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“He’s been hanging around outside my house for a couple months now,” Andrew Milhone told Katherine Harper as they sat side by side on his living room couch. “I’ll be doing something in here, and there he’ll be, spying on me through the windows.”
Kat considered that. “So he’s a regular stalker.”
“And his behavior is escalating. Yesterday morning I found him attempting to get into the garage. He was flat on his back in the driveway, engrossed in a B and E.”
“B and E?” Kat echoed.
“Breaking and entering. He was trying to pry open the roll-down door.”
“What did he do when you caught him?”
“He meowed at me and took off running.”
Kat took another look at the cat currently snoozing in Andrew’s backyard with one paw slung over his face. From this distance she couldn’t tell much about him other than the fact that his coat was both black and white.
“I’ve named him Pepe,” Andrew said, brushing his sandy hair off of his forehead before wrapping his arm around Kat’s shoulders. “He’s very talkative. If I go outside when he’s there, he’ll sit there and meow at me. But he won’t let me pet him. And if I get too close he flees.”
Kat leaned against Andrew’s side, enjoying their closeness. “Are you sure he’s a he?”
“I’ve seen him marking the bushes. Given my limited cat knowledge, I’m assuming that means he’s male.”
“And probably not neutered.”
Kat watched as Pepe dropped his paw away from his face, stretched his jaws into a wide yawn, and then turned over to lie on his other side. “Since he talks to you, I’d be surprised if he were feral. Do you think he has a home?”
“I doubt it. He looks too scrawny to belong to someone.”
Kat’s chest squeezed. She hated the idea of such a small, helpless creature being on his own in this big, scary world. To make matters worse, the calendar had officially announced the arrival of autumn several days ago. Next week it would be October, and before long it would be freezing cold outside.
“I should borrow one of the 4F traps from Imogene and try to catch him,” Kat said.
“Don’t tell me you want another cat.” Amusement colored Andrew’s tone. “Matty and Tom aren’t enough for you?”
“They’re plenty for me, and I have no intention of adopting Pepe.”
“You sure about that? You sound awfully wistful.”
“I’m just sad he’s out there by himself. But the reason for the trap isn’t for me to keep him. It’s to check him for a microchip and, most importantly, to get him neutered. The last thing you or Furry Friends Foster Families needs is more unwanted kittens roaming around. And, assuming he’s friendly, 4F can work on finding him a home if he truly doesn’t have one already.”
“Sounds good to me. Although, I have to tell you, I’ll miss seeing him out there.”
The corners of Kat’s mouth twitched. “Now who sounds wistful?”
“So I’ve thought about getting a cat before. I see how happy Matty and Tom make you, and maybe sometimes I dream of having that for myself.” He lifted one shoulder, looking slightly embarrassed by the confession. “So sue me. But with my erratic schedule, I don’t know if it would be fair to the animal. Police detectives aren’t known for keeping regular hours.”
“If you found the right animal, I’m sure you could make it work.”
“I’ve already found one right animal,” he said, dropping a kiss atop her brown hair. “And you wouldn’t believe how fond of her I am.”
“I’m kind of fond of you, too,” Kat said, smiling up at him. Her smile faded. “Even if we do have some commitment issues to work through.”
Andrew’s eyes were soft as he gazed back at her. “I guess that’s your way of seguing into the topic of therapy.”
“Dr. D did encourage us to share our counseling experiences with one another,” she reminded him.
“Then share away. I’m all ears.”
“Oh no, you don’t. You were the one who suggested we try therapy, so you should be the one who has to share first.”
He reached for her hand and laced his fingers with hers. “I only suggested it because I want you to be happy.”
Kat knew his words were genuine, and she loved him all the more for it. When she had asked him last month if he found it troubling that they had never once discussed marriage despite being together for a full year, she hadn’t expected him to propose they seek professional help. But she had seen his point. After all, they had both grown up in the Cherry Hills foster care system. And while neither one of them had been wards of the state for sixteen years now, it wasn’t inconceivable that their lack of forward relationship movement might be indicative of lingering childhood issues.
They had considered couples therapy, but after a debate of the pros and cons decided individual counseling would be more relevant. After all, if they had commitment issues it wasn’t because of any flaw in how they related to one another. Still, at Kat’s insistence, they were both seeing the same psychologist, a woman named Deana Dietrich. If they did eventually switch to couples therapy, the last thing Kat wanted was to have to rehash everything again to get their new counselor up to speed.
“Therapy’s going all right, I suppose,” Andrew said, pulling his hands into his lap. “I like Dr. D well enough, and it helps to talk about certain things with someone who’s impartial.”
“What do you guys talk about?” Kat asked.
“How I felt growing up in foster care, how I feel about commitment now, how I feel about being a police detective. How I feel about vegan cheese.”
Kat stuck her tongue out at him. “I only made you try that once.”
“Yeah, and I suspect a deep-seated resentment will reveal itself within the next handful of sessions.”
Kat laughed. “Come on. It wasn’t that bad.”
“It was that bad.”
They sat in silence for a minute before Andrew said, “You guys talk about the same stuff?”
“Foster care. Check. Commitment. Another big fat check. My thoughts on cheese haven’t come up yet, but given what Dr. D charges I’m sure she won’t let our time together end until we’ve covered every topic under the sun.”
“Funny, but Dr. D thinks my rocky upbringing contributed to me becoming a cop.”
Kat twisted to face him better, intrigued. “How so?”
“She suggested that the neglect I experienced as a kid might have resulted in the development of unhealthy patterns to garner attention. In other words, I guess I get a kick out of putting my life in danger while everyone else oohs and aahs over my bravery.”
“Really? I never thought about you going into law enforcement in those terms.”
“Neither have I. In all honesty, I think she’s full of it. Law enforcement drew me in because I like seeing the bad guys get their due.”
“Now that I can definitely see. And understand.” Kat had found herself involved in so many murder cases since she’d moved back to Cherry Hills, Washington last summer she’d lost count. But her umpteen experiences had taught her one thing. There was a certain sense of satisfaction to be found when her actions helped to oil the wheels of justice.
“Hey, look.” Andrew jerked his chin toward the window. “Pepe’s awake.”
Sure enough, the black-and-white cat had stood up and was now engaging in some vigorous stretching exercises.
“How come you call him Pepe?” Kat asked.
“Because his coloring is exactly like Pepé Le Pew’s, except his tail is all black and the white triangle on his forehead points up instead of down.” When she gave him a blank look, he elbowed her in the ribs. “C’mon. Pepé Le Pew? The cartoon skunk? Don’t tell me you never saw him on TV when we were kids.”
Kat shrugged. The name sounded vaguely familiar, but she had no clue what this fictional animal from their childhood looked like. It astounded her that Andrew could recall so many details.
Andrew looked so crestfallen by her response that Kat decided to throw him a bone. “I can’t make out Pepe’s markings clearly enough from here to tell if he resembles his namesake or not.”
“Then we’ll have to fix that.” Andrew grabbed her hand and pulled her up off the sofa. “C’mon. I’ll take you to meet Pepe the Second in person.”
“All right.” She would never say no to meeting a new cat.
Andrew led her to the back door. Although Pepe turned to watch as they stepped outside, he didn’t run or appear to be the least bit alarmed by their presence.
They stopped walking when Pepe was about five feet away. From here Kat could see he had striking yellow-green eyes, a fluffy black tail, and the cutest pink nose with a heart-shaped black spot surrounding his nostrils. Long, white whiskers framed his eyes and mouth and added a kind of debonair look to his face. Her heart cracked a little seeing how dirty and thin he was, but he looked relatively healthy.
“Hi there,” she crooned, creeping closer. “I hear you’ve been stalking my boyfriend.”
Pepe tilted his head, eyeing her with unabashed curiosity.
“Can I pet you?”
He meowed, prompting Kat to extend her hand. But as soon as he realized her intention his eyes bugged out of his head and he began creeping away.
“It’s okay. I don’t have to pet you.”
Kat backed off, but it was too late. Pepe had already darted away. He disappeared around the side of Andrew’s house a moment later.
“Poor little guy,” she said. “He’s so scared.”
“At least now I know I’m not the only person he fears,” Andrew said. “And here I always thought you had the magic touch when it came to befriending cats.”
She slugged him lightly in the shoulder. “I’ll have you know, it takes time to earn their trust. But I will talk to Imogene about borrowing a trap. I didn’t see a notch in his ear to indicate whether he’s been fixed already.”
“Sounds like a plan.” Andrew fell silent, his nose twitching. “Do you smell that?”
She sniffed. “That rotten smell? Hey, maybe Pepe really is Pepé Le Pew, skunk extraordinaire.”
Andrew didn’t laugh at her joke. In fact, he looked so serious that a chill crawled down Kat’s back.
“It smells like a dead animal,” he said.
Or a dead body, Kat couldn’t help thinking.
Andrew started across the lawn. “I’m going to check it out.”
Kat trailed after him, praying with every step that this wouldn’t turn out to be her umpteenth plus one experience with a murder.
* * *
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