Клер Донелли - The Big Kitty

“Are you even listening to me?” Jane complained.

“To tell you the truth, no,” Sunny replied. “The guys who’ve been after me have tried gas, poison, bullets, and speeding SUVs. That leaves bombs, and there’s a big box sitting right outside.” She pointed, and Jane was left staring again.

Sunny was just about to suggest a quick exit through the bathroom window in the rear when a guy in a Verizon hard hat walked past the window and picked up the box.

Jane headed back to the door, her heels tapping even more quickly. “I don’t know what Will sees in you,” she said. “You seem to have real problems.”

Sunny bit the inside of her cheek to keep from answering with something she’d later regret.

But as soon as Jane was gone, Sunny sat glumly at her desk. So much for treating Jane better. How does she manage to get under my skin like that? Maybe I do have a problem. To rouse herself out of the dumps, Sunny reviewed her suspect list. She wasn’t sure this ticket stunt would bring out the Towles or Veronica Yarborough. On the other hand, if the winning ticket expired without being found, Ada’s death would certainly get a lot less attention. So it was possible that, rather than going for the prize, a hometown killer might try to preempt the ticket’s discovery.

Criminals like drug dealers would definitely want the money. And speaking of wanting money … Sunny found herself back to obsessing over her boss as a possible killer. The recitation of murder attempts she’d made to Jane would seem to weaken the case against Ollie. It struck her as a bit far-fetched that he’d hire a bunch of drug-running lowlifes who just happened to know Gordie Spruance. That whole side of the case had to involve the abortive crystal meth deal.

And yet …

Gordie had seemed honestly surprised—even shocked—when Sunny had tried to connect his mom’s death to his drug-dealing associates.

What if Ollie committed the murder for his own completely separate motives? Sunny found herself wondering. Trying to get the house or the lottery ticket—or maybe Veronica Yarborough put him up to it, offering money or clout with the homeowners’ association. So that takes Ada out of the picture, and Gordie needs to find the ticket to get Ron Shays off his back. She sighed. And then I stuck my nose in, and Shays and his drug people came after me because Ron Shays didn’t want his meth lab deal revealed.

A worse thought hit her. What if, when Gordie couldn’t provide the money for the lab, Ollie got involved somehow? He has money problems, so he’s probably looking for some way to turn a quick buck. And if he’s desperate enough, he might not be too picky about how he does it.

Sunny sat at her desk, resting her head on her hands. Maybe Will was right. Maybe she got too caught up in the theoretical aspects of the case.

She sat up straight. Well, with luck she’d untangle all the nonsense tonight. Doing, not thinking. A van with a television channel logo on the side pulled up on the street in front of the office, which reminded her that she had another camera crew due for an interview. Sunny shook out her hair and went to the door. More bait for her trap.

*

I could get him, that stupid bird, Shadow thought from his perch on the top of the couch. He’d chosen this vantage point to see when Sunny might come back. But now all his attention was on the idiot bird hopping through the grass on the front lawn.

Shadow had hunted birds when he was out on his own and found that they could provide good meals—but plenty of frustration. An hour’s worth of careful stalking could go to waste when they’d flutter up right as he pounced, just evading his paws to escape into the sky.

But if I was coming down on him, say from here, while he was trying to go up …

Licking his chops, Shadow stretched from the couch to rest his paws on the windowsill, stretching his long body almost to its limits. He quickly pushed off with his rear legs to bring his back paws onto the sill in preparation for a mighty leap … and his nose hit glass.

Oh. Right. The window’s closed, he thought, flinging his rear legs back to the couch and scrabbling for a hold. He’d been so intent on the hopping morsel outside that he’d forgotten all about the window.

Now he found himself barely clinging with his front and rear paws, his body overextended and vulnerable. And then, from behind, he heard the footsteps of the Old One entering the room.

Shadow tried to twist and keep an eye on that tricky human, but that made him lose his precarious hold. After a second of skittering in the air, he plummeted down behind the couch.

He couldn’t see the Old One from behind the piece of furniture. But Shadow could hear him. The two-leg didn’t speak in his usual gruff way. In fact, he was making happy noises and saying the phrase that Shadow had often heard in his wanderings.

“Crazy cat.”

I wonder what that means, Shadow wondered as he swaggered back around the couch. Maybe “excellent fall”?

*

By the timeSunny got home, she found Mike flipping between channels. “They said they were going to do your story on Channel 6,” he said excitedly. “Now I’m checking Channel 8. This time I’m going to get you recorded.”

She appeared on both those channels—twice—and on the later broadcast from the local CBS affiliate. Shadow had come into the room during one of her interviews. He’d stared at her image on the screen, then turned to her, extending a paw as if to make sure she was real.

Okay, she thought as the interview ended. Looks as if phase one of the plan worked just fine.

They sat down for supper, but Sunny couldn’t eat much.

The butterflies are taking up too much room.

She ended up putting her plate into the refrigerator and then went upstairs to change into the clothes she’d used to search Ada’s house the day before—no use getting another set dirty.

All prepared, she went back downstairs and spent some time stroking Shadow, hoping that would calm her down.

Sunny looked up at her dad, who was pretending to watch the national newscast, and patted his knee.

“I wish I could go with you,” Mike said quietly. “But I’m not in any kind of shape to be useful.”

It was dark out by the time Will came to pick her up. “You don’t have to do this,” he said for about the fifteenth time since Sunny had come up with this plan. “We could just sit tight and let the word get out that you didn’t find anything.”

Sunny shook her head. “We’re doing this to see if we can smoke this guy out,” she said. “We have to give it a shot.”

“I still think I should go in there with you,” Will insisted.

“That might spook him off.” Sunny patiently went through the plan they’d agreed on. “You’ll drop me off, go around the corner to make sure you’re not followed, park, and then walk back. I already checked with Mrs. Martinson. She has her car parked right across from the Spruance place. And she gave me her spare keys, so here, take them and you can get in her car and keep an eye on things. As soon as you see anybody else going in, you’ll come out and arrest them”

“I talked to Ben Semple,” Will added. “He’ll be in the area if we need backup.”

“We won’t.” Sunny did her best to sound confident. “Piece of cake.” She took a deep breath. “Let’s get this show on the road.”

But when she opened the front door, she heard Mike swear. Then, as she turned, a gray streak flashed past her legs.

“Shadow!” she called. “Shadow, what are you doing?”

She glanced at Will.