Within an hour, Kaye and I had a plan.
Unfortunately, we had to wait a good six more before we could put it into motion.
Late that evening, Amy knocked on the door to our room, then stuck her head through the door. “I brought dinner. You hungry?”
“Famished,” Kaye exclaimed, pairing that with an exaggerated smile. She wasn’t the best actress, but our plan relied entirely on her for this part. Now Kaye’s modest thespian skills would be the difference between a quick escape and perpetual imprisonment.
Amy sat the tray of food she’d carried on a narrow table beside the door, then turned to leave. But we needed Amy to feel comfortable enough with us to enter the room.
“Thank you,” Kaye called, and then, “Oh, while you’re here…”
Amy paused, then turned back to meet Kaye’s eyes.
Kaye sat on the far side of the bed with a pillowcase on her lap. “I know the ropes can’t come off, but can you help me add a little padding. My wrists are chafed so bad, I can practically see right down to the muscle.” She held up her hands and winced.
“Oh, you poor thing,” Amy said, rushing over.
And just as we’d hoped, she left the door open.
That was my cue. As soon as Amy’s feet appeared beside the bed skirt, I inched out from my hiding place under the bed and amscrayed to that open door.
And despite Kaye’s less-than-stellar performance, our plan couldn’t have gone more perfectly. This time we’d relied on the kindness of strangers, and it had actually worked.
Amy bent over Kaye’s lap from the side of the bed, attempting to keep her distance in case her captive tried to fight back. She didn’t even notice as I flew through the door.
And just like that, step one of our mission was complete.
And for my next trick, the goal was to find scissors strong enough to cut through Kaye’s magical bonds.
And to stay out of sight while doing it. That was it. Once I had them, I’d bring them back and slide them under the door. We were lucky that the basement had been finished in a rather slipshod manner, and the door—while solid and heavy—had been hung crookedly on its frame.
If I got caught before I managed to swipe some scissors… well, I was just a cat.
I’d meow and look scared, and they’d bring me right back to Kaye, anyway. I still don’t know why they’d gone out of their way to catch me, but whatever.
I had bigger problems to worry about just then.
Like the fact that I now found myself in a very long hallway with nothing to hide under or behind. I hurried farther down the corridor as fast as my fluffy little feet would carry me. Maybe one of the other doors that lined the hall would be open for me. Otherwise, I’d have to hide in a shadow and hope that Amy didn’t notice me when she headed for the stairs that led out of this place.
Yes, this plan relied heavily on my ability to think quickly and all my class-A experience with thieving. Where there’s a will, there’s a way… to steal.
And, boy, did I need to steal like I’d never stole before.
Jewels. Cash from registers. Scissors. Freedom. It was all pretty much the same at the end of the day.
Thankfully, the very last door on the left was cracked open ever so slightly. Pushing it open a bit wider, I tiptoed into the room cautiously. It was just another plain bedroom, only this one had no hostages lounging about inside.
Either I’d find something good in here, or I could simply hide out until Amy left Kaye’s room and made her way up the narrow staircase.
I kept one ear trained on the hallway while I explored this forced-guest room. One of the dresser drawers hung open slightly, so I went to check that out first.
I sat on top of the dresser and pushed at the drawer until it opened a little wider, then I tested the opening with my whiskers—just wide enough for me to fit—and slipped inside.
I found a few old T-shirts folded into neat squares and some rolled up socks. It all smelled just like Amy, as if she’d been standing there right beside me.
I jerked my head up to make sure she hadn’t snuck up on me, but no. I was still alone, in what I assumed was Amy’s room. But why would she sleep downstairs with the hostages?
Wriggling back out of the drawer, I glanced around the room, reexamining it in light of the new knowledge I’d just obtained.
A pink hairbrush sat on the dresser beside a snapshot of some people whose faces I couldn’t make out clearly from here. On the other side of the brush were a few ties hair ties and some little makeup doo-hickies.
The bed had been made with perfect hospital corners. Amy was a neat, tidy person, as well as being gorgeous. Too bad she was a no-good stinking thief.
Hang on. I was a no good, stinking thief. So, when had I started thinking of people trying to make an honest dishonest living as no good?
I guess if I logicked it out, Amy belonged to a different class of criminal. I’d never hurt anyone, but she definitely had.
Well, Roberts had, at least. And since Amy helped him with his little schemes… She had to be bad, right?
The two of them had tricked people out of money, which was fine, but they’d also kidnapped agents and held them all hostage, provided they hadn’t actually killed any.
A noise in the hall drew my attention, and I angled myself at the crack of the door to get a better look.
Amy had just stepped out of Kaye’s room. This was it. My moment to shine.
Slinking out of the room, I tiptoed behind Amy as she hopped up the stairs on light feet.
If I didn’t time this just right, she’d either see me and put a stop to my plans, or I’d miss my opening and get stuck down here with nothing to help Kaye.
Just in the nick of time, I darted up the stairs and thrust my paw into the doorjamb before it could bang shut.
Ow! Youch, owwww, oh. Frizzy tail. That hurt. Still, this was important, so I managed to keep my mouth closed and not yelp or scream aloud.
Was my paw broken? Possibly. At the very least, my toe beans would see some fresh bruises pop up by morning.
But the important part was that I’d cleared stage two of my super-agent mission.
The door at the top of the stairs hadn't closed, and now I sat with my back pressed carefully against it, leaving only the thinnest crack for me to spy out from.
And now I waited.
The best part of this whole thing so far? My sneakiness paid off in a big way, and it paid off fast.
“Here’s your chili, your highness,” Amy said with a grimace as she set a bowl down at the table.
“Enough with the attitude, princess. I’m doing you a big favor here, you know.” That was Roberts. “I could turn you in and let you face the music for your crime.”
“And that’s the only reason I’m here.” Fast footsteps crossed the room and then something slammed down onto the counter. “I’d never agree to help you scam people out of money, and I’d definitely never have agreed to any kidnapping—much less four government agents!”
“You’ll do as I say, or you’ll spend the rest of your life in shifter prison. And believe you me, that place is worse than you can possibly imagine.”
Amy let out a harrumph, but didn’t argue any further.
This Roberts guy was a real jerk. Not even his own partner liked him. I may have been betrayed, but at least my crew had always been nice to my face.
Amy may have done a few bad things under pressure, but she wasn’t bad. Not at all. She’d clearly been blackmailed, which made me even more certain she’d help me and Kaye, if push came to shove.
And with Roberts around, there was a good chance that’s exactly what would happen, too.