Клэр Донелли - Hiss And Tell

Shadow!

Holding her breath, Sunny advanced on the table. That crazy cat isn’t even looking up from the stuff he’s gobbling, she thought with a stab of annoyance. He had people chasing him all over the place. Doesn’t he know how dangerous this is? Then she thought, He must really be hungry, usually he doesn’t like to fool around with people food.

Sunny was right beside him now. She gave out a low “Pssst!” to get Shadow’s attention.

He looked up from licking something off a cracker, saw Sunny, and his ears went back. They stood for a moment, and then Sunny heard a commotion breaking out behind her.

Sounds as though Old Augustus has noticed Shadow again, she thought.

“It’s back!” she heard the big man’s voice quavering. “Get rid of it!”

As if on cue, Lee Trehearne came hustling out onto the terrace. His eyes took on a maniacal gleam when he spotted Shadow. But the cat saw him, too, launching into a leap for the table with the wedding cake samples. He skidded a little, upsetting La Patisserie’s entry. The tiers collapsed, sending the bride and groom under Shadow’s paws.

The security chief was beyond noticing or caring what else was on the table. After playing Elmer Fudd to Shadow’s Bugs Bunny, he saw a chance to recover his self-respect—not to mention to catch that rascally cat.

Trehearne went into a dive, squishing more cakes under his bulk as he went for the cat. Still distracted by Sunny, Shadow clearly hadn’t expected such an extreme assault until it was too late and Trehearne actually had his hands on him. Trehearne reared back, lifting Shadow like some sort of victory trophy. He had traces of at least six cakes smeared down the front of his Windbreaker, but he didn’t care. His face was a mask of lunatic glee.

“Gotcha, ya little—” The security man tightened his grip on the cat’s midsection.

Not the best move, Sunny thought as she came around the table to try and take Shadow. Obviously, he hasn’t eaten in a while. All that strange, rich food on an empty stomach. And now you put the squeeze on him . . .

She was too late. Shadow made a husky, rasping sound, and then all the food he’d been gorging on came back up. The stream caught Trehearne right in the face and dribbled down, half-digested and undigested, to join the mess he was already wearing. Fiona Ormond screamed, whether from repugnance or because of the destruction of her carefully presented tasting, Sunny couldn’t tell. Other guests gasped and turned away from the spectacle.

Trehearne himself made a loud, involuntary sound of disgust, and his hold on the cat slackened.

That was all Shadow needed. In an instant, he’d twisted loose, dropped to the table, and streaked away again, leaving Trehearne pop-eyed, his face red and distorted, disgusted . . . and disgusting.

*

Shadow ran fullout, even though his ribs hurt and his throat felt raw. But the part that hurt the most was his feelings. How could Sunny do that to him? How? How? The thought pounded in his head in time to the pounding of his heart. She caught my eye and kept me staring until the Clumsy One could sneak up and grab me. What a nasty trick!

He didn’t even want to think what was wrong with him to let a noisy two-legs stalk him successfully. But he decided to blame that on Sunny, too.

This was bad, bad, bad.

Shadow finally took cover in some bushes and lay low to get his breath back. He put down his head and hissed. To let some stranger come up and grab me—to help them. . . . He rested his chin on his paws, trying to call up his anger again. But it was gone. His chest felt empty.

So did his stomach. All that nice food, gone. Although it was almost worth being sick to see the look on that big, red, mean face.

That’s another thing Sunny owes me, Shadow thought. She made me lose a meal.

17

Nothing like an ailurophobic breakdown and cat barf to start things off with a bang, Sunny thought as she looked at the strained faces around the table. They had moved indoors, away from the dreaded cat, after the tasting debacle. Augustus de Kruk was reduced to weak tea and toast after this second visitation, and Fiona Ormond ate nothing, zombie-like after the catastrophic outcome of her big show. And Lee Trehearne had gone off to wash up and cool down after his latest misadventure.

Julia Kingsbury, Priscilla’s grandmother, made a valiant effort to carry on some sort of conversation, but her efforts fell flat when no one else seemed able to join in.

Sunny herself just wanted to leave, but she didn’t want to be the first to go. The food tasted like ashes in her mouth, and all she could think of was Shadow, wandering around Neal’s Neck with Trehearne ready to go full Elmer Fudd on him, shotgun and all.

I’ve got to find him. The thought kept running through her mind. I don’t know what I’m going to do when I get him, but I’ve got to find him.

Beau Bellingham’s emergency room training overcame his reticence. “Are you sure you’re okay, sir?” he asked Augustus de Kruk, who sat toying with one of the toast slices. “That was another really nasty shock for you. Maybe you should—”

“I don’t take medical advice from a kid with hair like a goddamned sheep dog,” the Emperor roared, as loudly as on any of his TV appearances. “An unclipped goddamned sheep dog.”

Carson tried to come to his best man’s defense. “Dad, he’s got a hell of a schedule—”

But Magda de Kruk obviously paid more attention to what Beau had said. “Maybe it would be better to go upstairs,” she suggested in her slight accent. “We could rest in bed.” Augustus let himself be persuaded, and that was pretty much the end of lunch. Sunny waited until the de Kruks rose from the table and headed for the stairs before she made a move toward the French doors that led to the outdoor buffet.

That’s where I last saw Shadow, she thought. Although God knows where he’s gotten to since.

“Um, Sunny?”

She turned as Beau Bellingham came over to her, running an embarrassed hand through his blond thatch.

“That’s the second time Mr. de Kruk nailed me for my hair,” Beau said. “You’re local. Can you suggest a place where I could get a decent trim?”

When she didn’t answer immediately, he only got more embarrassed. “I know I haven’t been all that sociable. I’d ask Priscilla, but she and Carson are going up with Augustus.”

“It’s not that, I’m just trying to sort out a place for you,” Sunny explained. “I’ve got a troublesome head of hair, and not everybody does a good job. It took a while for me to find a good stylist, but she’s in a women only salon and day spa.”

She thought a little more. Will went to Harbor Barbers, not too far from the MAX office. They were fine for buzz cuts and the sort of hair styles a police officer might want, but Sunny shuddered at what they might do to Beau’s mop. Where could she send him?

Finally, inspiration struck. She dug out her cell phone and pulled up the number for MAX. Nancy answered on the second ring. “Maine Adventure X-perience. How can I help you?”

“Hi, Nancy, it’s Sunny. Everything going okay?”

“We’re getting a lot of calls and e-mails about apple picking,” Nancy reported. “Otherwise, no excitement. How about you?” Her voice got more animated. “I love your blog posts—those presents were hilarious! Have you figured out whodunit? Can I help with a clue?”

Sunny quickly cut off that line of discussion. “What you can help me out with is that a fella here needs a haircut,” she said firmly. “He has to look presentable, and he’s got very thick, curly hair. Can you check our local business database and find a place nearby with good recommendations?”