by Jen Talty
“That works.”
His lips felt warm and soft as he brushed them gently over hers. With her hands splayed out across his chest, she leaned into him. A low hum rumbled deep in her throat.
Trouble must have heard it because he rubbed his body between their legs, making a similar noise.
Chapter Nine
Ah, young love.
In the short time I’ve been in Jupiter, I’ve heard only of heartbreak and cheating. This couple deserves a chance at true love.
I dash to the other side of the kitchen island, so I can finish the delicate piece of salmon with just a dash of salt and pepper grilled to perfection Annabel put out for me. The food in this town is the bee’s knees. It’s always cooked to perfection. Never chewy, nor too raw, and the seasonings aren’t overpowering. A good fish needs to have its natural flavors, with the highlights simply accentuating an already tasty filet.
I could use a little water to cleanse my palate, but the bowl is empty.
I’ll help myself. No need to interrupt a passionate kiss, especially during the honeymoon phase of dating where everything is so new and exciting.
Quietly, I jump on the counter and carefully press the lever just a smidgen. I only need a few drops, and I’m perfectly capable of fending for myself. Besides, after a little liquid to wash down the scrumptious meal, I’ll be taking a bit of a nap in the sun.
“I better go,” Ethan says as he steps toward the door.
“I’ll see you later.” Annabel opens the door for Ethan as I make my way to my favorite spot. Movement from the parking lot catches my attention. I peer through the window and see the man from the bushes sitting in the front seat of a black sedan. He’s wearing the same baseball cap from yesterday, and over his eyes are a dark pair of sunglasses.
But I know for sure it’s the man who’d been hiding in the front yard yesterday, and I’m sure he’s up to no good.
I meow as I jump from my perch on the windowsill and race to the door, slipping by just before it closes. I chase Ethan down the catwalk.
If I had more time, I’d ponder why this outdoor hallway is called a catwalk. Seems to be an odd name.
“Trouble!” Annabel calls after me, but I pay no heed as I rush into the elevator just as the doors ding closed.
“What’s going on, buddy?” Ethan asks.
Buddy? I cock my head and narrow my eyes. That’s a name you’d call a dog. Because I like Ethan, I’ll let the comment go, this time.
He bends over, but I can’t afford to have him pick me up. Not if I’m going to lead him to the suspect. I raise up on my hind legs and hiss.
Ethan continues to reach for me.
Extending my claws, I bat his hand away, careful not to break his skin, but I want to make my point.
Ethan holds his hands up. “I can’t let you run away.”
As if I would. I know a good gig when I’ve got it, and Annabel’s apartment is about as good as it gets.
The elevator shakes to a stop and as soon as the doors open, I fly into the lobby, eagerly awaiting Ethan to open the door. If he tries to pick me up, I’ll have to go all crazy cat on him. I don’t want to, but I will.
Ethan leans over again, but once again, I’m forced to belt out a menacing meow and scamper wildly around his legs.
“I can’t let you out,” Ethan says as he pulls something from his pocket.
A phone.
He taps it and then holds it to his ear.
I need to get outside, and now, before the man from the bushes disappears. I raise up on my hind legs, pressing my front paws against the door and belt out a noise akin to a dog howling at the moon.
Since I’ve tossed my pride out the window, I scratch at the door frantically.
“Hey, Annabel. Trouble is going a little wild down here. He wants to go out.”
I know Ethan is a smart man, but really, that observation goes without saying.
“Are you sure?” Ethan asks into the phone as he reaches for the door knob. My heart pitter-patters a little faster. Solving a little mystery can be exhilarating and if we hurry, we’ll catch our culprit red-handed.
It’s true I’ll need Ethan’s help to nab his man, but everyone will know I solved the caper.
Ethan stuffs his cell back in his pocket and pulls open the door.
I don’t want to scare the man from the bushes off. I hear his car engine running, so I know he never had any intention of stopping in for a visit with anyone in the building. I have three questions.
First, is the man in the car, Danny?
Second. Why is he sitting in the parking lot?
Finally. Is he here for Annabel or Holly?
I slink through the flower beds at ground level, heading toward Holly’s place. Glancing over my shoulder, I see Ethan standing by the front door, hands on his hips, staring at me. I wish he would try to be a little less obvious. Being in a police officer’s uniform will surely compel the man in the car to make a mad dash for it. Thankfully, he backed his car into the very far visitor’s spot in the parking lot, so the big palm tree by the front door should be blocking the majority of the front door, specifically where Ethan is standing.
“What are you looking for, Trouble?” Ethan calls.
Once at the edge of the building, I dart across the parking lot. The man sees me, but he has no reason to be concerned. But he should be anxious over Ethan. I just need to get near the car, maybe even inside, before Ethan spooks the driver away.
Too late.
The man moves his hand, and I hear the gears engage.
I race toward the vehicle, zigzagging across the pavement like a wild squirrel. I need to cut him off, without getting killed.
“Trouble,” Ethan yells sternly.
“Oh my God,” Annabel calls from the common area above.
The car swerves, missing me, though I was never in any real danger. I run as fast as I can after the car, only once looking back.
Ethan is in hot pursuit of me. Knowing I’ll never catch the vehicle, I stop, run toward Ethan, then in the direction of the fleeing car, hoping that this will clue him in to at least check the license plate.
He catches up to me just as the car enters the traffic circle at the front of the complex.
“What has gotten into you?” Ethan stands over me, hands on his hips.
I raise my paw, looking toward the car. This is his last chance before the man from the bushes turns and disappears down the main drag.
“Are you trying to tell me something?”
I meow.
Ethan takes out his notepad and scribbles something before stuffing it in his pocket and picking me up.
I sigh. Once again, my work here is done.
Ethan had no idea what had gotten into Trouble, other than he trusted the cat’s instincts, and whoever was in that car had spooked the feline.
The only problem was the dark vehicle had rental car markings on the side window.
An agitated cat didn’t create enough probable cause to get a warrant for the name on the rental agreement, but it certainly peaked Ethan’s curiosity enough to call in the plate number. While he waited for dispatch to call him back, confirming it was indeed a rental and indicate which company the car had been leased from, Ethan would spend a few minutes lurking about for clues.
“I wish this cat could talk.” Annabel held Trouble in her arms. He’d curled up, resting his head against her shoulder. He’d closed his eyes, and a slow purr vibrated into the air.
“Is it possible the man in the car was Danny?” Ethan asked, scanning the front of the building, focusing on Holly Nelson’s condo.
“It wasn’t his car, and it wasn’t the car that ran me off the road, but I noticed the baseball cap had a logo on it.”
“I noticed that. But I don’t recognize it.” The driver of the car was definitely male and had short, dark hair, barely visible under his cap, but Ethan had only gotten a glance at the man’s profile. He had no idea about height, body type, or any potential ident
ifying marks.
Hell, he could have been driving that car based on the description he had.
“Does your building keep a log of visitors?”
“No. We have a form we fill out if anyone is staying overnight. They keep the forms in the lobby of each building, but they get tossed regularly. Anyone doing work in the building is supposed to sign in at the office, though.”
Ethan pinched the bridge of his nose, searching his mind for a visual of the parking lot when he’d first arrived early this morning. He’d noticed his sister’s car right away, which is why he rang Annabel’s door in the first place, knowing she’d be awake. Mentally, he accounted for every car, and the one that nearly ran over Trouble had not been in the lot.
His phone buzzed, and the dispatch officer sent him a text.
Vehicle is owned and operated by Enterprise on Tomy Penna.
“Shit.”
“What’s wrong?” Annabel asked.
“That car was a rental, and I don’t have enough to get a warrant to get the rental agreement so I can find out who is listed on the paperwork.” He glanced at his watch just as Heather Gold stepped from the building. “I’ll be right back,” he said.
“Where are you going?” Annabel asked with narrowed eyes.
“I want to talk with some of your neighbors.” His boots hit the pavement with a loud thud. There were too many odd things happening around Annabel and her condo for them all to be coincidences. “Excuse me,” he called.
“Yes, Officer?” Heather said, pausing a few feet away. “Is something wrong? Another break-in?”
“No, but I’d like to ask if you’ve had any visitors last night or this morning?”
Heather’s eyes went wide. “No. Should I be concerned?”
Ethan reached out and touched the older woman’s arm lightly, offering comfort and hopefully easing her growing fear. “I’m still working on Ms. Nelson’s case, and there was a dark, four-door sedan in the parking lot this morning. I’m just trying to find out if anyone knows who that car belongs to.”
“I’m sorry, I didn’t notice any cars other than those who live here. But I was busy cleaning my patio, so I didn’t even open my front door until a few minutes ago.” Heather folded her arms over her stomach, her gaze darting everywhere.
Ethan took out his notebook, scrawled out the license plate on another sheet of paper, and handed it to Heather, along with his card. “If you see this vehicle, could you give me a call?”
“I can have a text alert sent out asking everyone to be on the lookout.”
Causing an entire community to panic wouldn’t be a good idea since he had no reason to believe whoever drove that car had done anything remotely wrong. “I don’t think that will be necessary, at least outside of this building.”
“I can post it on the bulletin board in the lobby, and my husband will be working from home all day, so I can have him check in with all the residents in the building.”
“I think that’s the best way to handle the situation. Thank you.” Ethan shook the woman’s hand. Before heading back toward Annabel, who leaned against the hood of his patrol car, he took a good look around the lot and building from the view of the man in the rented vehicle. It bothered him that the man had a clear view up to Annabel’s front door. Not only that, he could see into her kitchen window and the front door through the outside glass forever door.
The man also would have had a good view into Holly’s place.
Not to mention a few other condos, but the only ones that concerned him were those two.
“Will you be coming back here at all today?” he asked, standing in front of Annabel, wanting to take her in his arms.
“Depends on what Craig has me doing and how long things take at the jewelry store.”
“And what are we buying?”
“I’m having some things I found in my storage unit appraised so I know how much I can sell them for.”
“Do me a favor and text me as you come and go places.”
She tilted her head and pursed her lips. “I’m a big girl. I can take care of myself.”
“I’m sure you can. But someone broke into your neighbor’s house, and you got sideswiped, all in the same day. Add in this crazy cat who seems to think whoever was in that car this morning could be dangerous.”
“Come on, for all we know Trouble saw a mouse.”
The feline twitched, letting out a snarly meow.
“Don’t insult the cat,” Ethan teased, but until he knew more, he wanted to keep close tabs on Annabel. “Humor me and text me regularly.”
The radio on his shoulder crackled to life.
“All units we’ve got a report of a 211 at 12 Rocco Street.”
Ethan tapped the mic. “Officer Ferris responding. ETA eight minutes.”
“Duty calls.” Annabel pushed away from his vehicle.
“Don’t forget to text me.” He snagged his sunglasses as he slipped behind the steering wheel. It was going to be a long day.
Annabel set Trouble down. “Is there something out here I should know about?”
Trouble sniffed around the parking lot where the dark sedan had been parked. He walked through the nearby grass, crouched down as if he were on the hunt, only Trouble wasn’t like other cats, and she doubted he’d ever chased a mouse a day in his life.
She made her way to the parking spot. Facing the building, she scanned the area much like Ethan had done a few minutes before. She didn’t agree with the condo board wanting to put a security gate at the main entrance. Often times, those gates and guards only offered a false sense of security, but right about now, that wasn’t a bad idea.
“Come on, Trouble. Let’s go inside. I want to do a couple of things before we take off.” It amazed her still how smart that dang cat was. He followed her back up to her condo. Once inside, he perched himself on the front windowsill. “Let me know if he comes back, okay?” She snagged another cup of coffee and plopped herself at the island with her laptop. Her first Google search: local golf club logos.
She knew most of the baseball and football team logos, at least the professional ones, and the cap the man sported had what she thought might be a tree on a hill set in the middle of a crest with four small stick-like things pointing out. Two from the top and two from the bottom.
Golf clubs had been her first thought.
The page loaded, and as she scrolled through the first twenty images, not a single one looked like what she remembered.
She clicked the ‘load more images’ button and scanned another fifty images. Damn, there were a ton of golf courses. She tapped the mouse on one of the images that looked similar, but the golf course was in Europe.
Doesn’t Google know she was asking for Florida golf courses when she used the word local?
She refined her search and got a different set of images, but none on the first page looked anything like what she pictured in her head. There were trees and hills and golf clubs, but not a single logo combined them the same way that had been embroidered on that baseball cap.
She glanced over toward Trouble. He still sat at attention on the windowsill, his tail swaying back and forth in an elegant motion over the sink.
“Hey, Siri, call Tara Rivers, mobile.” Annabel tapped the speaker button, setting the phone on the counter while she tapped her pencil, waiting impatiently.
“Hello?”
“Hi, Tara, it’s Annabel. I was hoping you might be able to help me with something.”
“I’ll try,” Tara said.
“Your husband plays a lot of golf, right?”
“Every chance he gets. Why?”
“I saw a baseball cap with a logo of what I think is a tree in the center on a hill with a crest around it and maybe golf clubs sticking out the sides, but I can’t find it on the internet. I thought maybe between your husband and my father, I could find the golf course.”
“I’m sure there are tons of courses with a similar image, but I’ll shoot Blaine a text and ask him and
get back to you.”
“Thanks. I really appreciate it.” Annabel closed her computer. “How are things?”
“Going really well, actually. I’m going on a treasure hunt this morning and then off to my charity office. I know you’re in this to make money, but if there is ever anything you’re not going to sell, or can’t, please consider donating it, or I’ll buy it from you.”
“I won’t take your money, but I will donate anything I don’t sell or I think will better serve your projects.”
“Awesome. Let’s get together real soon, okay?”
“I’d like that, maybe sometime next week.” Annabel stood, stuffing the notebook in her purse. “Stay in touch.”
She didn’t want to leave her research, figuring she could refine her search parameters even more, but she had a million things to do. She’d get back to the search when she had downtime at work.
Ethan pulled out of the parking spot, hitting the lights, but keeping the siren silent as he sped out onto North A1A.
It took seven minutes for him to arrive at the address dispatch had given him. Once again, he tapped the mic. “Officer Ferris arrived at the scene.”
He stepped from his patrol car and slipped his shades into his front chest pocket as he scanned the front of the house where a robbery had been reported. He rested his hand on the butt of his weapon as he eased up the sidewalk. The neighborhood was tucked behind a shopping plaza off Old Dixie Highway. Most of the buildings were duplexes with carports instead of garages, and the community looked more like a used car lot.
“Thanks for coming,” a man with a five o’clock shadow and dark bags under his bloodshot eyes said. He’d been sitting on the stoop, beer in his hand.
At nine in the morning.
The sidewalk had weeds peeking up through the cracks, but the bushes in the front of this side of the building were trimmed neatly. A ‘For Rent’ sign stood half-cocked in the middle of the yard.
“You reported a burglary?” Ethan asked.
“Yes, sir.”
“What’s your name?” Ethan asked as he continued to assess the situation.