What God and Cats Know

by Sheryl Nantus

  “Hell, yeah. You argued for his life, didn’t you? Now he wants to see you. Probably going to thank you or some such thing.”

  “You know it’s not that.” I returned the sarcasm, word for word. “It’s got something to do with Langley.”

  “Langley?” Jess failed to hide the surprise in her voice. Or she didn’t care. “Is that who this is all about?”

  “Yes and no.” I looked at my watch. “Where are you?”

  “I’m at the hospital with Davis. We brought him here after the accident at the Farm. You know how that machinery is.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Good cover story. I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

  Bran slid a plate of buttered toast across the island toward me, one eyebrow raised.

  “And don’t bring the human.” Jess snarled. “You’re in enough trouble as it is.”

  “What?” My blood pressure rose. “What the hell business is it of yours if I’m sleeping with a human? You practically disowned me years ago and only called me in to make sure no one else found out about your precious secret. Now you’re trying to run my life again? I don’t think so!” Slamming the phone down, I picked it up again and tossed it across the room. It bounced three times, startling Jazz into turning around and finding a more comfortable spot on the leather couch.

  “Why do I just feel like I’ve started dating the top cheerleader and I’m the geek working in the computer lab?” Bran placed a huge teapot on the table, slipping a tea towel under it. I stared at the monstrosity, the vibrant violets clashing with yellow pansies and something swirling off the handle that had to qualify it for Best of Show in some Antique Showcase somewhere. Bran laughed at my response. “My grandmother’s, before you say anything. Don’t bring it out too often. Don’t usually need more than a single cup.” Placing two mugs down beside it, he nodded toward the phone, still lying on the other side of the room. “So... “

  “Davis is alive and wanting to talk to me.” Picking up one of the pieces of toast, I munched on it, finding my appetite returning with a rush. “Got any jam?”

  “Grape. In a squeeze bottle.” Bran set the purple plastic container before me. Seating himself on a stool, he faced me, pouring out the tea. “So...”

  “And Jess doesn’t like me being with you. Go figure.” I spread the jam across the bread with a finger, popping the jellied-covered digit into my mouth despite Bran’s raised eyebrow.

  “I do have knives, you know. Butter knives. Made for spreading such things as jam. And peanut butter.” He didn’t move. “She can’t ‘call you out’ or kill you or anything like that, right?”

  I paused, seeing my confusion mirrored in his face. “Technically... I’m not sure.” I added a dash of milk to the tea from the small carton sitting on the table. “See, it’s not really verboten to be involved with a regular human. Like I said, you can marry them but it’s a strain on the Felis.”

  “So... better to date them and keep a secret than go the whole way and let the secret out?”

  “More or less.” There was a spot of jam on my knuckle, prompting me to lick it off. “Let’s just say that you’ve got to be darned serious before you get hauled to the Farm and exposed to the Family.”

  “So how serious are we, then?” He stared at me, putting his mug to his mouth.

  The blunt question caught me with my tongue half out of my mouth. Pulling it back into a suddenly dry crevasse I glanced down. “I’m not sure.”

  Which was the honest truth. While I’d had my share of one-night stands there had been only one man who had ever been worth telling my secret to, and he was standing in front of me.

  Bran held up his hands. “I’m sorry. This isn’t the right time to start this conversation.” He rolled the white ceramic mug around on its edge. “I tend to jump ahead of myself.”

  “Yeah. Me too.” I scrambled for something to defuse the situation before I screwed it up even more. “We better get to the hospital.” I swallowed the rest of the toast, drinking my hot tea at breakneck speed with my eyes closed. I didn’t want to see Bran’s face.

  “You feel up to driving?” I opened my eyes to see him smiling at me. “Or do you want me to take it?”

  “I’ll be fine.” The relief in my voice was probably screaming out between the words. “Let’s just go and see what he wants.” I wagged a finger at Jazz. “You stay here and guard the place. You didn’t do such a good job on the last one, you know.”

  She yawned, displaying her yellowed teeth. I took that as an affirmative.

  There was an accident on Queen Street, forcing us down to King Street for the trip to St Joseph’s. It actually wasn’t that far from my original house, no more than a half-hour or so, but considering my current address happened to be nowhere, it was far enough.

  I smelt Jess before I saw her, the tall woman standing at the vending machines in the lobby. She turned toward me, her scarlet scar getting louder as she spotted Brandon beside me. Her jaw tensed when I approached. I might have saved Davis’s life but I had tweaked her honour. This wasn’t a Good Thing.

  “Where’s Davis?” I moved inside her personal space, letting her know I wasn’t going to be intimidated.

  “He’s just recovering from some surgery.” The silver-haired woman reached down to pluck a cardboard cup of coffee from the small plastic holder. “Seems his face is pretty scratched up. Going to need a few more operations before he gets handsome again.” She sipped the hot coffee, her expression stoic.

  “Strange how that happens, eh?” Brandon moved to stand beside me, a wry smile on his face. “Don’t think we’ve been properly introduced yet.” He offered his right hand. “Brandon Hanover.”

  The challenge was evident. Alpha against alpha, never mind one being male and one female—the game never changed. Part of me wanted to relish Jess’s discomfort at being challenged by a stranger and part of me cringed at the thought of what Jess could do to Brandon, hospital or not. Still, the hormones were rolling out from both of them in impressive waves as Jess gripped the offered hand, her eyes locked with Bran’s.

  I stood back and let them have at it. Better now in a public place than on the Farm or worse, a back alley somewhere. If Bran could hold his own, it’d make things a whole lot easier. At least medical help was on hand.

  A full five minutes later the lock was broken, both of them releasing their death hold at the same time. Jess nodded. “Good enough. Now let’s go see Davis.”

  I glanced at Bran who beamed as if he’d won the lottery. I wasn’t sure if he’d learnt this on the streets or in some book somewhere, but he had managed to manoeuvre that minefield better than some kits. Still, he fell back exactly a full step behind Jess, acknowledging her authority as if the damned human had been fully briefed on how to deal with Alphas.

  There was another man outside the room, obviously one of the Family. Whether he was there to make sure Davis stayed put or to make sure no one else attacked him, I wasn’t sure. The blond nodded at Jess as we walked by him, only raising an eyebrow at Bran and myself. Good training.

  The hospital room was the typical antiseptic haven with a single bed set by the window, the bars on the windows strategically placed to not make it look as if the staff was afraid of the patient jumping out. There were no flowers, nothing to show that anyone occupied this room other than the man lying in the bed. Which was, frankly, difficult to tell.

  Konnerburg looked like the classic Claude Raines version of the Invisible Man, bandages wrapped around his head so tightly I wondered if he could even hear us enter.

  “Rebecca.” The muffled voice came out from between lips hidden under layers. “Thanks for coming.”

  My first instinct was to put my hand out toward his. He raised his right hand and gripped mine, a weak, limp effort. I sat on the edge of the bed. “No problem.” My gaze stayed fixed on his, not willing to show my fear at his appearance. He could probably scent it on me but I wasn’t going to give it away.

  “I’ll be outside.” Jess looked
from me to Brandon to Davis. “We’ll talk later.” She strode outside without looking back.

  Bran swallowed loudly, leaning against the wall with arms crossed. I tried to ignore him and focused on the man in front of me.

  “I’m glad you’re alive.” It was true, even if I despised him for what he had done. I had never been so mad to want someone dead, at least not up to this point in my life.

  “Thanks to you.” His eyes were sad and dark. “I’m an idiot.”

  “Probably.” Bran mumbled. He put his hands up before I could respond. “Sorry, sorry. I’m just going to stand here and look pretty.”

  Davis looked at Bran then back at me. “He’s right. I put my own wishes ahead of the good of the Pride and that was wrong.”

  “You killed Ruth.” I tried to keep the hatred out of my voice. I probably failed. “You killed her when all she was trying to do is help me solve a case you asked me to work on.”

  Reaching up, Konnerburg scratched the tip of his nose or where it would be under the bandages. “You know how many surgeries I’m going to have to undergo before I can even show my face in public?”

  “More than ten?” I couldn’t help sounding cheerful.

  His head dipped. “Don’t make this harder than it is, please. You may have saved my life, but it’s not really going to be worth living at this rate.”

  I shifted my legs. My ankles were bare, the only thing on my person that truly was mine being the ragged sneakers. “Why did you get so upset about Ruth sending me the files? What do you have to do with Langley?”

  His eyes registered surprise, enough to bring Bran off the wall. “Frank? What do you know about Frank?” Davis leant forward, grabbing my wrist. “What do you know?”

  “I know that somehow he’s related to the Felis who killed Janey. And who trashed my house.” I didn’t pull away despite Bran’s nervous eyebrow twitches. “Tell me what you know.” I pulled my fingers into fists. “You owe me a life-debt.”

  “That I do.” He released my wrist, sighing as he fell back onto the pile of hospital-issue pillows at his back. “First, I have to tell you that I never thought it would come to this. I thought you’d just check into things, give us a fat bill and be done with it.” His eyes flashed to Brandon. “I thought you were...less than capable in this area.”

  “You thought I was more of a misfit.” I leant forward. “That’s it, isn’t it? While Jess had confidence in me you figured that I was too degraded as a Felis to hunt this guy down.” My face reddened. “Yet here I am, here you are and one of us isn’t going to be worried about dressing up for Halloween. Two kids are without their mother and a husband mourning his wife wondering what she did to deserve being attacked in a dark alley.” My tone went low and dark. “And don’t think that I’m that helpless.” Lifting my hands I shoved my knuckles toward him, displaying the new scars. “Think I could undo all that hard work?” I flexed my fingers, allowing my mind to go there for one scary minute. “Think anyone would mind?” My tongue flicked out to wet my lips, my heart pounding faster. “Think they’d be able to stop me? Think they’d try?”

  Bran’s hand was on my shoulder. “Reb.” The single word brought me back from the edge of my rage. I slid off the bed, standing at the bottom.

  “Tell me what connection you have to Frank Langley and Frank Langley to the killer.” I jerked my thumb at the door. “Or I’ll have to let Jess get it out of you.”

  A shudder ran through the slender man at the mention of Jess’s name. Obviously the beating had been worse than I had thought. “Okay, okay.” He put up both hands. “Just put in a good word for me with Jess.”

  “I’m not going to promise anything. I saved your life. Don’t make me regret it.” After a few minutes of silence, I rapped the footboard, rattling the bed. “The clock is ticking.”

  He took a deep breath, glancing at the door. “Frank and I were crib brothers.” Davis looked at Bran. “You probably don’t understand that, but it’s like being raised with a lot of brothers and sisters. You feel a sort of bloodship with them, something you just don’t grow out of.”

  I nodded. “I had that. Had being the operative word. Keep talking.”

  “When Jess told me about your request I knew that Frank had the streak down his face—it’s been there as long as I’ve known him. But he’s too old to have been the guy who attacked you.” Davis flexed his fingers, looking at the unmarked skin. “I called him and asked what was going on. I mean, there’s only so many Felis out there with that particular marking scheme.”

  “No kidding.” I caught Bran’s questioning look. “It’s not a common trait. We all have different markings, it’s like regular felines.”

  “Exactly. There were three men on that list but I just felt that Frank had something to do with it. Call it a hunch or something.”

  “Animal instinct?” Bran flinched as we both glared at him. At least I did, I wasn’t sure if Davis did.

  “I knew it wasn’t Frank.” The bandaged man let out a sigh. “When Jess told me that we were giving you the list I was pissed.”

  “Enough to kill Ruth?” I said.

  “No.” He shook his head. “I never wanted to kill her. I just wanted to remind her of her loyalty to the Family first. Frank said that he didn’t need anyone butting in on his business.”

  Covering my eyes with the palms of both hands, I couldn’t respond for a minute. “His ‘business’? We’re talking about the death of a woman.”

  “It was an accident.” A whine crept into his voice.

  “Okay. Let’s leave that for a second.” I took a deep breath, quelling my rage. “What business?”

  Davis picked at a loose thread on the blanket. “I’m not sure.”

  “Look, you bastard.” I leant in with both hands on each side of his bandaged head, grabbing where I thought his ears would be. The squeal told me I was right. “His scent is all over my house. His scent was all over the crime scene. Not his directly, but I can give you the samples and let you identify it as a close relative. So either you spill what you have or I start taking those bandages off.” I showed him my hands again. “Thread by thread.”

  He lowered his voice to a whisper, so low that I could barely catch it. “He said that it was a son of his. I don’t know more than that.”

  “But he doesn’t have any children with his current wife.” I glanced at Bran, then back. “He’s got a mistress?”

  “No.” Davis dropped his head. “Yes. You’ll have to ask him, I didn’t get all the details.”

  “But you got enough to risk your standing for him.” I moved away from the bed. “I hope he appreciates it.”

  “Reb.” Davis called me back as I opened the door. “It’s family. You know how that works.”

  I swallowed back the foul taste in my throat. “Yes, I know how that works.”

  Bran followed me out into the hallway. I waved Jess over with a nod of my head, the blond guard moving farther down the corridor, almost out of earshot.

  “I don’t get it.” I shook my head, crossing my arms in front of me. “Davis is saying that Frank’s got some sort of son, someone’s who’s off the radar. That’s who we’re looking for.”

  “It can’t be.” Jess’s jaw clenched, sending a ripple along the scar. “There’s no children that are unaccounted for. Not one.”

  “Are you sure?” Bran asked.

  Jess stared at him, sending off more Alpha signals that should have had him backing off. As it was I was almost knocked off my feet by the waves of emotion crashing against us. “Listen, I get the idea that you control all the information about the group and all that. But what if someone gets knocked up and doesn’t want to have the baby, or just lies about being pregnant?”

  “It’s impossible.” Jess shook her head. “You don’t know anything about us. Keeping a secret like that would be impossible.” She then looked back at me. “I’ve sent someone to retrieve Frank and Kelly from the Farm, they had come down for Ruth’s funeral. They should be
here in a matter of hours.” Her eyes went to Brandon’s, locking steel on steel. “We’ll figure this out.”

  I rubbed my forehead with my right hand. “This still isn’t making sense. Who would want to kill Janey Winters? Why? What does she have to do with Frank Langley?” A low throbbing began behind my left eye. “This isn’t connecting.”

  The youngster down the hall shuffled his feet, tucking both hands behind his back. I looked at the closed door. “Maybe he’s right—this was all just an accident gone bad.”

  “Don’t make it right,” Jess said.

  “I didn’t say that.” I tapped the tip of my nose with one finger. “However, let me toss this idea out. He sets up Ruth for an accidental fall, weakens the ladder. Anyone’s who’s been on the Farm for longer than an hour knows she loves to go be in the barn with the Farm cats.”

  “She did.” The Board member nodded.

  “What if our killer made sure the fall was fatal?” I looked at Jess. “Cause of death was a broken neck, right?”

  “She fell about ten feet. We found her on the floor, the ladder by her side.” Her eyes became small predatory slits. “I couldn’t pick up any scents. You know that place would be a mess.”

  “Exactly. So what if Ruth fell, smacked her head and was still alive when our killer found her?” I pointed my thumb at the closed door. “Davis tells Frank that he’ll take out Ruth, discipline her for giving me the files. Somehow the killer finds out, decides to take it to the next level. He comes to the Farm, watches, comes in after she’s fallen. Snaps her neck to finish the job.” I twisted my hands together, imitating the action. “Leaves Davis to take the fall.”

  “That’s a whole lot of guessing. You’re assuming that there’s a child. And that Frank’s actively participating in keeping this information from us.”

  “Makes sense. Sort of.” I shrugged. “If you’ve got anything better, I’d like to hear it.”

  The older woman opened her mouth to respond, then stopped. Her eyes went wide. I caught the smell a microsecond after she did. So did the guard down the hall, who barrelled through us as we stood there, stupid, and barged into the room. Jess followed with the two of us bringing up the rear.