by Paige Sleuth
Maybe she could claim to be coming down with something. That would be a good excuse to skip lunch this afternoon.
A meow jerked Kat out of her reverie. Matty was eyeing her from the cat tree in the living room.
“You think I’ve done enough damage and should stay out of it too, huh?” Kat asked her.
Matty turned her head and stared pointedly out the window.
“Oh, right.” Kat rolled her eyes. “You want to go outside again. I should have known you wouldn’t trouble yourself with human problems.” Matty also had never been known to meow over something that didn’t directly concern her. Whereas Tom and Kat often engaged in whole conversations just for the fun of it, Matty only spoke sparingly.
Kat drummed her fingers on the table. Maybe she should take Matty outside. They could swing through the Jeffersons’ neighborhood. Perhaps they’d even stumble across a clue or two with the potential to clear Alyssa of any wrongdoing. As slowly as Matty moved, nobody would think twice about them loitering in one spot for too long. That should give her plenty of time to find anything the investigators had missed—assuming there was anything to find.
The more she considered it, the more she warmed to the idea. What harm could it do? It was certainly a better option than sitting around here, fretting until lunchtime.
She jumped out of her seat. “All right, Matty. Today’s your lucky day.”
She affixed Matty’s harness in record time. Once they were outside, Matty crept along just as lethargically as predicted. Except, until they reached the Jeffersons’, her leisurely pace was a nuisance rather than an asset. And every time Kat tried to herd the tortoiseshell in the right direction, Matty would flop over in protest.
Kat groaned, giving the leash a shake as Matty played dead. “Can we move it along, please?” A three-legged turtle could have outrun them.
Matty answered by stretching her limbs as far as they could go, luxuriating in the feel of the grass against her fur.
But the tortoiseshell did get up when two teenage girls came jogging toward them, their ponytails swinging in unison. The tall, redheaded one said something to her honey-blond friend, and they both giggled, the exertion of running not seeming to have any effect on their ability to talk.
The girls slowed when they spotted Matty. “Oh, how cute!” the redhead said.
They stooped down to pet the feline. Matty didn’t bother to acknowledge them. She was too busy gnawing on a blade of grass that had captured her attention.
The blonde smiled up at Kat. “It’s not often you see a cat on a leash.”
“Matty is one of a kind,” Kat replied. She squinted at the teenager, recognition dawning. “You’re Lindsay, right?”
Lindsay stood up, blinking in surprise. “Yeah.”
“We met back in October,” Kat reminded her. “I came in when you were working at the copy shop. You printed up some fliers for me.”
Lindsay snapped her fingers. “Oh, right.” She gestured toward the redhead. “This is my friend, Jenna.”
Lindsay’s movements must have been enough to dislodge her hair ribbon. Her honey-blond tresses fell around her shoulders as the swatch of red fabric unfurled, the whole scene reminding Kat of a shampoo commercial. When Matty saw the ribbon floating in her direction, her pupils dilated and she crouched low to the ground. As soon as it hit the concrete, her butt began wiggling in anticipation. Then, quick as a flash, she pounced, immobilizing the ribbon with both her front paws.
“Aw.” Jenna laughed.
Lindsay, on the other hand, didn’t look amused. “That’s the second tie to break on me this week.”
“I told you, they’re trash,” Jenna said. She gently worked the ribbon out of Matty’s grasp, then flicked it toward her again. “But they do make good cat toys.”
“If you’re looking for hair accessories, I know somebody who creates them,” Kat said.
“We have to wear these,” Lindsay told her. “It’s for school.”
“We’re on the track team,” Jenna chimed in. “Our coach likes us to match, for solidarity.”
“But we’re only stuck with these through the end of the year,” Lindsay said. “Coach said they signed a contract to have some new ties made for next year, this time from somebody else.”
“You mean Nikki Jefferson,” Kat said.
“Yeah,” Jenna said. “I can’t wait. Mrs. J’s stuff is awesome.”
Kat twisted toward her. “You know Nikki Jefferson?”
Jenna nodded. “I live next door to her.”
“You live in the blue house?”
“That’s me!”
Kat’s heart beat a little faster. That was where Matty had stepped in the gum. “You didn’t happen to see anybody on or around your property near the time of the fire, did you?”
Jenna shook her head. “I was away at a meet yesterday morning.”
“What about the rest of your family?”
“Mom was with me. She comes to all my meets. And Dad doesn’t live with us.”
Kat tried to mask her disappointment. So much for that lead.
“That really bites, what happened to Mrs. J,” Lindsay said.
“Yeah,” Kat concurred.
Lindsay turned to her friend. “Hey, we should get going if we want to finish our four miles. My mom will start wondering where I am soon.”
Jenna rose to her feet and handed Lindsay’s ribbon back to her. “Thanks for letting us pet your cat.”
“Anytime,” Kat said.
Lindsay offered the ribbon to Kat. “You want to keep this? It’s no good to me now.”
“Thank you.” Kat took it from her. “I’m sure Matty will get a lot of enjoyment out of this.”
The girls waved as they took off down the sidewalk. Kat watched them until they disappeared around the corner. Then she shifted her attention to Matty.
“You ready to get a move on?” she asked, giving the leash a shake.
Matty laid down and yawned.
Kat groaned. At this rate, it would be June before they made it to the Jeffersons’ house.
CHAPTER NINE
After indulging Matty for an impatient minute, Kat picked up the tortoiseshell and carried her the remaining few blocks to the Jeffersons’. Matty didn’t protest. She seemed content just to be outside. Her attitude was a great reminder to savor the moment, and Kat couldn’t resist hugging the cat a little tighter.
Turning down the Jeffersons’ street, Kat was surprised to see their gray minivan parked in front of the house. Nikki was stepping out the front door when Kat reached the edge of their property. She actually looked happy.
“Kat!” She hurried down the driveway.
“Are you moving back in?” Kat asked.
“No.” Nikki wrinkled up her nose. “It still stinks of smoke in there. We just came by to grab some stuff. And I wanted to take a better look at the damage, see if I could salvage any of my hair products.”
“Could you?”
“No.” Nikki grimaced. “My work area was actually where the fire started.”
“I thought it began in the den.”
“Yeah, specifically in the corner I had set up with my sewing machine and all my supplies. Kevin showed me the spot Lonnie pegged as the point of origin. It was where I kept all my raw materials.”
Kat wondered once again if Kevin might resent Nikki’s business enough to sabotage it. Maybe he’d gotten a twisted sense of satisfaction over watching Nikki’s reaction when he fingered her workspace as the fire’s starting point.
Nikki slanted her head sideways. “So, what are you doing out and about?”
“Just taking Matty for a walk.”
At the mention of her name, Matty started squirming. Kat set her down. Although snooping around wouldn’t be possible with the Jeffersons present, the tortoiseshell could still enjoy herself.
“We ran into your neighbor actually.” Kat nodded toward the blue house. “She was out on a run.”
“You must mean Jenna.”
>
“That would be her. She seemed excited about you making the track team’s hair ribbons for next year.”
Nikki sighed. “I just hope I can meet all my deadlines.”
“Maybe Kevin could help,” Kat said slowly.
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, your work should go twice as fast with two people sewing.”
“Kevin? Sew?” Nikki scoffed. “I don’t think so.”
“Well, maybe he could help you in other ways.” Kat mentally counted to five, pretending to be thinking. “Like, maybe he could pick up some additional household chores so you have more time to work on getting your business back on its feet.”
“Oh, Kevin already helps out tons around the house. Truth be told, he’s more domestic than me.” Nikki expelled a breath. “Poor Kevin. He’s dealing with the insurance people right now, and it’s really putting a strain on him. He hates things like that, but he does it because he knows I hate it even more.”
Kat considered that. Was it possible she had misconstrued Kevin’s frustration over the insurance process as resentment over Nikki’s business? He had been on the phone with his agent just before joining them in the hotel living area yesterday. Perhaps what she had interpreted as annoyance with his wife had merely been some lingering irritation from that phone call.
“I can’t wait until all this is settled and everything is back to normal again,” Nikki said. “Although, I do have some good news.”
“What’s that?” Kat asked.
“None of our photo albums were affected by the fire. Carmella had moved them out of the den and into her room for some school project she was working on.”
Kat smiled. “I’m glad to hear that. Photos are irreplaceable.”
“It’s a relief, for sure.”
An insect scurried out of a crack in the driveway, and Matty lunged for it. The movement was so unexpected that Kat almost let go of the leash.
“You dropped something,” Nikki said, aiming her finger at the ground.
Kat saw the red ribbon Lindsay had given her lying on the concrete and bent down to retrieve it. “Thanks.”
“Is that one of GH’s creations?” Nikki asked.
Kat stared at the ribbon. “I have no clue.”
Nikki reached for it. “May I?”
Kat handed it to her. Nikki inspected it for a moment before pointing to something scribbled into the fabric with black marker. Sure enough, Kat could make out the letters GH.
“They’re very poor quality,” Nikki said, lowering her voice. She ran one finger along the edge. “Feel how bumpy the surface is? That’s glue, and this particular brand isn’t meant for fabric. It’s cheap and turns brittle after a few months. Sewing the parts together results in a much longer-lasting product.”
“Huh.”
“One of the other mothers at Carmella’s school showed me the bows GH designed for their gymnastics team. When she told me what they paid for them, my jaw hit the floor.”
“Is that how you ended up with the school contracts?”
“Yup. They liked the samples I put together, word spread, and now I have more business than I ever dreamed of.” Worry etched lines into Nikki’s face. “I just hope I can deliver.”
“When is your deadline?”
“For the school contracts? August. But I’m also designing the hair adornments for Carmella’s dance troupe. They have several major competitions scheduled over the summer. Three different routines times thirty girls is ninety items I have to produce in the next few months.” Nikki sighed. “I was almost done with the first batch of headbands, and now . . .” She trailed off, her eyes growing moist as they drifted toward the house.
Kat’s chest tightened. Nikki was obviously passionate about her business, and the threat of losing it was clearly taking a toll on her.
A rustling drew Kat’s thoughts away from Nikki. Matty had managed to wedge herself in one of the small bushes planted near the sidewalk. She must have climbed in there in pursuit of whatever bug she’d spied earlier.
“I should get going,” Kat said, extracting Matty from the bush and setting her back on the driveway. “Matty’s getting restless.”
“So soon? The kids are going to be disappointed they missed out on seeing her again. Although, frankly, I don’t know what’s taking them so long. How hard is it to pack up a few things to get through the week?” Nikki swiveled around as the front door banged open. “Oh, that must be them.”
But instead of Carmella and Timothy, Kevin Jefferson strolled out of the house. He dragged a rolling suitcase behind him.
“Hello there,” he called out to Kat.
“Hi, Kevin,” Kat greeted.
Kevin tossed the suitcase into the rear of the minivan, then looked around. “Where’s Detective Milhone?”
“Working on the arson investigation,” Kat guessed.
Kevin leaned against the vehicle’s bumper. “Does that mean the police have a few leads?”
“I’m not sure. Andrew tends not to discuss his cases with me.”
“Hrmph.” Kevin didn’t look happy about that.
“But I do have another question for you,” Kat said, “now that you’ve had a chance to look around the house.”
“What’s that?”
Kat glanced between Kevin and Nikki. “I was wondering if either of you noticed anything out of place inside, something not attributable to the fire.”
Kevin rubbed his chin. “Can’t say I have.”
“Me neither,” Nikki said. “Why do you ask?”
“I was just thinking, it’s possible this was a crime of opportunity. Somebody could have broken in for another reason, then, when they saw that gas can in your garage, they decided to go ahead and set the den on fire.”
“Gas can?” Kevin’s brow furrowed. “What are you talking about?”
“The gas you bought at the Fuel ’Er Up earlier this week,” Kat reminded him.
“I filled up the tank this week,” Nikki piped up.
Kat shook her head. “I’m not talking about filling up the car. I’m talking about the gas Kevin bought separately, to fuel a lawnmower or whatever.”
“Lawnmower?” Nikki scrunched up her nose. “We hire a service to do all that.”
“Do you own anything that requires gas?”
“Other than the van?” Nikki shook her head in the negative.
The three of them lapsed into silence. The only sounds came from a few singing birds and Matty, who was crawling after her bug again.
But Kat didn’t bother fishing Matty out of the bush this time. Something wasn’t adding up, and it left a sour taste in her mouth.
“Who said I bought gas in a can?” Kevin asked.
“The clerk at the Fuel ’Er Up,” Kat replied.
“You mean Gina Hayes?” Nikki said.
Kat nodded. “Yes, Gina was her name. She said she saw Kevin at the pump earlier this week.”
Kevin lifted one shoulder. “Well, it wasn’t me. I have no need for gasoline around the house.”
Kat thought back to exactly what Gina had told her. She had mentioned that Kevin hadn’t come inside. Could she have mistaken someone else for him?
Before she could dwell on that possibility, Timothy burst through the front door and barreled toward them. When he spotted Matty, his whole face brightened. “Matty!” He changed course, making a beeline for the cat.
Either the sudden movement or Timothy’s war cry prompted Matty to jump away from the bush and into a ninja pose. She crouched low to the ground, her legs splayed and her ears flat against her head. But she relaxed as soon as Timothy slid to a stop and began petting her in the same careful fashion he had employed yesterday.
Kat studied him. The boy shared his father’s hair color, and both their noses sloped at the same angle. In twenty years they’d probably look similar enough to be mistaken for each other at a distance. That led her to think about Walker Jefferson, and whether the person Gina had actually seen at the pump might hav
e been Kevin’s brother.
“Nikki,” Kat said, “you said your photo albums survived the fire?”
“That’s right,” Nikki confirmed.
“Would you mind showing them to me?”
“O—okay.” Nikki drew out the word, obviously stumped as to why Kat would want to flip through her family photos.
Kat didn’t explain. She didn’t want to break Nikki’s confidence by bringing up Walker Jefferson around Kevin.
But Kevin didn’t seem interested in their conversation. “Tim,” he said, clapping his hands together, “you get everything packed?”
Timothy didn’t look up, too busy stroking Matty. “Almost.”
“Well, let’s go finish then. We can play with the kitty later.”
Timothy didn’t look happy when Kevin set his hand on his shoulder and guided him back toward the house, but he dutifully trudged along.
Kat leaned closer to Nikki as soon as Kevin was out of earshot. “I was wondering if Walker might have been the person Gina saw filling up that gas can.”
“Walker?” Nikki repeated, clearly baffled by the suggestion.
“It occurred to me that Gina could have mistaken him for Kevin.”
“No way.” Nikki shook her head. “I can tell you right now Walker looks nothing like Kevin.”
“Can you describe him?”
“He’s huge, built like a grain silo. I’m telling you, if you saw Walker and Kevin together you’d never guess they were brothers. Whoever Gina saw, it had to be somebody else entirely.”
The air leached out of Kat’s lungs as something clicked in her brain. “Nikki, what did you say Gina’s last name was?”
“Hayes.” Nikki squinted at her. “Why?”
“GH,” Kat said, her heart rate accelerating.
Nikki’s eyes skirted past the blue house before she faced Kat again. “Yeah, she’s the maker of that ribbon.” She dropped her voice to a whisper. “But please don’t tell her I dissed her products. I don’t want her to think I’m badmouthing her work. She really does have an eye for design, she just tends to use inferior materials.”