Un-Fur-tunate Events (Vanessa Abbot Cat Cozy Mystery Series Book 4)

by Nancy C. Davis

  The cats purred into her ears and drowned out the night noises outside Vanessa’s window. All of a sudden, her eyes snapped open and she strained her ears to catch the slightest sound. Porcupine's head shot up, but none of the other cats moved a muscle. Vanessa lifted her head to hear an unfamiliar clinking.

  Yes, there it was again. The chain on her driveway gate tinkled ever so slightly. It didn't rattle the way it did when the gate moved in the wind. One link touched another and fell silent. If she hadn't been lying awake in the quiet moments before sleep, she never would have heard it.

  No other sound came to her ear, but she couldn't relax again. She maneuvered around the cats and heaved herself out of the bed. Some of the cats woke but soon settled back down to sleep, but Vanessa breathed a sigh of relief when Henry and AngelPie got up and followed her downstairs.

  She paused in the front hall and listened again. Something rustled in the grass outside in the driveway, and she knew it couldn’t be a cat. She flicked on the porch light and pulled the front door open with as much noise as she could manage. She stepped out onto the porch to discover Sabrina staring up at her in the glare of the blinding lights.

  Vanessa stood up straight. “What are you doing here, Sabrina?”

  Sabrina stared at her. “You have it, don’t you? If you give it back to me, I won’t have to hurt you.”

  Vanessa frowned. “Are you talking about Andrea’s medication? I don’t have it, Sabrina. It is now evidence in the case. Detective Wheeler was going to have you arrested. I know you had a role in Jerry’s death. You should turn yourself in to the police.”

  Sabrina shook her head. “I’m not going to do that and I am certainly not going to leave here now.”

  Vanessa took a step out onto the porch. “Where's your car? I am not the one you should be concerned about. It’s over. I don’t know why you killed Jerry but the police know it was you and turning yourself in may help in some way.”

  Sabrina waved back over her shoulder. “I parked it out on the road. This is now between you and me.”

  “The police know about the Prohiborol and the investigation of the foundation. I don’t know if you conspired with Frank or Steve to stop Jerry from testifying. Was it about the money? Were you having an affair with Frank?” Vanessa took another step towards Sabrina.

  Sabrina stood in silence.

  “Why are you here?” Vanessa demanded.

  Vanessa’s phone rang within the house.

  “You don’t know anything.” Sabrina yelled. “I’m not having an affair with Frank! He didn’t make me do anything, and Steve was already scared of being arrested by the feds. He would never take action like I did.”

  Vanessa's mind whirled. Her phone rang out again.

  “That must be Pete. Maybe he is on his way here to update me on this case,” Vanessa blurted.

  “He is probably still out looking for me,” Sabrina reached into her purse. “And look at you, you are still in your pajamas, it doesn’t look like you were expecting anyone tonight.”

  “I have been phoning and texting Pete all night. He will probably be here any moment,” Vanessa muttered. The phone continued to call out from its perch on the console table in the hallway.

  Vanessa turned toward the door. Sabrina sprung into action and pulled a revolver from her purse.

  “Don’t take another step, Vanessa.” Sabrina hissed and pointed the barrel of the revolver at Vanessa.

  Vanessa stopped before she could reach the door and from the corner of her eyes, she spotted AngelPie at the window looking out.

  “Sabrina, I don’t have the bottle of Prohiborol. There is nothing here,” Vanessa urged.

  The phone stopped ringing and the house fell silent.

  “Pete probably thinks your fast asleep. I guess he won’t be driving out here until tomorrow,” Sabrina snorted.

  Vanessa slowly turned back to Sabrina. “What are you doing here? I’ve have done nothing to you.”

  “Peter is dying and he needed me to save him,” Sabrina growled. “I spoke to Frank this morning about moving him up the transplant list. Now, because of you, that isn’t going to happen. It is all your fault!”

  “That wasn’t my intention to prevent your boyfriend from receiving a transplant. I only wanted to do what was right. Jerry was poisoned on my property. I feel responsible to resolve this case,” Vanessa pleaded.

  “Your meddling is going to make me lose the only thing important in my life,” Sabrina bellowed. “You are responsible, Vanessa. I am going to make you pay for my loss.”

  The phone rang out again and Vanessa spun and sprinted through the doorway. A shot rang out and Vanessa flung herself to floor of the hallway. She gathered herself up then jumped to close and lock the front door.

  Vanessa looked into the living room. The cats stood silent and gazed up at her. What could she do to protect the cats? Sabrina banged on the door and shouted. “Vanessa, where are you going to go? There is no escape.”

  Vanessa grabbed the phone as it rang out again. Vanessa picked it up and Pete’s voice called out from the speaker. “Vanessa, hello…we haven’t found Sabrina. I am on my way. Frank informed me that Sabrina asked him to have her boyfriend moved up the donor list. If she has discovered the missing bottle from her purse, she will be coming for you.”

  “She’s here, Pete. She’s outside my door. My cats…” Vanessa sputtered.

  “I am on my way,” Pete assured Vanessa. “Keep safe until I get there.”

  Sabrina’s banging stopped and three shots blasted through the front door. The cats scattered at the sound and Vanessa dropped her phone.

  “Vanessa…Vanessa!” Pete’s voice was faint through the phone’s speaker.

  Sabrina kicked the door open and stood in the doorframe. “Vanessa, I’m not leaving. Jerry wouldn’t listen to me either. He tried to prevent me from saving my boyfriend’s life too.”

  “Sabrina, there is no need for violence,” Vanessa proclaimed. Sabrina crept down the hallway towards Vanessa.

  Sabrina cocked her revolver and grinned like a wolf. “You and that detective friend of yours ruined a perfectly planned murder. No one would have ever have figured out I killed Jerry if it hadn't been for you. ”

  “It wasn’t a perfect murder. Pete was already investigating who might have killed Jerry the moment he arrived on the scene. Even my cats knew when the group showed up to the picnic something was afoot,” Vanessa ventured.

  Sabrina didn't hear her. “If Frank hadn't come up with the idea of having the picnic here, you wouldn't have gotten involved in the investigation. I would have gotten away with it.”

  “Murder is never that easy. You wanted to save your boyfriend but that was the wrong way to go about it.”

  Sabrina laughed out loud. “How naïve you are? If you don’t have money, you end up sitting on the list until you die. That’s how our foundation functioned.”

  “That can’t be true. You were worried about your boyfriend. You wanted to save his life, but I don’t think Jerry intended for your boyfriend to die waiting for a transplant. Jerry was a good person, he has always helped people in need.”

  Sabrina waved her gun to one side, but she brought it right back to pointing at Vanessa's chest. “Jerry’s dead now and you can’t justify his actions to me. Stop trying to rationalize the foundation.”

  Henry poked his head around the living room’s archway. Vanessa glanced over at him and then returned her view to Sabrina.

  Vanessa stared at her. “Just turn yourself into the police. If your boyfriend lives, and you kill me, you will end up behind bars the rest of your life.”

  “I know he only has a few months to live without a transplant,” Sabrina went on. “I have seen his charts. I have been through it many times before as a nurse in intensive care. I know when a patient has hope and when they don’t. I don’t care what happens to me now. At least, I will have the satisfaction of killing you.”

  “Freeze, Sabrina, don’t make another move,”
A male voice thundered through the house, and Vanessa and Sabrina spun around to find Pete Wheeler standing in the doorway with his .45-caliber semi-automatic in his hand. “You're under arrest, Sabrina. Put down the weapon and get down on the ground with your hands behind your head.”

  Sabrina bared her gritted teeth and sprang into a crouch. Gunshots exploded through the house. The first shot sunk through the doorframe next to Vanessa's head and she dropped to the ground. Sabrina swung around and fired at Pete. He ducked behind the front door just as Sabrina's second bullet splintered the wood. Sabrina fired twice more, and the bullets shattered the wooden door panels.

  Vanessa covered her head with her arms. Blue gun smoke filled the room and burned her throat and eyes. How could she help Pete without a weapon? In the background, the frightened yowls of cats reached her ears. She had to save her precious cats from this mayhem.

  She looked up to see Henry race across her field of view. Was he running away from danger or into it? She had to catch him and carry him away before anything happened to him. What would she ever do without Henry? Then she remembered Pete facing a hail of bullets on the other side of that door. She had to find a way to save Pete—but how? Should she help him or Henry first?

  Before she could decide what to do, Henry darted into the room and skidded on the hall carpet. It bunched into an accordion under his feet. At the same moment, AngelPie slithered out of the kitchen. She pushed her way behind the potted azalea in the hall and knocked it over. It hit the floor, and the pot shattered into a million ceramic shards. Soil and dead leaves scattered across the floor and distracted Sabrina.

  Sabrina turned around to see what made the commotion. Vanessa plunged towards her from a crouched position and pushed Sabrina over the crumpled carpet. Sabrina lost her footing and stumbled. The revolver flung from her hands and landed in the corner of the living room.

  Vanessa darted towards the revolver. Sabrina grabbed her ankle, tripping Vanessa and caused her to fall to the floor. Henry pounced on Sabrina’s chest. His claws dug into her skin.

  “Get off of me!” Sabrina yelled as Henry jumped away. Vanessa kicked free of Sabrina’s grasp and made it to the revolver.

  Vanessa swung around and pointed the barrel at Sabrina. “Pete! It’s safe now. I have the gun.”

  Pete held his revolver at Sabrina. “Don’t move.”

  Vanessa hand’s shook violently. “I have it from here, Vanessa. Put the revolver down. It’s over.”

  Vanessa laid the revolver down on the console table.

  Pete smiled as he handcuffed Sabrina. “I guess I was worried for nothing. You were able to take care of yourself.”

  “The cats are the real heroes,” Vanessa replied. “I don’t know what I would do without them.”

  Chapter 12

  Vanessa looked out from the porch admiring the sanctuary in the early dawn. There was still a mist hovering in the air. Flossy was hopping through the grass chasing after a brave squirrel. Vanessa took a long sip of tea. She looked over at Henry who was perched on the top rail of the porch.

  Henry’s attention was focused on a tree where a sparrow hopped from branch to branch.

  “Downtown never offered as much excitement, don’t you think, Henry?” Vanessa remarked. “I like it here at the sanctuary.”

  Henry turned to her with his glossy green eyes.

  “Yes, Henry, when there are not bullets flying through the air.”

  Vanessa turned and looked at what remained of her front door. The door could be replaced. Fortunately, none of her cats had caught a stray bullet.

  A worn, Toyota Corolla veered into her driveway. Teddy greeted Pete as he stepped out of the car.

  “The foundation is shut down,” Pete called out.

  Vanessa forced a smile. “I’m glad Andrea came to her senses and testified. The foundation had a respectable beginning, but it soured because of greed.”

  Pete climbed the porch steps. “Even Frank blamed himself for Jerry’s murder. I think the revelation of Sabrina’s crime shocked him to the core.”

  Vanessa handed Pete a cup of black coffee.

  Pete smiled. “You remembered, I take it black.”

  Henry balanced himself on the rail as he made his way toward Pete. Henry made a soft meow.

  “Steve, on the other hand, was asking what was going to happen to his BMW.”

  Vanessa grinned. “He was always particular about his BMW.”

  “Vanessa, you should really join the police force. With the help of your cats, you would make quite the detective,” Pete suggested.

  Vanessa sighed. “I think I have had enough excitement for awhile.”

  Pete scratched Henry behind the ears.

  “When do you have a night free for dinner? I have a roasted chicken recipe that will make you forget all about the frozen dinners you heat up,” Vanessa teased.

  Pete looked over at Vanessa. “I think it’s my turn to make you dinner. I promise you it won’t involve a microwave.”

  Vanessa smiled and took a long sip of her tea.

  The End.

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