The Telltale Turtle (The Pet Psychic Mysteries) (14 page)

"That's what I think."

"Why not come after you? I think the chances are pretty good that with you out of the way no one else would talk to the turtle."

She considered his point. "It's possible he meant to hold Baylor hostage until this is over. Maybe the threat on the phone today was another effort to keep me quiet."

Angellus put away his pen and notebook. "I don't think anybody else is going to buy that, Mary Catherine. But no matter what, a phone threat, even to your cat, should be taken seriously. I'll have someone go over the tapes and see what we can find"

"Thank you, Detective. I know this is hard for you to believe."

"You could say that." He finished his latte and glanced around the crowded coffee house. "But I have a question for you. This may seem unimportant."

"No!" She leaned forward, trying to sound surprised. "What is it?"

He looked uncomfortable. "My wife is a big fan of yours. She made me promise if I saw you again I'd ask about our hermit crab. He doesn't ever come out of his shell, you know? What do you think we should do?"

Hello Mary Catherine!

I'm a researcher in Tokyo. I've had many strange encounters with animals, particularly dogs, during the course of my two-year study into animal behavior before earthquakes. All animals react strangely just before an earthquake hits. If we can learn to understand their behavior, I believe we can use their ability to sense these things before they happen and save many human lives.

Have you ever had a dog predict an earthquake?

MARY CATHERINE WASN'T SURE what to say. She didn't know any therapies for hermit crabs. "I could try to talk to the poor thing, if you like."

Detective Angellus nodded. "That would be great. My wife gets home about five. Any time after that would be fine. I'll draw you a map while you get those tapes."

The irony of the request wasn't lost on Mary Catherine. Angellus had made fun of her ability to communicate with animals. Now he wanted her help. It didn't surprise her.

She didn't mind, especially since he was going to try to help her. She went back upstairs to the radio station with him to get copies of the tapes from Mindy. "When do you think you'll know something? Should I stay away from my apartment until this is sorted out?"

"I don't know how long it will take to ID the man on the tapes." He shrugged. "It could be anyone. I don't think you have to worry about him trying to hurt you. I think this guy is probably just mouthing off. If he was that close to you last night and wanted to hurt you, he would have. Just make sure you don't give any statements to the police or any media. We don't want to draw this guy out again until we figure out who he is."

"What about Cousin Bob? Are you going to check him out?"

"As soon as I figure out who Cousin Bob is. In the meantime, take it easy. Lay low."

She agreed. "You don't have to worry about that. And I think Baylor and I might check into a hotel for a few nights."

"Okay. Let me know when you're set up." Angellus sniffed and ran his hand across his forehead. "Don't forget about my wife's hermit crab, huh?"

"I'll be there after five," she promised as her cell phone rang. He mouthed his goodbyes as she took the call. It was Danny calling from the clinic. He thought he had a family who might be interested in adopting Bruno and wanted to know when she'd be back.

She told him she was leaving the studio and would be there in a few minutes. She thanked Mindy for copying the tapes and left with Baylor in her arms. She took the elevator downstairs, considering which local hotels allowed pets and wondering if she could sneak in with Baylor if she couldn't find one that did. She didn't know if she should leave her house, but she didn't feel safe there, either.

She looked up as someone opened the door that led outside. Her head snapped up when she recognized Charlie. "What are you doing here?"

"You're psychic. You tell me."

"If you don't leave, I'll call the police."

"You can't really believe I'd hurt Baylor, can you?" He put his hand out quickly and ruffled Baylor's tawny fur. "We're buddies."

She was surprised when Baylor didn't scratch him. The cat answered her question with a clear response: this wasn't the human who'd trapped him.

She wondered how he could be so sure. The cat responded with a yawn, flexing on her arm. The scent was different. He would've recognized Charlie's cologne since he'd smelled it before. It definitely wasn't Charlie.

You could've told me before I made an idiot of myself. Baylor didn't apologize, refusing to take the blame for Mary Catherine jumping to conclusions.

"I'm sorry," she finally said to Charlie. "I was wrong about you last night. Baylor tells me it wasn't you outside the building."

"Of course it wasn't me!" Charlie scratched Baylor's ears. "I wouldn't hurt an animal."

"I jumped to conclusions." She couldn't believe Baylor was allowing Charlie to touch him without pulling back a bloody finger. "I was upset"

"That's okay." He looked at the door behind her. "I saw Angellus come out. What's up?"

A little stirring of self protection made her shy of answering his question completely. No matter what, he'd sent Colin's name and picture to Elmore Tate. She was having a little trouble totally trusting him. "It wasn't much. He had a few questions to ask me."

"Did it have anything to do with what happened to your cat last night?"

"Of course I told him about what happened."

"And you told him about the guy on the radio today?" He held open the door to her Mini Cooper after she'd unlocked it.

"You were listening?"

"I was. He sounded like a psycho to me. Was Angellus going to pick him up?"

So much for not telling him. "He's going to research it."

"In other words, no. You're on your own."

"He'll be in touch. I'm going to help him with his hermit crab."

Charlie closed the car door, but leaned against it. "Hire me. I'll protect you and catch the crazy guy."

She stared at him with her mouth open until she realized it and brought her lips together. "You have more nerve-"

"I'm not that expensive and you may need an extra set of eyes.

"We'll be just fine, Mr. Dowd. Thank you for your generous offer. Baylor and I always manage to get by." She started the car and began moving forward before Charlie stepped back from the door.

"Honestly," she stared back at him in the rearview mirror as she spoke to Baylor. "I can't even imagine him offering to help if I pay him. Especially after what happened with Colin last night."

Baylor meowed and lay back against the seat.

"That's funny coming from you. You never like anyone, but you were letting him scratch your ears. You hate having your ears scratched. I can't believe you trust him"

Mary Catherine approached the stoplight on Water Street going toward home. The light had just turned red, but one last car made it through the intersection on the yellow light. She put her foot down on the brake to stop the car, but nothing happened.

She tried again, looking down at the brake pedal to see what was wrong. She pushed her foot up and down on the pedal but nothing happened. She was sailing through the intersection without slowing down.

Baylor jumped up when he realized her dilemma. He meowed and hissed at traffic headed their way from driveways and the other streets.

"That's not going to do much good." She pulled up the hand brake but nothing happened. "I don't know what else to do. We either go on this way and risk hitting someone or pull up over the curb and hope it stops us before we hit a building."

She switched off the engine but the car kept rolling. Trucks honked their horns and drivers swore at her as they got out of her way. "It's no good. I thought we might slow down enough, but we're picking up speed. We have to take our chances with the building. Maybe the curb will stop us"

Mary Catherine veered sharply to the left. The curb was there beside her, but her turn managed to find a driveway. There were construction scaffolds with workers on them in her path, with nowhere to turn away from them.

The men in yellow hard hats started yelling and urging her to veer away. She tried to take the car to the right again but it was going too fast. Even though the Mini Cooper was close to the ground, the imbalance was too much. The little car flipped on its side. She didn't knock the men from the scaffolding.

She didn't move for a moment, taking stock of where she was and trying to figure out if she was okay. Baylor meowed angrily that he was fine, if anyone cared. He vowed never to get in a car with her again.

Mary Catherine looked out the window, not sure how to get out with the car lying on its right side. She was only being held in place by her seat belt. If she released it, she'd be flung down on top of Baylor on the other seat.

"Are you okay?" Charlie looked in through the open window. "Is Baylor all right?"

"We're fine. Can you help us out of here? I'm afraid to release the seat belt."

"Stay right there. I'll get some help."

Two burly firemen helped Mary Catherine out of the wrecked car while a third fireman got Baylor out. The cat was playing up the accident as much as possible. He lay on his side, barely moving, pitifully meowing.

"He's fine," she told the distressed fireman who held the cat. "He's faking it for attention."

The fireman looked at her, then looked at Baylor. "He seems injured to me, ma'am. Maybe we should call a vet."

"Maybe. I hope the vet brings a big needle to give him a shot." Mary Catherine mocked her pet's fear of needles.

Baylor pulled his head up quickly and looked around at the crowd that had gathered at the scene. He stopped meowing and jumped down to the ground at the fireman's feet.

"You're such a whiner," she told the cat. "I might really be hurt, but you barely moved in the car."

A paramedic approached her and offered to take her to the hospital. "You may be injured and not realize it," the young woman told her.

"No, thank you. I'll be fine. It was more a surprise than anything else. I'm sure I'm not hurt."

They had her sign a statement releasing them from responsibility, then the young paramedic got in her van and drove away. Mary Catherine was more worried about her own little car. It had obviously born the brunt of the misdeed. "It looks like we'll need a doctor for the car," she told the cat who was sniffing it. "At least she protected us."

"I think there may be something more to this than meets the eye," Charlie said. "Look here"

Mary Catherine stood beside him and stared at the car. Because it was flipped on its side, she could see the large, oily patch on the bottom. "What is that?"

"I think someone may have cut your brake line. I noticed something was wrong after you pulled out at the radio station. You left behind some brake fluid. That's why I followed you."

"You mean someone did this on purpose?"

"It wouldn't just cut itself," he assured her. "Maybe you should give Angellus a call. Trying to snatch your cat is one thing; trying to kill you is another."

"I'm not sure he'd agree with you on that." She pulled out her cell phone just as two uniformed police officers approached her for a statement.

Charlie told them what he'd seen and pointed out the spot on the car. The officers nodded and wrote down what he said. Mary Catherine quickly switched her call to Danny's cell phone, asking if he could come and get her. She also needed the name of a good tow truck driver.

When she got off the phone, the officers wanted to speak to her. "Is there someone in particular you think might want to hurt you?"

"No one that I know of, although I'm part of an ongoing murder investigation. I think it's possible that may have made me a target."

The officers wrote down what she said and they seemed polite enough, but she could tell they thought she was a silly, middleaged woman. She would've insisted they check her story, but a news van came up and started filming the wreck. She remembered what Angellus had said about staying out of the limelight. It would be better to call him herself later.