this morning when I woke her up. “Jack.” "We worked together before she went off the deep end." What story were they trying to sell people?

  Should I be contacting HQ and trying to take him in? It was unlikely it stopped then. That felt like it would be wrong to disrupt the funeral like that, though, maybe if I ever ran into him again. Despite who she was disrupting a funeral felt wrong.

  He went on, "I actually gathered the pictures up for the board there. She kept a lot in her office. You two must have been close." He stares at the pictures of her and me together.

  "I'm Cat." I hold my hand out and shake his. The handshake sends tingles of a lousy sort down my spine. I already don’t trust him.

  "The company actually paid to sponsor this funeral. Susan had no means to pay for it what with being out of work, but she was a good employee for so long it felt right,” Jack tells me, as if it were some generous act and not covering up for murder. The smile looks wrong on his face, as if it's painted. He shoves some blond strands out of his eyes. "These flowers are the condolences from others there."

  “What company?” I ask, doubting I’d get a straight answer.

  “Flower shop. Susan loved roses.” He answers with ease, even though he’s lying through his teeth. Along with Susan having serious allergies, so she would have never been able to work in that type of environment. Guess it was just the first lie to come to mind.

  My gaze must have been glued to his shady expressions the whole time as I was just now seeing he had a bundle of roses. She hated roses, that comment I hide.

  I brought flowers as well, but they’re purple lilies since those were her favorite. One’s that wouldn’t irritate her senses all to hell.

  "If you want to, we could meet up for coffee sometime and replay through some of her greatest hits." The man pulls his wallet out of his pocket to hand me a card, something I will certainly hold onto for later in case I need it.

  "Will do." I turn back towards the casket. "If you'll excuse me, I'm going to see if I can look at the body."

  He holds out his arm to stop me. "It's a closed casket for a reason, Cat. I heard they couldn't get the body put back together properly after what happened." It was never indicated that it was, but maybe I didn’t pay close enough attention.

  How does he know my name? The way he's looking at me gives me a suspicion that he knows my Maori killed her. How would it be possible for him to know that, though? That’s impossible.

  My lips turn sour as I remember the way Maori tore her body to shreds. It wouldn't kill anyone if I snuck a peek, but with the way the guy is glowering at me, I feel like my arm would be detached if I did so in front of him. "Sorry for your loss." I bow
to him, seeing a pretty Latina chick waving me over. My discomfort must be dead obvious. I feel like such a jerk. I didn't even ask her name the last time we departed … But she did give me that card. I think it was Crystal, maybe?

  "Don't forget to give me a call to set up a coffee date," the man calls to me once I turn my heel, walking over to Crystal and her child.

  "What was that creeper going on about? He tried the same thing with me." Crystal shakes her head, disgusted with the guy. "A funeral isn't the place to find some hook-up." I don't think he was trying to set me up for that. I just know by his questionable energy that I wouldn't want to be in a room alone with him.

  "Mommy, what's a hook-up?" the young child asks, sniffling due to the atmosphere. Innocence smeared on his face, highlighted in his big hazel eyes. He can't be more than five.

  "Never mind that, Leo." Crystal shakes her head, wiping away a tear. "Leo, this is Susan's friend, Cat."

  "Hi." I awkwardly wave to the young boy.

  "How did you meet Susan?" he asks me, wiping his nose on his sleeve. The shirt is a little oversized on him, so the sleeves sag a little past his hands. Not bad for someone so young, as kids grow so fast. He’s wearing a Spiderman hoodie and black pants. Crystal is wearing a dark blue sweater and slacks. Saddened that his favorite babysitter was gone.

  I wrack my brain for the right words to say to that, "We went to college together." It’s not a complete lie. She was just the professor, and I was one of her many students. I couldn't start explaining to a kid all of those components, though.

  "We used to build Lego cities and watch cartoons together. She would always have cute animal pictures to show off." Before they got tested on, no doubt.