Джанет Кантрелл - Fat Cat Spreads Out

“When do I get paid?”

“Leave your address with Betsy. We’ll mail you a check.”

“I want to get paid for the whole day. I was contracted for the whole day.”

Mike stepped forward and put his face in the old man’s. “You may leave. Now.”

Dr. Drood gave angry looks to all the women and stalked out the door, slamming it, of course.

Quincy flinched in Chase’s arms, but as soon as Dr. Drood disappeared, he started purring.

“I’m glad he’s gone, too,” Chase said, nuzzling her face in his fur. “But, hey, I’m glad you’re here, Dr. Ramos!” She thought she should be formal and use his title, since the twins were present.

Mike chuckled. “Not nearly as glad as I am. I have to hand it to the lawyer your friends sent. He got me out as soon as humanly possible.”

Mike busied himself scraping the squashed meat patty from the bottom of the birdcage. Chase took his cue and scooped the birdseed out of Quincy’s place. She scattered it on the metal counter and Grey hopped to it and gobbled it up. Quincy’s Kitty Patty didn’t look edible, but Mike put it on a paper towel and Quincy licked it up as if it were a fresh steak.

“No harm done, I guess,” Elsa said, watching the two animals eat their correct, respective snacks.

“But what if you hadn’t gotten here today, Dr. Ramos?” Eleanor said. “That man was a menace.”

“Where did you say you got his name?” Chase asked, knowing full well he hadn’t said anything like that to them.

“I’ll talk to my friend tonight and see if we can get his credentials pulled. He’s too old and confused to be practicing animal medicine.”

“If he weren’t so cranky, I’d feel sorry for him,” Chase said.

“I’ll make sure someone talks to him,” Mike said.

The twins secured Grey in her cage and left, thanking Dr. Ramos for showing up when he did.

“Did you have to pay bail?” Chase asked. She hadn’t wanted to say too much about the murder in front of the widow.

“That’s the best part. They brought me in for lying about why I went into the building. But Gerrold convinced them they couldn’t hold me because of that—too flimsy. So no bail. They have a print from the weapon, but it’s taking time to process it. They took my prints before I left.”

Chase would like to have heard that all charges were dropped. That was too much to hope for.

* * *

All four ofthem—Chase, Anna, Julie, and Jay—were working the crowded booth. Since the fair ended tomorrow, people seemed desperate to get the sweet treats today. Tomorrow, after all, the final big contests would be held.

Daisy came by the booth midafternoon to say hi to her nephew Jay. She picked up two Toffee Bars for herself. While Julie was wrapping her purchase and putting it in a Bar None bag, Anna asked her if she had been fingerprinted.

“Oh yes. They did a thorough job.” She nodded her approval.

“Did they do the other sculptors?” Chase asked.

“Definitely. I think they did them first.” She bobbed her head again. “Thanks for these delights.” She waved her bag in the air as she left.

Tanner sent three more texts that afternoon.

Chase and Anna, helped by Inger, baked some more bars that night.

“How did we ever think we had enough stockpiled before the fair started?” Anna asked, taking out the last batch of Pink Lemonade Bars.

They had underestimated how many they would sell by several dozen, but they weren’t complaining.

The cat was back home after another long day at the fair. His owner fed him but skipped her own dinner to sit at the computer in the office. She also skipped a petting session. He tried to jump into her lap twice but was shooed off. He snaked between her legs, but it had no effect. They were both unhappy with each other.

When Chase got to the office, she was determined to finish up the data for Tanner. She pored over the screen, coming up with dessert bar descriptions for the rest of the products that surprised her. For some reason, she was in the groove. Glowing imagery rolled from her fingertips.

Pink Lemonade Bars: Bring yourself a taste of a lazy summer day, lolling in a hammock.

Much better than “You’ve never tasted better Lemon Bars.”

Oatmeal Raspberry Jam Bars: Gooey goodness that will bring back warm memories on winter days.

Peanut Butter Fudge Bars: Go ahead, be a kid again.

That was better than the one she’d sent him.

She liked the Harvest Bar description she had done before: Imagine a crisp fall day, just before the frost is on the pumpkin.

She kept that one and several others. She sat back and admired her work. The descriptions were good. At least, she liked them.

She finally sent the file to Tanner shortly before one AM, telling him she would have the rest of the pictures by midweek, when the shop was back to normal. Since they would be closed Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday, he would get them on Wednesday, but she didn’t say that. He replied immediately that he would look at her file.

As she was brushing her teeth, her cell phone chirped. Quickly rinsing her mouth, she saw it was a text from Mike. At this hour! No doubt he hadn’t called because he didn’t think she would be up. It seemed no one was sleeping that night. The gist of the text was that Jay had checked Dr. Drood’s credentials and phoned Mike just now to say there were none. The poor old vet had let everything lapse. Mike had let his vet friend know.

Chase wondered if Mike would pay the doctor anything. Knowing him, she thought he might.

Just before turning out her bedside lamp, Tanner texted again asking for payment. They didn’t have a formal agreement, and the amount seemed steep. Granted, he had put in a lot of time and was doing excellent work. Her checking account might not stretch that far, though, and she didn’t want to sneak a payment past Anna. She would have to spill it all to Anna very soon. Maybe tomorrow night, after the fair, when she could show her the homepage screen. If Tanner had added some of her new data, that would help.

She had to put him off one more day.

* * *

Sunday morning, Ingerrode to the fair with Chase. She wanted to see the Fancy Cat Contest. She chattered nonstop on the way, clearly in a good mood, and told Chase she would hang out until then, watching other competitions and seeing the booths. Chase made sure she had money to buy lunch and some snacks.

“Be sure you’re drinking enough,” Chase said, vaguely remembering that pregnant women needed to drink a lot of liquids. She had no idea why that should be so, but Inger wasn’t doing much else to actively benefit the baby. True, she wasn’t drinking alcohol or smoking, but pregnant women did all sorts of special, weird things. At least Inger had a heavy, lined, woolen coat.

Tanner sent three more texts on the way in. She muted her phone.

The two women parted ways at the midway, and Chase hurried to the big building to drop Quincy off. Patrice, already in her Madame Divine getup, was leaving the vet’s place in tears. The fortune-teller shoved past Chase and rushed down the hallway, so Chase didn’t even get a chance to offer any sympathy.

Once inside the back room, she asked Mike if his cousin was okay.

“She’s still being chewed out by Viktor.”

“Her grandfather?” She had been so impressed by his imperious demeanor. An elegant gentleman. But maybe one who held on to his anger?

“Yes, Viktor can be a harsh man sometimes. He’s still upset she didn’t tell him she was a suspect. He’s also incredibly angry that she’s stealing again after she went for such a long period without doing it. It’s bad for his health.”

“Why is he so angry about that? Is he overly upset about things because of his cancer treatment?”