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The next morning, Kat couldn’t eat. She sat at her dining table, sliding a piece of toast listlessly around her plate as she watched the seconds tick by. Noon was still four hours away, and already she felt sick over the unwanted role she’d been tasked with. The thought of being the person who decided whether Andrew’s sister deserved to be in his life or in jail had her stomach in knots.
Maybe she could claim to be coming down with something. That would be a good excuse to skip lunch this afternoon.
A meow jerked Kat out of her reverie. Matty was eyeing her from the cat tree in the living room.
“You think I’ve done enough damage and should stay out of it too, huh?” Kat asked her.
Matty turned her head and stared pointedly out the window.
“Oh, right.” Kat rolled her eyes. “You want to go outside again. I should have known you wouldn’t trouble yourself with human problems.” Matty also had never been known to meow over something that didn’t directly concern her. Whereas Tom and Kat often engaged in whole conversations just for the fun of it, Matty only spoke sparingly.
Kat drummed her fingers on the table. Maybe she should take Matty outside. They could swing through the Jeffersons’ neighborhood. Perhaps they’d even stumble across a clue or two with the potential to clear Alyssa of any wrongdoing. As slowly as Matty moved, nobody would think twice about them loitering in one spot for too long. That should give her plenty of time to find anything the investigators had missed—assuming there was anything to find.
The more she considered it, the more she warmed to the idea. What harm could it do? It was certainly a better option than sitting around here, fretting until lunchtime.
She jumped out of her seat. “All right, Matty. Today’s your lucky day.”
She affixed Matty’s harness in record time. Once they were outside, Matty crept along just as lethargically as predicted. Except, until they reached the Jeffersons’, her leisurely pace was a nuisance rather than an asset. And every time Kat tried to herd the tortoiseshell in the right direction, Matty would flop over in protest.
Kat groaned, giving the leash a shake as Matty played dead. “Can we move it along, please?” A three-legged turtle could have outrun them.
Matty answered by stretching her limbs as far as they could go, luxuriating in the feel of the grass against her fur.
But the tortoiseshell did get up when two teenage girls came jogging toward them, their ponytails swinging in unison. The tall, redheaded one said something to her honey-blond friend, and they both giggled, the exertion of running not seeming to have any effect on their ability to talk.
The girls slowed when they spotted Matty. “Oh, how cute!” the redhead said.
They stooped down to pet the feline. Matty didn’t bother to acknowledge them. She was too busy gnawing on a blade of grass that had captured her attention.
The blonde smiled up at Kat. “It’s not often you see a cat on a leash.”
“Matty is one of a kind,” Kat replied. She squinted at the teenager, recognition dawning. “You’re Lindsay, right?”
Lindsay stood up, blinking in surprise. “Yeah.”
“We met back in October,” Kat reminded her. “I came in when you were working at the copy shop. You printed up some fliers for me.”
Lindsay snapped her fingers. “Oh, right.” She gestured toward the redhead. “This is my friend, Jenna.”
Lindsay’s movements must have been enough to dislodge her hair ribbon. Her honey-blond tresses fell around her shoulders as the swatch of red fabric unfurled, the whole scene reminding Kat of a shampoo commercial. When Matty saw the ribbon floating in her direction, her pupils dilated and she crouched low to the ground. As soon as it hit the concrete, her butt began wiggling in anticipation. Then, quick as a flash, she pounced, immobilizing the ribbon with both her front paws.
“Aw.” Jenna laughed.
Lindsay, on the other hand, didn’t look amused. “That’s the second tie to break on me this week.”
“I told you, they’re trash,” Jenna said. She gently worked the ribbon out of Matty’s grasp, then flicked it toward her again. “But they do make good cat toys.”
“If you’re looking for hair accessories, I know somebody who creates them,” Kat said.
“We have to wear these,” Lindsay told her. “It’s for school.”
“We’re on the track team,” Jenna chimed in. “Our coach likes us to match, for solidarity.”
“But we’re only stuck with these through the end of the year,” Lindsay said. “Coach said they signed a contract to have some new ties made for next year, this time from somebody else.”
“You mean Nikki Jefferson,” Kat said.
“Yeah,” Jenna said. “I can’t wait. Mrs. J’s stuff is awesome.”
Kat twisted toward her. “You know Nikki Jefferson?”
Jenna nodded. “I live next door to her.”
“You live in the blue house?”
“That’s me!”
Kat’s heart beat a little faster. That was where Matty had stepped in the gum. “You didn’t happen to see anybody on or around your property near the time of the fire, did you?”
Jenna shook her head. “I was away at a meet yesterday morning.”
“What about the rest of your family?”
“Mom was with me. She comes to all my meets. And Dad doesn’t live with us.”
Kat tried to mask her disappointment. So much for that lead.
“That really bites, what happened to Mrs. J,” Lindsay said.
“Yeah,” Kat concurred.
Lindsay turned to her friend. “Hey, we should get going if we want to finish our four miles. My mom will start wondering where I am soon.”
Jenna rose to her feet and handed Lindsay’s ribbon back to her. “Thanks for letting us pet your cat.”
“Anytime,” Kat said.
Lindsay offered the ribbon to Kat. “You want to keep this? It’s no good to me now.”
“Thank you.” Kat took it from her. “I’m sure Matty will get a lot of enjoyment out of this.”
The girls waved as they took off down the sidewalk. Kat watched them until they disappeared around the corner. Then she shifted her attention to Matty.
“You ready to get a move on?” she asked, giving the leash a shake.
Matty laid down and yawned.
Kat groaned. At this rate, it would be June before they made it to the Jeffersons’ house.
