Cats in Cahoots (A Klepto Cat Mystery Book 18)

by Patricia Fry

  As the folks on the platform began to disperse, Michael rushed to take Lily from Savannah and she took Rags from the officer. “Thank you for helping us with him. He’s an armload.”

  “Yes, he is,” the officer agreed. “…and a character,” he said, chuckling. He then began brushing the front of his uniform with one hand.

  Savannah winced. “Oh, I guess he left some of his fur behind, didn’t he?”

  “Not a problem,” he said. “I have two cats and a dog.” He nodded toward Michael. “Hi there, Dr. Mike.”

  Michael took a second look, then smiled, saying, “Oh, Greg, hello. How’s the lab getting around on that leg?”

  “Great,” he said. “Sure appreciate your good work.”

  In the meantime, Kira caught up with Savannah, who was walking back to their picnic blanket. “What was everyone laughing about?” she asked.

  “Oh, at Rags.”

  “I didn’t think it was so funny. Rags was just being Rags, right?”

  Savannah put one hand on her shoulder. “Yes, but we’re used to him. His behavior is a bit bizarre for most people.”

  “Your cat,” Gladys said when everyone had returned to the blanket, “he’s sure a ham.”

  “Isn’t he?” Savannah agreed.

  “Ki-ki,” Lily said, as she watched Savannah put Rags inside the carrier. The baby bent over and peered at him through the wire. “Ki-ki.”

  “I’d like a water bottle,” Savannah said, reaching into a small cooler. “Want one, Kira?”

  When the child didn’t’ respond, Savannah turned and saw her staring off into the distance.

  “Luke!” Kira shouted. “Hey, there’s Luke and Sunbeam.”

  Savannah grimaced. She wondered, Oh no, now how do I deal with this little girl and her imaginary friend? However, when she looked up, she noticed the child was pointing at a sandy-haired kid carrying a duffle bag. “That’s Luke?” Savannah asked. “The guy wearing the rust-colored sweatshirt?”

  “Yes, and Sunbeam.” She looked up at Savannah. “Can I go talk to him?”

  “Well, I guess so.” She studied the young man more carefully before saying, “Oh my gosh. I think that’s the kid who saved Lily. Yes, let’s go talk to him. I must thank him.”

  “Luke saved Lily?” Kira asked, peering up at Savannah.

  “Yeah, how do you know him, Kira?”

  “Oh…um…I saw Sunbeam in front of my house one day and I went out to pet her. Luke came looking for her and we talked. He gave me a flute he made.”

  “Oh, I didn’t ask you if you found it,” Savannah said,

  Kira smiled. “Yes, my dad took it as punishment for something Klara did.”

  “For something Klara did?”

  “Yes, he thought it was me who did it. But, when he found out the truth, he gave me back my flute.”

  Savannah frowned. “Well, I’m glad you got it back.”

  “Me, too,” she said as she started moving toward where Luke stood watching a guitarist.

  “Wait for me,” Savannah said. “I need to tell Dr. Mike where we’re going.” Once she got his attention, she said, “Michael, we’re going over to talk to that young man. He’s a friend of Kira’s and, guess what—he’s the one who saved Lily.”

  Michael looked in the direction Savannah pointed. When he saw the young man lift a yellow cat out of a duffle bag, he cocked his head. “Luke,” he said. “…and Sunbeam.”

  “You know them?” Savannah asked.

  “Yes, that’s the cat with the abscess…the one I treated yesterday.”

  “My, my, what a small world,” Gladys said, shaking her head.

  “Our car’s out in that parking lot,” he said, pointing. “Let’s pick up the blanket and head over that way, shall we? I want to thank him, too.”

  As the group moved toward the exit, Kira rushed ahead of the others, calling, “Luke!”

  He finally heard her and waved enthusiastically. But when he saw Savannah and Michael coming his way, he looked from side to side, took a few steps backward, then sprinted off with the cat in his arms.

  “Catch him, Michael,” Savannah pleaded. “We really owe him at least a thank you.”

  At that, Michael left the stroller he was pushing and dashed after the young man. Savannah put the cat carrier and blankets on the ground. She took Rags out of the cage and placed him in the stroller basket. “Can you push it, Mom?” she asked, picking up the now much lighter carrier. She took the small cooler from Kira and handed her the blanket, saying, “This should be easier to carry.”

  When the women and the children caught up to Michael, he was standing with Luke on a patch of grass near the sidewalk—both of them out of breath. Michael had his hand on the boy’s shoulder, trying to reassure him. “We’re not going to hurt you, son.”

  Luke dropped his head. “I know that, Dr. Mike. I’m sorry.”

  When Michael saw uncertainty in the young man’s eyes and body language, he said gently, “My wife and I just want to thank you from the bottom of our heart for what you did yesterday. It was courageous and—well—we owe you big time.”

  “Yes,” Savannah said, having caught up to the men. “Please let us repay you in some way.”

  He looked at Lily, then glanced up at Savannah and Gladys. “Hi, Kira,” he said, making eye contact with the child.

  “Hi, Luke. How’s Sunbeam?”

  “Better, thanks to Dr. Mike.”

  When the crowd moved toward where the quartet stood with the children and the cats, Luke became more agitated. “I need to go,” he said.

  “Why?” Michael asked, holding onto one of Luke’s arms.

  But instead of relaxing, the lad seemed to become more and more upset. “All those people; they can’t see me.”

  “He doesn’t like crowds or strangers,” Kira explained quietly.

  “They’re just heading out to the parking lot to get into their cars and go home, Luke. They aren’t paying any attention to us.”

  Luke thought about what Michael had said, then looked in the direction the people were coming from again. “Too many,” he said, tearing away from Michael’s grip and leaping off the sidewalk into the street.

  Before the others could react, Rags jumped out of the stroller and raced after Luke.

  “Rags!” Savannah shouted.

  What happened next shocked everyone.

  A car shot around the corner into Luke’s path and the boy rammed into the side of it, dropping Sunbeam and falling back onto the street. In the meantime, Michael was able to step on Rags’s leash and stop his forward motion. He scooped up the cat and handed him to Savannah. “Put him in the carrier,” he snapped. He turned back toward the awful scene in the street just in time to see the tire of another car clip the orange tabby as it rolled swiftly past.

  “Good God,” Michael said, surveying the situation. As he contemplated heading back into the chaos, he noticed a bystander enter the street and begin waving his arms in an effort to halt the passing traffic. A second man took off his red jacket and used it to flag down motorists traveling in the other direction. Then Michael eased into the street toward where Luke and Sunbeam lay.

  Before Michael reached Luke, the young man jumped to his feet and immediately headed for his unconscious cat. Just then the police officer who’d been honored as a hero rushed in that direction. “Are you okay, son?” he asked Luke. When the young man nodded, he began checking with the drivers of the cars that were involved to make sure they, too, were not hurt.

  “Don’t lift her,” Michael cautioned. Within seconds, he returned to where Savannah and the others stood. He examined the stroller’s sunshade, then removed it and rushed with it toward the injured cat. “Luke, help me ease her onto this, will you? We’ll take her to the clinic and examine her. She’s liable to have some broken bones and…” He shook his head. “Let’s hope no internal injuries.”

  Luke, in the meantime, looked down at the cat and shook his head. “I did this to her.
It’s all my fault. I’ve killed Sunbeam.”

  Michael took hold of the boy’s shoulders and shook him. “She’s not dead, Luke. But she will be if you don’t snap out of it and help me.”

  A startled look on his face, he suddenly stopped the hysterics. “Yes, Dr. Mike. Just tell me what to do.”

  “Hold the shade steady while I slide her onto it.”

  “Yes, Dr. Mike.”

  Michael then lifted the shade and instructed, “Get a blanket from Savannah; there are some in the stroller. Cover her with it, then come with us,” he said, leading the way to their car.

  “Scarlett, have Rick prepare a room. We have an emergency here,” Michael barked as they entered the clinic that Saturday afternoon. “Luke, follow me.”

  “Yes sir,” he said quietly.

  Once the others were settled in the waiting room, Savannah pulled out her phone. “Kira, I’d better call your mother.” She tapped in the number then stepped out of the clinic and into the parking lot. “Hello Tiffany. I just want to let you know we may be a little late getting home. Kira is just fine, but a cat has been hit by a car and we’re with Michael at the clinic.”

  “Oh, I’m sorry to hear that. It’s okay. Thanks for letting me know. Is Kira doing all right?”

  “Yes, she’s fine. I’m sorry she had to see the cat get hit. I think she’s kind of shaken up. But Tiffany, I want to tell you something; Luke is not an imaginary friend. He’s real. He’s here with us at the clinic. It was his cat that was hit.”

  There was silence on the other end of the phone. Finally, Tiffany asked, “Oh? Who is he?”

  “We don’t know anything about him yet, but we aim to find out. He seems a little leery of people, especially crowds. Tiffany, he’s young and I believe he has a secret. I’d like to keep him with us until we find out his story.”

  “Well, I’ll be interested in that, too. Is he a boy Kira’s age?”

  “No, he’s probably a teenager.”

  “What? My little girl has befriended a teenage boy? Now that doesn’t sound right, Savannah. What do you suppose it means?”

  “I can’t tell you for sure, but I imagine it means that your shy daughter has found someone she can relate to when it comes to a love for animals and art and gentleness.” She paused, then said quietly, “Luke seems younger than his age—or maybe he’s younger than I think he is.”

  Tiffany sighed. “Well, okay, then. I’ll see you when you get here. Thank you for calling.”

  “How long will they be in there?” Kira asked, when Savannah returned. “What do you think they’re doing in there? Sunbeam won’t die, will she?”

  In the meantime, Lily began fussing on Gladys’s lap and Savannah suggested, “Why don’t we go outside and enjoy the pretty day. Rags could probably use some exercise. Kira, want to let him out of the carrier and take him for a walk?”

  The opened the carrier, took the leash, and followed the two women and the baby out through the door. After a while, Kira handed Savannah the leash and she walked around the property with Lily, each of them picking up pretty rocks to look at. Several minutes had passed when Savannah handed Gladys the leash and pulled the stroller out of the car. “I think Lily’s getting tired,” she said. “Let’s go back inside and see if she wants to take a nap.” Once inside, she asked, “Kira, want to play a game on my phone?”

  “Uh…I don’t know. What kind of game?”

  “Here, Mom, why don’t you give Lily her juice and I’ll show Kira my favorite video game for kids.” She scooted closer to Kira and pulled out her phone.

  Twenty minutes later, Michael appeared in the waiting room. “How is she?” Savannah and Kira asked. Savannah put her arm around the child. “Yes, we’ve been on pins and needles waiting to hear.”

  “Well, she’s alive, but not out of the woods,” he said, cringing. “She has a broken leg, but we’re not sure about internal injuries yet. She seems to be resting comfortably. Luke is with her. Hon, would you mind going out and getting him something to eat?”

  “Sure. What does he want?”

  “I think a cheeseburger and milk shake will do it—he’s a growing boy. Oh yes, and French fries.”

  “Of course.”

  “I see the angel’s asleep. Why don’t you leave her here? Scarlett and I’ll keep an eye on her. Oh,” he called out before heading back down the hallway, “and get me a cheeseburger and iced tea, please.”

  After wheeling the baby behind the desk where the receptionist sat working on the computer, Savannah asked, “Want us to bring you anything, Scarlett?”

  “No, thank you,” she said with a big smile. “My boyfriend’s taking me to lunch this afternoon.”

  “Cool. Well, we should be back in half hour or so. Is that okay?”

  “Absolutely.”

  “So is anyone hungry?” she asked the others.

  “I am,” Gladys said. “Where are we going?”

  “To the drive-in around the corner. They have those big hamburgers; just right for a growing boy.”

  “I’ll have a regular-size burger with everything,” Gladys said, smiling. “And a diet soda.”

  “What about you, Kira?” Savannah asked.

  The child skipped to keep up with Savannah as they headed for the car. “Want to know my favorite junk food?”

  “Yeah,” Savannah said. “What is it, chocolate milk shake?”

  Kira shook her head.

  “Onion rings?”

  She shook her head harder.

  “No, a hot dog on a stick.” She looked up at Savannah. “And could I have a lemonade?”

  “Sure can. Anything else?”

  “No. That’s enough. What are you going to have?” Kira asked.

  “Oh, maybe a fish sandwich and an iced tea.”

  Kira scrunched up her face. “Fish?” she asked, as if the word left a bad taste in her mouth.

  “Yeah. Don’t you like fish?”

  Kira shook her head. “Mom cooks fish sometimes, but she fixes me a hotdog.”

  When the trio returned to the clinic with the food, Michael invited everyone into the small lunchroom.

  “Where’s Scarlett?” Savannah asked, looking around.

  “I sent her home.”

  “Lily’s still asleep?” she asked quietly, when she saw the stroller parked in a corner of the lunchroom.

  Michael nodded. As everyone started to eat, he noticed Luke gobbling down his burger. “When’s the last time you ate, son?”

  “I…I don’t know…Oh, I had part of a cinnamon bun yesterday.”

  “Luke, tell us about Sunbeam,” Savannah said. “How did you two hook up?”

  “I lived with a…” he stopped and looked quickly at Savannah, then Michael. “I mean, I lived near a cat colony once—I think that’s what they call it when the cats all live together with no one taking care of them. One morning I woke up and saw a beam of sunlight shining through the trees. I thought of a rainbow, and how at the bottom there’s supposed to be a pot of gold. So I followed the sunbeam with my eyes through the trees to the ground and that’s when I saw her. I thought she was the most beautiful gold cat I’d ever seen. I’d named most of the other cats—Gray Boy, Mama Cat, Freckles, Patches—and I decided to call the gold one Sunbeam.”

  He took a gulp of his milk shake before continuing. “She wasn’t like the other cats. She sat apart from them and stared at me sort of inquisitive-like. I could tell she wanted to belong to someone and I wanted to belong to someone too, so we started hanging out together.” He glanced toward the recovery room, his eyes welling up. “She’s just got to be all right.”

  “I’ve seen cats in worse shape pull through,” Michael said.

  Savannah reached out and took Luke’s hand. “What if we have a prayer ring?” she suggested.

  Luke nodded. He squeezed Savannah’s hand and took Kira’s. Savannah reached for Michael’s hand. She watched as Gladys took Michael’s and Kira’s hands, then she led the gro
up in prayer.

  After a moment of silence, they broke the circle and Savannah asked, “Luke, are you homeless?”

  “Uh…no. I have a home.”

  “With a family?”

  “With Sunbeam.”

  “She looked suspiciously at him. “How do you support the two of you?”

  He began fidgeting with his lunch bag and glanced into the hallway. “Maybe we should go check on her.”

  “Dr. Rick is with her,” Michael said. “I think it’s important that you answer some of our questions, Luke. It appears that you need help and we want to offer that to you. Can you tell us where you’re living?”

  He let out a breath, slumped, and looked at Kira. “I live in a sort of junkyard near Maple Street, behind an old building in a trailer.”

  “A tiny little trailer,” Kira added.

  Michael nodded. “I think I know the place. I bought some tools from the company that went out of business there some years ago.” He looked at Luke. “How’d you get in there? As I remember, it’s locked up like Fort Knox.”

  He grinned. “I borrowed bolt cutters and made a hole where no one can see it.”

  “Are you getting any subsistence?” When Michael saw the confused look on Luke’s face, he explained, “Support, money, a paycheck? How do you live, man?”

  “Um.” He flashed another look at Kira, then responded, “Like I said, I borrow things. But I return them. If I can’t return them, I pay back in something else.”

  Savannah suddenly sat upright. She pointed at Luke and looked sideways at him. “…like a tomato for a carrot and lettuce seeds for a head of lettuce?”

  He nodded, appearing a little shame-faced.

  Savannah leaned forward and chuckled. “I have to ask; did you borrow a watering can—a red one?”

  After hesitating, he murmured, “Yes.” He spoke faster. “I have no running water and I’m trying to grow my own garden, you see, so I’ll be more self…what do you call it?”

  “Self-sufficient?”

  “Yes, that’s it. Self-sufficient.”