Brewer and Johnson got up and made lunch for everyone. It was only ham sandwiches—so nothing too fancy—but they did at least heat them up in a skillet, grilled cheese style.
It wasn’t the worst thing I’d ever eaten. But Amy and Kaye acted as if they’d just been served by a pair of Michelin star chefs.
“So, what do you do when you’re not being blackmailed or helping solve national magical crimes?” Brewer asked with a smarmy look on his stupid face as he leaned in close to my girl.
Amy giggled and batted her eyelashes. “That’s a good question, and one I don’t have an answer for. Before Roberts found me, I was in college, hadn’t declared a major yet even though I was closing in on junior year.”
“What do you think you would’ve gone with?” he asked, giving her his rapt attention.
I kept both ears and an eye their conversation as I gobbled up the tiny bites of sandwich Kaye had pre-cut for me.
“I’ve always wanted to find a way to help people,” Amy confided as Brewer stared at her with a huge, hungry smile.
Ugh. If they kept on going like this, I’d be in danger of ralphing this sandwich back up—up and out and right onto Brewer’s plate. It would serve him right for dropping in on us uninvited. At least I assumed he wasn’t invited.
Kaye wouldn’t do that to me. Would she?
“Shall we get to it, then?” Kaye asked, rising to her feet, and collecting everyone’s mostly empty plates. “All the scrying spells I’ve tried aren’t doing a thing. I might as well head out with the rest of you.”
Johnson raised both eyebrows then broke into a smile. “Perhaps we should split up? The kids can take our car and you and I can make a go of it.” He winked at Kaye, and her cheeks immediately grew bright red.
“Let’s go then!” I yelled before Brewer could make a similar overture toward Amy. “We’re never going to catch this guy at this rate.”
Everyone’s attention followed me as I jogged toward the door. “Well?” I grumbled, my tail flicking behind me. “Is someone going to open this thing or what?”
“What’s he saying?” Brewer asked as he and Amy came to join me at the entryway. “He sounds furious.”
“We’ll just throw the dishes in the sink,” Kaye called as she made her way over to the kitchen. “Then we’ll head east while the three of you head west.”
“Thanks,” Amy shouted to Kaye, then dropped her voice to address Brewer beside her. “Yeah, Moss is a little grumpy sometimes. You get used to it.”
Oh, ouch. Shots fired.
Is that what she really thought of me?
“Anyone would be grumpy in my shoes. Let’s see how you like wearing fur twenty-four-seven,” I mumbled as we all headed toward the elevator.
“I suppose that’s true,” she said with a kind smile. “I don’t like being forced to do anything against my will. I hated my time with Roberts.”
“At least you got to stay in your skin most of the time,” I muttered as Brewer made a big show of holding the passenger door open for Amy.
She nodded her thanks then turned around to glance at me in the backseat. “I wasn’t. Not all the time.”
She had been forced to shift into some pretty insane creatures as part of the con. When I first laid eyes on her, she’d been presenting as a six-legged Wampus cat. All I could say to that is I liked her much better in her natural state.
And I’m guessing Brewer did, too, because he would not stop flirting with her.
“Amy, have you seen this old chamber pot?” he asked as we made our way around our first estate sale together. It was a place we’d already visited, but Amy hadn’t pointed that out.
And what was flirtatious about an old poop bowl? Seriously. At least my competition wasn’t much of a threat. He did irritate me with his persistence though.
“Amy, look at this neat old Snoopy ornament. Reminds me of my childhood. What was Christmas like for you as a kid?” he tried next.
As if Amy cared about some stupid cartoon dog ornament. Gross.
Next, he ran a hand through his dark hair, flashing his obnoxious white teeth. “Oh, Amy, do you feel any magic on this old clock? I thought I might feel something.”
He bloody well did not!
Besides, Amy and I both knew that our exposer had already enchanted a clock, and this wasn’t it. Brewer was only trying to think up excuses to get close to Amy, and I for one wasn’t having it.
“You know,” I said, rubbing my face against Amy’s arm affectionately. “I bet we’d have better luck if we split up. Three teams would be even better than two. Don’t you think?”
Amy nodded as she ran her fingers through my soft, luxurious fur. “Moss suggested we split up, and I think he’s right.”
Brewer shot me a nasty glare, but I just purred and purred.
“Okay. Whatever you say, Amy.” He tried to act casual but did a crap job of it.
“I saw a bus stop not too far from here. Let’s drop him off there while the two of us continue by car.”
“Oh, Moss just had another good idea,” Amy revealed.
“Did he now?” Brewer bit out.
“We’ll drop you at the nearest bus station. You can probably make it around even faster with public transport.”
Brewer’s face turned wooden, and his flirtations were remarkably less fervent as Amy hopped in the driver’s seat, scooted it far forward to accommodate her shorter stature, and drove toward the bus stop we had spotted earlier.
“Maybe Moss could plod around the city,” Brewer said, shooting me a glare in the backseat. “I’m sure he can sneak into lots of spaces unnoticed. I mean, he has lots of experience with that, right? Considering his unsavory past?”
Amy didn’t get that he was being mean. She laughed, a tinkling, beautiful sound. “Oh, right, right. Or I could go, and you could attempt to wrangle Moss in the car, guessing what meow means what. No, I think you’re our best bet at going it alone.”
Brewer forced a smile as Amy pulled over on the side of the road and waited for him to hop out.
Now we were back in business, back to the way it had been that morning, the way it should’ve been all along.
Me and Amy, two blissful peas in a pod.
“I have to admit,” she admitted as she waved goodbye to Brewer in the rearview mirror. “I was relieved when you suggested splitting up.”
“Oh?” My hope surged anew. “And why is that?
She sighed. “I appreciate Brewer showing me a bit of attention. I mean, it’s flattering and all. But he lays it on way too thick, and I’m honestly not even the least bit interested.”
Ha, score one for Mr. Kitty!
With a huge grin, I sat back, secure in the connection Amy and I had. Yes, I would remain a cat for the indeterminable future, but we were building something special here—and that took time.
Which was one thing I had in abundance.