“Here!” I yelled. “I’m here.” I scrambled off my perch as fast as my four little legs would carry me, then launched myself to the floor and Kaye’s feet. “Take me with you, please. Please, I’ll do anything. Anything! And can you feed me? I’m so hungry, I’m practically dead.”
Kaye chuckled at my desperation. “I can’t understand you, but I can imagine what you’re saying.”
She smiled wide and clasped her hands in front of her. “Do you want to ride in the carrier, or can you be trusted to move yourself around?”
Instead of meowing at her, which would’ve done absolutely no good, I ran straight for the back door.
“That’s what I figured,” she said. “C’mon. Let’s get you home.” Kaye kept giggling as she opened the door and waited for me to pass through. “I figured a few days in here might change your mind.”
Sweet, sweet freedom! The air tasted fresher than I remembered it being. So what if we were just in a paved mall parking lot, this was the happiest I’d ever been.
I followed Kaye to one of the only cars that remained in the lot, then waited patiently for her to unlock the passenger door. She was rocking an older sedan—didn’t even have one of those key fobs—but I passed no judgment. Kaye was my hero, even if she was a little old-fashioned. I couldn’t wait to get that magic collar doohickey on so that I could ask all my questions.
After hopping onto the passenger seat, I planted my butt firmly on the cushioned fabric and waited for her to climb into the driver’s side. At this point, I was more than ready to do whatever she asked. Seriously, if she wanted me to sniff every dog butt in town to find a bad guy I would.
Also, gross.
After twisting the key in the ignition to fire things up, Kaye pulled one of those wonderful little silver collars out of her purse.
I stretched my neck out happily and as soon as she snapped it on, I started talking a mile a minute. “Thank you so much. I’ll help. I’ll be good. I’ll do whatever you say. All you have to do is feed me people food, let me use the bathroom on my own, and not pick me up. That’s it. That’s all I want in life.”
Kay leaned back and sighed. “I’m so glad you came around. I hated leaving you there with those cats, but you just wouldn’t hear reason.”
I curled up as she backed out of the parking space and happily explained myself. “I don’t like the idea of being a narc but there’s only so much a man can take, Kaye. Do you understand? Those people… those cats…”
“Did you meet Buster?” she asked.
I raised my kitty-brow at her. “I made it a point not to meet anyone but Bay and Mr. Tuna.”
She shot me a confused look. “Mr. Tuna?”
“Oh, uh, I don’t remember his name. He fed me tuna once, and another time, I managed to steal his lunch. Honestly, that’s the only way I’ve survived the last week or so. It was so awful. Please don’t ever take me back.”
She nodded thoughtfully. “Ah, you must mean Harry. He’s a sweet kid.”
I snorted. “I guess. At least he fed me a bit, but he was a little too excited to watch me use the bathroom.”
Kaye laughed again, a kind of braying. Somehow, I found it endearing rather than irritating. “Well, they think you’re actually a cat. A cat using the toilet is pretty cool.”
I harrumphed. “Whatever. I’m just glad to be gone. There’s a couple of real bullies in there.”
“You’re probably talking about Buster,” she said. “He’s a giant tabby.”
Yeah, I’d encountered Buster a few times. “He didn’t like me sleeping in his cubby hole. Other than that, he pretty much left me alone.”
“Good thing,” Kaye muttered. “He’s a wizard, you know.”
I gaped at her.
She glanced over and tapped me on the jaw. “Your kitty tongue is hanging out.”
“There were other magical users there?” I asked in shock.
How stupid I’d been. Of course, there were. That was the most notorious prison in our world. Anyone who did something bad usually ended up in there, provided they could shift.
“I can’t believe I didn’t realize all those cats…” I whispered, coming to grips with this new information.
“Well, not all of them,” Kaye said. “Most of them are just cats. But Buster, and then there’s a big gray one, he’s from the MCS, too.”
I had to stop my jaw from dropping again. “No way. What did they do?”
“Well, there’s a reason I’m grabbing you and not them.” She gave me a conspiratorial wink. “They did bad, bad things. You just stole a few bucks, right?”
Now I was invested. “Tell me what they did,” I demanded.
She turned onto a residential street and sucked in a big breath. “Okay, so Buster is a serial killer.”
I gasped. “No!”
“Yes. He’s been declawed, which is normally a barbaric practice we don’t employ, but he was a special circumstance. He’s been there for almost a decade now and will never leave. We suspect he’s lost himself over to his feline side, too,” she said with a sad shake of her head. “It was either life at the cat place, or a death sentence.”
I had no idea. I didn’t know what I’d imagined but not a serial killer. “He could’ve killed me in my sleep.”
She shrugged one shoulder and pulled into a driveway. “He’s taken some pretty heavy potions to help keep his behavior in check. Those urges should be repressed for now.”
“What about the big gray guy?” I stretched and studied the small bungalow we’d parked in front of. It was old-fashioned and unassuming, just like Kaye.
“Tommy. He was a high up in the magical mafia,” she said. “He’s there for life as well. No telling how many people he killed or ordered to be killed.”
I turned my attention away from the house and back to Kaye. “And they put me in there with those psychos?” I asked in horror. “Why?”
She shrugged and opened the car door. “I thought it was kind of crazy. But if you help me solve my case, I’ll be happy they did.”
Well, whatever. At least I wasn’t sill locked up in that place.
When Kaye opened the door for me, I trotted to the front of the house and waited.
“So,” she said as she unlocked the handle. “You can only talk to me. This collar is currently programmed for my magical signature only. In order for you to talk to others, I would have to change the settings, which I have no intention of doing.”
“That’s fine. At least I can talk to someone,” I muttered, glancing around the yard and noting a couple sparrows hopping around in the grass with interest.
“And I’m the only person who can take it off,” she said, pushing the door open. “If something happens to me, it’ll take a tribunal of wizards to break the charm on it.”
I nodded and trotted into her living room. “I’ll hope you don’t die, then.”
“Yeah,” she snorted. “Then you’d go back to the cat sanctuary.”
Well, now I definitely hoped she didn’t die. Like she said, I’d just stolen a few bucks. A few-hundred thousand, maybe, but at least I wasn’t a murderer.
“Ground rules.” Kaye sat on the sofa and stared at me with a serious expression. “You do exactly as I say. If I say jump, there’s going to be a reason, I won’t be messing around. So do as I say straight away, no questions asked.”
I nodded. “Okay. Got it. You’re in charge.”
“You do not try to escape. The collar will help me find you quickly. Your microchip will, too.”
“Ten-four.” I lifted a paw and semi-saluted her.
“Okay, that’s the gist. Don’t run away and do as you’re told. I’ve got to do some paperwork about your transfer and let Bay know you’re gone. You settle in. I’ll make some dinner here in a bit, okay?”
Kaye didn’t wait for an answer, just walked over to a large L-shaped desk on the other side of the living room.
I watched her for a moment, then got to exploring the rest of the house. I used the bathroom while I could and lapped a little water from her leaky bathtub faucet. Ah, that was refreshing.
When I got to her bedroom, I couldn’t stop myself from gazing at the small fish tank. Oh, how I wanted to dip my paws in there and catch those slippery suckers. Feel their bones crunch between my teeth and… Whoa! Where did that come from?
I backed out of the room as fast as I could. Time to curl up on the couch and call it a night. My cat side was already influencing me more than I liked.
I had to be extra careful not to lose my humanity before the three years were up…