Black Cat and the Accidental Angel (Black Cat Mysteries Book 3) (9 page)

What a lovely sight. Angel was right. If they couldn’t go home again, there wasn’t a nicer place to live than here on the ranch with John and Cindy. But, didn’t that all depend on finding a way to help John save the ranch?

Black Cat leaned down and touched the tranquil water. It rippled beneath his paw in a widening circle until it reached a school of baby fish. At the first ripple’s touch, they skittered into the rock crevices, and sent the petals careening into the current, where they tumbled and disappeared beneath the rushing water. “Angel, come and see the baby fishes.”

Angel sat straight and tall, her front paws together, her head held high, like an Egyptian goddess. “They’re called minnows. When they grow up, our
persons
catch them and eat them. They’re quite tasty, once you get around the little bones.” She gazed across the stream, like she was remembering a special moment. “Our
persons
slather them with butter and sprinkle salt and spices on top. Then they toss them on a barbeque grill until their outer skin is all golden brown and crispy.”

Black Cat could almost hear them sizzle. His mouth watered. The creek bed faded and another scene flashed into his mind.

There was the house with the purple flowers over the porch. The house sat close to the shore of a crystal lake
…
Boats with colored sails were tied at the dock
…
Across the lawn, a row of cabins. There! The little girl with bouncing curls and the beautiful lady sat at a table on a cobblestoned patio. A tall blond man moved pieces of fish sputtering on a black barbecue grill. A black and white cat
…

Black Cat threw up his head. “I remember a barbecue. It must have been my family…and a lake and boats. I remember! I think I was—”

The sound of feet crashing through the bushes interrupted his memory.
Someone’s out there.

“Here, duck behind this log. Someone’s coming.” Black Cat crouched beside Angel.

Just beyond the bushes—the faint outline of two people. Tree branches obscured their faces, but their voices could just be heard over the sound of the water as they came closer to where the cats were hidden.

“So, let me get this straight. Just exactly how far should I push him? Things could get ugly.” A shock of dark blond hair was visible through the leaves.

Black Cat peeked over the log and strained to hear the muted voices as they moved further away.

“Do whatever it takes. The bank…already…foreclosure. Put more pressure… I need him to see things my way before… With the laws…take five or six months…evict him. I don’t want to wait…”

“Trust me…come to his senses. I’ve got a few ideas…” The blond man laughed.

“Do whatever you…careful…hurt Cindy.”

Black Cat glanced at Angel.
They know Cindy’s name?
John’s troubles were bigger than they had guessed. Why these people were in such a hurry to get control of a non-producing vineyard and a dozen Emus that hadn’t yet hatched a chick was a puzzle. Was there something else of value on the land? These two weren’t fooling around, and somehow it involved Cindy. How could they think about leaving if she was in danger?

“Come on. Let’s follow them and find out what they’re up to.” Black Cat hopped over the log.

Angel followed on little cat feet behind the mysterious figures.

The tall blond man shuffled along the riverbank, his hands stuffed in his pockets.

The shorter one wore a black sweatshirt with a red star on the back, the hood pulled up. They stopped beside the river and poked a stick in the sandy soil.

The blond man picked up a handful from the riverbank and rubbed it in his palms.

“What is he doing?” Angel whispered.

“Search me. They’re looking at the dirt. It doesn’t make any sense.”

The hooded figure pinched some of the dirt and held it up to the light. “Color. It’s all through this area. Didn’t I tell you?”

“Is that a good sign?”

The shorter figure’s head lowered. The hood obscured the scoundrel’s face. “It doesn’t concern you. Your job is to bring him around. I don’t care how you do it. There’s an extra $1000 for you if he’s out of here by the end of the month.” The two turned back toward the road.

The blond man nodded. “Trust me. He’s as good as gone.”

Angel and Black Cat sat beneath the bushes long after the couple were out of sight.

“Poor John! Bad enough the bank is after him, now these two.”

Angel shook her head. “The least we can do is keep an eye on Cindy and keep her safe. We should get back. We’ve been gone quite a while. She’ll be worried. I’ll race you back. Just try and catch me!” She ran, leaving him staring after her retreating figure.

She had more gumption than he thought. By the time he reached the front porch, she was waiting beside the door.

He panted.
I’m getting all out of shape.
Perhaps I should lose a pound.
Yes, indeed. He’d start a diet. First thing tomorrow, right after breakfast.

Chapter Nine

M
oving slowly up the steps onto the porch, Black Cat gasped for breath, his lungs thumping from the exertion. It was a good thing to let her win once in a while. Bolstered her ego.

Angel sat beside the door, delicately licking her shoulder. She wasn’t even breathing hard.

The screen door squeaked open. “Oh! There you are.” Cindy shook her finger. “Bad kitties! Where have you been? I thought you were lost again. Wait until you see who came to visit. Come in and say hello to my mama.”

Black Cat took a deep breath, his sides still heaving. Cindy’s mama? He didn’t know she had a mama. No one had mentioned her before. Where had she been all this time? He stepped inside.

Cindy closed the front door.

A lady with short-cropped blonde hair, cut square across her ears, sat on the sofa. She took a drag from her cigarette, tipped up her face and blew smoke toward the ceiling. She sat back, a nervous smile touching the corner of her mouth. Her gaze flit across the room and settled on the family picture on the mantle. She shook her head as though the memory of days gone by was too troubling to remember. She glanced back at Cindy when she spoke.

“Daddy says no one should smoke in the house. It isn’t good for you, Mama.”

The mama squashed her cigarette into a cup on the coffee table. “Okay. I’ll put it out.” She fidgeted with her lighter, and then laid it beside the coffee cup.

“This is Angel and Black Cat.” Cindy gathered Angel in her arms. “They were in the back of Daddy’s truck when we got home from Grandma’s house. We’re taking care of them until we find their home.” Cindy bent down and kissed the top of Angel’s head. “I made some lost and found posters and we’re going to put them at the grocery store.” Cindy flipped Angel onto her shoulder and patted her back. She sat down beside her mother. “You can pet her if you want. She’s real gentle.”

Angel moved her head away from Cindy’s long brown ponytail, turned and looked into the mama’s face.

Black Cat’s gaze fixed on Cindy’s mother. She had blue eyes like Cindy, but different. Not kind, like John’s. More intense, calculating, maybe even hard. In an instant, he took a measure of the woman.
I don’t like her
. No particular reason. Just didn’t. He noticed how Angel’s ears tipped back like when something smells bad. She felt the same way about the mama. How odd.

“She’s very pretty.” The words were right but her tone had a cold insincere quality. Cindy’s mama touched Angel’s head.

Angel jerked back, as though the mama’s fingers had shocked her head.

“I hope you aren’t going to feel bad when you find her owner.” The mama pulled out a lipstick and mirror from her purse, applied a coat of bright red lipstick and then dropped the items back into her handbag. She smacked her lips and reached for Angel. “It’s not a good idea to get attached to strays.”

Strays? What kind of a remark was that? How could she call them
strays
? They weren’t strays. They had homes and
persons
. He just didn’t know who or where they were at the moment.

The smile melted from Cindy’s face. Making lost and found posters probably sounded like a good idea—in the beginning. It hadn’t occurred to her how she would feel when she found their home and had to give them up.

Her face brightened. “Maybe nobody will call. Daddy says I can keep them if nobody comes.” Her ponytail bounced as she emphasized each word.

The mama ran her hands over Angel’s back and around her tummy. “Did you know that she’s going to have kittens? Your daddy can’t afford to keep a passel of cats around here. Maybe it would be best if you took them to the pound before she has kittens and before you get attached to them.”

The breakfast tuna in Black Cat’s stomach did a summersault. Kittens? Kittens? Guess that was one more thing Angel
forgot
to mention. His heart flipped over. He moved toward the door, his gaze locked on Angel’s face.

She turned away from his gaze.

She’s embarrassed. She won’t even meet my eyes
. He walked slowly to the door.
Please. Someone open the door and let me out before I toss a hairball.

Why Angel kept so many secrets was beyond understanding—and now this! She might have mentioned she was expecting right from the start. It was somewhat pertinent, wasn’t it? He lowered his ears and faced the door, his back toward Angel, his heart feeling like a wad of aluminum foil in a campfire.

The mama dropped Angel on the sofa, walked over and opened the door. “Scat!”

Black Cat raced across the yard toward the Emu enclosure.

One of the Emus rushed to the edge of the fence when he ran past. She craned her neck and jerked her head.
Yark! Yark, Yark!

Black Cat ignored the Emu, turned on his heel and streaked back across the yard toward a pile of firewood stacked near the end of the driveway. Across the front, a sign read
Firewood:$200 Cord.

Another of John’s efforts to put food on the table, but it was doubtful he sold enough wood to meet all his obligations. For a man who tried so hard, he sure had bad luck. Nothing seemed to go right for the guy. Nothing much was going right for Black Cat these days, either. He and John were two of a kind
.
The weight in his heart felt as heavy as an iron doorstop.

Here he sat, in the middle of nowhere, didn’t know his name or where he came from. Angel was the only link to his past, however grim it might be, and she held the truth locked tight in her heart and denied him access. Now, she had betrayed him. He should run away, that’s what he should do. Just march right down the driveway, turn left and keep going. What was Angel to him anyway?

She said she was his bride. Was it the truth? Was he the father of her kittens? Maybe. Maybe not. She hadn’t even told him her real name. He’d assumed they had a past together, but for all he knew, she might have been out for a walk one day and wandered past his broken carrier. Maybe she saw him lying in the ditch, felt a
pity-pang
and figured he’d be her missionary project this week. Maybe she was just a pregnant hussy looking for someone to take responsibility for her kittens. How easy it was to string him along with a bunch of evasions and lies and he’d never know the difference in his condition.

Ever since the day they met, he had come to believe they had a special connection. No! More than a connection. He loved her and thought she felt the same. Betrayed! Betrayed!

The ache in his heart swelled. His stomach lurched, like when he had a hairball and couldn’t get it up. His body convulsed again and again, until with the last retch, up came breakfast. Nothing left inside now, but an empty stomach and a dark and foreboding sorrow. He felt lost in a deep fog with no way back. If a cat could cry, he would have drowned in his own tears.

The rumble of the mama’s car forced him out of his lethargy and back to reality as she cruised down the driveway and turned left onto the country road. He was glad she was gone. She was a terrible woman. She thought John should send them to the pound! She even called them strays. The old witch! Strays? The word made his blood boil.

He sat still, listening to the wind whistling through the pines, mentally probing the pain in his heart, pushing it from side to side. Like a sore tooth, thinking the next time you touch it, maybe it won’t hurt as much. Finding with each touch, the pain is still there, pulsing and throbbing, yet you’re unable to stop poking it with your tongue.

Angel!
The breeze whispered her name as it swished through the pines.
Angel!
A bird chirped her name from the treetop.
Angel
. Somewhere down the road, a chainsaw hummed, repeating her name over and over until the humming stopped and there was stillness.

He sighed. So, Angel was in the family way. The question niggled at him again. Was he the father? Why would she conceal something as important as that? He hung his head.