Riley didn't talk to me for two whole hours. But that was okay because I started getting a wave of texted cookie orders from Maria. I could barely keep up as I wrote them down. Wow. These spies were serious about junk food. One guy we'd nicknamed Herman the Worm (you don't want to know) ordered 200 boxes.
The crazy thing was how they were paying for the cookies. While a couple had given Maria PayPal account emails and two actually gave credit card numbers, others were giving me overseas account numbers that were clearly not legal. Spies. Yeesh. It took me the whole two hours to catalog the orders and remove the funds. If this kept up, I'd need an accountant.
When all was said and done, I'd sold 843 boxes. Not bad for one afternoon. My troop was on their way to winter sniper camp!
I called Rex, and he offered to take a cookie form to the office to sell for me. He promised me I'd make a ton of sales. I agreed with him because I adored him, but honestly, he'd never measure up to what I'd done in one afternoon. Still, it's the thought that counts. I toyed with putting Angela down for a case or two, but decided against it. She didn't deserve Girl Scout Cookies.
"One more thing," Rex said. "I'd like you to meet Angela. Can you join us for dinner tomorrow night?"
Join them? Like they were a them already? My mood plummeted. Great. He'd have a chance to compare the two of us side-by-side, and guess who'd be on the losing end of this event? Me. I couldn't compete with that.
"Sure," I lied. "Can't wait to meet her!" I hoped my lack of enthusiasm didn't come through…too much.
"Great! I'm glad you two will get to meet," Rex said. I did not share his excitement.
"So do you want me to just walk over to your house?" I asked. It made sense that we'd go together.
"No. I have a meeting across town. Why don't you just meet the two of us at Selby's Steakhouse? I'll make reservations for 7:00."
"Fine," I said before hanging up. I wasn't going with him. No chance to present us as a couple because we'd be arriving together. Now they were even more of a them. I was going stag as a tagalong on his date.
If Riley heard the despair in my voice, he didn't show it. Maybe that was for the best. I didn't really feel like talking about it. Instead I just moped around the house, trying not to picture Rex and Angela's wedding…their children…retiring in their golden years…
As it grew darker outside, I turned the lights out in the kitchen so we could see better. It also would make it harder for Hoodie to see us. Riley quietly made us a couple of salads and to my grudging regret, I had to admit they were good.
We spent the rest of the evening sitting quietly in the kitchen, watching. I gave up on worrying about my relationship with Rex and decided instead to focus on the only relationship I had—with my cat. Something was bothering me about Bobb wanting the dead body of my pet.
"I've been thinking—" I said quietly. No point in giving Hoodie Bobb a chance of hearing us too. "—about why he wants the cat. We had him tested for a microchip, didn't we?"
Riley nodded. "Dr. Rye didn't find anything." He didn't seem mad at me anymore, but you never truly know with spies.
"That's not true," I said. "He felt some sort of anomaly and said it was probably just a fatty tumor or something."
"Right. I'd forgotten about that." Riley was paying full attention now. "So maybe there's something in the cat that Bobb wants."
"Like a different kind of microchip," I answered. I didn't have to explain to Riley. He knew that the CIA used all kinds of technology that wouldn't be picked up by regular scanning. I even knew a spy in Eastern Europe who hid info inside of squash.
"It could be something that incriminates Bobb," Riley mused.
"Or something of Lenny's," I said. "Let's not forget that the cat and the prisoner showed up at my house at the same time."
Riley shook his head. "Lenny was in prison. He couldn't have had a cat."
I shrugged. "Who knows? Maybe he had it before he went in? Maybe he was bringing it to me for safekeeping?"
"He didn't even know you. Lenny never worked with you," Riley said.
"Well, he got here somehow. He could've picked up the cat after the escape."
"And Bobb was sent to retrieve it?" Riley asked.
"Maybe someone had put a hit out on Philby?" I wondered. "It wouldn't be the first time someone's pet wound up on a hit list. Don't forget that mynah bird in Budapest or the yak in Mongolia." Animals turned up as targets all the time. It really didn't seem quite fair.
"Damn," Riley swore. "That means we should bust Philby out tonight and get him to the safe house." He looked thoughtful for a moment. "I can't believe I just said that. Never in my career would I have ever had the need to say that."
I nodded. "Bobb might come back here, but he also might have figured out that Philby is at the vet's." This depressed me. I wanted my cat to be safe. Wait, did I just call him my cat?
Riley let out a long sigh. "Well, get suited up. We're going to break into an animal clinic."
* * *
Which is how, an hour later, we found ourselves in an alley behind the clinic, dressed all in black.
"I haven't seen anyone inside," Riley said. "They've all gone home."
"I can't imagine they'd come back tonight. Unless they have meds to give every two hours or something."
Riley nodded. "We should go now. Just in case."
I grabbed my lock picks and climbed out of the car. It was very dark in the alley, which was good, because I didn't want to get busted for something like this. I slid my two tools into the lock and worked carefully with my eyes closed, while Riley kept watch. I worked better with my eyes closed in the dark because then I could focus all my senses on what I felt and heard through the lock. A few twists and turns, and we were in.
Riley closed the door behind us, and we broke out the flashlights.
"Do they have an alarm?" I whispered.
"I don't see a keypad. But then, who'd want to steal animals?" Riley asked. I wondered if he saw the irony in those words, since that's exactly what we were here to do.
We didn't turn the lights on because if someone was outside watching, they'd see it. Our small flashlights didn't light things up beyond a few feet, so we were pretty blind. We were in some kind of room for cleaning supplies, and the smell of bleach was overbearing. There was one door against the opposite wall. That had to be the way in.
We entered into a hallway. I went first and froze as soon as I stepped in. A light was on at one end.
"It's just the lights we saw in the front area when we pulled in," Riley whispered in my ear. For some reason, the intimacy of his breath made me shiver.
"Right. That should just be the front desk and waiting area," I whispered back.
We'd remembered most of the area we'd been in earlier. The building was basically a long rectangle. Reception at one end and the exam rooms down the hallway. We'd guessed that the animals were boarded at the other end.
Still, we checked each exam room as we went, just to make sure no one was still here. We didn't have a lot of time, but we didn't want to risk discovery. Riley checked one room while I checked the next, and so on.
I noticed several cat and dog calendars—one in each room. "I wonder if this would be considered veterinarian porn," I asked.
"Do you have sex on your mind for some reason, Wrath?" I couldn't see Riley, but I could hear him smiling as he said this. Okay, this was a change.
"No," I said as I felt myself blushing. But in all honesty, the answer was yes, now. Riley looked and smelled great. And there was an adrenaline rush with breaking and entering. I tried to ignore my feelings and focus on what we were here to do.
After checking the four exam rooms, we came to a door at the end of the hallway. This had to be it. Very slowly I turned the knob, and together we stepped inside.
The smell of urine, feces, and bleach was strong. I guess I should've expected this. There wasn't a single window. Our flashlight seemed to be swallowed by the darkening gloom, and the room looked like it went on forever.
"This will take a while," I whispered. Immediately a cacophony of barking drowned out all other noise.
I felt Riley's hand on my shoulder. It was heavy and warm. The smell of his shampoo briefly cut through the rank odor. "I'm sure the neighbors are used to hearing this. Don't panic."
I nodded, even though he couldn't have seen it. "So how do we find Philby in here?"
Riley didn't say a word. He just shone his flashlight on cage after cage. There were dozens. But each and every one seemed to have a dog in it. At the other end of the room was another door.
"Maybe this is just dogs?" I asked softly.
Riley's flashlight lit up the door. "Then that must be cats."
We made it through the gauntlet of barking and slipped into the other room. A wave of ammonia overwhelmed us. Definitely the cat room.
Unlike the dogs, the cats made no sound at all. And there were just as many cages in here. The dogs stopped barking in the other room. At least that was good. But how to find Philby fast?
"Do you hear that?" Riley whispered.
Oh yeah. I heard it. Police sirens. And they were coming this way. We definitely tripped some alarm.
"We've got to hurry," Riley said in his normal voice. His flashlight swept the cages but unlike the dogs who all came over to us, the cats remained huddled like dark lumps in the backs of each cage. "What now?" he asked.
I had an idea. "Bobb!" I shouted.
A familiar hiss came from the cage at the end on the right. Philby's eyes glowed as he waited for us to come spring him. Good kitty. I fiddled with the cage latch, and the cat sprang into my arms, which would've been adorable had he not been so heavy. I fell backwards, crashing to the floor with the feline equivalent of a medicine ball on my chest.
"Quit screwing around!" hissed Riley. "We really need to go. Now!"
As I got to my feet, Philby under my right arm, I scanned the room for windows. There were none. Great. We'd have to go halfway across the building to get back to the one door to get out of here. I wondered if the fire marshal knew about this.
Riley was dragging me and the cat out of the room and down the hallway. The sirens stopped. Normally, that would be a good thing. But since they stopped right outside, I knew it wasn't.
We ran through the dog kennel, causing every dog to start barking like maniacs. Well, at least the police knew we were still here. Would Rex break up with me for breaking Philby out of the clink?
I spotted shadows at the reception end of the building, and Riley and I dove into the last exam room. We'd almost made it. Well, not really, but I needed to believe we could've escaped.
"What now?" I whispered.
Riley looked around frantically, but there weren't any windows in here either. What was with this place? I seriously needed to have a chat with Dr. Rye if he was going to continue to be our vet.
We got down on the floor behind the exam table. Doors were slamming in the distance, followed by someone shouting, "Clear!" They were going room to room. I didn't think they'd overlook checking ours. For a moment I actually wondered if we could tunnel out. You know, like in those cartoons where the mouse burrows through a wall in two seconds, leaving a perfectly shaped oval in the wall? Okay, so ours would have to be people-sized and wide enough for Philby, but hey, it was something. No, it wasn't. We were screwed.
It sounded like the whole police force out there. I guess there wasn't much else for them to do. It was a reasonably quiet town. This was like Christmas to them.
"Sorry, Wrath," Riley whispered in my ear.
"Why are you sorry? Both of us got into this," I whispered back. We were crammed together on the floor. He smelled nice—what was my obsession with his shampoo? Philby, on the other hand, did not smell nice. He was getting a bath when we got home. Did you give cats baths?
"It was a stupid idea," Riley whispered back. "I've made much better decisions than this in my career." He sounded sad. I didn't like it.
"I know you have. So have I. You just can't win them all, I guess," I replied softly.
The door flew open, and we held our breaths as if that would actually work. It didn't. Officer Kevin Dooley, a doofus I went to high school with, came around the corner of the exam table and switched on the light.
I sketched a little wave. "Hi, Kevin. We just came to get our cat."