He quieted a bit as I approached, and I squatted by him and stroked his back. “What is it, boy? What’s bothering you?”
I examined the mail. There were several letters, a magazine, several circulars, and one slightly bulky manila envelope. Diesel nudged this last item with his paw and looked at me. He meowed as if to say, This is the one.
The address side was down, so I turned it over, a bit gingerly, though I wasn’t sure why. There was no return address, but it was for Laura. Her name and address had been cut from what looked like newspaper headlines and pasted onto the envelope. The postmark was a local one, and the amount of postage on it seemed excessive. It didn’t feel very heavy, so I couldn’t figure out why so many stamps were necessary.
Diesel bumped my leg with his head, and I set the envelope down again. He meowed again, and I realized with a chill what he was trying to tell me.
My hands trembling, I unlocked the front door and opened it and urged Diesel out ahead of me. I pulled the door shut and then ran down the walk, yelling and gesturing at the police car in front of the house.
THIRTY-FIVE
The policeman on surveillance duty must have seen us the moment I opened the door, because he met us on the sidewalk a few feet from his patrol car.
“What’s wrong, Mr. Harris?” He held out a steadying hand as I rocked to a stop on the concrete. His nameplate read J. PERKINS.
“Letter bomb. Maybe.” I had to gasp the words out. The combination of exertion and fear had robbed me of breath. Diesel pushed hard against my legs, and I almost toppled over.
“Where is it?” The officer kept his hand on my arm, for which I was grateful.
“Just inside the front door.” I tried to slow and deepen my breathing.
“Right.” The officer dropped his hand from my arm and put in a call for backup. When he finished, he turned back to me. “You come with me.” I followed him to the squad car. He opened the back door and indicated that I should sit.
“Okay if my cat sits here, too?” I didn’t want Diesel out on the street, but I also knew the officer might object to having a cat in an official vehicle.
“Sure,” the officer said with a quick smile. He moved a few feet away to answer a call on his radio.
I put Diesel in first, then collapsed onto the seat beside him, finally feeling able to relax. Diesel crowded against me, obviously freaked out by the whole episode. I did my best to calm and reassure him while the officer waited near us for backup to arrive.
“You’re such a smart kitty,” I told him, pulling him against me for a hug. He chirped and began to settle down. I pulled a handkerchief from my pocket to wipe the sweat from my brow and the back of my head. The air blasting from the front of the car was welcome as I began to cool down.
Moments later I heard a siren, and perhaps ten seconds after that two more squad cars arrived. Several officers got out, and Officer Perkins spoke to them. They conferred in undertones, and I couldn’t make out what they were saying. As I watched, Diesel still hunched against me, they headed up the walk to the open front door.
I heard another car pull up, this time behind the patrol car where Diesel and I rested. I turned to see Kanesha Berry and Deputy Bates climbing out of it. Bates nodded as he passed by, but Kanesha stopped by the open door and greeted me. “What’s going on, Mr. Harris?”
Her expression grimmer than usual, Kanesha listened without interruption as I related my discovery of the potential letter bomb and Diesel’s role in it.
Kanesha’s eyes flicked toward the cat several times as I talked. When I finished, her first comment was “He must have smelled something odd about that package.”
“Thank the Lord he did. He’s one smart feline.” I was fervent in praise of my cat, and for once Kanesha didn’t appear irritated or dismissive. “I shudder to think what could have happened if Laura had opened that thing.”
“We’ll soon find out if it’s dangerous.” Kanesha turned to watch the activity at my front door.
“What’s going to happen?”
She faced me again. “There’s an officer in the police department who has experience with incendiaries and bombs from when he was in the army. If it is a bomb, he’ll take it somewhere and destroy it—safely, of course.” She pulled out her notebook. “Tell me again what you observed about the envelope.”
I gave her the description again, and she jotted down the details. There was activity nearby, but it wasn’t until I finished talking that I realized that two of the squad cars were gone, and Officer Perkins waited nearby to speak to Kanesha.
She turned to Perkins as she put her notebook away. “You wanted me, Officer?”
“Yes, ma’am.” Perkins nodded respectfully. “The suspicious parcel has been removed, and it’s okay for Mr. Harris to go back in his house, if he’s ready.”
“Thank you, Perkins.” Kanesha dismissed him with a curt nod before she spoke to me. “You feel like going back inside?”
“Yes,” I said, and Diesel added a meow to that.
A smile came and went quickly on Kanesha’s face as she stood aside to allow me room to get out of the squad car.
“Come on, boy,” I said, and Diesel hopped out.
Kanesha escorted us up the walk, and I decided to risk a question. “How is the investigation going?”
“About as well as could be expected.” Kanesha paused on the doorstep as Diesel and I entered the house.
When I realized the deputy hadn’t followed me inside, I turned back. “Won’t you come in for a minute?”
“Sorry, too much to do.” Kanesha regarded me with what I thought could actually be sympathy. “Be careful, Mr. Harris. You and your whole family. We’re going to keep a watch on your house, but if anything or anyone seems at all suspicious to you, call 911 immediately.”
“You will catch whoever is doing this, won’t you?” Those knots in my stomach were making a comeback.
“Yes, we will. I’m not going to tolerate this kind of crap in my county.” Kanesha’s firm certainty made me feel better. For a moment she reminded me of her mother. I had seen Azalea with that fierce expression numerous times, and I realized how much alike mother and daughter really were. That probably explained why they seemed to butt heads so often.
I doubted Kanesha would appreciate my pointing that out, however.
“Now, you’ll have to excuse me,” Kanesha said with a quick nod. “I’ve got to get back to the office. I’ll let you know about the package as soon as I have more information.” She turned and headed down the walk.
“Of course. Thanks, Deputy.” I spoke to her rapidly retreating back. With a shake of the head, I stepped inside and shut the door.
Diesel rubbed against me, and I scratched his head. I told him again what a smart kitty he was. I told myself I’d feel foolish if the package turned out to be harmless, but I couldn’t forget Diesel’s behavior. That had to mean something was odd about the package. I prayed that no one was injured when they examined it further.
My head had begun to throb, and I figured I was a bit dehydrated. In the kitchen I poured myself a large glass of chilled water from the fridge, and after downing that I started to feel better. Diesel came back from a visit to the utility room as I was finishing my second glass. I decided he deserved a treat for his cleverness, and I rewarded him with a handful of the tidbits I stocked for that purpose. The moment he saw the package in my hand he started warbling, because he knew exactly what I was doing. He placed a large paw on my hand and pushed down as I bent over to put the treats on the floor for him.
I watched until he finished, and when he looked up, hopeful for more, I gave him a second handful. I made sure he saw me put the package away in the cabinet, however, when he finished his second round.
“That’s all for now, boy,” I told him. He gazed at me for a moment before he commenced washing his right front paw.