The Girl with the Kitten Tattoo

by Linda Reilly

  “’Course there is a slight problem,” Kayla pointed out. “You’re not exactly Tina Tanaka’s favorite person right now.”

  “True, but I don’t have to be, do I? Sherry can get in touch with her directly—if she’s interested.” Lara grinned. “And I just bet she will be.”

  Still intrigued by Tina’s Web site, Lara checked out the other drop-down links. Traditional fortune cookies could be special-ordered in nearly any color in the rainbow. The available colors, and flavors, were as varied as the ones in Lara’s watercolor palette.

  An entire section was devoted to weddings. Lara especially liked the fortune cookies whose bottom edges had been dipped in a vanilla glaze and then coated in pearly white sprinkles. Knowing Sherry, though, the ones with the sparkly red sugar coating would be more to her taste. They’d be perfect for a Valentine’s Day wedding.

  “You can either create your own messages or have them done by Tina,” Lara noted. “I’m seeing Sherry right after the coffee shop closes, so I’ll show her this Web site. It says most orders can be shipped within a week, so she has plenty of time, if she’s interested.”

  Kayla was quiet for a moment. Then she said, “I didn’t like it when Tina said that stuff about getting married on Valentine’s Day being cliché. What did you think about that?”

  “I think she was just being snarky,” Lara said, “because she thought I was spying on her. I still feel awful about how that all went down yesterday.”

  Kayla smiled down at Panda, who had strolled over and was gazing up at her. She reached down and lifted the cat into her lap. “Yeah, but Lara, what if she did kill Wayne Chancer?”

  Lara sat back in her chair and shoved her tablet aside. “Then the police will figure it out and she’ll be arrested for his murder. That’s all I have to say about that.”

  Chapter 14

  “Hey, what’s cookin’?” Sherry said, setting a mug of hot cocoa in front of Lara. A glob of tiny marshmallows floated on top. “You sounded kind of excited on the phone.”

  They’d snagged a table at the back section of the now-closed coffee shop, where they could relax and have a long chat. Sherry set out a plate of cookies. Lara snagged a frosted heart pierced with an arrow and bit off the tip.

  “I have some news, and I think it’s good,” Lara said. She told Sherry about her conversation with Pastor Folger, ending by giving her his contact number.

  Sherry’s face lit up like a string of Christmas bulbs. “Oh my God, you’re like, a miracle worker. He actually said he’d consider doing the ceremony with our JP?”

  Lara smiled. “He did. He also wanted to know why you didn’t ask him yourself, but I explained that you were nervous about approaching him.”

  “This is like, such wonderful news.” Sherry entered the phone number into her cell phone. “What time do you think I should call him? Would six be too early? Is eight too late? I mean, do you know when he eats dinner? I wouldn’t want to interrupt him.”

  Lara laughed slightly. “I don’t either, but don’t stress yourself out, okay? He’s a very nice man, and he’ll be expecting your call. I’m guessing he’ll want you and David to meet with him in person, so be prepared to set up an appointment.”

  “We can do that,” Sherry said. Her eyes glistened. “Lara, thank you for going to the pastor for us. I don’t know why I was so chicken. If this works out, we might even be able to please Loretta for a change.”

  It bothered Lara that her friend had to work so hard to please her soon-to-be mother-in-law. “She should be pleased at the idea of having you for a daughter-in-law.”

  “Yeah, well, don’t count on that happening any time soon.”

  “Hey, I have something else to show you,” Lara said. “Something very, very fun.” She pulled her tablet out of her tote and opened to Tina Tanaka’s fortune cookie Web site. “Kayla stumbled on these when we were at that gourmet shop in Bakewell yesterday. Aren’t they sweet? I thought—”

  “Wait a minute. You were in Bakewell yesterday?”

  “Yup. Kayla and I took a ride. There’s a bridal shop there, and I found a stunning pair of shoes to go with my dress. Wait till you see them—your eyes will pop out.”

  “Did you bring them?”

  “No, the bridal shop had to order them. I should be able to pick them up in a few days. Anyway, look at these, Sher. What do you think?” She passed the tablet across the table and watched her friend’s eyes widen.

  Sherry almost leaped off her chair. “Oh my gosh, these would make the most wonderful wedding favors!”

  “Exactly what I thought.”

  Sherry tapped and swiped her way through the site. “Look at all the choices. Wait till David sees these. He’s going to go nuts!” She grabbed Lara’s arm. “You’re the best, you know it?”

  “Yeah, I know. There is one tiny little thing,” Lara cautioned. “Don’t let on to Tina Tanaka that I recommended her to you.” She explained what happened at the bridal shop the day before.

  “Wow. You must’ve really ticked her off.” Sherry slid Lara’s tablet over to her. “Um, Lara, you’re not going around asking questions about the murder, are you?” Sherry asked, her tone tinged with suspicion.

  Lara chewed her lip. So far, the only people she’d talked with who knew Chancer were Felicia Tristany and Tina Tanaka. Of the two, only Tina was a possible suspect.

  “Not…exactly,” Lara said.

  Sherry pointed a finger at her. “I can tell just by the way you said that, Miss Girl Detective, that you’re already getting way too nosy for your own good. Now, I want you to stop it. I’m getting married in less than three weeks, and you’re going to be standing beside me with a bouquet of red carnations and baby’s breath, and you’re not going to get into trouble before then. Got it?”

  Lara laughed, but the part about getting into trouble made her squirm. “Got it. I promise. But I think you’re blowing things a bit out of proportion.”

  “Out of proportion! Oh my God, have you forgotten your track record?” Sherry sat back and gave Lara a hard look. “Listen, Lara, asking questions can be dangerous. Especially if you ask them of the wrong people. If you haven’t figured that out yet, then you have a very short memory.”

  What could Lara say? How could she explain that a cat no one else could see had led her to solving murders? As close as she was to Sherry, she’d never confided in her about Blue. That day would come, but she wasn’t ready. Not yet.

  “All right, I hear everything you’re saying. But nothing bad is going to happen, okay?”

  Sherry gave a crisp nod. “It better not. Because if I hear you’ve been playing Nancy Drew again, I’ll come over to that shelter and strangle you myself.”

  * * * *

  Neither Lara nor Aunt Fran was in the mood to prepare a meal that evening. They heated a can of chicken vegetable soup, warmed some whole wheat rolls, and shared it over a pot of orange spice tea.

  “You’ve been a bit secretive lately,” Aunt Fran said when they were through eating. “Anything going on that I should know about?”

  Lara shrugged and looked away. Her aunt knew her too well not to know when something was up.

  “For starters, Gideon’s annoyed with me for listening to Megan. Who, by the way, I haven’t heard from at all today. She showed up yesterday in a whirlwind of drama, and now she’s pulled a disappearing act.”

  “I’d say that’s good news,” Aunt Fran offered. “I’m sorry to say this, Lara, but I don’t think the young woman is very stable. You mentioned that she lives with a kindly aunt and uncle. Let them take over and help her.”

  “I know, and I agree with everything you’re saying,” Lara said.

  Then what’s bugging me?

  Even Blue hadn’t shown herself since Megan’s visit.

  Lara couldn’t explain her feelings, not even to herself. Something about Wayne Chancer�
��s death was drawing her to Bakewell. That was the only way she could describe it.

  She remembered her promise to Sherry. Nothing bad is going to happen.

  “I’ll have to go back to pick up the shoes I ordered,” Lara said. “But after that, I’m done. Bakewell will just be a dot in my rearview mirror.”

  Aunt Fran smiled. “Good.”

  Lara cleared the dishes while Aunt Fran sat at the table with Dolce and glanced at the paper.

  After Lara dried her hands, she peeked at her cell phone. She’d texted Gideon a few times during the day, but he hadn’t texted back. Nor had he called.

  Was this the beginning of the end? The thought made her heart sink like a stone to the pit of her stomach.

  “I think I’ll work on Amy’s painting for a while,” Lara said, trying to sound cheery. “Not really the painting, but the sketches.”

  Her aunt looked up. “How’s it coming?”

  “Slowly. Amy’s not in a rush, but I’d like to make some progress this week.”

  Lara hated to admit it, but so far she’d only managed to complete a few preliminary sketches. And she hadn’t even been thrilled with those.

  She went into her studio and closed the door. The photo Amy had given her was on her worktable. It was a picture of Amy’s sprawling farmhouse, taken in the dead of winter—Amy’s favorite season. The sky was a vivid blue and the sun a pale yellow. The snow looked fresh and clean. Adjacent to the farmhouse was an open pasture—an area where dairy cows once grazed. Amy had asked Lara to paint her three gorgeous dogs running across the field through newly fallen snow.

  Lara studied the pic again. This time, she focused on some of the farmhouse details. Although the Australian shepherds would be the focus of the painting, she knew that small details could make a watercolor pop with realism.

  Painted white with black shutters, the farmhouse boasted a towering chimney on one side and a wraparound porch along the front and opposite side. The landscaping was minimal. Along the front of the house, patches of shriveled leaves were all that remained of the flowers that had bloomed there in the spring and summer.

  Lara grabbed her sketch pad and her colored pencils. She wanted to put together three or four different rough sketches for Amy to have a look at. If the veterinarian favored one, Lara would run with it.

  By seven thirty, she’d completed only one sketch and part of a second. She hadn’t been able to concentrate. Her mind had been roaming in all directions.

  Over the last hour and a half, she’d checked her phone at least a dozen times. Still no word from Gideon. It wasn’t like him. He’d seemed okay when she left his office that morning. Had something else happened during the day?

  It was close to eight when her cell rang. She slumped when she saw the screen. Instead of Gideon, it was a number she didn’t recognize.

  “Is this the High Cliff Shelter?” a woman’s voice asked. “I called the regular number, but it said to call this one.”

  “It is,” Lara said, thinking the voice sounded familiar. “This is the emergency number.” The message Lara recorded on the shelter’s answering machine gave her private number in the event of a cat emergency. “What can I help you with?”

  “This isn’t an emergency or anything. This is Tina Tanaka. I’m sure you remember me.”

  Lara bolted straight up in her chair. “Tina. Yes, of course I remember you.”

  “First off, I’m sorry I called the shelter’s number. I left your private number at Valeria’s, but with the salon locked I didn’t have access to it.”

  “That’s okay. What can I do for you, Tina?”

  “I…look, I checked you out online,” Tina said, sounding contrite. “I mean, really checked you out this time. I’m sorry I came on so strong yesterday. I thought you were accusing me of murder.”

  “It was the furthest thing from my mind,” Lara fibbed. “I really love those shoes I bought at Valeria’s.”

  “They should be in by Friday. I’ll give you a call as soon as we get them. Hey, I probably have a lot of nerve asking this, but would you be able to meet me tomorrow morning? For a quick cup of coffee?”

  Uh-oh. Killer alert.

  “That might be possible, but can I ask why?”

  “It’s hard to explain. I promise, I won’t take up much of your time. I just…want to ask you something.”

  Lara knew she’d be crazy to say yes. Hadn’t she promised Sherry nothing would happen to her?

  “Okay, sure. Did you have a place in mind?” A nice public place?

  “There’s a diner in downtown Bakewell. They tend to empty out after the breakfast crunch is over. Is ten thirty okay? I don’t have to be at the bridal shop till noon.”

  Relief flooded her. Nothing bad could happen to her in the diner, right?

  “I know exactly where that is,” Lara said. “See you at ten thirty tomorrow.”

  After she disconnected, a blade of worry stabbed at her. What was she doing?

  Tina hadn’t said why she wanted to talk to Lara. Maybe it had nothing to do with Chancer’s murder. Maybe Lara was reading way too much into the phone call. Maybe Tina wanted to adopt a cat from the shelter.

  Maybe, maybe, maybe…

  Tina had definitely sounded cryptic on the phone. Lara couldn’t imagine what the young woman wanted to chat with her about—unless she had an idea who killed Chancer. If that was the case, Lara would refer her directly to the police.

  Lara straightened her work space and began putting away her sketches. Her cell rang, and she jumped. This time, Gideon’s smiling image appeared.

  “Hey, I’ve been trying to reach you,” she said, a telltale tremor in her voice.

  “Lara, I got a call from Megan today.”

  Shocked at the lack of a greeting, and by his gruffness, she said, “You did?”

  “I did. She called to sing your praises, and to tell me how wonderful you were to want to help her. I’m…I don’t know. I’m blown away, I guess. I don’t know what to say anymore.”

  Lara felt a surge of emotions well up in her chest. Anger. Disappointment.

  Heartbreak.

  She had to pull herself together. “It’s interesting that she called you, Gideon, because I haven’t heard a word from her all day.”

  “That’s because she thinks you’re hot on the case. She’s living in a fantasy world, Lara. In her mind, you’re going to find the killer and absolve her from all wrongdoing.”

  “I never meant to give her that impression. I told her that she needed to talk to her lawyer, not to me.”

  Gideon huffed into the phone. “Well, whatever you said, she thinks you’re out there hunting down suspects so she can be in the clear.”

  Lara closed her eyes, trying to remember exactly how she left things with Megan. She recalled trying to sound vague, so that Megan wouldn’t count on her for too much.

  “Best I can remember, I told her I’d keep my eyes and ears open.” Lara was pretty sure that was how she’d worded it.

  “Well, in her mind you’re running with the ball all the way to the finish line. She must have found out that you were in Bakewell yesterday.”

  If that was the case, Lara wondered who’d told her. Had Tina Tanaka been the squealer? Maybe that’s why Tina wanted to meet her at the diner on Wednesday—to talk about Megan.

  Right now, the chill coming through the line from Gideon was hurtful, and unacceptable. Lara boosted her courage. “Gideon, right now I’m feeling so much anger coming from you that I don’t want to stay on the phone any longer.” Her voice rattled slightly. “I’m…I’m sorry, but I’m going to say good night.”

  She disconnected before he could respond—something she’d never done before. Tears leaked from her eyes, but she swiped them back.

  A new resolve took hold of her. Whether or not she helped Megan, it would be her dec
ision and hers alone.

  She was gathering up the last of her sketches when the photo of Amy’s farmhouse suddenly flew to the floor. Lara reached to pick it up, only to find a certain Ragdoll cat holding it down with one cocoa-colored paw.

  Heart thumping, Lara held her breath. “What is it you want me to see?” she whispered to her spirit cat.

  Instead of meeting Lara’s gaze, Blue stared down at the picture. Then the cat moved slightly backward, and Lara lifted the photo off the floor.

  She studied it, trying to see if she missed something she should’ve seen earlier. She examined every detail until her eyes nearly crossed.

  Nothing came to her.

  As she always did after a Blue sighting, she questioned whether or not she was losing her mind. The possibility that her spirit cat was no more than a hallucination was always there, taunting her.

  What troubled her most was that Sherry’s wedding was creeping closer every day. If she and Gideon weren’t together, it would kill Sherry. Sherry would feel so bad. It would create a cloud over her wedding.

  Lara couldn’t let that happen. Somehow, she had to patch things up with Gideon. Even if it was a temporary fix, she had to do it for Sherry’s sake.

  The ping of a text made her jump.

  Lara, please call me. We still need to talk.

  Lara debated with herself, but then called him back. This time, Gideon sounded subdued. Not himself, but not combative either. He agreed to call her the next day so they could talk things out. Maybe they’d both have “clearer heads” by then, he offered.

  Lara didn’t like the implication. Was he saying that, up to this point, Lara hadn’t been thinking clearly?

  “Fine. I’ll wait to hear from you.”

  “Okay. Love you,” Gideon mumbled.

  Lara didn’t bother responding. Gideon had already disconnected.

  Chapter 15

  At the coffee shop the next morning, Sherry was a bundle of excited chatter. So much so that she was mixing up orders.