“Everybody stay still!” someone yelled, then smashed through the door
I darted off Amy’s lap in search of a hiding spot, but Kaye grabbed me and held tight.
“It’s okay, Amy,” she said but was also clearly talking to me as the officers who had just arrived did a sweep of the place.
“They’re just securing the space. Once they do, more officers will enter. Some will escort Roberts out of here. Others will take you to make your statement. You’ll probably be held in the detention center until your trial, but it will only be a few days. I’ll make sure you are comfortable, just like you did for me.”
Amy nodded with watery eyes.
“All clear!” one of the uniformed men called out, inviting several others to enter
“Agent Godwin, report,” one man barked out as soon as he stepped inside.
Kaye didn’t skip a beat. “Curtis Roberts is on the floor tied up and immobilized. Please deal with him first, Captain.”
The police officer, who wore black from head to toe, saluted Kaye and said, “Yes, Agent.”
Two more officers tromped over and grabbed Roberts, forcing him to his feet. They disappeared just as quickly as they’d come.
Kaye set me on the couch beside Amy, then went to confer with the officer in charge. “We have four agents and one… um, cat, who will need to be escorted to MCS HQ. You’ll also need to take Amy Goldman here into custody, but she’s minimum security and should be treated as well as possible.”
The officer saluted again, then set a medium-sized rock on the floor. “We’ve got all that covered. Ma’am, when you’re ready to go, pick up that rock and say your location. It’s a one-time-use portal. MCS insisted.”
Kaye stared at it for a moment, blinking back her shock.
“I’ve never seen one of these close-up before,” Johnson said, coming to stand beside her.
“They must have wanted us back as quickly as possible. They’ve been trying to bring down Roberts for a long time and are ready to celebrate,” the third agent added.
“Well, whatever the case, they definitely brought out the big guns,” Cooper murmured as an officer came to collect Amy. She headed toward the exit, but before she went through, she turned and gave us a little finger wave. “Thank you,” she called with a bright smile that melted me at the core.
“You’re welcome!” Kaye and I called back at the same time.
Kaye snorted, but said nothing. When the door clicked shut behind Amy, leaving only agents and officers behind, Kaye pressed her finger to my collar. “Now that she’s gone, you can speak freely, Moss.”
“Oh, now you let me,” I grumbled, giving my tail a good flick.
The other three agents stared at me in shock.
“He’s a shifter?” Cooper asked, his mouth hanging open as he regarded me.
Kaye grinned down at me. “And a darn good partner, too.”
“I don’t know about all that,” I muttered. “I’m just a common thief, really.”
Kaye shook her head and smiled. “Do you really think you’re that same guy I picked up last week? Because I sure don’t.”
I didn’t answer her, because I wasn’t sure. Maybe I was, maybe I wasn’t. “So, where are we going?” I asked instead.
“The same place you had your trial.”
Oh, no. The detention center.
“What about after that?” I asked, panic mounting. “Please don’t let them send me back to the cat rescue. I’m willing to help with more cases. And I don’t even mind being stuck as a cat.” That was a lie. “Okay, I do mind, but I’ll do whatever you need me to as long as I don’t have to go back to that terrible place.”
“I doubt it’ll come to that. We couldn’t have cracked this case without you, Moss,” Kaye assured me. “More than likely, you’ll be staying with me. We make a pretty good team, if I do say so myself.”
More police officers milled about the house, collecting evidence and sealing it away in little baggies, but our work here was done.
“Are you ready to head back to HQ?” Kaye asked the others.
The three agents lined up beside Kaye, and she picked up the stone.
“Magical Corrections System Headquarters on Caraway Island,” she commanded.
A portal opened. This one shimmered with a bright blue light, clearly marking its boundaries. Roberts’ portal had been much more subtle. Secret. I liked this one a whole lot better.
The other three agents hopped straight through.
Kaye picked me up, and carried both me and the magic rock through. As soon as we set foot across the barrier, the portal disappeared behind us.
Everyone scattered as we touched down on the tile floors at MCS.
“They’re headed off to give their statements,” Kaye explained. “MCS will probably do memory transfers. It’s a whole lot easier than trying to write it all down, especially when there are so many details to remember.”
Memory transfer… That did not sound pleasant.
Kaye kept me in her arms as she strode down a long hallway, then jostled me a bit as she raised one hand to knock on a tall black door. “Come in!” a man called eagerly.
I knew that voice.
Sure enough, a gigantic man sat behind an ostentatious cherry oak desk, and he looked exactly like how I’d pictured him, right down to the bushy salt-and-pepper mustache.
The angry phone guy rose from his studded leather chair and glared at us. “Agent Godwin and Prisoner O’Malley.”
“Mr. Mason,” I said flatly. “The pleasure is all—”
Kaye squeezed me. She was right to; I’d been about to say the pleasure was all his.
“—mine,” I finished lamely.
“Sit,” he barked. “And tell me what happened.”
Kaye cleared her throat, then launched straight in. “Well, they got me from behind. I was sitting in the car, staying well back and waiting for Moss to finish conducting his investigation. But Roberts cast a far wider net than we ever imagined. And we crossed into his magical snare far earlier than any of us suspected.”
Mr. Mason grunted and turned his intimidating gaze on me. “You were supposed to hide and wait. How did you get captured?”
I cleared my throat. “Uh, they surprised me, too.”
Please, please don’t make me admit what happened with the box.
His mustache twitched as Mason cleared his throat. “Kaye was taken by surprise. How did Roberts get the drop on a cat who was already on high alert?”
He already knew. Somehow, some way, he knew what had taken me down.
“A box,” I admitted in a small voice.
Mason leaned forward and tilted his head, so his ear faced me. “Come again?”
I sucked in a deep breath, not wanting to say it a second time, but he’d left me no choice. “A box,” I nearly shouted.
Mr. Mason sat back. “A box. You were nearly undone by a box. Was it made of gold?”
“Cardboard,” I muttered.
“Well, it ended up working in our favor,” Kaye jumped to my rescue. “I’d still be stuck back there, if Moss hadn’t come to my rescue. He was the perfect spy, and the perfect partner. In fact, you should be thanking Moss. He’s the one who saved the day.”
“Neither of you saved the day,” Mason said with a grimace. “You both got really lucky is what happened.”
That was hardly fair.
“Now wait just a minute here,” I interjected, jumping up onto his desk and staring straight at the guy. He was too rough on Kaye, even after she’d secured a win. And I was not okay with that. “If I hadn’t been put on this mission, you’d be missing four agents—or more—right about now,” I said. “Not because Kaye isn’t capable, but because Roberts was that good. Frankly, I think it was a genius move on Kaye’s part to bring me in.”
“Is that so?” Mason asked in a smooth voice. I thought I might have spied a smile under that thick mustache, but it was hard to say for sure. “You think you’re the big dog, do you?”
I glared at him. “That’s big cat to you,” I corrected, holding his gaze.
“Fine, then, big cat. You may go with Agent Godwin. You both have one more chance to get this right. This time try not to rely on pure dumb luck.”
“What does that mean?” Kaye asked.
“It means, we’ve got a serial exposer,” Mason explained. “And I’m assigning you two to the case.”
Oh, I had no idea what that meant, but Kaye gasped.
“No.”
Mason just glared at her. “Yes. And you’re going to catch him. You’re going to use your training and talents to do it. If you think O’Malley will be an asset, take him. But you need a win, Godwin, a real win this time.”
Kaye nodded frantically. “Send me the specifics. I’ll get my team together.”
“Fine. And next time, don’t get yourself exposed before you can even really start your mission,” Mason offered as his final parting words.
Having been dismissed, Kaye trudged out of the office, and I followed hot on her heels. I really didn’t like this Mason guy. How could he discredit us like that after we’d done such an amazing job capturing the same guy he couldn’t?
Yeah, I pretty much hated him, but I’d come to care about Kaye, which meant I’d march to his orders.
At least I wasn’t headed back to CosmoPAWlitan Cat Rescue, right?