Caroline Burnes - Familiar Escape

Thomas put his hand on Molly’s arm. Molly felt a warm flush move through her body as she stared into his hazel eyes. How long had it been since she’d been moved by a touch? She didn’t even want to think about it.

“I’m going to make you a promise, Molly Harper,” Thomas said, his voice warm but steely. “We’re going to find Kate and bring her home to you. No matter what we have to do to find her.”

“Meow!” Familiar jumped on Molly’s lap and put his paw on top of Thomas’s hand.

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Fifteen years ago a young black kitten was left

in a carrier at my door. I named him E. A. Poe,

and his intelligence and personality figured

prominently in the creation of Familiar,

the black cat detective. Poe died this year,

leaving a huge hole in my life. This book is

for him. E. A. Poe, 1990-2005. To steal a line

from Owen Meany, “Into paradise

may the angels lead you.”

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

This is one sad-looking group of felons. Since I’m being paid for my assessment of Thomas Lakeman, I need to use all my powers of observation. Is Thomas a murderer and a kidnapper? That’s what I shall try to ascertain.

Though I prefer to focus my attention on the fairer sex, especially the babes with long legs and curves in all the right places like my current employer, I’m going to check out Thomas and see what my sixth feline sense tells me about him.

Thomas is charged with murdering his friend and neighbor, Anna Harper Goodman, and then abducting a nine-month-old baby girl, Kate. Anna’s body was found in Thomas’s home, but there was no sign of the baby girl.

That was five days ago, and no one had found even a good clue to the whereabouts of the baby until yesterday. That’s when I got the call that put me on a flight out to Jefferson, Texas, to help Molly Harper hunt for her missing niece.

Molly opened her mail to find a typewritten note claiming that baby Kate is alive. After four days of believing that both Anna and Kate were dead, Molly suddenly has hope that her infant niece can be found.

My professional opinion of the note is that it’s real, but there’s also the possibility that it’s some kind of cruel hoax. If Thomas Lakeman, the quiet man sitting on the end of the bench there is the killer, Molly and I hope to be able to convince him to tell us what he did with the baby.

Ah, Thomas sees me. His pale hazel eyes hold curiosity and intelligence, and a hint of…kindness? Not exactly the qualities I’d ascribe to a killer. At any rate, he’s very aware that I’m interested in him, and I have to hand it to him, he’s not stupid enough to call to me. Anyone with two brain cells knows cats never come when called. Thomas must be experienced with the superior species of felines, or he could simply be intellectually superior to most humanoids. Whichever it is, he’s a cool customer. He’s merely staring at me and waiting for me to make the first move.

From my vantage point inside the jail, I can see Thomas and Molly. Even worried and frustrated, Molly is a beautiful woman. She has the look of an artist with her straight, dark hair and serious gray eyes. From what I heard, Anna looked a lot like her, just a few years older. A few years older and light-years different, from what Molly has told me about her sister.

I believe exploring those differences will help us find the baby, if little Kate is still alive.

I’m walking over to Thomas. It’s a test. The other men sitting on the bench waiting to be returned to their cells either ignore me or leer at me in a way that says they want to hurt me. For some reason, cats excite the blood lust of lower animal forms like them. I’m careful to stay out of their reach. I also have to keep an eye out for the jailers. I’m not exactly an invited guest here at the county lockup.

Thomas maintains eye contact as he reaches down to me. He’s stroking my back, not attempting to pick me up. He’s rubbing my head. The man has a way with cats! His hands are leathery from outdoor work, but his touch is gentle. Not at all what I expected.

Uh-oh, here comes the deputy. I’d better scoot out of sight and listen in.

MOLLY HARPER CLUTCHED the slip of paper in her hand and paced. Ten steps forward, reverse, then back. She’d been waiting over an hour, now, to speak with a deputy. As far as she could tell, the welfare of her infant niece wasn’t a high priority on anyone’s list.

Texas justice, that legendary commodity associated with the Texas Rangers, didn’t seem to apply to state residents who weighed only twenty pounds! She fumed as she paced, the heels of her leather boots tapping along the cement floor of the county lockup.

She caught a glimpse of Familiar, as the black cat detective she’d hired to help her darted past the doorway to the jail. The cat had come highly recommended to her.

Just as the cat disappeared, she heard the jangle of keys.

“Miss Harper?”

She turned to face a slender deputy. “I’d like to speak to Thomas Lakeman.”

The deputy frowned. “You should wait until the trial.”

Her anger spiked. “I don’t have time to wait! My niece may be dying as we stand here discussing this. I want to talk to him and I want to talk to him now.”

The deputy’s face had grown stony. “He doesn’t have to speak with you. Even though his lawyer has agreed for you to talk to him, Lakeman doesn’t have to say a word to you.”

“Can you at least ask him?”

“It could take a while.”

“Listen, Officer, if I find out that this delay has caused harm to my niece, I’ll make sure the newspapers know your name.”

The deputy turned and walked away. Molly paced the room again, hoping that Familiar was having better luck than she.

“Miss Harper?”

She turned to find the same deputy standing in the doorway. “Yes?”

“Mr. Lakeman has agreed to see you. Please follow me.”

Molly was shocked that Thomas Lakeman had agreed to talk to her, but she didn’t hesitate as she followed the deputy to a small room with a table and two chairs facing each other across it.

“Thank you,” she said as she took a seat and waited for the man accused of killing her sister to be brought to her.

NOT EVEN the institutional green of the walls could sallow the woman’s complexion. Thomas followed the deputy into the room, aware that Molly Harper was one of the loveliest women he’d ever encountered. She looked a lot like her sister, Anna, but there was something more to Molly. Her skin glowed and her hair was lustrous. She had the same coloring as her sister, but Molly seemed luminous, as if some inner light gave her a unique glow. There was also a fire in her eyes that scalded him.