Courting The Cat Whisperer: A Nocturne Falls Universe story

by Wynter Daniels

  She followed Harry into the store, which resembled others Jordan had visited in historic homes in Savannah and Charleston. A bookcase held a small assortment of historical titles, and there was a rotating rack with postcards near the glass display case.

  “Good afternoon,” said a seventy-ish woman with white hair teased within an inch of its life. “We don’t have scheduled tours on Sundays, but you’re welcome to walk around the house on your own. Please mind the roped off areas and don’t sit on any of the furniture.”

  Harry stepped over to the old-time cash register and took out his wallet. “Two, please.”

  The woman widened her eyes at him but quickly recovered. She cleared her throat. “That’ll be fourteen dollars.”

  Harry gave her a twenty-dollar bill. Had he noticed the clerk’s strange reaction to seeing him?

  With trembling fingers, the woman handed Harry his change. “You can download an app for a guided tour on your phone. Look up Sherwood House Tour.”

  He thanked her. “How twenty-first century.”

  The clerk ignored his comment and walked away.

  “I’ll do it.” Jordan took out her cell and found the application.

  “Let’s just walk through for now,” Harry said. “I want to get a feel for this place. We can listen to the tour later.”

  “Of course.” She slipped Kitty inside the backpack then strode with Harry into a large parlor off the foyer. Portraits of men and women in seventeenth and eighteenth-century clothing hung on the walls. Several of the subjects had sea-green eyes very similar to Harry’s. A chill rolled over her skin. “Do you notice anything about some of these people?”

  “I sure do.” He read a description under one of the paintings. “Lawrence and Matilda Harrison.”

  Look at the last one, Kitty told Jordan.

  Jordan moved to the most contemporary-looking portrait, which showed a couple in their late thirties with a small boy. Something about the child seemed familiar. His hair was blond, but those eyes…could it be? She read the description aloud. “Allen and Jennifer Harrison with son, Sawyer.”

  Harry came over and stared up at the painting. He swayed for a moment, so Jordan grasped his arm. “I know them,” he muttered.

  “Who are they?”

  He grasped the velvet rope in front of them. “They’re my parents.”

  Jordan touched his arm. “Are you sure?”

  Frowning, he shook his head. “It’s still fuzzy. Let’s get out of here.”

  “Are you sure you don’t want to see the rest of the mansion?” Jordan asked as she put his cat in the back seat.

  Shaking his head, he opened the passenger door for her. “Another time. Mind if I drive?”

  Jordan fished in her purse until she found the keys and handed them over. “Go for it.”

  As he drove off the property, he gripped the steering wheel. “I have to find my parents.”

  “Right.” She buckled her seatbelt. “Someone must know them if they’re part of the town’s founding family.”

  “We need to find a town directory. Could it be that simple?”

  “Since the town hall is closed, maybe one of the businesses has a local phone book.”

  “Right.”

  They passed Purry’s, and she heard Harry’s stomach growl.

  “I’m starving,” he said. “Why don’t we stop for a bite? I’m sure all the restaurants have a phone book.”

  Jordan slid closer and set her hand on his thigh. “I have a request.”

  “Yeah?”

  “I’d like to eat at a place I saw last night. It’s off Whiskers Lane, just up the road.”

  “Sure,” he said.

  Jordan patted her lap for Kitty to come up to the front. “You’re going to have to stay in the backpack,” she told the feline.

  Give me a treat.

  “Whatever it takes.” Jordan opened the foil pouch and gave the animal what she’d requested.

  Harry took the carrier, and they strode toward Calico Court. The soothing sound of falling water drew her like a magnet down the alleyway into the charming courtyard.

  “This is nice,” Harry commented. “Reminds me of Nocturne Falls. We’re not really dressed for such a fancy restaurant, though.” He tipped his chin toward Medici.

  Jordan hooked his arm and pointed to Cove Cat Café. “This is where I want to go.”

  Understanding registered in his expression. “Ah ha. I shouldn’t be surprised.” He opened the glass door for her, and she went inside.

  Breathing in the heavenly aromas of strong coffee, and fresh-baked pastry, Jordan sighed with pleasure. Her mouth watered as she joined the line at the long counter and took in the variety of confections and croissant sandwiches inside the glass display cases. “Wow. These all look amazing.”

  Take me into the playroom, Kitty implored.

  As Jordan waited for their turn to order, she glanced through the large window that separated the cat area from the café. “After we get our food we’ll go over there,” she told the cat. But she’d have to ask whoever was in charge before letting Kitty loose with the other cats.

  “Hmm?” Harry said.

  She relayed Kitty’s request to him.

  “Hi, may I help you?” A lanky brunette with a deep olive complexion smoothed a short dreadlock off of her forehead.

  Jordan pointed to a croissant stuffed with Brie in the case. “I’d like that sandwich and a cinnamon latte. And admission into the cat room.”

  “Just double that,” Harry told the barista.

  The young woman handed another customer a tray with coffee, and a pastry then punched a few buttons on the register screen. “It’ll be a few minutes if that’s okay. I’m all by myself here, and my adoptions manager is getting married and moving away next week.”

  “No problem,” Jordan assured her.

  Harry handed the woman his credit card. “Would you happen to have a local phone directory?”

  “Sure, give me a sec.” She gave back Harry’s card then plated the sandwiches.

  Jordan pulled a few napkins from a dispenser. “Would it be all right if he let out his cat in the playroom? We’ve got a leash for her, but she’ll behave.”

  The barista glanced at the backpack. “Sure, but I’d prefer if you’d keep her leashed.” She handed Harry a tray.

  “No problem,” Harry told her.

  The woman disappeared into a back room for a moment before returning. She gave Jordan a small phone book. “Here you go.”

  “Thanks,” she said. “I’ll return it before we leave.”

  After Harry got their drinks, they went into the cat room and set their order on a bistro table in the corner.

  Jordan attached Kitty’s leash and took her out of the carrier. Several cats came over.

  Hi, who are you? An orange and white tabby sniffed Kitty’s nose.

  A Siamese mix rubbed against Jordan’s shin. Want to play?

  Jordan hung her sweater over the back of her chair. “After I eat.”

  While Harry thumbed through the phone book, Jordan watched the cats chase toy mice, and climb the carpet-covered cat trees and the high ledges on the walls. The atmosphere was so warm and cozy. If she and Harry weren’t on an important mission, she’d have loved to stay at the café all day.

  Harry set his sandwich down and frowned. “Alan and Jennifer Harrison aren’t listed, but…” His lips flattened to a tight line.

  She sipped her coffee. “But what?”

  “Sawyer Harrison is listed.”

  “The son?” She met his stare. “You.”

  New lines fanned out from the corners of Harry’s eyes. “It very well could be. This phonebook is four years old.”

  Jordan checked the listing then typed the address and phone number into her phone. “Let’s check it out.”

  Harry took Kitty with him as he went to return the phone book to the barista.

  Jordan noticed a striped tabby sitting under one of the tables. She went over and
crouched down to pet the cat. “Hi sweetie, I’m Jordan.”

  The feline lifted his head for a moment. Hi.

  “Are you okay?” Jordan asked it.

  My tooth hurts. I can’t eat anything, but I’m hungry. The tabby laid his head down again.

  “Ready?”

  Glancing up at Harry, Jordan nodded. “Give me a moment.” She threw away her trash then returned to the counter.

  The barista was taking an order. Glancing at Jordan, she said, “I’ll be right with you.”

  “Sure.”

  The woman handed the customer his coffee as she answered the phone. “Cove Cat Café, this is Luna.” She nodded and furrowed her brow. “I see…mm-hmm. Right. Thanks, Dr. Anderson.” After she hung up, the woman looked at Jordan. “Did you need something?”

  Jordan swallowed. Would the barista think she was crazy? All Jordan could do was hope not. “The striped tabby with the purple collar isn’t feeling well.”

  The woman raised an eyebrow. “I know. That was the vet on the phone returning my call. He’s going to see Tiger in the morning.”

  “Tiger,” Jordan repeated. “He’s got a toothache. It’s why he isn’t eating.”

  Luna stilled. “How’d you know that he hasn’t been eating?”

  Jordan shrugged. “Lucky guess. But trust me. The problem is a dental one.”

  Widening her eyes, the woman slowly nodded. “O…kay.”

  So what if Luna thought Jordan was crazy. As long as the cat got care soon, Jordan didn’t mind. Before they left, Jordan waved goodbye to her new feline friends. She offered up a silent wish that someday she’d be able to visit again when she had more time. “Where to?” she asked Harry.

  He opened the passenger door of her car for her. “Sawyer Harrison’s house.”

  “Your old home?” she asked.

  Harry’s chest expanded with a breath. “Time will tell.”

  Chapter Eleven

  “We’re almost there.” Jordan looked up from the navigation app on her phone. “The house should be up here on the right.”

  Harry swallowed past the dryness in his throat as he drove toward a large Spanish-style home with a terracotta roof on a bluff overlooking the Atlantic.

  Jordan covered his hand with hers. “Well?”

  “I’m not sure.” His heart thundered in his chest. Maybe the house had been his at one time, but clearly, someone else was living there now. A stone fountain in the yard was running, and the grass had been recently mowed.

  “Let’s go knock on the door.” Jordan opened her door. “Ready?”

  No. “Sure.” He opened the car windows to give his cat air. “Be right back, Kitty.” Steeling himself, he headed up the walk toward the stone porch. Knowing Jordan was by his side gave him the confidence to face whatever lay behind that arched doorway.

  Jordan rang the bell.

  Harry inhaled the salty sea air and let the soothing sound of the waves calm his nerves.

  After a minute or so, a middle-aged blond opened the door. “Yes?”

  Glancing past the woman, he saw a staircase with shelves built into the triangular wall underneath.

  I built those shelves.

  Goosebumps rose on his skin.

  “Um…hello,” Jordan said. “We were…um…”

  “I used to live here,” Harry blurted out.

  The blond raised an eyebrow. “Oh?” She paled as she took a backward step and grasped the doorknob. “What do you want?”

  Jordan cleared her throat. “Would it be okay if we looked around?”

  The woman shook her head. “No, I don’t think so.” She started to shut the door.”

  “Wait,” Harry implored. “Who sold this place?”

  She eyed him for several seconds. “I rent it, actually. My landlady is Angelica Jespers.” With that, she closed the door.

  “Angelica Jespers,” he murmured.

  Jordan typed on her phone as they returned to the car. “I’m Googling her.”

  Harry started the motor. Movement nearby caught his eye. A black sedan sped past them. “That’s the same car that was following me back in Nocturne Falls.”

  Gasping, Jordan buckled her seatbelt and held Kitty on her lap. “Are you sure?”

  He took off after the other vehicle. “Ninety-nine percent sure.”

  The sedan raced along the narrow, winding road, picking up more and more speed. Harry stayed on the driver’s tail.

  When the other car rounded a curve too quickly, it skidded off the road and crashed in a sandy ditch. Harry pulled over. “Stay in the car,” he told Jordan. “And call for help.”

  “Be careful.”

  Harry got out, opened the trunk, and grabbed a tire iron. Then he started toward the sedan. Dark tint obscured his view into the vehicle, but when he walked closer, he saw the silhouette of a man slumped at the wheel. Smoke rose from under the hood.

  Harry pulled open the door and dragged the unconscious man away.

  Jordan descended the slope toward him. “Help is on the way.”

  “Move your car,” he told Jordan. “The sedan could be leaking gasoline.”

  Sirens wailed in the distance, coming toward them. Harry felt the man’s neck and found a pulse. Too bad the guy wasn’t conscious. Hopefully, he’d be all right and could tell them why he’d been stalking them.

  A police car screeched to a stop a few yards from Jordan’s vehicle. A firetruck arrived moments after, and three firemen jumped out. Two headed to the crashed sedan, and one came over to tend to the driver.

  The cop strode toward Harry. When he was a few feet away, the brown-haired officer looked at Harry and gasped. The man drew his weapon and trained it on Harry. “You! Put your hands up where I can see them, and get down on your knees.”

  “No! It wasn’t his fault.” Jordan closed the distance to Harry and wrapped her arms around him. “The other driver has been following him. That man even broke into the house where I’m staying.”

  “Step away from him, ma’am,” the officer warned.

  She shook her head. “You can’t do this.”

  Harry eased her back. “It’ll be okay.” But he knew it would never be okay again. All of his worst fears about his past were true. Whatever sins he’d committed back then, he’d have to pay for them now. He kneeled on the ground, and as the handcuffs clicked around his wrists, he resigned himself to whatever fate he’d earned during a life he couldn’t even recall.

  “Embezzlement,” Sheriff RJ Higgins told Jordan when she arrived at the police station. “The money that your boyfriend stole nearly bankrupted this town’s oldest and dearest landmark, the Sherwood House.”

  When the police had arrived at the scene of the accident a little while ago, and they’d immediately arrested Harry, Jordan had wondered if Harry had indeed been a criminal in his former life. But it had only taken her a split second to realize that the cops had to be wrong about him. Sure, she had a history of unwittingly falling for bad boys, but she knew in her heart of hearts that Harry was a good man, and always had been. The sheriff was mistaken.

  She unclenched her fists and drew a calming breath. “Someone kidnapped Harry four years ago. They tried to kill him, but miraculously he survived. Only he had no memory of anything that happened before he came to.”

  The sheriff lowered himself into his desk chair and folded his arms over his muscular chest. “Yeah, he claims that he’s had a convenient case of amnesia for the past four years. That’s about as implausible as aliens landing a spaceship in the middle of Wilshire Park.”

  Having lived in Nocturne Falls for more than a year, Jordan knew such a thing was in fact, possible, but saying so would only weaken her case. “Why haven’t you questioned the driver of the black sedan yet? You have to believe me, Sheriff. I’m sure he’s the one who broke in and nearly killed Harry a few days ago in Nocturne Falls, Georgia.”

  Higgins shrugged. “I’d love to hear what he’s got to say. Unfortunately, he’s still unconscious. One of my offi
cers is with him, though. Deputy Fuller will let me know when he comes out of it. And your boyfriend’s name is Sawyer Harrison, not Harry Hill.”

  Jordan paced the floor in the sheriff’s small office. “When can I speak to Harry…er…Sawyer?”

  The sheriff glanced past Jordan and called to the middle-aged receptionist in the outer office. “Delores, has our prisoner been booked yet?”

  Booked? Jordan conjured an image of poor Harry being fingerprinted and thrown into a tiny, dank dungeon. Her blood ran cold.

  “I’ll check, boss.” The brunette picked up her phone and spoke into it too quietly for Jordan to hear. After a minute or so, she hung up. “Pete says he’s finished processing the prisoner.”

  Sheriff Higgins stood up and gestured for Jordan to follow him. “Come on.”

  Jordan asked the receptionist if she’d mind watching Kitty for a few minutes.

  The woman’s face lit up as she held out her arms for the carrier. “I’d be thrilled.”

  Sheriff Higgins led Jordan to the back of the building. He unlocked a metal door and ushered Jordan into a concrete room that was divided into three jail cells with too-bright fluorescent lighting.

  Harry was lying on a cot in the middle cell, she ran over and gripped the bars. “Are you all right?”

  He sat up but the deep lines creasing his brow, and his sagging shoulders assured her that he was anything but. “I’m sorry I let you down, Jordan.”

  She swallowed past the golfball-sized lump in her throat. “I’m going to get you out of here.”

  Harry merely shook his head. “Cut your losses. I’m not worth it. Will you keep my cat for me?”

  “Only if you promise me that you won’t give up on yourself. Because I never will.” How was she going to get him out of there? She didn’t have bail money, not that she had any idea how much that would be. There had to be something she could do, someone she could call.

  A thought occurred to her. “What about your parents?” Turning to the sheriff, she asked, “Do you know where Har…I mean Sawyer’s parents live. I’m sure they would help him.”

  Higgins blanched. He looked from Jordan to Sawyer then back again. “You really don’t know?”

  “Know what?” Harry asked.