Donally, Claire - Cat Nap (A SUNNY & SHADOW MYSTERY)

He’s been rooting for me to kick her butt when it comes to Will, she realized, and he can’t understand why I’ve invited her home. But in between her dad’s nervous glances, Sunny was shooting him “knock it off” looks. The three of us must look like a nervous tic convention. The wry thought made Sunny chuckle, earning her another laser-glare of death from her dad.

“This must be a very serious time for you,” Mike said to Jane, emphasizing the word “serious” with an exasperated look at Sunny. “Is there going to be a funeral?”

“That’s an interesting question,” Jane said, sipping at her glass of diet soda as if she wished it were something much stronger. “The chief medical examiner hasn’t yet released Martin’s body. And when I got in touch with them, I found out that someone else had already been making inquiries.”

“Who?” Sunny and Mike said together.

“Dawn Featherstone.” Jane shook her head. “It seems she wanted to save him from my clutches. As if I would want Martin back.”

“Well, this sounds kind of awkward,” Sunny said.

“No, we found a way to resolve it,” Jane told her. “Martin always wanted to be cremated.”

Might give him a taste of what he’s in for, the irreverent voice in Sunny’s head suggested.

“So when all that is taken care of, Dawn will organize a memorial service, and I’ll pay for it.”

Mike looked scandalized. Cremation was definitely not the Kittery Harbor way. “No funeral? No family?”

“Martin’s parents both passed away before I even knew him,” Jane explained. “My dad is no longer with us either, and my mother is in Arizona. She says the heat makes up for all the Maine winters she lived through. Also, although she’s never said it . . . she never liked Martin. Guess Mom is a better judge of character than I am. And neither of us have any siblings. So I figured I’d let Dawn make whatever arrangements she wants in Portsmouth. That was where Martin went off to have his new life. Let him stay there.”

“Uh-huh,” Mike said, looking a bit thoughtful—and relieved.

So it won’t be Kittery Harbor business after all, Sunny thought. Well, Martin was a stranger in town. It shouldn’t be that big a deal.

After that, the conversation settled down a bit. Mike and Jane talked a little politics. Before the Leisters moved away, Jane’s father had been an alderman. No mention was made of the police investigation . . . or of Will Price.

“Well, that really hit the spot,” Jane said as she dug into the last of the broccoli wedges. “I don’t like the reheated taste of pizza by the slice. And getting a whole pie for one person, that’s just wasteful.”

Mike nodded with approval. That was good Kittery Harbor thinking.

“You could always freeze it,” Sunny offered. Back in her New York days, the freezer section of her refrigerator often held relics of several pizza binges.

Mike and Jane both shook their heads. “It never tastes the same.”

When they were done, Jane helped with the dishes and thanked Mike for a pleasant evening. Beaming contentedly, he headed off to the living room to catch up with his shows.

Jane took Sunny by the arm. “Oh my goodness,” she said. “Your car is still downtown. I think it’s only fair that I give you a lift to pick it up.”

They said good night to Mike, pulled on their coats, and went out into the chilly night to Jane’s BMW. As she drove, she said, “Thanks, Sunny. That was worth the price of the pizza. After our little adventure, I needed to be around normal people.”

“And here I stuck you with my dad,” Sunny joked.

Jane laughed. “Oh, it took him a little while to settle down, but then he was a lot of fun.” She glanced over at Sunny. “You’re lucky to have him around.”

“He’s lucky to be around.” Sunny took a deep breath. “At least when he got the chest pains, he had the good sense to call for help immediately instead of trying to tough it out.” She shook her head. “Even so, he was awfully sick—awfully weak.”

“I think you did the right thing, coming up to take care of him.” Jane was silent for a moment as she negotiated a hill. “Oh, I know it screwed up your job. But it’s good that the two of you are together. My dad was gone too quickly. I barely got to Arizona in time to say good-bye.”

“I didn’t know that,” Sunny said.

“Well, who would I tell?” Jane burst out. “That’s why I say it’s good to have your dad underfoot. Someone you can shoot the breeze with, someone with roots around here. Look, I know you and I have had kind of a rocky start. But the two of us—and Will—we have a different perspective from the folks who’ve spent their lives here and only know how the world looks from Kittery Harbor. Like it or not, we’re sort of outsiders in our own hometown. I appreciate that you looked out for me tonight.”

“Well, I had to, after those guys just about kidnapped us,” Sunny said modestly.

“Yeah, I just about ruined a good pair of pants when you all but accused Dani of murder.” Jane laughed, but her voice was a bit shaky again. “I know how to handle animals so they won’t bite me. But that—you’ve got guts, Sunny.”

“More like reporter’s instincts,” Sunny said. And a whole lot of luck, she added silently.

By then, they had reached the silent strip of New Store shop fronts, all of them dark by this time of night. Jane pulled up behind Sunny’s Wrangler and waited until she was in the driver’s seat, then waved good-bye and took off. Alone.

Sunny drove back toward home, her ornery dad, and even ornerier cat.

Which reminds me, she thought. Got to remember to take a shower tonight . I want to wash off whatever is repulsing Shadow.

*

It was niceto enjoy a lazy Saturday morning. Sunny was able to sleep late—well, late-ish. She awoke to find Shadow with his forefeet on her pillow, standing nose to nose with her.

“All right, all right, I’ll take care of the food situation,” she muttered, wrestling her way out of the covers. “Sheesh.”

With nothing pressing, Sunny was able to enjoy a leisurely breakfast, listen to some oddball radio shows, chat with her dad, and make a list for an afternoon food-shopping expedition.

She planned to call Will, but waited till after one o’clock. Will’s tour on the swing shift ended this morning, and she wanted to give him some time to sleep before pestering him. She timed it right. He was yawning as he spoke to her on the phone, but conscious.

“Have you had breakfast yet?” she asked. “What do you say to swinging by the waffle house?”

The restaurant was a sort of tourist trap aimed at the outlet-land shoppers, but they made waffles all day, and the maple syrup was real.

“Sounds good,” Will said. “Shall I swing by to pick you up, or do you want to meet me there?”

“Meet, I think,” she replied. “I’ve got to go shopping afterward.”

They set a time that would allow them both to wash up and get dressed. Sunny whistled as she drove until she was about halfway to the restaurant. Then she began to plot what she was going to tell Will.

*

He sat staringat her, a plate piled with waffles sitting disregarded in front of him. “A cigarette?” he said. “Really?”

“It’s what I found,” she told him.

“I guess I haven’t read your monograph on the subject, Sherlock.” He gave her a skeptical look as he finally tucked into his meal.

“I didn’t need to fool with cigarette ashes, there was a name on the side—in foreign letters,” she told him. “But I recognized the type. It’s called a papirosa . I saw people smoking them in a café in Brooklyn that a friend took me to—Russian mafia types.”