Sam, Bridget’s firefighter boyfriend and fellow werewolf was also at the bar having lunch. He gave Birdie a nod. “Hi, Ms. Caruthers. Nice to see you.”
“You too, honey.” He was a nice boy. And he made Bridget happy, which was all that mattered.
Bridget came out with two loaded shopping bags, giving her aunt a peck on the cheek. “How are you?”
“I’m good. How are you?”
“Busy and happy. How’s the cat sitting going?”
“Oh, you know. Not much to it, really. Spider’s just one little cat.” Birdie took the bags, hoping her smile looked normal and not like the smile of a woman who may or may not have heard actual words come out of a cat’s mouth.
Bridget grinned. “I’m surprised he hasn’t picked up on your wolfiness. I thought there’d be hissing and yowling and whatever else cats do when they’re unhappy.” She peered closer at Birdie. “You’re not hiding scratches are you?”
“No, no, nothing like that. Spider’s a good boy. He hissed once, but seems to have gotten over me not being his mother. The accidental blue hair might be helping.” Birdie glanced down at the bags. “Everything in there? You know how your brother gets if he doesn’t get fries with his steak sandwich.”
“Yep, everything’s in there. Including fries.” Bridget winked. “There’s even a little extra.”
Birdie hoped against hope. She took a deep whiff and the aromas of warm fruit and cinnamon reached her nose. “Cobbler?”
Bridget nodded. “Is there anything better?”
“Outstanding. You’re my favorite niece, you know that?”
“I’m your only niece.”
Birdie lifted her chin in mock indignation. “It’s still a very prestigious position.”
“And I’m thrilled to have it. Tell Hank and the crew I said hi.”
“Will do.” Birdie headed out, her mind still on what she might or might not have heard Spider say. Maybe she should have asked Bridget if she’d ever heard of a talking cat, but the last thing Birdie wanted to do was start a rumor that she was losing her marbles. Not that Bridget would do such a thing on purpose, but someone could have overheard the conversation. Like Sam. And while she didn’t think he’d spread such a thing, this was a small town. Nothing stayed secret for long.
The last thing people needed to think was that Birdie Caruthers was connected with something crazy. Again.
She got back to the station and took the food into the conference room, which served as a break room too. “Hank, Jenna, Alex,” she called out. “Lunch is here.”
The sheriff and the two deputies came in.
“All right, I’m starving.” Alex dug into the second bag, pulling out containers and passing them out around the table.
Jenna laughed. “You’re always starving. Doesn’t your girlfriend feed you?”
He slid a box toward her. “She’s under deadline at the moment and I’m in charge of food. I’m a very good cook, you know.”
“Yes, I know,” Jenna said. “I’ve had your arroz con pollo at the firehouse potluck.”
He snickered. “Actually, that was my mother’s. But mine’s pretty close.”
Hank took the box with his name on it (Bridget had also added a big happy face) and sat at the end of the table with his cup of coffee. “Jack Van Zant was in to see you while you were gone.”
“Oh?” A little tickle went down Birdie’s spine. Jack was a handsome man and a great dancer, something she’d learned at the Black and Orange Ball, but she’d been purposefully keeping him at arm’s length.
Hank glanced at her over his steak sandwich. “He thinks you’re avoiding him.”
“He said that?” She sat two seats away from him, next to Jenna.
“Not in so many words. Are you?”
“Well…”
Hank grunted, which was Hank-speak for why.
She sighed. “I’m in no rush to get hooked up with a man. Not a day goes by that I don’t still miss your dearly departed uncle John.”
Hank didn’t say anything for a moment. “He’d want you to be happy.”
“Thank you, I appreciate that.” Hank was probably right, but something about being with another man felt…disloyal to her. John Caruthers had been more than a good man. He’d been one of the best. A great husband, an incredible uncle, and her best friend. And gone far too soon.
There was no way to replace him, nor was she about to try, as much as she enjoyed the company and attention of men. None of them would ever live up to John. Wasn’t their fault, they just couldn’t compare. He’d set a high bar.
She changed the subject before Hank said anything more. “Jenna, how’s your sister doing?”
“Great. Don’t tell Tessa I said anything, but she and Sebastian are trying for a baby.”
Jenna’s confession didn’t surprise Birdie. People were always sharing tidbits with her that they weren’t supposed to. Maybe confidability was one of her superpowers. She casually ate a fry and tried to look curious in a purely scientific way. “Is that possible? I mean, can a valkyrie and a vampire…you know?”
Jenna’s smirk said volumes. “Yeah, I know. And I don’t know.” She shrugged. “But they’re trying.”
Interesting. She turned to Alex. “What’s Roxy working on? You said she’s under deadline.”
“New series. But that’s all I know. I’ve been sworn to secrecy.”
“Ooo…I want a copy.”
“Birdie, she won’t even let me read it.”
She waved off the comment. Silly boy. “Tell her I want a copy. She’ll understand, honey.”
He shook his head. “I don’t think so.”
“Try your best.” She gave him the look that she’d used to stifle complaints from her niece and nephews for years.
He frowned. A little. “Yes, ma’am.”
Now that he was prepped, she led into the topic that was foremost on her mind, easing into it in a way she hoped would seem natural and spontaneous. “Say, I have a question for you. You’re a big cat shifter. Can y’all communicate in your heads when you’re shifted like bonded wolves can?”
He nodded. “Some of us can, sure. Roxy and I can’t, but that has nothing to do with our bond. It’s because she wasn’t born a shifter.”
“I remember. She used that spell that Pandora and Willa came up with so she could become a panther shifter, right?”
“Right.”
That was all the opening she needed. “So can you speak when you’re in animal form?”
“You mean in real words?” He made a face, glancing at Hank. “No. Can you wolves do that?”
Hank shot a look at Birdie. “No shifters can.”
She understood what his expression meant, but Birdie hadn’t ever been truly intimidated into silence by anyone, not even her sheriff nephew, and she wasn’t about to start now. “Do you think any animals can talk?”
Hank’s narrowed eyes narrowed a little more. “What’s this all about, Aunt Birdie?”
She shrugged. “Nothing.”
But she wasn’t the only one in the family with a stubborn streak. He straightened. “Is there something going on I need to know about? A magic rift? A spell gone awry?”
“Settle down, Hank. I’m just making conversation.” But that was answer enough for her. If Hank thought a talking animal was something to be alarmed about, it wasn’t normal.
Which was saying something in a town like Nocturne Falls.
The day had been fairly uneventful. Most days were. Nocturne Falls was a pretty sleepy place, even with the influx of visitors. Sure, there were the occasional tourist issues, but few of them went beyond keys locked in a car or the rare drunk and disorderly.
But a day at work was still a day at work, and Birdie was happy to be heading home. Or in this case, to Jayne’s home. She shut her computer down, turned the phones over to the evening dispatch, said goodbye to the deputies and walked outside.
This time of year, it got dark early but that was all right. The town w
as well lit with bright store windows, fairy lights outlining many of the Main Street buildings, and the street lamps that lined the sidewalks. In the glow of it all, a few flurries drifted down.
She held a hand out to catch one. “How about that?”
“I didn’t know it was going to snow either.”
She turned to see who the deep, male voice had come from, recognizing it even as she saw his face. “Hi, Jack.”
“Hi there.” He’d been leaning against the station wall, but now he straightened. He was a stocky guy, with the build of a former football player who still kept himself in shape. The kind of guy that made a woman feel safe to be around. “I like the blue hair. Brings out your eyes.”
“Thanks, but it’s just temporary.” She liked his full head of salt and pepper, but kept that to herself. Too many compliments and a man might get ideas.
He took a few steps toward her. “You didn’t call me back. Am I in trouble?”
“No.” She smiled and shook her head. “I don’t have a good excuse, actually.” Except that he wasn’t John. And that wasn’t the kind of thing you could really hold against a person.
His smile was gentle and forgiving and she was reminded how much she liked his company. He shrugged. “No worries. Walk you to your car?”
“I’m not going to my house. I’m cat sitting and apartment watching for a friend this week. She’s away and my place is getting painted, so it worked out.”
“Can I walk you to the apartment then?”
She nodded. “You can.”
They started off, a leisurely stroll with no real effort to get anywhere in a hurry. He offered her his arm, and she took it.
He glanced at her. “You sure look pretty today.”
Flattery was nonsense, but that didn’t mean she didn’t like it. “Thank you.”
“Have any dinner plans?”
He was angling for those plans to include him, she knew that. She didn’t mind. She didn’t think Jayne would mind, either. It wasn’t like Birdie was about to throw a kegger in the princess’s apartment. “Nothing special. I was thinking about ordering pizza from Salvatore’s.”
“Mmm, my favorite.”
“Honey, Salvatore’s is everyone’s favorite.”
He laughed. “True.”
She let a moment or two go by. “You want to join me?”
His handsome face broke into a grin. “I’d love to. So long as whoever you’re apartment sitting for wouldn’t mind. I don’t want to intrude on anyone’s territory. I know how you wolves can be.”
Birdie closed her arm around his a little tighter. “No wolves involved, besides me. I’m apartment sitting for Jayne Frost. Remember I introduced you to her at the Black and Orange Ball?”
“Oh yes, I remember. The Winter Princess. She runs the toy store. Santa’s Workshop. Very nice young lady. I took Kaley over there to get one of those Pocket Pets. She would have rather had a kitten, but her father hasn’t agreed to that yet.”
“I got one of those Pocket Pets for Charlie for Christmas. He loves that thing.”
They fell into a comfortable silence for a moment.
He was the first to break it. “Meat lovers, am I right?”
She snorted softly. “Is that a guess because I’m a wolf shifter?”
“It’s a guess because you have an impressive appetite. But I didn’t peg you for a vegan, either.”
“And what do ravens eat?” Jack was a familiar, a particular kind of supernatural who could enhance and strengthen the powers of the witch he was bonded to. It also meant he could shift into a raven. She’d never seen him do it, but his son, Cole, who was engaged to Pandora Williams, was the same kind of supernatural, and she’d seen him in raven form once. Or at least she thought she had. Might have just been a regular old raven. Either way, she imagined Jack looked pretty much about the same.
“Ravens are omnivores. So I’m good with meat lovers if you are.”
“Yep. But I usually get a margherita pizza, too. Or a plain cheese with extra cheese. Or sometimes all three.”
He looked at her, brows raised. “I may not be able to keep up.”
“I guess eating like a bird is a real thing?”
He laughed. “Not exactly, but I don’t have a wolf’s appetite, that’s for sure. Even so, I am happy to order every pizza on Salvatore’s menu if that’s what your heart desires.”
His willingness to please her was a very attractive thing. It gave her all kinds of ideas about what it would be like to have him in her life, which was why she’d been avoiding him. Because not going down that path also meant avoiding the feelings of being disloyal to John.
They approached the warehouse and she steered him toward the door as she got out the key Jayne had given her. “I’m not saying I eat all three pizzas in their entirety. I just like the variety. And I love the leftovers.”
She unlocked the door and went through.
“I agree, leftover pizza is great.” He pulled out his phone and followed her inside, dialing as he walked. “For delivery please.”
As he ordered, she directed him onto the elevator, out onto the second floor, and into Jayne’s apartment. She gave him the address when he asked.
He finished the order and hung up. “There. All done. All the pizza you can eat should arrive in about forty-five minutes.” He tucked his phone in his back pocket. “Say, the window’s open. Did you do that?”
She nodded. “For Spider, Jayne’s cat. He likes the fresh air apparently. I should shut it now though.” She glanced over. Something was wrong. She walked closer.
And froze as an icy trickle of panic went down her spine. The screen had been pushed out. It was laying cockeyed on the fire escape landing. She sucked in a breath. “This is bad. Oh my stars, this is really bad.”
Jack was at her side instantly. “What’s wrong, Birdie?”
She pointed, trying not to hyperventilate. “The screen is out. The screen is out.” She turned to him, then spun to look at the rest of the room. “We have to find Spider. Right. Now.”
Jack nodded and put a hand on her shoulder. “We will. It’s not that big a place, right? You take the bedroom. I’ll look out here. Behind the sofa, behind everything. We’ll find him.”
“Okay.” She swallowed. Spider wouldn’t run away, would he? She didn’t know much about cats but it seemed to her they were a very adventurous type of creature. And then there was that stupid, awful saying about curiosity and what it did to cats… “Please,” she whispered. “Don’t be the curious type, Spider.”
But fifteen minutes later, they were still looking and there was no Spider anywhere. Birdie had tossed more treats on the ground, thrown a few catnip toys around and nothing. Not a sign of him anywhere.
She sat on the couch and put her head in her hands. Jack came over and sat beside her, putting his arm around her. “We’ll find him. You’ll see.”
She lifted her head. “Jayne is going to kill me.” She glanced at the window. The snow was coming down harder now. “That poor little cat is out in that weather.”
Jack stood, pulling her to her feet. “Get your coat on. We’re going to find him and bring him back here.”
She wrung her hands together. “Maybe I should put a can of his favorite food on the window sill. He might smell it and come back if he gets hungry.”
“Good idea. You do that.”
She grabbed a can of Chicken Party and put it in a bowl, then set the bowl on the sill. She peered out to the street below, hoping to see a little black shape staring back at her.
She didn’t. Her heart sunk. With a sick feeling twisting her gut, she pulled her coat on. “This is awful. Awful.”
“Birdie.”
“Jayne will never speak to me again. I lost her cat. She loves Spider more than anything. And I lost him!”
“Birdie.”
She looked at Jack. “What?”
“Can’t wolves track things? You know, like bloodhounds?”
She frowned at him. �
��I am not a bloodhound.” Then she sighed. “And yes, I should be able to pick up Spider’s scent, but the snowfall could interfere with that.” She looked around. “I need to find something that smells like him.”
Jack pointed to the end of the couch. “I’m betting that baby blanket is his.”
She looked at it. “Well, Jayne doesn’t shed black fur so that’s a pretty safe bet.” She picked it up and inhaled, trying not to get a snootful of fur while doing it. She got a good whiff, then she dropped the blanket and faced Jack. “I’m good. Let’s get this kitty home.”
There was nearly an inch of snow on the ground, and it was coming down faster now. The accumulation was happening far too rapidly for Birdie’s taste. She had nothing against snow, but right now, in this situation, it was the last thing they needed. “This is terrible. I guess it’s because of the snow cover, but I can’t smell a thing. And I don’t have a clue which direction to go in. Where do we start?”
“We could split up,” Jack offered. He stood beside her, his head on a swivel as he scanned the street beyond the warehouse door.
She appreciated his deeply focused approach to her problem. John had always taken the same tact too, knowing that there would be no peace until the issue was solved. It was especially moving that a man who was a raven shifter would care so much about a cat. “We could. But I’d rather not.”
“Me either. Do you think we should enlist some help?”
Birdie groaned softly. “Probably, but…”
“You don’t want anyone to know he got out, do you?”
“Not really.” She squeezed the little catnip mouse in her pocket. She’d brought the toy in hopes of luring Spider with it, something that seemed silly now. “But finding him comes first.”
Jack offered her a sympathetic smile. “How about I just call Pandora and Cole? Pandora has a cat. She might have some good ideas.”
“Okay.” Birdie stared at the sky and inhaled again, searching for Spider’s scent but the crisp blankness of the snow was all she picked up. “I wish this infernal snow would stop. Between that and the darkness, we’re up against it.”
Jack had his phone out. “Look on the bright side, the snow will make it easier to spot a black cat.”
When Birdie Babysat Spider Page 2