“Oh, no. Just one person. Melony.” I pointed to her name emphasize my point. “The others are cats.”
“And what’s the rest of this?” she asked, her eyes creeping down the paper.
“Suspects and key places.”
“OH MY COD?” she asked with a giggle.
“That’s a fishmonger back home. In Georgia.”
“Georgia?” Angie burst out, shoving the list back at me. “What are you doing all the way over here? Do you really think someone kidnapped your cats and drove twenty hours to get here?”
I stared at her in awe. Maybe she wasn’t as clueless as she first appeared. “How did you estimate the length of the drive so quick? I don’t even know it.”
“My cousin lives in Georgia,” she revealed with a far-off smile. “In the Peach Plains area. Do you know it?”
“Uh, yeah, that’s where I live.”
Something new lit in her eyes.“Larkhaven?”
“No, Beech Grove.”
And that light almost instantly distinguished.“Oh,” she whispered.
“Oh,” I whispered back.
Angie didn’t talk to me again for the rest of the ferry ride, proving that—yes—she could be more awkward still.
25
Once the ferry docked, Angie drove us straight to the address listed on the adoption paperwork the shelter had emailed over.
Or rather, she tried.
“Hmm, somehow I passed it. Keep your eyes peeled for house number 748,” she muttered, driving slowly along the residential street.
We both watched closely, but the numbers skipped from 743 straight to 752. Definitely not a good sign.
“Did someone really give a fake address? Who does that?” Angie fumed and slapped the steering wheel.
“Someone who doesn’t want to be found,” I pointed out. Angie pulled the car to the side of the street and groaned in frustration.
Something was happening here. Something big. Would me and my half-mad new sidekick be enough to put an end to it?
“Wait there,” she said, unbuckling herself. “I’ll be right back.”
I watched as she walked to a yard a few doors down and stooped down to address a corgi who sat sunning himself in a dried patch of grass. There’s no way that could be the same corgi I’d met at the park yesterday… Right?
Angie crouched near the dog, facing away from me. And yet it was still incredibly obvious that she was talking to him.
They conversed for several minutes before the front door to the accompanying house swung open and a familiar man stepped onto the porch. It was the man from the pet park who thought I needed psychiatric help.
I bolted out of Angie’s car and raced to help explain away our misdeeds.
“You again,” the corgi owner said, his eyes locking onto mine.
“Hi, yes. Remember the cat I had with me the other day? He’s gone missing, and my friend here is trying to help me find him.”
He crossed his arms over his chest and stared down the bridge of his nose at us.“By trespassing in my yard?”
“N-no,” I sputtered and took a step back. “Sorry. She just loves animals. She saw your cute dog here and just wanted to say hello.”
Angie finally caught wise and jumped in to help. She also jumped up to her feet.“I just love corgis and their little heart butts. I’ve been thinking of adopting one for myself, but still want to do more research. Say, would you recommend one to a friend?”
“I’d recommend you get out of my yard,” the man grumbled, staring daggers Angie’s way. “C’mon, Baron. Let’s get inside!”
The dog ran surprisingly fast, considering how tiny his little legs were. He slipped inside, and then the man slammed the door.
“Rude,” Angie pouted as we both walked back to the car.
“What did Baron tell you?” I asked when we were both safely inside. “With his body language, I mean.”
“Oh, right.” Angie lay her head back and closed her eyes. For a moment, I thought she wasn’t going to answer me, but then she did. “He’s seen a lot of strange passers-by around here lately. First there was a tall man, then a cat, and then us.”
Fluffikins! Maybe the incorrect address had just been a blunder. The boss cat might still be nearby.
“Was it a black cat with a white patch?” I asked eagerly, sitting up straighter in my seat.
“No, I think he said it was a tortoise shell. Um… At least that’s how I interpreted it.” No wonder so many rumors swirled about this girl. She did an absolutely horrible job keeping her secret.
But that was her problem. I had much bigger, more urgent matters to worry about. And, oh boy, was I worried.
“Can we just drive around a bit?” I asked, my spirits falling faster than, well, something that falls famously fast.
“Oh, sure.” Angie put the car in drive and did slow laps around the neighborhood, taking care to avoid the mean corgi man’s house.
Neither of us spoke as she began to snake out into the surrounding streets. I’d just about lost all hope when…
“Angie, stop the car!” I shouted at the top of my lungs.
We jerked to a sudden stop, and my seatbelt hugged me tightly, digging right into my chest.
“What’s going on?” Angie cried as she scanned the area in search of answers.
But I was already out the door and running down the street.
26
I jumped straight into Parker’s arms, and we both staggered backward from the high-speed collision.
“You found me!” I cried—actually cried—from being so fantastically relieved.
“You’re a tough woman to find, Tawny Bigford,” he murmured, reaching for my cheek to swipe away an errant tear. “I’m so glad you’re safe.”
“How did you know I’d be here?” I asked, staring into his gorgeous gray eyes and wondering if now might be a good time for the first kiss we both knew was coming.
“When you, Melony, and Mr. Fluffikins went missing, I panicked. I didn’t know until I swung by later that afternoon to check on you. When I couldn’t find you or Melony, I tried reaching out to Mr. Fluffikins, but he was gone, too. No one knew anything, so I started combing through all of Fluffikins’s paperwork—that guy records everything—and I found the magical signature for Melony’s tracker. That took me to some kind of—”
“Pet park,” I finished for him.
“Yeah.” Parker gave me a weak smile, then stumbled forward.
I reached forward to steady him.“Whoa. What’s wrong?”
He yawned and listed slightly to the side.“I feel so drained. Like I’ve been up for days without any sleep. It’s strange.”
“Are you hurt?” I immediately began to inspect him for injuries. Perhaps teleporting was more dangerous than Fluffikins had let on before whisking the both of us away.
“I think…” He paused and took a deep breath. “I think now that I’m a town witch, I have a hard time being away from my town. My magic…”
He raised a hand and flicked his wrist. A small spark flew from his fingertips and fizzled in the air.“I think that was the last of it,” Parker told me and then slumped at my side.
“We have to get you back!” I looped one of his arms over my shoulders and turned back toward the car.
Angie stood just outside of it, staring wide-eyed at us both.
“We have to help him,” I yelled to her and tried to guide Parker toward the car.
But he resisted.“I can’t go without Fluffikins. Without the Diplomat, there is no PTA.”
Angie’s features pinched and she shook her head. “What’s he talking about, Tawny? What was that trick he did with the burst of light?”
“A friend of yours?” Parker wheezed, turning his head toward me in a jerky moment that almost looked painful.
“Sort of,” I whispered so only he could hear. “She’s helping me search for Fluffikins.”
“Why were you guys talking about magic?” Angie called as she laughed uncomfortably. “I mean, magic’s not real.”
Parker and I exchanged a worried glance.