Maverick Touch: The Cat

by Ashley Nemer

CHAPTER TWELVE

  They stayed at the bowling alley for two hours before finally declaring the women the winners. The car ride home was full of excuses and teasing.

  “You know Ana, I’m thinking we need to have a party. It seems the tides have turned in our favor. What do you think?” Nadia was teasing, but she knew the boys would get riled up from this.

  “Oh, maybe we can have Kain dress up in a costume to entertain us.” Anabella was holding back her laugh. She watched Kain clench his teeth. The last time she got him to dress up was for Halloween when they were kids and she teased him into wearing a dress and make up. The family still teases him about that.

  “I do have a skirt that’s too big for me; it would look perfect on him!” Nadia saw Leon start to snicker. She gave him a light elbow on the shoulder and he stopped right away.

  “I do have my make up at home. I bet the cousins would love an updated picture!”

  “I know what you two are trying to do, and it’s not going to work.” Kain was trying to keep from laughing. He ground his teeth together and kept his focus on the road. He knew if he let loose even a moment, he would reveal the laughter he had been hiding.

  “Dad come on, we want to see you dressed as a girl! We missed it!” Daman unbuckled his seatbelt and stood in the back seat. He wrapped his arms around the back of the chair latching onto Kain’s shoulders.

  “Sit back down, Daman. Of course you missed it; your aunt was evil when she was a little girl. She might still be.” Kain looked at Anabella with a playful stare.

  “It’s a great photo. I have a copy at my house. Remind me and next time I come over; I’ll have a copy made and give it to you.” Nadia pulled Daman off of the chair and helped him buckle back up. She smiled at him then whispered in his ear. “Maybe tonight we could do something to your dad with Aunt Ana’s lipstick.”

  “Hey, I heard that brat!” Kain looked at Nadia in the rear view mirror with a glare.

  “You heard nothing, now drive. Ana and I have a menu to pick out for the men of this family to cook.”

  They laughed for a moment then finished their drive back to Kain’s. When they pulled into the drive way, Gabe was sitting in his car outside, waiting on them. The boys ran up to the front door with Anabella and Kain, while Nadia walked over to the car. Gabe opened his door and gave Nadia a hug. She waited until everyone was inside of the house before she spoke.

  “Is anything wrong?” She looked him over carefully; there was something in his expression that seemed off.

  “We ran your story online only. We’ve had some responses.”

  “Online only? What? No! That was meant for the papers. Why would you do online only?” Nadia started towards the sidewalk then turned around and looked at him, her hands firmly attached to her hips, her expression narrowing in on him.

  “Scully and I wanted to protect you, Nadia; you have to understand that. See it from our point of view.”

  “Screw your point of view. That story was meant for the front page, and I get screwed and posted online. In what section, travel? ‘Beware Traveling Through Town’ must be the title huh?”

  “Stop it, that’s not how it is.”

  “Well, let’s have it. What crappy ass responses were sent in?” She waited for him to deliver the news that the bad guy was out to get her and now she couldn’t go home. Like that would be anything new for her to hear.

  “Someone let it leak, what we were doing, the story. We’re not sure how far it spans, or if someone actually told, or it was pieced together.” Gabe fumbled around with his pockets pulling out a piece of paper.

  “What’s that?” Nadia moved closer to Gabe so she could read easier.

  “I want you to know that it’s not very...”

  Nadia snatched the paper from his hand before he could finish his thought. She unfolded it and saw a print out of an email that was addressed to her but had been sent to the paper's general inbox. She read over it and couldn’t believe what she was reading.

  Ms. Maverick,

  I know what you are searching for, and I know that you want answers. I’ve enclosed a set of instructions for you to follow and a program for you to download. Once you have logged into the forum I designated with the username and password below, you will encode pictures of cats with the questions you have and upload them to the forum utilizing the program I have sent you. I will answer any questions you have in a similar form. But I warn you…You need to watch over your shoulder, because what you have been doing is unacceptable.

  Log into: https://www.cedarrapidsforums.com/

  Username: NoseyReporter

  Password: curiositykilledthecat

  Go to the thread titled: Look at my cat, my cat is amazing

  Good Luck.

  Mr. A

  “Well I’ll be damned.” Nadia looked up from the paper and straight into Gabe’s eyes. “What did Kevin say about all of this?”

  “He’s not said much. They took a copy and are trying to trace the IP address that the email was sent from, but you know how that goes. Kevin said they must have used multiple proxies and an anonymizer. They were able to trace it to Uzbekistan, but they haven’t had any progress since. He does not want you speaking to Mr. A.”

  “Well, we knew he knew something was going on that night. Why else would he have sent his three guys out to get us? He’s not stupid; at least according to Talbot, remember? So makes sense he would know my article was about him, but I didn’t out him, really just warned people.”

  “I doubt he is going to be splitting hairs on what you did and didn’t ‘out’.” Gabe’s tone was becoming annoyed. He didn’t get why she insisted on being so stubborn about things.

  “You know, I don’t need the lectures from you; I get them enough from myself.”

  “If you are even questioning this, then why keep it up? Let’s just pull back, let things die down and move on. We don’t have to be the crime solving reporters, you know? We do have a police force that does a fine job of that on a daily basis.”

  “Well, they let Ramon down, didn’t they? Someone needs to expose this, even if it costs me my life.”

  “Why do you always have to play the hero? Can’t you just sit back for once? What if it costs you more? What if it costs you the ones you love?”

  “Don’t go there, Gabe.”

  “That’s where it’s going, Nadia. You need to drop this. You need to just let it go. Don’t even think about talking to him, either.”

  “So Scully sent you here to talk me out of it, didn’t he? What’s he want me to start on next week when I come back?”

  “Scully didn’t send me to do anything; I came because I wanted to. Kevin wants you to. We all want you to drop it.”

  “Fine, I’ll let it go. I’ll log into the forum and reply to this Mr. A and tell him I’m not going to speak with him anymore.”

  “Absolutely not.” Gabe went to grab for the paper and Nadia put it out of his reach and moved away from him. She folded it up and stuck it down her shirt and inside her bra.

  “Not so fast. He sent this to me, so I am going to reply.”

  “Like hell you are. I said drop it, going on there and replying is NOT dropping it!”

  “You’re not my father, Gabe. You can’ tell me what to do.”

  “Yeah, I can. I love and care for you, and you are not going to be talking to that man. End of story. Don’t make me tell Kain.”

  “Gabe, if I want him to go away then I have to talk to him; I have to tell him I’m going to give it up.”

  “No, you just give it up.”

  “This is my call, not yours. Don’t tell me what to do.” Nadia turned around and headed for the front door of the house. Gabe raced behind her and pulled her to a stop.

  “Nadia. This is crazy. I don’t want to fight with you, but I don’t want you hurt.”

  “I won’t be hurt, Gabe. Promise.” She turned around and wrapped her arms around his neck and held onto him tightly. She felt Gabe’s hands reach aroun
d her waist, and he clung to her.

  “I’m going to go inside with my family now, Gabe. Okay?” She pulled away from him to look into his eyes; she wanted to make sure he knew she was sincere. “I’m going to tell him I’m done.”

  She pulled away completely from him, walked into the house, and shut the door behind her. She saw Anabella and Kain looking at her but ignored them. She walked to her room and pulled out her laptop. She had a mission. She understood Gabe was worried, but she was putting an end to all of the killing.

  Okay Mr. A. Let’s see if you are online.

  She logged onto her computer and pulled out the paper that she had stuffed in her shirt. Opening her email system, she pulled up the general mailbox and saw Mr. A’s original email along with the attachment that contained the instructions. She wrote them down on her paper for easy reference, then went to the site instructed and began downloading the necessary software for the photo encryption. His instructions said specifically for a black cat to be the first photo. While the software was downloading, she searched for a black cat that she liked. Once she found it, she uploaded it to the program and the prompt for the specific question came up.

  Nadia looked at the screen with a blank stare. She got one question at a time. This wasn’t going to be like chatting with Gabe on the instant message program. Her fingers hovered over the keys. She would start to type then delete it.

  What made you kill Ramon? Why did you kill Matt? Are you going to come after me?

  None of the questions she had initially typed were right. She knew he was going to judge her for each thing she pressed with the keys. All she wanted to know was why. Could she ask that?

  What makes you do the things you do?

  She pressed enter and the program started running. She watched as the photo of the black cat flickered a few times before the finished bubble appeared at the center of her screen. She clicked on it, and the file closed out and an icon appeared on her desktop for it. Neat.

  Pulling up the screen, she entered her username and password. She then found the thread that Mr. A had designated for her. She had a moment of hesitation before uploading the photo to the thread. When she pressed post she felt her body start to tingle in anticipation, waiting for his rely.

  Nadia expected his reply to post immediately. She felt seconds tick away, moment after moment turning into minute after minute. A while passed before she realized she had stared at the screen for over forty-five minutes and had gotten no response. She began to unplug the laptop and almost shut it down when she saw the notification signal in the upper right hand corner go off. Her heart raced as she pulled up the notification and saw MysteryMan2012 had posted a reply to her thread.

  Mystery man, isn’t that the truth, she thought. She pulled up the photo and saw a picture of a white cat. The caption under the thread read:

  White or black, what you see isn’t always what you get.

  Nadia was very confused at what she saw. She assumed he would have actually answered her question. Suddenly she got an idea; she downloaded the picture and pulled up the encryption program. She loaded it and found an option to ‘read encryption.’ She waited a few moments till she saw the bubble come up that said ‘continue.’

  She placed her mouse over it and anxiously clicked continue. That’s when she saw his actual reply.

  Ms. Maverick,

  You do not pay heed to warnings do you? Haven’t you ever heard the expression curiosity killed the cat? I find your selection of cat interesting. Did you know the feline that you picked is one that the old Pharos of Egypt used to cherish? It is actually called The Egyptian Mau and was said to be descended from the Gods. The first was named Mafdet, but the most known is Bastet. Why is this important you ask? Well, the tabby cat you have at home is a direct descendant of the felines who were known as the Egyptian domesticated cat. I wonder, would your cat, what do you call it, make a good pet for me? Guess you will have to wait and see…

  Remember Ms. Maverick, your questions should be pertinent to your case. Asking the why’s of anything is pointless. Just accept what is and move on. You cannot change it nor should you try. Better women have tried and failed.

  You may message again tomorrow after nine a.m.

  Until then,

  Mr. A

  Nadia looked at the screen in bewilderment. Did he just threaten my cat? None of that made sense, and now she was going to be locked out until tomorrow. She copied the encrypted message down so she could look into what he had referenced. She had always been one to enjoy studying history of her own country, and now she was getting to study a society that is across the world and thousands of years old, but he mentioned it to her, therefore it must have some significance.

  She pulled up Google and typed ‘Mafdet’ into the search engine. The Wikipedia listing was the first to pop up, so she clicked on it. She read through the page and couldn’t help noticing the fact this goddess was the protector against snakes and scorpions. Are you saying you are like a scorpion Mr. A? A silent killer? She continued to read the page, gaining as much input as she could about this Mafdet, when suddenly something struck her as odd. He leaves chalk marks of snakes on his victims.

  As she read further into the page, she saw where Mafdet was named in the First Dynasty as the deification of execution and legal justice. Maybe the people whom fall victim to him are being served justice by his own rulings?

  What did all of this mean? Nadia was very unsure of the message. She asked him to give her the why, and maybe that was what he actually had done. Did this mean Mr. A was a student of Mythology? Was he Egyptian, or did he have a God complex? Could he be trying to clean up the streets of Cedar Rapids by his own judgment?

  She started to take notes about everything she found online. She noted that most of the pictures of cats that she saw were black. Pure black. This made her wonder if that was where the superstition of the black cat came from.

  The next step was deciding which question she would ask next. On the pad of paper she pulled from her bag, she wrote at the top, Why: Egyptian God Complex. On the second line she wrote, Judgments? She wanted to know how he picked who the next victims were. Did someone pay him? Did the police tell him who was going to escape prosecution so he could eliminate them?

  She dropped her pen at that last thought. The police. It was said Mr. A had them in his pocket; could it be reversed? Could the police rely on him to carry out the justice that the regular court systems couldn’t? Could this be why Kevin wanted her off of the story? Maybe he knew she would discover the truth.

  Nadia wrote the word police on the third line of her paper and circled it. She knew this was the key, and somehow she was going to have to break down this barrier and find out what was really going on.

  “Nadia, are you alright in there?”

  She looked up at the door and saw Kain standing there with his brooding brother look on his face.

  “Yeah, I’m okay. Why?” She closed her computer and put her notepad back into her bag. She didn’t want anyone to see what she had learned.

  “You have that look.”

  “What look?”

  Kain shook his head and turned around to go back in the living room. His voice carried through the empty space, and in a cautious but loving tone Nadia heard, “The look of trouble.”