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“SHADOW, CHILL!” SEPTEMBER knew by his flagged tail and happy expression that the visitor at the hotel room door posed no threat. She checked the view first anyway, then opened the door.
Karma raced into the room, Tee following more slowly. September closed the door behind the smaller woman, concerned. She really didn’t look well. Practicing yoga earlier had helped her own physical and mental discomfort. “I already showered. Fresh towels on the vanity. Maybe that’ll make you feel better.”
Tee nodded. “Feeling rocky. I’ve fought a headache ever since Chicago.” She sharpened her tone to address Karma when the big Rottie discovered Macy. The cat leaped to the top of the television cabinet and stared back, perfectly poised and probably enjoying the opportunity to tease a new dog. “Settle! No roughhousing. I don’t want the department to pay for damages after they waived the pet deposit for us.”
The dogs looked properly chastised. September backed up Tee’s directive with a silent hand signal, pulled out her baggy of Corazon Candy, and offered a couple of treats to the two dogs and cat. Shadow hopped onto one of the two double beds and settled with a sigh. Karma immediately joined him, prompting his tail to thump the covers, and the pair spooned like an old married couple.
That made September ache to call Combs. He’d already left two messages. She’d replied with only brief texts, promising explanations soon. She wanted to wait to actually talk with him until it was truly over, so he didn’t consider flying to her ‘rescue’. He and the kids needed this time together, and there wasn’t anything he could do anyway.
“How’d it go with Steele? Chris used to say he was a hard case.” September propped a pillow against the headboard of the same bed as the two dogs, and leaned back. “He did have my stuff collected and delivered when I asked, though.” She’d barely unpacked at Angela’s, so they’d simply shut her overnight bag and dropped it off. Thankfully, she’d packed extra disposable litter boxes for Macy, which she’d set up in the bathroom. She’d left Shadow’s bear-toy in the car, so the two dogs wouldn’t argue over it. “We already ate burgers. I told Shadow and Macy not to get used to that.” She smiled, but Tee didn’t respond. The woman really looked bad. “I would’ve ordered you a veggie burrito, but didn’t know how long you’d be, but you could order room service.”
Tee grimaced, dropped her bag, and sank onto the other bed. “Please don’t talk about food.” She shivered. “Maybe I caught a bug. Nothing a shower and some sleep won’t fix. We’ve got to be up bright and early.” She smiled, but it looked forced. Freckles across her cheeks stood out in stark contrast to her pale olive skin.
“We?” September raised her eyebrows. “I’m hitting the road tomorrow as soon as I talk to Steele. I thought your boss recalled you to Chicago.”
“He did. But Steele’s giving me some latitude first. And I need your help. Actually, I need Shadow’s help.”
The dog thumped his tail again at mention of his name, but didn’t move. His head rested on Karma’s shoulder.
September’s shoulders tensed. “Something Karma can’t take care of? It takes two days driving to get back to Heartland.” She rubbed her face. “With this weather, maybe longer. And I can’t leave until Detective Steele releases me.” She studied Tee’s hopeful face, recognizing the eagerness to prove herself. “Okay, Tee. What do you need?”
The smaller woman pulled off first one boot and then the other, flexing her toes and rubbing her feet. “Oh, that’s better.” Tee skinned off soaked socks as she spoke. “I gave Steele the files at the hospital and pointed out the connection to Macy. He wasn’t impressed.” She glanced up at the big cat, now crouched like a miniature lion atop the cabinet. “No offense, cat.”
“Macy doesn’t take offense. Cats don’t care about our opinions.” September laughed. “Isn’t that right, Macy?” She gestured, making a finger-beckoning motion, and he launched himself from his perch to land with a soft thump on the foot of the bed. He hopped over the dogs as he padded up to her lap and curled into the space between her knees.
“Steele went to the hospital to interview the girl I told you about. Charlie Cider.”
September widened her eyes. “That’s her real name? I thought my name was bad.” September stroked the cat, relishing his rumbling purr.
“Who knows? We’ll figure that out another time.” Tee took a big breath, then spoke in a rush as if expecting September to cut her off. “Charlie said she hid the computer backup, a thumb drive, to keep it away from the attacker. I suspect other motives. Charlie’s got a past, and probably not above a bit of larceny. Anyway,” Tee paused, darting looks at September to gauge her interest, “she hid the thumb drive on a cat. Who does that?”
“Really? How original.” September glanced at Shadow hiding a small smile. He’d been only nine months old when he protected another thumb drive. “So call up the animal control, or whoever took possession of her cats. You don’t need me.”
“No, you don’t understand. The cat ran off, so it’s somewhere out in the snow, hopefully still near Turpin’s house.”
“A show cat? Out in this weather?” September shivered, and scratched under Macy’s chin. She’d nearly lost him once. Cats kept inside their whole life had no experience how to protect themselves in the great outdoors.
Tee leaned forward, whispering in hushed, excitable tones. “The cat got away by the garage or storage shed. That’s quite a distance from the house proper.” She wiggled her toes again, then sat cross-legged on the bed. “I promised Steele I’d recover the thumb drive by tracking the missing cat. But you saw how Karma acted around Macy. And one of Turpin’s cats looked ready to take Karma’s face off. Mine, too. Besides, I don’t think Karma would know to track Sherlock. Not the way Shadow’s been trained.”
September frowned. Once a dog learned the joys of cat chasing, training the behavior away proved challenging. A police dog needed to be impervious to such distractions.
“You haven’t seen these cats, September. They’re huge.” Her oval, tilted eyes opened wide. “I had to put Karma in a down-stay in the next room before I could get close to them and get them into cages. They acted nuts, just having Karma there.”
“Sherlock’s the missing cat? Great name.” September sighed. “Here’s the problem, Tee. Those cats saw their owner killed. They went through hell, and then saw Karma shortly after. They may already identify dogs—any dog—as a very-bad-thing. Sherlock dumped out in a snowstorm elevates his stress. It could be tricky having even cat-friendly Shadow track him.”
“Then I’m screwed.” Tee flopped backwards onto the bed, and Karma jumped up across to join her. Tee pushed the dog away, dodging Karma’s slurping tongue across her face. “Recovering the evidence is the only reason Steele kept me on the case. Oh damn, my head.” She rolled over and cradled her face in a pillow.
Macy burpled and head-bumped September’s cheeks. “Not so fast, Tee. I’ve worked with Macy to track missing animals, especially cats. He’s not fully trained. It takes a long time to get reliable results. But so far, he’s pretty good. No guarantees, but we could give it a shot.”
Tee sat up, blinking hard. “Thanks. That’s better than nothing.” She rubbed her eyes again. “Hey, do you have any aspirin?”
September got off the bed and rummaged for the travel-size bottle, which she handed to Tee. “Did Charlie see her attacker? He ran her off the road with his car, right?” She settled again on the bed, and Macy stretched upward to cheek-rub September’s face.
Tee shook out three pills and dry swallowed them. “She saw him only briefly. He wore a ski mask and gloves at first, but she got a good look when he left her for dead. Doesn’t help much, though.” She closed her eyes and repeated the girl’s description. “Pasty-faced, brown eyes, thin lips, receding chin. In other words, he could be anyone. She couldn’t even guess about height, because she only saw him from her perspective on the ground, with him standing over her. She might be able to identify his voice, though. She heard him clearly when he interrogated Turpin.” She rubbed her neck again. “But dark clothes, dark SUV. Does that sound anything like your attacker? If it’s the same do-er, and you both can I.D. his voice or looks, we’re ahead of the game. That is, once we find him.” She stood, strode to the bathroom, and turned on water in the shower.
September called to be heard over the running water. “I heard him, too, but didn’t get a clear look. My guy also wore dark clothes, gloves, and ski mask. And drove a dark SUV. But with this weather, that could describe 80 percent of anyone brave enough to be out in the weather.”
Tee shucked off all her clothes but underwear as she spoke. “Charlie said Sherlock attacked the guy, so there’ll be bite or claw marks. If he’s a hired professional, looking like Joe Shmoe from Idaho works in his favor. Bet we won’t find fingerprints, he’s too careful. Still, anything out of the ordinary that marks him builds our case.”
“If it’s the same man, look for burns. I threw coffee in his face. By the way, why’d Steele let you question Charlie?” September wrinkled her brow, noticing Tee’s long slim legs and one side of her back had a bullseye-shaped rash before the woman ducked into the shower.
“Steele got called away to a fire. Some judge’s house, friends of the mayor.” She sighed. “Ah, yes, I needed this!”
September set Macy to one side and crossed to the open bathroom door. “Don’t mean to pry, Tee, but you should get that rash looked at.”
Tee didn’t answer. Karma leaped from the bed, startling both September and Shadow. The big dog bulldozed her way into the bathroom, sticking her head into the shower. But her Arooo of warning proved too late to stop Tee crashing to the floor.
