“Odelia is fine,” said Alec, instantly understanding her fear. He put his hand on her arm. “How about you? Are you all right?”
“Well, something did just almost fall on top of me, but apart from that I’m fine. Why? What’s going on?”
Tex fixed her with an intent look.“Did you see a man with a yellow parka?”
She shook her head.“No. It’s just me in here. Why? Did something happen?” She remembered the man with the yellow parka being mentioned in that horrible murder of that girl Odelia worked with, as well as in connection to the man who almost ran over Brutus.
Just then, Vesta came running up, panting like a horse after the Preakness Stakes.
“Marge! Thank God! It’s the man in the yellow parka! He’s coming for us! He tried to kill me!”
“And me,” said Tex.
“You said something fell on top of you,” said Alec, looking grim. “Can you show me?”
She led them to the back, and when Mom and Tex saw the wreckage, they both gasped. Alec’s frown deepened, as he crouched down with some effort to study the wreckage. Finally he looked up. “I’m not an expert but it looks like this has been tampered with.”
“What do you mean?” asked Marge, horrified.
He pointed to the mast.“This has been sawn clear through.”
“Oh, my God,” said Marge. “The children. Someone could have gotten killed!”
“You almost got killed,” said Tex, and drew her in for a bracing hug.
“We’re under attack,” said Gran seriously. “We have to warn Odelia. She needs police protection.” She looked at Alec. “We all do.”
Chapter 32
Odelia had gotten up late. By the time she opened her eyes, Chase had already left for work. She groaned. She must have forgotten to set her alarm last night. Then again, it had been pretty late, so the extra sleep had been welcome.
At her feet, her cats were dozing, or at least Max and Dooley were. Of Brutus, there was no trace, and neither of Harriet.
She stretched and yawned. Time to get up and start a new day.
She smiled to herself as she recalled her dream. Chase had finally taken her out on a date. It was a running joke between them that every time they arranged to go out for dinner and a movie, something happened to make sure they didn’t get to the end of their date.
That was the problem when a cop and a reporter dated: some crisis always cropped up.
She didn’t mind. At least in her dream they’d gone to see the movie and had actually managed to watch it until the end. It was a Nancy Meyers movie, not exactly the kind of movie Chase would like, which also showed her it had been a dream, and not a memory.
Then another memory stirred: Max telling her about their meeting with the owl, and the owl telling them about the killer’s birthmark. But since she vividly remembered Wolf Langdon having a birthmark on his right hand, that had sealed the deal for her.
Ringo had been mistaken: his master hadn’t been right next to him. His master had been murdering Dany Cooper, and either Ringo hadn’t recognized Wolf from behind, or he’d purposely lied to protect him.
Which wasn’t a big surprise. Pets would often do whatever they could to protect their humans. She knew Max would do anything for her, and so would Dooley.
So the case was closed, and all that remained was to write a front-page article detailing the nocturnal bust, and interview the people involved. She hoped her uncle would help her get access to Wolf so she could interview him in prison. Maybe to her he’d finally admit what he’d done, and they could put this whole terrible episode behind them.
Max opened his eyes and yawned, which triggered another bout of yawns from her and Dooley, who’d also woken up.
“Where is Chase?” asked Max.
She smiled. It was adorable how quickly her cats had warmed to her boyfriend.
“Gone to work. Where are Brutus and Harriet?”
“No idea. Brutus was with us when we came home last night, but of Harriet no trace.”
“She said she needed to get some perspective,” said Dooley. “I don’t know what perspective is, but it sure seems to take her a long time to find it.”
“Perspective is a state of mind,” Odelia explained, throwing off the covers and slipping her feet into her Hello Kitty slippers.
“A state of mind?”
“Harriet probably meant she wants to sort out some stuff in her life.” Perhaps the Brutus thing, Odelia thought. She hoped they would be able to settle in a new amicable relationship. Otherwise it would be very unpleasant for the others if two cats kept on fighting and bickering. If worse came to worst, she’d have to have a talk with Harriet and Brutus herself. Clear the air. Play cat therapist.
She walked over to the window and yanked the curtains wide to let the sun stream in. From her window she had a great view of the backyards of all the neighboring houses. Nearby was a middle school, and she could hear the kids playing the moment she cracked open the window. A church spire gleamed in the distance, and she took a deep breath. A new day, and a fresh beginning. And she was just running a few scenarios through her mind on how to arrange her day, when suddenly her phone started buzzing, and buzzing, and buzzing some more. She frowned as she picked it up. Messages from her uncle, her mother, her dad, and her grandmother rolled across the screen, one after the other.
‘Where are you?’
‘Are you all right?’
‘Answer me!’
What was going on?
She picked up the phone and called up her mom’s number and was just about to hit Connect when she slipped over the bedside rug and went down hard, hitting her head against the bed as she did. The last thing she remembered was Max, yelling, “Odeliaiaaaah!”
And then the world went dark.
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It was by far the scariest thing I’d ever encountered. One minute I was chatting happily with my human, the next she went down and was gone. The phone slipped from her hand, bounced three times on the hardwood floor, and then kept sliding across the floor, buzzing all the while with incoming messages.
Both Dooley and I gathered around Odelia, and I watched in horror as a trickle of blood seeped from her temple.
“Is she dead?” asked Dooley in a choked voice.
“I don’t know! What do we do?”
“We have to wake her up,” said Dooley. “Make sure she stays awake. If she closes her eyes, she’s a goner.”
“Her eyes are closed already!” Nevertheless, I pawed her face. “Odelia, wake up,” I said urgently. “Odelia! Can you hear me?!”
Oh, this was bad. This was very, very bad.
I lifted an eyelid, but all I found was a deadish-looking eye staring back at me.
“I think she’s dead,” I said, and stifled a panicky sob.
“We have to do what humans do,” said Dooley. “Call 911.”
“And how do you suppose we do that?!”
We both stared at Odelia’s phone, which was still buzzing away.
‘How hard can it be?” said Dooley. “It’s a touchscreen. So let’s touch it.”
We moved over to the phone and stared at the thing. Then I gathered my courage and flicked it to life. Messages flashed across the screen. I ignored them. Instead, I called up the phone app, then tapped 911 and hit the Connect button.
“Now what?” I asked.
“Now you tell them Odelia may be dead or dying and to get here immediately!”
A woman’s voice intoned, “Nine one one, what’s your emergency?”
I yelled, in case she couldn’t hear me, “You have to come quick. Odelia has bumped her head and she’s not responding! There’s also blood!”
“Sir or ma’am, I can’t hear a thing on account of the fact that your cat is meowing. Please remove your animal and tell me what your emergency is.”
“It’s Odelia!” I tried again. “Send an ambulance! Quick!”
“I have to advise you once again to remove your cat. I can’t hear a thing with all the meowing.”