The Catnap Before Christmas

by Kathi Daley

  “I hope so. The logic Finn and I used to decide that Devon was the man we were looking for seems solid, but until Finn tracks him down and gets him to confess, we can’t know for sure. Still, I did see him at the bookstore when the cat lounge was blown up, and he did leave during the confusion today, so I would say that assuming he is the man we’ve been looking for is a safe bet.”

  “I have to admit that I feel bad for him,” Cassie said. “Not that I am saying he was in any way justified for doing what he’s done, but it must have been tough to lose his mother at such a young age and then find out all those years later that the man he most likely looked up to was the father who’d turned his back on him when he’d needed him the most.”

  “Yeah. My heart does hurt for the guy. I just hope they can track him down and get him the help he needs.”

  Chapter 23

  Tuesday, December 24

  “Oh my gosh, I’m so happy you came.” I hugged Jane when she arrived at Mr. Parsons’s Christmas Eve party with Wiley in tow. Jingles, who was surprisingly walking politely on a leash held by Wiley, had come along as well.

  “Wiley seemed to be okay with it when I explained what we were going to do. We can always leave if it doesn’t work out. I hope it is okay that we brought Jingles. He seems to have a calming effect on Wiley. We’ve started taking him with us when we go on our walks, and I find that with Jingles along, Wiley is able to deal with people, noise, and confusion a lot better.”

  “Of course it is okay that you brought Jingles.” I motioned for Cassie to join us. “This is my sister, Cassie. She’ll show you where to hang your coats, where to find beverages, and where to sit if you want to find somewhere quiet. My older sister, Siobhan, is in the parlor with some of the kids if you want to try that. Dinner will be served in a half hour or so.”

  Jane greeted Cassie, who led her down the hallway. I was so happy to see that both Jane and Wiley had decided to show up. I hoped it went well. If Jingles could help Wiley deal with social situations, that would really open up the world for Jane, who seemed to have been living a fairly solitary life when I met her.

  “Francine wants to know when you want her to start setting out the food on the buffet tables,” Danny asked me.

  “In about thirty minutes. Services should be over at Saint Patrick’s by now, but I want to give Sister Mary and the others time to get here. Is Aiden still manning the bar?”

  “He is. You know he is in his element behind the bar.”

  “I know, and it was nice of the two of you to donate the alcohol so we could offer an open bar in addition to the wine.”

  “I think everyone is having a really good time, and Aiden is monitoring the amount of alcohol he serves so no one has too much. In fact, the Christmas punch that has been so popular is mostly punch.”

  “That’s probably a good thing. Have you seen Cody?”

  “He is helping in the kitchen. I should get back there, as well. I know that Francine, Siobhan, Mom, and Maggie have things handled, but there is a lot of lifting and carrying to take care of, which is where Cody and I come in.”

  Mr. Parsons’s Christmas Eve party started off as a way for Cody and me to spend part of our holiday with our elderly neighbor despite our family obligations. That first year, we’d planned a small dinner party that had grown to over sixty people after we began inviting others who might not have had a place to go. This year, we’d be serving dinner for over a hundred. While Mr. Parsons was a bit of a recluse, he seemed to really enjoy the annual event, and Cody and I were happy to make it happen.

  “Did I see Jane and Wiley come in?” Alex asked.

  I smiled at the adorable toddler in his arms. “They are here. Cassie took them to grab something to drink, and then I think she was going to take them to Siobhan, who is with the kids in the parlor.”

  “Great. I wanted to see how the computer I got for Wiley was working out. When I delivered it to him, I swear I saw him smile.”

  “He doesn’t smile often, but I’ve seen him smile at Jingles, so he might have. Does he know how to use it?”

  “And how. The kid is a savant. I think having a newer and more powerful window on the world is going to help him a lot.” Alex looked down at Barrington. “Should we go find Connor?”

  Barrington smiled an adorable two-toothed grin. It seemed that he felt that was a very good idea indeed.

  “By the way, did Finn track down Devon?” Alex asked.

  I nodded. “He was picked up at the airport in Seattle. Finn hasn’t spoken to him personally, but he did indicate that he was cooperating. I guess, as we suspected, he went a little bit crazy when he realized that the man he knew as a father figure was really the father who had not only failed to claim him but had most likely been responsible for his mother’s anguish, eventually leading to her death.”

  Alex slowly shook his head. “The whole thing is just so sad.”

  “I couldn’t agree more.”

  Alex and Barrington went off to find Jane and Wiley, and I headed toward the kitchen to check on the crew there. Everyone was pitching in, and it looked as if they had everything prepared and transferred to serving dishes.

  “I noticed Sister Mary drive up, so go ahead and start setting the food out on the buffet tables. I’ll let everyone know they can come in to dinner.”

  Once the hundred-plus guests were seated at the long tables we’d set up in the ballroom, Maggie’s husband, Michael, who’d been a priest before he was a husband, said grace. I felt a warmth in my heart as family and friends from six months to over eighty years in age gathered together to break bread while taking a moment to celebrate the birth of a very special baby. Some of the people in the room were Christian, and some were not, but whatever their religious beliefs, I knew that everyone who’d gathered believed in the friendship and caring that spanned the generations. While Christmas may be about gift-giving for many people, I knew deep in my heart that love and the expression of that love through our acts of kindness was the greatest gift of all.

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  Friday, November 16

  You know what they say about the best-laid plans?

  I was on my way to a weekend getaway with Trevor Johnson, one of my two best friends, when I got a call from Officer Woody Baker. Woody was a good guy who’d helped me out on more than one occasion, so when he asked for my help in tracking down the man who’d shot a local social worker, I didn’t feel I could turn him down in spite of the fact that Trevor and I were still trying to recover from the worst cruise in history. Well, maybe not the worst in history; I did remember the Titanic. But while our cruise may not have been quite as bad as that history-making cruise gone wrong, it definitely wasn’t the relaxing time I’d been promised by my other best friend, Mackenzie Reynolds, and her new guy friend, Ty Matthews. Not only had I run into a ghost on my second night aboard, but the ship had been hijacked, and other passengers had ended up dead before the nightmare at sea was over as well.

  “My name is Amanda Parker. Officer Baker sent me,” I said to the woman at the front desk of the hospital. “I’m here to meet Carmen Rosewood.”

  The woman looked down at her log. “Yes. Ms. Rosewood is waiting for you. Just take the elevator to the second floor and then make a left. Trinity Rosewood is in room 202.”

  Offering the woman a look of thanks, I headed toward the elevator. I really doubted, due to the unique circumstance, that I’d be able to help Woody accomplish what he hoped, but I knew I needed to try.

  “Carmen Rosewood?” I asked the dark-haired woman sitting next to the hospital bed currently occupied by Trinity Rosewood.

  “Yes.” The woman nodded. “You must be Amanda Parker.”

  “I am. I’m sorry about your sister.”

  A tear rolled down the woman’s face. “Who would do this to Trinity? She’s a good person who spent her life helping others. This whole thing makes no sense.”

&nb
sp; I offered the woman a gentle smile. “I know. I’m sorry.” I glanced at the woman currently hooked up to a variety of monitors and machines. “Has there been any change?”

  Carmen slowly shook her head. “According to the doctor, all we can do is wait. Either Trinity will fight to live or she won’t. There really isn’t anything more the doctors can do at this point.”

  “I’ve never had the pleasure of meeting Trinity, but Woody assures me she is a fighter.”

  Carmen offered me a tiny smile. “She is. If anyone can survive this, it will be Trinity.” She glanced away from her sister and toward me. “I’m not sure why Officer Baker wanted you to spend time with Trinity, but he asked me to allow you to sit with her for a while, and I agreed.” She stood up. “If you are some sort of a psychic or healer, please do everything you can. I’ll be in the waiting room. You can just come and get me when you are finished.”

  “Thank you. I won’t be long.”

  Sitting in the chair Carmen had just vacated, I realized all I could do at this point was to open my mind and wait. Woody is a fantastic cop who doesn’t normally need help to do his job, but the shooting in question took place after dark in the driveway of the woman’s home, and no one had seen who’d pulled the trigger except for the woman herself. The problem was that Trinity was in a coma and couldn’t tell anyone what had happened. Given the fact that I could see and speak to ghosts, Woody hoped I might be able to communicate with her. I agreed to try, but ghosts were dead, and this woman was simply unconscious, so I really doubted it would work.

  “Trinity. Are you here?” I asked in a gentle voice. “Can you hear me?”

  There was no response. I looked at the monitors which seemed to be beeping along steadily. Trinity looked to be at peace. She didn’t appear to be close to death. I honestly doubted that I would be able to connect with her. Deciding to see if my alter ego Alyson was around, I silently called out to her. She appeared.

  “Can you sense her?” I asked in a quiet voice.

  “No,” the half of me that existed in spirit form replied. “The woman is still very much alive. Her essence has not separated from her body. I guess that is a good thing, but I’m not sure there is a lot you and I can do at this point.”

  I nodded. “I thought as much, but I had to try. I’m going to wait here for a few minutes just in case we’re wrong and Trinity is trying to reach out to us.”

  Alyson disappeared, and I reached out and took the woman’s hand in my own. “My name is Amanda. I’m not sure if you can hear me, but if you can, I’m here to help you. I can’t stay long, but I will be back tomorrow. If you can find a way to communicate with me, I want you to know that you don’t have to be afraid of me. I only want to help.”

  Trinity didn’t move, but I sensed that my message had been received. I stood and walked out into the waiting room.

  “So?” Carmen asked.

  “Your sister is at peace. She is strong. I didn’t sense distress. I wasn’t able to speak with her directly today, so I’d like to come back tomorrow. Honestly, I’m not sure I can do anything to help Trinity, but I’d like to try.”

  “Yes. Of course. Please feel free to come back any time. Officer Baker didn’t go into any detail, but he did say that you have a unique gift and might be able to help.”

  “I’ll do what I can.”

  Once I returned to my car, I called Woody from my cell.

  “Well?” he asked.

  “Trinity is very much alive and is not even close to separating from her spirit. I do plan to return tomorrow and try again, but at this point, I think we are going to need another way to identify the person who shot her.”

  I could hear Woody breathing, but he didn’t answer right away. Eventually, he spoke. “Yeah. I’ve been working on it, but I’m not really getting anywhere. I don’t suppose you’d like to grab some lunch and we could talk it through. At this point, I feel like I’ve hit a dead end.”

  “I’d be happy to talk it through with you. I’ll grab some sandwiches and meet you at your office. We can eat and chat in the conference room where we won’t be interrupted or overheard.”

  “Great. And thank you.”

  “Anytime.”

  Once I hung up with Woody, I called Trevor.

  “Any luck?” he asked.

  “No, but given the fact that I can see and speak to ghosts, that is a good thing. Alyson seemed to feel that at this point, the woman is well connected to her spirit. I’m going to head over and chat with Woody about the case. Do you want to come?”

  “Yeah. I’d like that. Do you want to meet at Woody’s office?”

  “That would be great. I’m going to pick up some sandwiches. I should be there in twenty minutes or so.”

  After I hung up with Trevor, I headed toward the deli. After our cruise from hell ended early, Trevor and I had decided to spend a few days touring the San Juan Islands while Mac and Ty went off on their own romantic holiday. Trevor and I had been skirting the friends versus something more than friends issue for a while now, and I was sorry we hadn’t had the chance to really explore our options. Not that I would have considered turning Woody down when he’d asked for my help, but it did seem that Trevor and I were destined to remain in the friend zone for all eternity. And maybe that was a good thing. Maybe taking our relationship to the next level would end in disaster. Trevor had been one of my best friends, along with Mac, since I’d first moved to Cutter’s Cove as a teenager in witness protection. He meant a lot to me. More than I’d even realized until I’d returned to Cutter’s Cove ten years after having left when witness protection ended. Was I really willing to risk that friendship by exploring a romance? I knew deep in my heart that once you crossed the line between friendship and romance, you could never really go back.

  “Two Italian subs and a veggie sub,” I said to the man behind the counter at the deli.

  “Coming right up.”

  Walking over to the cooler, I grabbed three sodas. The place was pretty deserted today, but I supposed it was because it was a weekday during the off-season when the town as a whole tended to be somewhat deserted.

  “Chips?” the man asked.

  “No. Just the sandwiches and these sodas.” I picked up the regional newspaper and an image of a man being shot flashed into my mind. Okay, that was odd. My superpower seemed to be to see and speak to ghosts so I could help them do whatever it was they needed to do to move on. I didn’t have premonitions. At least I hadn’t until now if that is even what was going on. Of course, I’d had prophetic dreams in the past. I supposed that flashes of insight were really nothing more than an extension of that. “I’ll take this newspaper as well,” I added.

  Once I paid the man, I headed toward Woody’s office. Trevor’s truck was already there.

  “I hope Italian subs are okay,” I offered a sandwich and soda to each man.

  “Sounds perfect to me,” Woody replied. “Are Mac and Ty coming as well?”

  “They are currently sequestered away at an undisclosed location getting their romance on,” Trevor said.

  “We can call or text if we need them, but let’s only bother them if we really need their help,” I suggested.

  “Sounds fine to me,” Woody said as he opened his soda. “I really want to thank the two of you for dropping everything to help out.”

  “We’re always happy to do what we can.” I opened the paper and turned to page two. I laid the paper on the table and pointed to a photo of a tall man dressed in a dark suit. “What can you tell me about this man?”

  Woody looked at the photo. “His name is Bryson Teller. He is an attorney specializing in family law and child custody. Why do you ask?”

  “While I was at the deli, I picked up the newspaper and had a flash of this man being shot.”

  Woody raised a brow. “Do you think it was a premonition?”

  “I honestly don’t know. I have had prophetic dreams in the past, but nothing like this. Whatever happened, if anything actually happ
ened, is brand new. Still, given everything else, I do think we might want to take my flash seriously.”

  “I’ll call him,” Woody offered.

  Trevor and I waited while Woody looked up and then dialed the law office where the man worked. He was told that Bryson was in court, so he left a message.

  “I’m not sure what more I can do at this point,” he said after hanging up.

  “Where did the shooting take place?” Trevor asked.

  Furrowing my brow, I answered. “I’m not sure. The whole thing really caught me off guard, and I didn’t really pay much attention to the details. If it happens again, I’ll be ready, and I’ll try to notice the details.” I opened my soda. “Would Trinity and Bryson have worked together on the same cases?”

  “Sure,” Woody said. “As a social worker, Trinity’s job is to do whatever is in the best interest of the individuals in her care. Sometimes that means prosecuting others who wish to do harm to those she has been entrusted to protect, whether it be children, the elderly, or those who are unable to act as an advocate for themselves.”

  “I think we should take this flash seriously, especially given what happened to Trinity,” I said. “I know the man is in court, but there must be a way to get a message to him.”

  “I can try,” Woody said. “I’m just not sure what to say. My friend had a premonition that you might be shot at some unknown time in some unknown location probably isn’t going to cut it.”

  “Yeah. I guess we do need more information. Let’s see if we can find any current cases that Trinity and Bryson were working on together,” I suggested.

  Woody stood up. “I’m going to go into my office and make a few calls. I won’t be long if the two of you don’t mind waiting.”

  I glanced at Trevor. He shrugged.

  “Okay,” I said. “We can wait.”

  Woody picked up his sandwich and his soda and headed back toward his office.