“So… Gran is going to spray women so they can have more babies?” asked Dooley.
“Something like that,” I admitted, though the plan seemed a little extreme, even for Gran.
“Don’t you need FDA approval before you can bring a drug to market?” asked Brutus.
“Pretty sure you do,” said Harriet. “Otherwise, anyone can sell any drug and claim any benefits. Heck, I could bring a drug to market that promises to give cats gorgeous fur like mine, even though I fully well know it’s simple genetics.” She preened a little.
We had settled on the couch, and I had every intention of taking a long nap before I ventured out again—if I ventured out at all. I might stay on that couch for the next twenty-four hours to catch up on my sleep.
“Norm did a great job, didn’t he?” said Dooley, proud of our little winged friend. “He caught the killers, and he also managed to free us from that horrible hotel manager.”
“He did a wonderful job,” I admitted as I yawned widely. Though I still had my doubts about whether the bug spray people were responsible for the murder of Prince Abdullah. After all, I still couldn’t see a possible motive. Why murder their client when they were about to pitch their new and improved product to him? It didn’t seem logical. Then again, humans aren’t exactly the most logical species, and oftentimes they don’t need a reason to do anything.
I had just closed my eyes when Odelia entered the room via the front door. Chase was also with her, and they seemed happy to see us.
“You guys!” said Odelia. “For a moment, I thought you were still at the hotel.”
“Oh, Odelia, did we have an adventure!” said Dooley as he practically jumped up into her arms. She hugged him close, and he proceeded to fill her in on the details of what we had been through and the ordeal we had suffered at the hands of that evil hotel manager.
“And so the flies saved you?” she asked finally.
“The flies did what?” asked Chase as he opened the fridge looking for something to eat.
“The flies saved the cats from being locked up by Garland McNerlin,” said Odelia. “He thought they were making too much noise after guests had complained.”
“Is that a fact?” said the cop, not seeming all that interested in our ordeal. Then again, he probably had more important things to deal with than a couple of cats being locked up. An actual murder and also a drive-by shooting.
“Did you find out who tried to shoot that poor man?” asked Harriet, who must have been reminded of the same thing.
“Not yet,” said Odelia as she put Dooley back down. “So far, we don’t have a single lead.”
“We do have some CCTV footage,” said Chase. “And a video a bystander shot on his phone. But that hasn’t given us much to go on.”
“Fake license plates,” said Odelia clarified. “And a stolen vehicle.”
“So we still have no idea who was gunning for the guy.”
“He sure was lucky, though,” said Brutus. “Imagine being shot at and surviving the ordeal.”
“Thirty bullets fired,” said Odelia, “and not a single hit. He’s thanking his lucky stars.”
“I sure do,” said a man as he walked into our living room.
We all stared at him, and I asked the obvious question first: “Who is this guy?”
“Oh, that’s right,” said Odelia. “I almost forgot. This is Rogelio Hartshorn. He will stay with us for the time being. Or at least until we’ve managed to identify the people behind the attack.”
“And I wanted to thank you again,” said the man, who was tall, dark, and handsome, I have to say. He was also dressed to impress, in a fancy, and no doubt expensive, suit. “This can’t be easy for you. And if you prefer I stay at the hotel…”
“Nonsense,” said Chase. “You wouldn’t be safe at the hotel—or anywhere else for that matter. No, you’re staying with us and that’s all there is to it.”
“I’ll show you to your room,” said Odelia, and led the man up the stairs. I saw he was carrying a single suitcase, so at least that told us that he wouldn’t be staying long.
Dooley asked the next obvious question: “Does he have pets?”
“I don’t see any pets,” said Brutus. “I mean, if he did have any, he would have brought them, right?”
We all turned to Chase. But of course the cop couldn’t enlighten us. He’s one of those rare humans who can’t talk to cats. He was grinning, though, so I had the impression he knew exactly what we were thinking. He can’t talk to us, but he can read us very well after having spent so much time with us, and has an unfailing intuition about what keeps us up at night.
“Okay, so you don’t have to worry about a thing,” he assured us. “Rogelio is only going to be here for a short time. Like I said, until we manage to find out who’s gunning for him.”
“So… we’re a safe house now?” asked Brutus. “Is that it?”
“And we’re his bodyguards,” said Harriet sadly. “Which means we’ll have to protect him with our lives, you guys. Like the Secret Service. Catch a bullet for him if we have to.”
We all gulped in dismay. “But I don’t want to protect a total stranger with my life,” said Dooley. “I haven’t even been trained as a bodyguard so I wouldn’t know what to do.”
“Dooley is right,” said Brutus. “We didn’t receive any training. So maybe Chase should send us to a training course so we know what to do if those maniacs return and start shooting up the place?”
“Nobody will shoot up the place,” I said. “They don’t know that Rogelio is here, so they won’t come looking for him.”
“These people have ways,” said Brutus. “They always find their man. And when they do…” He gulped, and made a slicing motion across his throat.
Dooley’s lip quivered. “But I don’t want my throat cut, Brutus!”
“Nobody wants their throat cut. But that’s not going to stop these people from trying.”
“Nobody’s throat is going to be cut,” I said. “Chase knows what he’s doing, and so does Odelia. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have agreed to Rogelio staying with us.” After all, they not only had themselves to think of but also the four of us—and Grace, of course.
