Софи Келли - A Case Of Cat And Mouse

I tried to breathe through the pain. I kept one arm hooked around the bag of flour. This wasn’t good.

Hercules crawled onto my lap.

I still needed one more thing. I should have climbed down and gotten the flour. I should have slipped over to the other cupboard first. I swiped a hand over my face. I wasn’t going to give up now.

“I need you to get me a birthday candle,” I whispered to Hercules. “They’re in the other closet.”

Did he know what a birthday candle was? I was certain he knew what birthday cake was. I reminded myself that Hercules was smart, smarter than the average cat because he wasn’t an average cat. I set him on the table beside me. He jumped silently to the floor.

I fished a piece of gum out of my pocket and started chewing. I wasn’t going to think about the possibility that this wasn’t going to work. I also had Marcus’s tiny key-chain knife in my pocket. I used it to open the top of the flour and make a slit about a third of the way down the front of the bag. As soon as I picked it up the flour would go everywhere. Which was exactly what I wanted.

Flour and some other carbohydrates can explode if they’re hanging in the air as dust. All I needed to do was ignite that dust and I should be able to make enough of an explosion to distract and maybe momentarily blind Kate.

I felt Hercules land on the table beside me. He bumped my arm with his head and spit two small birthday candles into my lap. I pressed my face next to his. “Good job,” I whispered.

I managed to reach the stack of tablecloths. I pulled one off the top of the pile. Then I got to work.

I used the gum to fix the birthday candle inside the jar. The flour, which was a special organic brand, had a foil liner between the two layers of the bag. I’d noticed that when Rebecca was using it. I tore off enough to cover the top of the jar. I figured I had maybe fifteen seconds maximum after I covered the opening to throw the jar and have it break before the candle went out. I lit it now with the stolen lighter and hid the jar by my leg. The pain in my ankle had subsided to a steady throbbing ache. As long as it would hold me we were good.

I held Hercules with one arm and arranged the tablecloth over the two of us. I gripped the flour sack with my other arm. I let my legs hang over the edge of the table and I waited. I didn’t have to wait long.

I’d estimated that I had less than ten seconds for Kate to find the light switch. I hoped it was enough time.

She stepped into the kitchen and I swung the flour bag in a huge, satisfying arc, sending flour everywhere. It hung like a cloud of dust in the air. I jammed the scrap of foil on the jar and threw it toward the flour cloud with every ounce of strength I had.

Kate yelled something. The jar smashed on the floor. There was a second’s pause, maybe less than that, and the flour ignited and exploded.

I jumped from the table, sucking in a breath as my foot hit the floor. I pulled the linen cloth further over my head and ran through the sparks to the door. I dropped the tablecloth in the hall and kept moving. Pain shot up my leg with every step but I kept on going.

I ran headlong into Harry as I came around the last corner. He caught me by the shoulders. His ball cap was skewed sideways and I could see the concern etched in the lines on his face.

“We have to get out of here,” I said. For all I knew, Kate and her gun could be right behind me.

I took one limping step and Harry put his arm around my shoulders. I leaned against him and he half dragged me down the corridor and down the stairs.

“What happened?” he said.

Police cars with sirens screaming and lights flashing were pulling into the lot as we came out the door. We were safe.

“I made a bomb,” I said.

Marcus skidded to a stop right in front of us. I set Hercules on the hood of his SUV and leaned against the front bumper to catch my breath. Marcus got out of the car, leaving the driver’s door wide open.

“Are you all right?” he said.

I nodded. “Yes.”

Hercules meowed loudly.

“Him too,” I said.

Marcus shifted his gaze to Harry. “What about you?”

“I’m fine,” Harry said. His eyes flicked to me and his head bent slightly in my direction. “I think she may have hit her head. She said she made a bomb.”

“Kate killed Kassie,” I said. Hercules was leaning against me and I put my arm around him.

“I know,” Marcus said. He gestured to a couple of police officers and they made their way into the building. He put a hand on my shoulder. “Elias figured out that she had to have copied his key. He got here early this morning and she was in the kitchen. He called me. Then Maggie called and said you hadn’t shown up for tai chi. I listened to your message and I was worried. Right after that Abigail called to say you didn’t make it to the library, either. When she told me where you were I knew you were in trouble.”

I held up my free hand. “How did she know where I was?”

“She heard Russell Perry talking to you.”

He reached up and tucked a strand of hair behind my ear. “What happened?”

“Kate had a gun,” I said. “She tried to kill us but Hercules and I made a flour bomb.”

The cat meowed his acknowledgment.

Marcus frowned. “You know how to make a bomb?”

“I’m a librarian,” I said. “I know all sorts of things.”

chapter 20

Things were a blur after that. Kate was brought out in handcuffs. Even though she’d held me at gunpoint, all I felt was sad. She was lost and broken and part of that was because of Kassie.

“You need to be checked out by the paramedics,” Marcus said.

I waved away his words. “I’m fine.”

He looked down at my leg. The ankle was so swollen the top of my shoe was cutting into the skin of my foot. “Yeah, you look fine,” he said with an eye roll.

One of the paramedics was walking toward me.

“Hi, Ric,” I said.

He smiled. “Hi, Kathleen. You know, when I heard the words ‘flour bomb’ I had a feeling I might see you.” He caught sight of Hercules. “And you,” he said. He reached into his back pocket and pulled out half a piece of beef jerky.

The cat’s eyes lit up.

Ric gestured at Marcus’s SUV. “How about we put him in the car and then you can sit on the driver’s seat and I can get a look at that ankle?”

“That works for me,” I said. I picked up Hercules and hobbled around the car door, holding on with one hand while Marcus hovered. I set Hercules on the driver’s seat and he hopped over to the passenger side. Ric leaned around me and handed him the piece of beef jerky. He murped a thank-you and began happily chewing.

I dropped sideways onto the driver’s seat with my legs sticking out the open door. Ric crouched at my feet and began feeling my ankle with gentle pressure.

I looked at Marcus. “Go do police stuff. I’m fine,” I said.

Ric looked up at him. “Go ahead,” he said. “I’ve got this. She’s not going anywhere with that ankle.”

Marcus caught my hand and gave it a squeeze. “I’ll be back,” he said.

In the end, Ric decided my ankle was likely just badly sprained. “You really should have it x-rayed just to be safe,” he said.

I pulled a hand back through my hair and flakes of flour floated down around me. “Tomorrow, I promise,” I said. “I just want to go home and have a shower.”

“First thing tomorrow.” He pointed a finger at me for emphasis. “I know where the library is. I will come find you.”

I made an X on my chest. “First thing tomorrow I’ll go.”

Ric wrapped my ankle, then he checked my lungs and the small burn on the back of my hand. Marcus came back as he was finishing the dressing on my hand.