by Kali Harper
“It’s for your own good.” He sat in the driver’s seat, turned on the ignition, then drove toward the far side of town.
Chapter Three
The cup of coffee barely warmed my hands as Lance sat across from me. In the last twenty minutes since we’d arrived, he’d said only a handful of words to me or Sammy. The sardine can he called an office was uncomfortably small, leaving very little room aside from his desk chair, filing cabinet, and a houseplant that was in desperate need of a drink.
“Are we waiting for something?” I asked, wincing at how loud my voice was in the tiny room.
“Someone,” he corrected me, kicking back in his chair as though he had no care in the world for what I was going through. So much for the shred of kindness I saw on him earlier this morning.
“I’m not a suspect,” I said.
“No.”
“Then why am I here?”
Lance placed his arms on the desk between us. “How much do you know about Maggie?”
“Same as everyone else, I guess. She moved to Emberdale forever ago, has a knack for baking, and loves cats.” She had and did those things, I reminded myself. I couldn’t believe she was dead.
“Her cover life, basically.”
“Cover life?” What on Earth was he talking about?
“Where are those files?” Lance called out, glaring at the door to his office which was ajar.
“Sorry. They just came through.” A man in his mid-thirties rushed into his office, handed Lance a large file, the retreated back into the other room.
“What’re those?”
“Maggie’s affects. Hmm, that complicate things a bit.” He removed his glasses, then met my gaze. “You’re listed as her beneficiary.”
“Her what? Why?”
“The why doesn’t matter here.”
“So you found her in my house, I’m listed in her will, and you don’t see me as a suspect?” Not that I was complaining.
“Like I said before, if you were anyone else, you’d be in a cell.”
“And what makes me so special?”
“You’re normal.”
“Uh huh.” Had someone turned on the switch for crazy this morning? “And that’s a bad thing?”
“Not necessarily.” He lifted his gaze to Chief Tundal who stood in the doorway, a large manila envelope tucked under his arm. “Took you long enough.”
The police chief narrowed his gaze in Lance’s direction, his brows pinched above his eyes as he strode into the room. He’d never admit it, but the entire town knew he wore a toupee and had the biggest sweet tooth imaginable, one of which he fed every morning at Maggie’s bakery. He claimed the box of baked goods he bought was for the entire team, but he always ate a handful of tarts before getting into his car. Not today. Today, his mop of brown curls leaned heavily to the left and the jelly stain on his shirt was proof enough he’d gotten his sugary fix elsewhere.
“They weren’t easy to find,” he said, dropping the folder on the table in front of Lance. “First I tried the Magician’s Library, then the witches. Of course I couldn’t leave out the werewolves and—”
“He’s kidding,” Lance said, releasing a nervous laugh. “Aren’t you, Max?”
“Oh, yes. Of course.” Max’s expression softened. “I’m terribly sorry to hear about Maggie. She was one of the good ones.” Then, turning back to Lance, he added, “Tell me if you find anything.”
“Will do.”
Once Max had gone, Lance pulled a pile of papers out of the envelope, then repositioned his glasses before reading over the fine print. The letters on the page were jumbled and impossible for me to read.
“More papers?”
“Official documents,” he said with a nod. “We can worry about those later, though. There’s no need to sign them right now.”
“And what would I be signing for exactly?”
“The deed to the house, her car, the bakery… the list goes on.”
Tears bit at the backs of my eyes and I fought them back. “And you’re sure there’s no one else she’d rather give them to?”
“Nope, says right here you’re the only one. Maggie was a widow, after all. Married, but she never had children of her own.”
“And instead of picking an old friend like Mr. Clark, she picked me.”
“Yes. Is that so hard to believe?”
I shrugged, then gathering my nerves, I said, “Does it say when the documents were filed?” Had she known she was in trouble?
Lance flipped back to the front page. “The same day you moved in.”
“That’s insane. She didn’t even know me.”
“It only sounds crazy, but you’ll understand in time.”
More secrets? I wanted to scream, storm out of the room, something. Instead, I was stuck inside Lance’s office wondering how I’d gotten there. Maggie? Dead? Who in our tiny town would’ve hurt her? The Morgansons may have argued with her from time to time, but murder? I couldn’t believe it.
I was about to ask Lance how Maggie had been killed when the chief barged into the room again, more out of breath than before.
“The Whisperer is here.”
“Let her in,” Lance said, placing the papers back in the envelope.
“Whisperer?” I asked. What kind of occupation was that?
“For Sammy.”
“Oh, that kind of whisperer! Why didn’t you say so? I talk to him all the time.” I rolled my eyes. “Maggie’s dead!” My voice carried out of the room, causing most of the officers in the other room to look in our direction.
“I’m aware of this.”
“And you’re still making jokes.” I’d heard of making light of a bad situation, but did he have no compassion at all?
“I know it appears that way, but—hey, where are you going?”
I shoved out of my chair and stood away from his desk. “Leaving. Come on, Sammy.”
“You aren’t going to believe me,” Lance said, not moving from his seat.
“Try me.”
He gestured back at my chair. “You might want to sit down for this.”
“I prefer to stand.” At least then I could make a quick getaway.
“Sammy’s always around Maggie,” Lance said, pushing away from the table.
Thank you, Captain Obvious. “Your point?”
“He could’ve seen something.”
“I don’t think he did.” Eying Sammy then, I could tell he was about as interested in this discussion as I was. He made sure to show us his disapproval by lifting one leg and grooming it all the way to his toes. “He was at Maggie’s this morning,” I continued, stooping down to pet him under his chin. “Woke me up, in fact.”
“That doesn’t mean he didn’t see anything,” Lance said, standing at my side. “Five minutes, that’s all I need.”
“Not without me in the room. Maggie left Sammy to me, and seeing as he’s a minor, you can’t question him unless I’m present.” At least that’s how I figured this kind of thing might work.
Lance sighed, then gestured back at my chair. “Have a seat. I’ll see what’s taking them so long.”
The detective excused himself from the room and closed the door. Voices murmured outside, but whatever they said was lost to me beyond the soundproof walls.
“What’re we going to do, huh?” Sammy turned to me and jumped in my lap, standing on his hind legs before nuzzling my ear. I could’ve sworn he said something, the words sounding as jumbled as the ones written on those documents, but that’s crazy, right? A talking cat? It wasn’t like I could understand him anyway.
“I imagined it,” I decided, stroking the gray tabby from between his shoulders all the way down along his tail. “Cats don’t talk.”
“Of course we do.”
Okay, that time I definitely heard something.
“Sammy, did you just—”
“Meow.”
Okay, so maybe I was hearing things, but it sounded so real!
“Down here.”
Sh
ifting in my chair, I came face to face with another cat, one as black as midnight with golden eyes.
“How’d you get in here, little guy?”
“Girl,” the cat replied, jumping onto the table in front of me.
“Okay, I’m leaving now.” I stood to go, carrying Sammy in my arms.
“You’re dreaming,” the cat said a moment later, dipping her head when I glanced back over my shoulder. “That’s what you want me to say, isn’t it?”
“No? Yes. I don’t know. This isn’t real.” Is it? I was afraid to ask. The possibility of Maggie still being alive played in the back of my mind and I almost smiled, but either the cat sensed my thoughts or this dream was turning into one heck of a nightmare.
“She isn’t coming back. Listen, I don’t know what all Detective Lance told you, but I prefer to pull things off like a bandage. Aren’t you the least bit curious?” she purred, pacing the length of the table.
“You’re the cat, you tell me.”
She laughed. Cats can laugh, right? It wasn’t quite a purr, but not a human laugh, either. “Child, we cats aren’t curious. We’re…”
“Curious.”
“No. I was going to say inquisitive by nature, but cautious by design.”
“Could’ve fooled me.” Out of all the times I’d watched Sammy jump from Maggie’s dresser to the bed and fail, I was pretty sure he was as careless as they came.
“We can’t all be so graceful,” the black cat said as if she’d read my mind. “Yes, I can. Yes. Yes, I can read Sammy’s as well. Will you stop yammering?”
“Definitely a dream.”
“Fine, you’re dreaming. Happy now?”
“I honestly have no idea. Who are you?”
“The who isn’t important right now. I’m the Whisperer Lance spoke about and I’m here to find out whatever Sammy saw.” She paused, jumping off the table before sitting at my feet. “If you’d be so kind as to place him on the floor. Thank you.” Once I let Sammy down, I watched them combat in the most intense staring contest I’d ever seen. If Sammy said anything, I didn’t hear him. It wasn’t until he got on all fours and hissed at her when I realized she may have been pushing him too hard.
“That’s enough,” I said, scooping him in my arms. “There, you had your five minutes. Can we go now?”
I glared at Lance who stood outside the doorway.
“You’re free to go for now.” The feline excused herself as soon as I opened the door, disappearing somewhere down the hall as Lance blocked my escape.
“We’re done here,” I told him, my words coming out in a growl. “I don’t know what you’re trying to pull, but sending a black cat into the room and having one of your associates talk over some hidden intercom doesn’t mean I’m going to believe a word you’ve said. Some Whisperer.”
“I know how crazy this all looks—”
“Do you? Do you really?” Sammy yowled and dug his claws into my shoulder when I squeezed him too hard. “Stay away from me.”
Lance stepped aside and let me through. “Both your house and the bakery are off limits until we can wrap things up.”
“Then where am I supposed to go?”
He shrugged. “Until you’re ready to listen, it’s not my problem.”
“You’re just like her you know?” I stabbed a finger at him. “As soon as you don’t get your way, you snap. Same as Ida.”
“It’s because I’m trying to investigate a murder,” he said with an exasperated sigh.
“Try harder. You can start by not badgering your possible witness.”
With that, I left, holding a very agitated Sammy in my arms until we were standing on the sidewalk. With the detective still hovering outside his office, I set Sammy down, fixed my sweater, then headed for the middle of town. What I really needed right now was a friend, and I knew exactly where to find one.
Chapter Four
The Laughing Bean was on the other side of town and the only cafe still functioning ever since the Morgansons’ lapse and Lance shutting down Every Last Crumb. Nothing would ever compare to Maggie’s custom blend, but then, any coffee was better than the watered-down sludge Lance offered me in his office.
“You can go home,” I told Sammy when he refused to move from the sidewalk. “I know you can’t understand me, but Maggie isn’t coming back.” A pang of regret tightened in my chest. Of all the faces in Emberdale, she was the one I never expected to lose. She wasn’t family, but she was the closest thing I had, and she must’ve felt the same way. But the will was drawn up before she even knew me.
The more I thought about everything that had happened, the stranger my day became. I hadn’t gone back into the bakery, but it was different somehow. The sign was faded, much like the one on Katherine’s shop. There were other, little things like how Mr. Clark’s fruit stand suddenly had one short leg, or how Thomas Seeton’s antique shop had an assortment of lawn ornaments out front that I’d never seen before. Strange glass balls, a very lifelike flamingo, and wind chimes covered the lawn and hung from the awning above the porch. He was always a collector of things, but this morning’s arrangement was especially strange.
Stepping into the cafe, I had no problem spotting Kat at the far corner of the room. Her jacket hung over the back of her chair and she smiled when she met my gaze, a pair of coffees already paid for and hopefully as strong as I needed them to be. I hadn’t told her everything over the phone, but she’d more than likely heard all she needed to know about Maggie.
“Hey,” her voice was so soft I barely heard it over a couple arguing in line. “How you holding up, sweetie?”
Okay, she knew. I forced a smile and sat in the chair opposite of her, taking the coffee in my hands before bringing it up to my lips.
“That bad, huh?” She reached across the table and took one of my hands, the contact bringing tears to my eyes.
“Can we pretend we’re on break?” I wasn’t ready to talk about this with her.
“Sure. I take it Sammy’s outside?”
I already knew the answer but followed her example and peered at the front window. We couldn’t see him, but I knew he was there. It’s hard to say how I came to that conclusion. I’d left him there, sure, but that didn’t mean he had to stay. It was a feeling, kind of serene if I’m being honest, which was odd seeing as I’d never had a big thing for cats. Not like Maggie, anyway.
“He won’t leave,” Kat said a moment later, taking a handful of sugars out of the ceramic boat in the middle of the table before adding them to her coffee.
“I feel terrible for him,” I said, sipping my coffee which barely registered on my tongue. “It’s like he’s my kid and now I have to tell him… I have to explain…” A sob escaped my lips and I shielded my eyes with a hand.
“Oh, sweetie.” She rummaged through her purse and passed me a handful of tissues. “Sammy’s a smart boy, I’m sure he knows.”
I wiped a stray tear from my cheek and was glad I hadn’t bothered with my makeup this morning. If I thought I was a mess now, I would’ve looked ten times worse with my mascara running all over the place.
“His poor heart,” I said after a long moment. “It won’t be able to take this.” Most cats were known for their independence, but the way Sammy hung on Maggie’s every word, he wasn’t just any cat. “I’ve heard of cases where an owner dies and the cat—”
“He won’t die.” Katherine sounded so sure of herself. “What did Lance tell you?”
“Could you be more specific?” The list of nonsense I could share with her was endless.
“Maggie, our small town, Sammy?”
I wiped at my eyes again. “You’re never going to believe this. He tried to convince me cats could talk by sending one into the room and having someone talk over the intercom. What a joke.”
“The Whisperer, right? Black cat, golden eyes?”
“Yeah. How’d you know?”
She waved my question away by asking one of her own. “Maggie left you everything, didn’t
she?”
Glancing around the room, I searched for the hidden cameras, crew, and cast from one of those reality T.V. shows. Maggie had done some crazy tricks for April Fool’s, but this was the wrong time of year for it.
“Astrid, it’s not as crazy as it sounds.”
“But she left it to me the day I arrived.” How’s that for crazy?
“Then she must’ve known.”
Known? “Known what?” If she were in any kind of trouble, why hadn’t she told anyone?
“Feel like taking a walk?”
Not really. When she slipped from her chair, I realized I didn’t have a choice. So, after adding a bit of sugar and cream to my bitter coffee, I followed her outside, not surprised when Sammy joined us. He meowed a small greeting, then walked behind me as Katherine lead us back up the hill to her quaint bookshop. Every now and then I caught her looking at me, but whatever was on her mind she kept to herself. We could’ve gone anywhere or talked along the way, but much like Lance, she clearly wanted to be discreet.
“You too, Sammy,” Kat said as she unlocked the shop’s front door.
She didn’t have to ask twice. The tabby followed close behind her, accompanying us inside as she locked the door.
“Okay, first Lance and now you. What’s up with all the secrecy?”
“Read this.” She leaned over the front counter and pulled a large book from behind it before passing it over to me. The book itself wasn’t nearly as heavy as I’d expected, but whatever she wanted me to see wasn’t there. “Hmm, maybe it’s the wrong one. One sec.” She reached under the counter again, double-checking the spine. “Here’s the one.” She traded books with me and came around to my side, frowning when I didn’t say anything. “Well?”
“I’m not sure what you’re expecting me to see,” I said, running my hand along the golden letters on the spine. The letters reminded me of the ones I saw back in Lance’s office and when I opened the book, the pages were blank.
“Look harder,” she urged, placing a hand on mine.
If I look any harder, my eyes will cross. Humoring her, I studied the lettering on the spine, tracing them with a fingertip as I leaned against the counter. Sammy jumped up behind me, placing both paws on one of my shoulders as he inspected the book with me, likely wondering what all the hubbub was about.
