by L A Morgan
As soon as he landed, The Cat immediately released the parachute’s shoulder harness, allowing it to drop to the ground. About eight feet away, Laurel and Michael were heatedly discussing the possibilities of the felon being caught, oblivious to the fact that they might have seen The Cat’s escape if they had only looked up at the building again. The jewel thief took a moment to listen to their conversation as he removed the outer layers of his clothing.
Michael was saying, “Maybe we should just go back to The Oasis. The police know where to find us if they want to.”
“But we’ve seen him all those times!” Laurel insisted. “We’re the only witnesses!”
“But we might be wrong. They’ll think we’re only out for the reward money.”
“I don’t care what they think, Michael. I feel it’s my duty to catch this guy.”
The Cat looked at both of them closely. They were the people he had seen kissing on the pier. So his suspicions about them had been correct! The slight sounds of his escape were covered by their argument. The jewel thief faded into the darkening shadows of the late afternoon.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
A minute later, a number of police officers ran out the backdoor of the apartment building. The lead detective soon followed them. He instantly walked to Laurel and Michael.
“Did you see him?” he asked.
“The Cat?” Laurel asked in surprise.
“Yes! He was right behind you!”
The woman’s mouth fell open, but she managed to say, “But he was in the building!”
“You mean to tell me you didn’t see him parachuting down from the penthouse?”
Laurel was too dumbfounded to reply.
“I’m sorry,” Michael replied, but we’ve been talking and didn’t look up.”
The lead detective started questioning the uniformed officers that had arrived on the scene before he got there. Apparently, none of them had seen anything of use. The man then looked at Laurel and Michael disparagingly, while shouting out orders to the rest of his team.
As soon as he was done, Laurel asked, “Was it The Cat?”
Ignoring her, the detective’s team spread out in a search pattern. Apparently, she and Michael had been dismissed. In a feeling of guilty ineptitude, they started to walk back to the motel.
“I feel like an idiot,” Laurel commented.
“Don’t,” Michael replied. “You thought he might escape down the side of building, and I shot down the possibility. It was my fault you stopped looking up.”
“It did sound melodramatic,” Laurel assured him.
“You would have thought we’d hear something, like his feet clumping down.”
“I guess we were talking at the time. What’s done is done, Michael. They’re bound to catch him sooner or later.”
“I would have preferred sooner.”
“Sure, but how were we to know?”
Michael shook his head.
After a moment, he said, “Our vacation is going to be over soon. Maybe we should stop thinking about The Cat and just enjoy it.”
“You’re probably right. After all, we’re not detectives.”
The sun had set by the time Laurel and Michael got back to the motel. After going to her apartment, she poured them both a glass of grape juice. The tense situation had made them thirsty. Once again, they decided to sit on the balcony. When the pool lights went on, the dimly lit outskirts of the area were plunged into darkness.
The wind suddenly changed direction and was now blowing in steadily from the east. This effect stirred the waves, making them pound on the beach. Their roar now encroached upon the serenity of the quiet vacation community.
The couple continued to discuss what had happened in spite of their resolution to forget about The Cat. They had no reason to suspect that a man was now slowly approaching the motel. Except for a garish Hawaiian shirt, he was dressed in dark street clothes. When he saw the lighted sign for The Oasis, he turned off at the motel before it to walk toward the beach.
Laurel was saying, “I really think it’s my fault that we missed him. I should have glanced up again.”
“I could have done the same thing,” Michael consoled her with a shrug.
“I feel so stupid! We might have caught him!”
“That would have been dangerous, Laurel.”
“But we could have tried! He was so close to us! You’re strong. You could have overpowered him.”
“He might have been armed.”
“We should have asked Sergeant Shaw if he had a gun.”
“Even if he didn’t have a gun, he might have had a knife. Whatever the case was, I wouldn’t have tried to tackle him with you there. If we got into a fight, you might have been hurt.”
“Oh, please, Michael. I may be small, but I’m feisty. I would have helped you.”
“I don’t want to get into an argument about sexual discrimination right now.”
“But what you said was unfair!”
As soon as The Cat reached the back end of the motel next to The Oasis, he zipped up his black jacket and slinked slowly along the beachside of the motel toward his destination. He could see the lighted pool and noticed that the surrounding area was shrouded in darkness. The parking lot for The Oasis was lit by streetlights and a spotlight, so he walked out onto the beach, moving ever closer to his prey.
“Okay,” Michael concluded. “You’ve had your say, but I still wouldn’t have put you in a situation that might have been dangerous.”
“I would have tried just to get the reward money.”
“You’ve already explained that and I understand, but I want you to understand that I would have tried to stop you if you did something foolish.”
“Why, Michael?” Laurel retorted in aggravation.
After a moment, the man finally asserted, “Because I care about you!”
Laurel stared at him, hoping he would say more, but he did not. Annoying as this was, she felt compelled to pursue the subject.
“I see. You care about me, but not enough to want to see me again after we leave here.”
“Why do you have to make everything so difficult?”
“I could ask you the same question.”
Michael shook his head and looked out at the dark ocean, sipping his drink. Laurel felt tempted to speak, but she waited to hear what he would say. After exhaling deeply, his words finally came.
“When we first met, we both agreed that this would only be a holiday relationship. There weren’t supposed to be any complications.”
“Is that what I am to you now? A complication?”
“Oh, Laurel. You know you’re not.”
The Cat had finally made his way to the outskirts of the pool. Removing a pair of night-vision goggles from his pocket, he scanned the area. Nobody was there except for the two people that were sitting on the balcony closest to his position. At this point, he lowered himself to the ground and crept forward. When he got as close as he could without revealing himself, he took out his parabolic listening device.
“Then what do I mean to you Michael?” Laurel countered.
“Why do you have to put me on the spot like this?”
“Because I also care about you!”
“We hardly know each other.”
“That’s not true. I know it’s only been two weeks, but it feels like so much more. We’re gone through so much together. It doesn’t have to take a lifetime to know you’ve found someone you love.”
“We’ve already discussed this.”
“That isn’t good enough, Michael!”
The man put his glass on the table and stood up. Then he walked to the balcony’s railing to stare at the dimly lit foam that crested the waves. After a moment, Laurel joined him, placing her glass on the railing.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I’m sorry I broke our pact, and I’m sorry I tried to force you to say something you don’t feel.”
“You don’t understand, Laurel. None of this is your fault.
You have nothing to apologize for. It’s just me. The years that I’ve grieved for my wife feel more like decades. I’ve become rooted in my sorrow and I don’t know how to dig myself out of it.”
“That’s okay,” Laurel replied, also looking out at the sea and hoping the man wouldn’t see the tear that had streamed down her cheek. After a long moment, she said, “I suppose our only strong attachment revolved around The Cat.”
“The Cat,” Michael repeated expressionlessly.
“I suppose we’re the only ones that got a good look at his face.”
“When I saw him, he was always turned away from me.”
“Oh. I got to see him.”
Michael turned to look at her.
“Could you describe him?”
“Sure,” Laurel replied, still staring at the ocean.
“Did you give his description to the police?”
“Everything happened so fast, I didn’t get a chance.”
“You should probably give them a call and tell them.”
At that point, The Cat unzipped his jacket to take out the handgun that was concealed in a shoulder holster.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
“The police probably saw his face when he jumped off the building,” Laurel replied.
“Not necessarily,” Michael corrected her. “He might have been wearing a mask.”
“I don’t want to sound like a crackpot.”
“If they don’t already have his description, they’ll be glad to hear what you can tell them.”
“You’re right, Michael. I’ll do it.”
At that point, several things happened at the same time. The Cat carefully aimed his weapon at Laurel’s chest. As he did this, she turned to go back into the bedroom. In the process of doing this, her elbow knocked her glass off the railing and she quickly stooped to reach out and catch it. A bullet whizzed over her head to smash into the motel’s wall next to the sliding doors.
As soon as Laurel heard the impact, she jerked up to look at the damage. Michael instantly jumped on top of her, forcing her to the floor. Another shot passed closely over his head. Regardless of the danger, he shifted his body to cover Laurel’s. Both of them remained veritably inert as they waited for the next barrage of bullets.
The Cat had not thought he would need to use a silencer for his handgun in the present situation. That was a definite mistake. Believing that his shots had been heard, he leaped up and ran heavily down the beach toward the pier.
Michael heard the thumping of his feet. He looked up, but he could not distinguish anything through the gloomy darkness. Standing up, he helped Laurel to get to her feet.
“He’s gone,” Michael assured her. “Are you hurt?”
Laurel was too breathless to reply. The man quickly looked for signs of a wound on her body, but she appeared to be unharmed.
The woman looked out into the darkness, then finally managed to say, “Are you sure he’s gone?”
“I heard him running away. Are you hurt?”
“He missed me. Are you okay?”
“I’m fine, but I can’t believe what just happened.”
“It had to be The Cat,” Laurel concluded.
“He’s the only one who would have shot at us.”
“I’m going to call the police.”
Without saying another word, the couple went inside and attended to this. Sergeant Shaw assured them that the police would handle the affair. Shortly after that, two detectives arrived to interview them. Laurel finally got to give them a description of the felon. After advising the couple to leave their present location, the detectives left.
Michael and Laurel went to see the manager of the motel. The man was watching a loud TV show when they arrived. After explaining the situation to him, he finally came out of his lethargy with amazing nervous energy. Yes, he knew about The Cat. He told them he had not heard anything, but the damage to Laurel’s apartment would be fixed tomorrow. After that, he bombarded the couple with questions.
Once that ordeal was over, Laurel and Michael decided it would be safe to go to his apartment. It was apparent that the felon had overheard their conversation behind the apartment building. Michael recalled mentioning The Oasis. That had to be how The Cat had come to find them. They had made themselves easy targets by sitting on the balcony and talking about what had happened.
One thing was obvious; the jewel thief had overheard their plans. This time, they took the precaution of staying indoors and speaking in low tones as they discussed what they should do.
Michael said, “I think we should get out of here as soon as we can.”
“Since this is off-season, we could get a room in any of the other motels,” Laurel suggested.
“No, I mean we should go home.”
“And leave it like that?” she cried out in disbelief.
Michael stared at her.
“After what happened, Laurel? Our personal problems can be discussed once we’re out of here!”
“I’m not talking about us, Michael! I want to help the police get this guy!”
“At the risk of your life? Nonsense! The police will take care of it!”
Suddenly realizing how loud their voices had become, Laurel cautioned, “Let’s be quiet about this. He might have come back to finish the job.”
Michael glanced quickly at the closed drapes and nodded.
After a moment, he said, “At this point, I don’t think he’d try that; at least not for now. He had to know we’d call the police.”
“You’re probably right. For all he knows, they might have staked out the area, hoping he’d come back.”
With an unexpected smile, Michael asked, “Are you, by any chance, a fan of TV crime dramas?”
Laurel grinned and nodded, saying, “Those are my favorite shows.”
Michael chuckled. “Mine, too.”
“Then you already know that I, the only real witness, need to be prodded to remember something essential that I might have forgotten.”
“By Jove, Holmes! You might be right!” Michael replied in an English accent.
“Don’t tell me you read the Sherlock Holmes stories, too!”
“I’m addicted to crime stories. With all the shows and films about it, nobody can truthfully say crime doesn’t pay.”
“If only the government could tax drug dealers, we’d be able to pay off the national debt.”
“I think they’re working on that, Laurel.”
“Or something along that order. If they legalized drugs, they could put a tax on that, too.”
“It would also put the dealers out of business.”
“That’s an interesting thought, but I still have to delve into my subconscious to think of something that might finally solve this case, Watson.”
Michael had to laugh.
Laurel continued, “So crime is something else we have in common. By that, I don’t mean to drag up . . .”
Michael waited for her to finish whatever she was going to say, hoping she would not mention their relationship again. The seconds ticked away, but Laurel was still lost in thought.
“I’ve got it!” she finally exclaimed.
She fell silent after that, but Michael finally felt impelled to ask, “Got what?”
“That thing The Cat was doing at the pier. He dropped something into the water. You said it was probably something people do to fish without using a pole.”
“A drop line?”
“That’s it. What if he wasn’t really fishing?”
“Did you see him pull on the line after that?”
“No,” Laurel replied. “He just stood there, hunched over the railing.”
“Maybe he didn’t put bait on the end of the line.”
“That’s what I was thinking! We should check it out.”
Michael sighed and looked away.
After a moment, he said, “It’s so late now, Laurel. The Cat must know the police are involved by now. For all we know, there was nothing on that drop line. He mi
ght have just been standing there, trying to look like he was fishing, while he watched the building across the street to see when the people he wanted to rob would leave the building.”
“But I’m sure there was something on the end of that string!”
“It could have been a rock or anything heavy that would make it look like he was fishing to a casual observer.”
“It might be something important!” Laurel persisted.
“If it was, he’s probably retrieved it already.”
“Maybe he didn’t think about it when he ran away.”
“You’re right! With the police involved, he’s not likely to go back to where we first spotted him.”
“Do you really think he hauled up whatever was on the end of that line and escaped?”
“Probably. Wouldn’t you?”
“I guess so.”
Laurel turned away to stare at the wall.
“That would have been our best chance to capture him,” she softly stated.
“I know.”
After a moment, Laurel said, “It’s possible that he doesn’t know we told the police we saw him on the pier.”
“So?”
“Maybe he thinks I only spotted him when he was walking along the pier.”
“You’re only surmising,” Michael replied doubtfully.
“I know, but it might be true.”
“If it was, The Cat might not be worried about retrieving whatever he dropped into the water.”
“Let’s suppose he isn’t. After he shot at me and ran away, what do you think he’d do next?”
Michael thought about this for a moment and said, “Well, if I was The Cat, I’d leave the area as quickly as possible and go into hiding until the heat died down.”
Laurel grinned and replied, “I watch the old detective shows, too.”
“I used to compete with my father to see which one of us could guess who dunnit first.”
“Well, we know who dunnit here.”
“I get the feeling that you’re leading up to something.”
“I think you already know I am, Michael. It sure would be interesting to find out what’s on the end of that line if it’s still there.”
