“You’re coming with me?” My head still spun every time I got one of these offers. It would be nice to have company, but… “What about the shelter?”
“Darlene and Erin are doing fantastic. They have no problem getting their hands dirty when something needs to be done.”
“That’s awesome, but there’s more than that to running the shelter.” I put down my pizza crust. Persephone rubbed against my legs. Her bowl was already empty. “We have a unique adoption program, built on the fact Persephone can help place the animals in the right homes.”
“We had a great program in place before we met Persephone. Remember speed dating with the shelter animals?” Brooke’s gaze slid to Jason, and they shared a smile. They’d met at one of the events.
“This is a social media case. Rosamund and I can compare notes about how we run the accounts for our cats, and I can help her with the public relations aspect of the case. And I get a lot of questions about what happens when Persephone solves a crime. I’d have a chance to see her in action. This could totally grow our following.”
“I’m not sure our social media presence should be our priority when a cat is missing.”
“It’s good for the shelter. The more people who are interested in Persephone, the more people who come into the shelter to adopt our other animals. Our placement rates have gone through the roof since you came back from Nashville.”
“We’ll renegotiate the rate if both of you go. You both deserve to be paid for your time and services.” Margaret always made sure we got paid what we were worth.
Casey beamed at me, daring me to say yes.
I turned to Brooke. “You’d be the lead contact at the shelter. I don’t want it to be too much for you with your workload at school.”
“I’ve got some buddies from the Marines who are transitioning to civilian life. It’s not always easy. Working with the animals might be a good fit for them,” Jason suggested. “I can ask them if they’d be interested in helping out, if you think that’s a good idea.”
Casey’s mouth dropped. “If the shelter’s going to be full of hot military guys, maybe I will stay home. No, this is important. I can go on a disastrous first date any time. I only have one chance to find Cupcake.”
“Who knows, maybe you can go on a bad date in Buffalo.” Henry grinned and turned to me. “Looks like you’ll miss another baseball game.”
I groaned. Henry had been trying to take me to a Red Sox game all summer. Most local women would jump at the chance to date someone who had access to season tickets. But most women weren’t solving crimes with a talking cat.
“I’ll make it up to you, I promise.” How? That was to be determined.
Casey and Brooke nudged each other, exchanging knowing looks. Even Margaret got in on the action.
“I’m holding you to that, Addie.”
“I’m glad you came.” Armed with a rental SUV—thanks to Margaret’s expert negotiation skills—Persephone, Casey, and I were on our way to Buffalo. “There were a lot of things I wanted to try in Nashville, but I felt awkward going by myself.”
“Solo travel takes a while to master.” Casey was behind the wheel, eyes shaded behind cat-eye sunglasses, and blonde hair blowing in the breeze from the open window. “I’m not brave enough for that yet.”
“I didn’t think anything intimidated the mighty Casey.”
“I work best with group energy. And I’m really excited about this trip. Have you done any research on the town?”
“We are going to Buffalo, right?”
“Cupcake’s mom lives in a suburb, right outside the city. Rappaport.”
“I thought that was Rosamund’s last name.”
“It is. It’s also the town name. Confusing, I know. But the town looks adorable. The whole main drag is totally retro. Like we’re driving straight into the past. It’s going to be so much fun.”
“We’re here for work, not a vacation,” I reminded her. “So we might not have a chance to check out all the fun things.”
“Are we there yet?” Persephone asked. She was in her carrier, in the middle of the backseat. I let her out every time we stopped, but this was a long car trip.
“Almost.” We’d driven through hours of rolling farmland, and we’d turned off the interstate ages ago. I was eager to get started with our investigation. While I’d heard of the people I’d worked with before this, Cupcake’s case was the first time I felt like I (sort of) knew the victim. Which made this feel slightly more personal.
And I worried that I was bringing Persephone somewhere dangerous. If one famous cat was taken, there was nothing to stop them from coming back for Persephone…
“When was the last time you talked to Rosamund?” I asked. Casey had set up the details of this trip, and I felt a little out of the loop, but she had great instincts. She always picked up on things I missed.
“This morning. I let her know our trip was on schedule, and that we’d see her tonight.”
“Has she been looking for Cupcake?” In theory, I understood why she didn’t want to go public with the cat’s disappearance. But every moment was precious, and our chances of finding him got slimmer with every day.
“She’s canvassed the neighborhood, but she’s convinced the cat was stolen, so he could literally be anywhere.”
“He could’ve gotten out while the thieves were looking for something else.”
“She says nothing else was taken.”
“Did you put an alert on Cupcake’s name?”
“Yes,” she groaned. “But all I’m getting is cupcake recipes. And cat memes. I can only imagine how frustrating this is for Rosamund. What’s our plan of action?”
“I like to talk to the people first, get a feel for the space and the situation, and let Persephone investigate before I come up with anything solid.”
“So we don’t have a plan.”
I laughed. “If we did, it would get blown to bits the minute we put it into place. The name of the game is going with the flow.”
“Whoa, look at this place.” Casey’s mouth gaped as we drove along the two-lane highway. Retro buildings lined the roadside, with old-fashioned neon lighting glowing in the twilight. A diner hosted a hot rod night, and a brightly lit arrow announced a drive-in theater. “This is so cool.”
The GPS announced that we were approaching The Don’t Forget Me Shop, Rosamund’s store and Cupcake’s home base. It was the only store on the street that wasn’t lit up.
The one-story, white building had a giant cut out of Cupcake in the window, proclaiming it was the only place to get official merchandise. A marquee warned us the store was closed for renovations.
Rosamund hadn’t mentioned that in any of our calls.
“Ready to get out?” I asked Persephone. In the low light of the evening, all I could see of her in her carrier was her eyes.
“Did we come to see Benson?”
“Not this time. We’re working with someone new. Rosamund. Her cat, Cupcake is missing.” I almost said you know Cupcake, like Persephone understood that we posted pictures of our pets online, and people went wild for them. She would think that was a weird human thing, and I had to agree. “She’s got another cat, who saw what happened. Her name is Noodle.”
“You want me to talk to her.”
“I do.”
Persephone recoiled, hair standing straight on end. “Not the leash again.”
“It’s a busy road, and there’s a cat thief on the loose. I’m not letting you out of my sight.”
“Fine,” she huffed, and peered out of the open car door. “As long as no one sees me.”
That was a promise I couldn’t keep, but I was anxious to meet Rosamund.
Casey waited for us in front of the car. “This place has a weird vibe,” she muttered.
“It’s only because the store is closed, and it feels dark and empty.” At least, that was my line until Casey could say I told you so.
“There’s a house behind the shop, and that’s where Rosamund asked us to meet her.” Casey cautiously ventured around the building. There was a white cottage with its front porch light on, and red flowers overflowing from planter buckets.
“This looks more promising.”
Casey hummed in approval and stopped in front of the door. She might have been the point person, but I was the one with the talking cat. I steeled myself before knocking.
“Casey! Addie! And this must be Persephone.” Rosamund crouched down to greet Persephone before the humans she’d brought with her were able to complete the formal introductions. I wasn’t offended. Some people were more comfortable with animals than humans, and I proudly counted myself among their ranks.
“Thank you for choosing us to help you find Cupcake,” I said, but Rosamund wasn’t paying any attention to me.
“It’s so nice to meet you in person.” She roughed between Persephone’s ears, and it didn’t take her long to find the spot.
“Did you tell her about that?” I whispered to Casey.
“I might have posted a video about it online because she’s so darn cute when someone finds the spot,” she said.
Persephone’s eyes were closed in purring bliss, and she leaned against Rosamund’s leg. It wouldn’t be long until she turned into a little puddle of goo. Stranger danger was a totally foreign concept to my cat.
Casey and I stood in the doorway awkwardly while Rosamund loved on Persephone. It didn’t take her too long to hit Persephone’s limit, and she snapped out of her purring trance and wound herself between my legs.
“Does this lady have catfish?”
I laughed. “You’ll get treats soon enough.”
“I’m so jealous that you can actually talk to your cat.” Rosamund stood and smoothed out her clothes. She appeared to be in her fifties, with graying hair that fell just below her shoulders and a very kind face. But those eyes…this wasn’t the first time she’d had something taken from her. “Does anyone know she’s here?”
“Our coworkers at the shelter,” I said each word carefully. “Our family and friends.”
Rosamund nodded. “I wouldn’t want the thief coming for Persephone next.”