Leann Sweeney - The Cat, The Professor and the Poison

“As soon as that jerk in the house saw that SWAT was here, he gave up. They should be bringing him out soon,” he said.

“But the hostages? They’re okay?” I said.

“The paramedics are checking them out, too. But no shots were fired, and that’s how we like these things to end,” Morris said.

I felt so relieved that tears stung my eyes. “Thank God.”

Tom took my hand. “It’s okay now, but no thanks to me.”

“You gave me that gun. Best defense I could have had-even without bullets,” I said.

He seemed confused, and I realized he probably hadn’t seen what had gone down between Lieber and me-or he was in too much pain to remember. I said, “Tell you later.”

I heard shouts coming from the driveway and saw Candace and two more SWAT officers leading Patrick Hoffman toward a waiting squad car.

He yelled, “I never killed anyone,” a couple of times, and then I overheard him say, “Give me a deal and I’ll tell you everything Lieber did.”

Candace yelled, “You have the right to shut up, dirtbag,” and shoved Hoffman in the back.

Two terrible men were soon carted off in separate squad cars. Meanwhile, a stretcher had arrived for Tom and I had to get out of the way.

“I never thought of myself as clumsy before,” Tom said as they wheeled him toward the ambulance.

“Can I go with him?” I asked.

“You can follow, but not ride. Liability issues,” Diane said.

Tom said, “My keys are still in the car. But you should wait, talk to Kara and Evan. They need you more than I do right now.”

I hurried to his side before they put him in the ambulance and kissed his lips. “Feel better,” I said.

As they drove off with Tom, sirens blasting, a ridiculous thought flashed through my mind: How long before Lydia knows about that kiss?

After I rescued the white cat, who was declawed and thus not very good at climbing trees, Deputy Dufner said he’d take it to the sanctuary. I thanked him profusely and then waited in the Prius for a good thirty minutes. Finally Kara and Evan came walking down the driveway accompanied by Chief Baca. Evan was on his cell phone. Kara was as pale as new snow.

I got out of the car, and Morris the gatekeeper didn’t stop me this time. I ran to her, my arms wide.

We hugged long and hard, and she whispered, “Thank you, Jillian,” into my neck. “Thank you for being so good to me.”

Then I reached out and pulled Evan in and embraced him, too. No words were necessary.

Baca smiled at me. “They’re free to go. I have their statements. But I’ll be calling them in to sign formal statements later.”

“We’re parked down that way.” Kara pointed toward where I’d already visited her car earlier. No way was she driving out right now. The SWAT vehicle was still in the way.

“We’ll take Tom’s Prius and head for the Pink House first,” I said. “Evan, you’ve got a mother and brother waiting for you, and Brandt knows enough about these events to be sick with worry.”

“I already called them,” he said. “But they both need to see me to believe I’m all right.”

On the drive, the two of them were pretty quiet at first and got quieter when I told them that Tom was injured. I was eager to get to the hospital once we dropped Evan off.

“Will Tom be okay?” Evan finally asked.

“Yes. He’ll be fine once they set his ankle. But I’m worried about the two of you. Weren’t you scared to death in there?” I said.

Evan said, “I wouldn’t want to repeat that experience, but Patrick isn’t the worst bad guy in all this. He told us everything Lieber did to my dad, said he thought they were partners. All Hoffman was supposed to do was look for any evidence that might have been left behind at the farm. Evidence connecting Lieber to my father’s plans. But then we showed up. I am pissed off-no, more than pissed off. I’d like about fifteen minutes alone with Douglas Lieber.”

“Don’t worry. He’s in jail, and he’ll pay for what he did to your father. Just chill tonight, okay?” I said. “You’ve been through a rough time.” Evan took a deep breath but didn’t say anything.

We rode in silence again until I dropped Evan off at the Pink House. Brandt must have been waiting at the window, because he raced out the door and grabbed his brother to him for dear life.

Dear life. Yes, indeed. “We need to head to the hospital, but could you check my cat cam, Kara? Chablis can’t get to her family, and she’s probably pouting.”

I pulled my phone from my pocket and handed it to her. She pulled up the video feed, and for the first time since she’d come out of that farmhouse, I saw her smile.

She said, “I don’t see Chablis. It looks like there’s catnip scattered all over the living room floor. Syrah and Merlot are totally doped and acting stupid.” She laughed.

I silently blessed my cats for their wonderful power to heal.

Mercy didn’t have a real hospital, just an emergency clinic, and after a call to Billy Cranor, I learned that Tom had been taken to the county hospital about thirty minutes north-and very close to Lydia Monk’s office.

If the Mercy grapevine was active, I feared Lydia already knew about Tom’s accident. By the time we got to the hospital, sure enough, she was waiting in the emergency room. I thought I didn’t need protection anymore, but maybe I was wrong.

She wore bright pink skinny jeans and a matching scoop-neck T-shirt. Her bleached hair was held back with rhinestone clips, and she had on the biggest hoop earrings I’d ever seen. I introduced her to Kara, but I was surprised and happy when Kara put an arm around my shoulder and said, “Jillian’s my stepmother.”

All at once my fear that Lydia knew about Tom and me was forgotten.

“Wicked stepmother?” Lydia said, eyeing me with loathing.

Oh, she knew about the kiss, all right. Otherwise she would have pretended to be the reasonable Lydia, not the crazy one.

Kara said, “Not in the least. What’s your problem, Ms. Monk?”

“She’s my problem.” Lydia pointed at me, and I saw little rhinestones embedded in the polish on her nails. “Tom Stewart loves me and only me. But she thinks she can come between us. Showing up here is just another excuse to get close to him.”

Kara turned to look at me, staving off a smile. “Why didn’t I know about this love affair?”

Lydia said, “Because-”

But Candace’s arrival interrupted Lydia. “How’s our guy doing?” she said.

“Our guy is waiting for the surgeon,” Lydia said. “Or so I’ve been told.”

“He hasn’t been asking for you, Ms. Monk?” Kara said sarcastically.

“I’m sure he has,” she said.

“I need to talk to him before he goes under,” Candace said. “Hope he’s not too messed up on painkillers to tell me what he found out about Lieber. I want to verify Hoffman’s story.” She took me by the wrist. “Come on. Let’s go, Jillian.”

Lydia started to follow, but Candace turned and said, “Stay away.”

Lydia started to protest, but Kara came up to her and somehow managed to distract her.

Candace flashed her badge at the registration desk, told the receptionist why she was here, and then the magic double doors opened, allowing us in to see Tom.

We were directed to the last cubicle on the left. Tom looked sleepy, but thank goodness the pain so evident on his face earlier was gone.

“I did a good job on this ankle, huh?” Tom said. “They can’t fix it without surgery.”

“I am so sorry,” I said, taking his hand. “This is all my fault.”

“No,” he said, squeezing my hand. “I wasn’t careful in that ditch.”

“Tell me about what you found on the microchip,” Candace said. “I’ve heard some of it from Hoffman. Did Lieber have a big enough reason to murder two people over cat food?”