“It’s okay. I’m not going to tell your secret,” I promised, wishing we could just get on with it. After all, I didn’t have all day to sit around trying to convince her to help me. “It’s just I’m really desperate to find one lost cat in particular. His name is Mr. Fluffikins.”
Angie’s head snapped to the side and she glared at me with a new intensity that set me on edge. “That’s not a very common name.”
I shook my head.“No, I guess it’s not. So can you help me?”
Nan entered with a tray of the aforementioned vanilla bean scones and three mugs of what appeared to be English Breakfast tea.
The snuggly little Chihuahua immediately left me to join her.
“What did I miss?” she asked, taking a seat beside her granddaughter. “Anything good?”
Angie appeared to have calmed down a bit now that Nan had joined the conversation.“Tawny here is trying to locate her missing cat, Mr. Fluffikins,” she explained.
Nan’s eyes widened at this news. “Isn’t that the cat from last night who told you—”
“Nan, you know that whole thing about me talking to animals is just a well-circulated rumor,” Angie interrupted with a goofy smile and another big eye roll. She held Nan’s gaze for several moments until at last the old woman looked away and took a long slurp of her tea.
“We hosted an event last night called the Black Cat Benefit,” Angie continued. “Our goal was to find homes for black cats from the local shelter and to raise funds. There was a cat named Mr. Fluffikins who came in with the adoptable felines.”
“But how?” I asked, wrapping my hands around my mug of tea and squeezing tight. “He was only just taken yesterday afternoon. And from Caraway Island at that.”
Angie appeared unbothered by this.“Well, we’re all kind of one big small town around the bay. It’s totally possible that Glendale’s shelter brought a few black cats from other area rescues.”
I stood.“Does that mean he’s back at the shelter? Should I go there now?”
Angie sighed heavily and motioned for me to sit back down.“No, he was adopted.”
“Adopted!” I exploded. “No, no, no. That’s not possible. He’s my cat, and I really need him back!”
“It’s going to be okay. If he’s yours, I’m sure the new owners will give him back. We can just refund his adoption fee.” Angie picked up a warm scone and took a big, luxuriating bite.
“No harm, no foul,” Nan agreed.
“But where are these new owners?” I demanded. Weren’t shelters at least supposed to try to find the owners before giving a cat away? It seemed they’d have at least taken the time to give him health and temperament checks. Something definitely wasn’t right here.
“Let me shoot off a quick text to see if the shelter can send that over. I’m sure, given the circumstances…” Angie pulled out her phone and began typing far faster than I’d ever manage. A few moments later, she looked up at me with a satisfied grin. “There. We should hear back from themany minute.”
“Please do enjoy your tea,” Nan said, pointing to the mug that remained clutched firmly between my hands.
I took one tentative sip, then another. It didn’t take long for me to drain the entire cup.
“Oh, here we go!” Angie said, waving her phone overhead. “The shelter just texted back.”
I set my empty mug back on the tray and watched as Angie’s face fell.
“Oh,” she said plainly.
“What is it, dear?” Nan pressed, saving me the trouble of doing so myself.
“Mr. Fluffikins has been placed in a home on Caraway Island,” she said with a strange expression.
Of course he was.
And now it looked like my strange magical journey had jumped straight into fantasy, mainly JRR Tolkien’sHobbit: There and Back Again.
24
Angie drove me back to the ferry and parked to wait with me.“It’s not true what they say, you know.”
“Hmmm?” I asked, staring off into the horizon mindlessly.
“About me talking to animals, I mean. That’s crazy, right?” Angie’s eyes bore into me. I could feel her intense gaze without even needing to turn and meet it.
“Yeah, totally,” I agreed, offering her a placating grin.
“I just understand their body language really well. Apparently that makes me a pet whisperer.” She laughed uncomfortably, and I joined in to be polite. This was going to be a long wait. I had no idea how frequently the ferry came in, and with my luck we’d be waiting around all day. Not for the first time that day, I longed for Fluffikins and his ability to fly us from place to place at record-breaking speeds.
“So what’s your story, Tawny?” Angie asked next. “The pink hair and black clothes, they make quite an impression. What are you trying to tell the world?”
Oh, like she was one to judge. Before we let her house, she changed out of her polka-dotted pajama set and into what appeared to be leg warmers and an off the shoulder sweater. I was no great fashionista, but at least I knew what decade we all lived in.
“My dress is deep purple, more like a blackberry than true black,” I corrected, keeping the rest of my thoughts to myself.
“But still, why so much jewelry? It’s almost like you’re in a costume.” She offered me a goofy smile to soften the blow.
Well, she was right about one thing. I’d debated long and hard about whether to leave the heaps of jewelry in the motel that morning. I’d ultimately decided to keep it on me to avoid eliciting unnecessary anger from Connie. Even though she claimed to feed on money instead of blood, I just wasn’t ready to take any chances when it came to the cranky vamp.
Then again, if Angie was sticking to her poorly constructed cover story, I could give her mine. I’d spoken too freely with Blackjack and Val, but I didn’t have to make the same mistake twice.
“I’m a psychic,” I said simply with a toothy smile of my own.
Angie seemed a bit surprised.“That’s cool. So you can tell the future and what not?”
I shook my head.“Not really. I’m just good at reading people’s body language and then telling them what they want to hear.”
“Oh, so we’re kind of the same?” she said with another girlish laugh.
“Yup.” Both frauds with shoddy cover stories.
“I knew you didn’t mean for real,” she said after a moment.
I nodded but kept quiet.
The ferry arrived a short while later, freeing me from Angie’s clumsy attempts to engage me in small talk.
Relief washed over me, until something awful and unexpected happened…
“I’m coming with you,” Angie informed me just as I had begun to reach my hand toward the door.
Before I could argue, she pulled her car into the boarding queue. Well, I guess my investigation would be quicker with a wheeled escort. And it’s not like Angie could make things even more awkward than she already had… Right?
“So you like solving mysteries, right?” I asked, at last choosing to trust her despite my hesitations. Such was my desperation.
She gave me her biggest smile yet.“Oh, yes. It’s my job. Did you want to officially hire me to work your case?”
“I don’t really have much money at the moment. I could get you some after we solve this, but…” I shrugged. “I can’t expect you to work for free.”
“Oh, yes, yes, you can. I work for free all the time. My cat’s trust fund pays all our bills and then some. Plus I need the experience to keep my skills from getting rusty.”
Well, that was weird.
“So you want to help?” I asked, raising both eyebrows in surprise.
Angie bobbed her head.“If you’ll let me.”
“Then here.” I reached into my pocket and handed her the list I had made the night before. “This is all the information I have right now.”
Angie scrutinized the list; her brows pushed together in deep thought.“So many people have gone missing and you lead with your cat?”