"It isn't Jennifer's hide they want," the lawyer observed pointedly. "Besides, I'm paid to protect you. She's a paid employee of the publisher."
"That's the most ridiculous— "
Jennifer gave him a hug and a push. "Go. Familiar and I have some business with the desk sergeant, anyway, and James is meeting me here."
"The intrepid Mr. Tenet." Eugene's face brightened. "Then I'm leaving you in capable hands."
With Familiar leading the way, Eugene and Bailey started down the long corridor to the back.
"Get that blasted cat out of here!" one of the patrolmen yelled.
The angry command was followed by the sound of barking as Eugene went into a series of animal noises, including the trumpeting of an elephant.
Jennifer was smiling as she squared her shoulders and started toward the main entrance. There was a crowd of people there who needed to learn a few things about public conduct, and she was just the woman to teach them.
Even through the tinted plate glass doors, Jennifer could see the angry throng outside. Didn't these people have jobs? How was it possible they were free to participate in Anna Green's obnoxious scheme?
Hitting the door with outstretched arms, Jennifer burst through it and climbed up on the makeshift podium— the tailgate of someone's pickup truck. With a glare that silenced Chief Bixley in midsentence, Jennifer took the microphone from his hand.
She looked into the heart of the mob, waiting until her very silence forced the spectators to take note of her.
"You should be ashamed," she said softly. "Look at yourselves. People opposed to violence and what are you doing? Working yourselves up into a mob." She pointed to the television cameras. "Will your children be proud of you tonight? You've come here because you want to protect your children from the evils of violence on television and in books and records. Well, what will they see when they watch the six o'clock news?"
Jennifer saw guilt flicker across a few faces. Two signs were lowered. "You people are hypocrites. And not very bright ones at that. This woman— " she pointed to Anna Green "— is running for office. She is using you. How much easier it is for her to play on your fears and emotions, on the safety of your children, than to address the many problems that face this state? I ask you, when you're home tonight watching the spectacle of yourselves on television, if you ban all the books at school or in the library, does that solve the problems of our school system? Does it stop the drugs on the street? Does it provide medical care for those who cannot afford it? Does it do one little thing to make your life better? Or does it simply give Anna Green a platform from which to catapult herself to elected office?"
She looked over the crowd again. Then she put the microphone on the stand and jumped from the back of the truck. Eugene had had plenty of time to make his escape, and she was suddenly very tired. So weary she only wanted to sit down someplace quiet and put her head in her hands.
"Well done."
The familiar voice made her look up, directly into the laughing eyes of James Tenet. He held a pad with a pen poised over it. "Shall we step inside…where I can ask a few questions?"
Her heart rate doubled at the sight of him. "We can step inside, but if you try to poke me with questions, I'm going to chop off your head and roll it down the steps."
James's laughter drew the looks of several other reporters as he took her arm and hurried her away. "So much for the reformed Miss Barkley. I didn't hear a single threat from your pickup podium. I was impressed, but a little concerned that you were sick. I at least expected a version of the 'let them eat cake' speech." He nodded at Familiar. "He must be writing your speeches, thank goodness."
"Right." She leaned against a wall as she waited for him to put his pen in his pocket. "Eugene caught a ride with the lawyer. So what's next?"
"Crush hasn't applied for any building permits. Of course, he could be doing it without a permit, or he could be building a shelter in another county."
"That figures." Jennifer was disappointed, but she hadn't really expected anything to go easily.
"Let's take a look at the police reports while we're here. It's a long shot, but you never know."
Jennifer nodded and fell into step beside James. Familiar walked between them as they made their way to the desk.
"The three musketeers," James said, pointing at Familiar. "The forces of evil had better beware now, for sure."
"Meow!" Familiar darted ahead and leapt up on the counter, drawing a smile from the policeman manning the desk. "What a cat," he said, reaching a hand for Familiar to sniff. "What can I do for you people?"
"Put them in jail and throw away the key." The deadly voice came from the back of the room and everyone looked to see Chief Craig Bixley glaring a them. "Get that cat out of here before I have it exterminated."
"You made a fool of yourself once today, Bixley, don't go for two in a row." Jennifer was completely unruffled. "This is a public building, and I want to look at some public records."
"When hell freezes over." Bixley walked toward them. "Take your mangy cat and your biased friend and get out of here."
"Chief— " The young patrolman tried to intervene, but Bixley silenced him with a downward slash of his hand. "You've got two minutes to clear out."
"I'd like to see the log report of calls." James ignored Bixley and spoke to the young officer.
"Out!" Bixley was furious.
Torn between the desire to obey and the law, the young patrolman finally got the logbook and pushed it across to James.
"I said, get out!" Bixley spoke between teeth gritted to a close. He came toward James just as a small black shape jumped from the counter to a desk.
Jennifer watched in horror as the cat batted a large revolver along the desk toward the edge.
"Familiar!" Her cry was lost in the tussle that had developed between Bixley and James. The young officer was doing his best to get between the angry chief and the reporter.
"Familiar!" Jennifer tried again to divert the cat, but with one strong push, Familiar sent the weapon crashing to the floor. The impact of a bullet firing brought all action in the station to a screeching halt.
Silence echoed on top of the loud report. In the back there were loud exclamations and the sound of feet rushing toward the front. Ten officers appeared in the doorway, guns drawn. Crouching, they surveyed the room with the bores of their weapons.
"Take it easy, guys," Bixley said. He'd managed to gain control of his temper, and the situation. No one was injured, but the shot had been a cold dose of reality.
"Familiar." As she saw the police chief eyeing the cat, Jennifer raced around the counter to clutch him against her chest. "They're going to kill you." She held him tight as she made her way toward the exit.
"Wait just a minute." Bixley's hand reached for her shoulder, but James stepped in between. "I want that cat. He's a menace. He could have killed one of us."
"Chief Bixley," the young officer's earnest voice finally caught everyone's attention. "It was a starter pistol. Officer Welford is starting the marathon tomorrow. The shot was a blank." He held up the weapon.
James's laughter was like a slap to Bixley. The red raced up his face. Without another word, he turned and stalked out of the room.
"This should make a great story in tomorrow's paper," James called after him. "Police Chief Threatened By Cat With Blank Pistol."
"I wouldn't push him any harder today," the officer said softly, though he was smiling. "The chief has had a rough day, all in all. Anna Green rides his tail like a tick on a fat hound."
Jennifer's tension eased and she slowly loosened her hold on the cat. "Do you think Familiar knew it was a blank pistol?" She looked at James.
The reporter stared into the gold green eyes of the feline. "I have no doubt he knew." He gave Familiar a scratch under the chin. "Better check the log before Chief Bixley comes back." The officer pushed the ledger toward James. "I'm not telling you what to do, but I'd get that cat out of here, fast."
/> "If he tries to harm one hair on Familiar's head I'll cut off his— "
James clamped a hand over Jennifer's mouth. "This isn't the time for dire threats." When he felt her nod, he removed his hand and bent over the log. "Let's see here…Why don't we go back to January and skim through this."
They poured over the logbook, noting the multitude of calls that made up the average policeman's workday. There were breaking and enterings, burglaries, hundreds of domestic arguments, UFO sightings, stolen bicycles, dog bites, and family members trying to run over each other with cars.
"Is this the dark side of human nature or what?" Jennifer flipped the page. "Look, there's Anna Green's name. Someone was trying to break into her house."
"Let's take that down." James jotted the information on his notebook. "There's her name again." He pointed with the tip of his pen.
"And again!" Jennifer underlined it with her thumbnail. "All the same complaint. Someone is peeking into her house, trying to enter."
"A Peeping Tom for Anna Green. That might be a good story."
The officer gave them a sick smile. "That might not be a good idea. We've gone over there again and again, but the chief hasn't been able to find a single clue. He's afraid any publicity might push the assailant into more violent action. You know Ms. Green lives in a secluded area, alone. It's not a good situation from a law officer's perspective."
James studied the young man's sincere face, and then the logbook again.
"There are twelve calls in three weeks. That's an average of four times a week. Maybe you should stake out her place?"
"Ah, the chief has done that. It seems the guy knows whenever we set a trap. If we're there, he doesn't bother Ms. Green."
James felt the heel of Jennifer's shoe press lightly into the top of his foot. He knew exactly what she was thinking.
"Does the chief answer these calls himself, seeing as how Ms. Green is a public official and all?"
"Yes, sir. He takes it seriously because she's an elected official. He handles it all himself. If there was anything to be found, he'd have found it."
"I'm sure that's true."
At Jennifer's caustic tone of voice, the officer gave her a curious look. "The chief can be a little difficult at times, but he's a great investigator. Really sharp. He's solved a lot of cases."
"And he's tried to arrest some innocent people." Jennifer knew her temper was rising again.
"He makes mistakes." The officer nodded. "He's only human."
"Me-ow!" Familiar swished his tail.
"I think we have everything we need." James nodded to the young man. "Thanks for your help."
"Please don't put that business in the newspaper about Ms. Green. The chief's going to be upset. That will only make matters worse, and he'll more than likely blame me, even though we both know it's public record."
"I can't make any promises," James said. He took Jennifer's elbow and guided her out the front door into the magical dusk of an Alabama spring.
The sky overhead was a soft pink that intensified to a vibrant fuchsia and purple near the horizon. Mobile's skyline, in contrast, was a series of dark shapes that echoed modern and Gothic.
"Bixley is having an affair with Ms. Green, on the city's time!" Jennifer fairly exploded as soon as they were in the car.
"I think you're right. No wonder he was so upset about us seeing the logbook. One of the reporters for the paper checks it every day, but it's going back over it, seeing all of those calls in accumulation, sometimes as many as five a week."
"And what is Bixley doing working night and day? I'd like to see his overtime pay."
"Another good point."
"If he wasn't so busy looking under Anna Green's sheets he might have better luck at finding those missing children."
James didn't say anything, just started the car. Familiar had taken a seat between them and was watching out the front window intently.
"We certainly didn't find the information we came to get." Jennifer felt a keen disappointment. "All we did was uncover some hanky-panky."
"That's true. But consider the consequences of what we discovered. Hasn't it struck you as odd that Anna Green became a morals crusader overnight? She wasn't harping on those issues six months ago when she was on the school board and had every opportunity to influence the library books in all area public schools. She could have banned Eugene's books and no one would have been the wiser. But it was never mentioned. Not one single time. In fact, as I recall, she pooh-poohed some folks who wanted to ban one of Mark Twain's books." His voice grew more intrigued with every sentence. "I'd forgotten about that until just now."
"That's true enough. I'm not exactly the most political person you've ever met, but I remember that issue. Anna laughed them out of the school board meeting, and that was the end of that. Most of the board meetings were about lack of public funding and disciplinary problems."
"Now, I know Anna is running for a higher office, but this change is interesting. Especially in light of her own nocturnal behavior with Chief Bixley. Or what we suspect to be their behavior. She's left herself wide open for a counterattack from one of her opponents."
"Go on." Jennifer leaned forward and watched the shifting expressions on James's handsome face. He was enjoying this little exploration of possibilities.
"Who's been at every rally, listening to every speech, possibly choreographing everything from the background?"
"Crush Bonbon!"
"Right. It's possible he may be blackmailing Green and Bixley, if he knows about their little tête-à-têtes."
"James, you may have hit on something there." Jennifer settled back in the seat. "That would explain a lot of different things. Such as the lack of evidence in the kidnappings."
James nodded. "The only good thing here is that if this is the case, then Bixley and Green both must be fairly certain those children are doing okay. Now all we have to do is figure out what Crush wants by ruining Eugene, and where the children are being held."
"We already know what Crush wants. I mean, he's checking out books on writing. He wants Eugene's career!"
"Then the retirement announcement is the best thing you could do. It may catapult Crush into releasing those children."
"James?" Jennifer looked at him, suddenly going pale.
"What is it?" He almost pulled over.
"What if those children believe Eugene is holding them? What if they've been convinced that he took them and locked them up somewhere? When they get out, they're going to say that."
James nodded. "I'd thought of that, but I didn't want to mention it."
"What will we do?"
"We'll cross that bridge when we get to it."
* * *
ASIDE FROM THE FACT that Chief Bixley is cat-aphobic, there's something not right about the man. He has high blood pressure and sweaty hands. The idea of spending time with Anna Green in an intimate situation is enough to give me both of those, but he seems to have some regard for her.
Crush as a blackmailer fits in nicely, and I think that's the problem I'm having. He fits a little too nicely. Crush as abductor. Crush as blackmailer. Crush as book burner. Crush as jealous would-be author. I mean, how many evil sides can this guy have?
It's true that some humanoids have the capacity to be completely corrupt. There's not a lot about Crush to like, but could he be rotten to the core? Completely rotten?
My mind keeps going back to his house. The person who locked me in the basement with Miss Spitfire was not an overweight man. It could have been Anna Green, and that would fit the scenario that Clark Kent is building.
I don't know. Maybe I'm just being paranoid. There's something not right about all of this. Something that I can't put my paw on right at this time. I think I need some brain food. And maybe a little nap.
Great! We're going to Eugene's house. Miss Spitfire is an extraordinary creature to look upon, but her larder is somewhat lacking. The sardines were an interesting treat, but I could feel my chol
esterol level shooting through the roof. Not that I worry about such foolish things when Eugene puts a gourmet kitty spread before me.
And little Judy Luno is here. Judging from the look on her face, though, it isn't going to be a pleasant encounter.
Chapter Sixteen
"I think you're chicken for not doing something to that fat Bonbon." Judy Luno's brow was furrowed and her lips were turned downward in an angry frown. "He's trying to get Eugene in serious trouble. And no one is trying to stop him."
"We are, Judith," Jennifer said softly. "It's just that we have to find some evidence, some proof. Just to accuse him isn't enough. And we have to worry about your friends. They could be in serious danger."
"I know." Judy huffed as she sat back on the sofa. One of her red sneakers had a hole in the toe and there was a scab on her knee from a bicycle wreck.
"I appreciate your concern." Eugene sat beside her and patted her hand. "You're a delightful child, and a very caring one. We'll get Crush yet. That, I promise."
"Eugene, what's your best guess on this? What manuscript will the kidnapper use next?" James had stood slightly removed from the furor with Judy Luno. Now he stepped forward.
"You mean, if I was the kidnapper, what story of mine would fit into the theme of abducting innocent young children?" Eugene's brows were arched as he pondered the question.
"Exactly." James whipped out his pad and pen.
"Well," Eugene automatically lifted AnnaLoulou onto his lap and began to stroke her as he thought. "One of my very first stories was about a little girl who was so curious that she turned herself into a pillar of salt. That story is out of print, though. If I'm not mistaken, there's a copy at the library, but none in any of the stores. It's been thirty years since it was printed, and I doubt anyone remembers it. Grand Street was going to bring it out as a reissue this August, but the publication was supposed to be a surprise."
"Does anyone know about the reissue plans?" James tapped the pen on the pad and refused to look at Jennifer, who was surprised into silence by the question.
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