Boo (41 page)

Melb whimpered.

Ainsley turned to her father. “Dad. Stop this nonsense.”

“Nonsense? Nonsense! Thief is dead, Ainsley. How can you take this so lightly?”

“I’m not taking it lightly. But this is ridiculous. If Wolfe said that he put Thief in the garage to help Melb with her allergies, then I believe him. I don’t know what happened to Thief out there, but you can’t possibly believe that Wolfe intentionally harmed our cat.”

The sheriff’s eyebrows cocked. “Oh? Ever since he decided to join the society of Skary and come down off that high hill of his, strange things have been happening. And even
before
that. Cats running all over this town like we’re made of catnip. And I don’t have to remind you, do I, that Wolfe once
lied
about Thief, said he was frolicking with the lady cats when
everyone
knows Thief is neutered!”

Ainsley could not protest and suddenly felt very confused. Maybe everyone was right. Maybe Wolfe had lied. Maybe he couldn’t be trusted. She stared down at his still, peaceful face.

The sheriff continued. “Especially since Melb here hasn’t so much as sniffled with Thief on her lap.” The sheriff turned to Melb. “Well, Melb, why don’t you? Just go ahead and rub your nose in his hair. Then we’ll know once and for all. Anybody allergic to cats will react doing that, wouldn’t you say, Garth?”

Garth was pale and fidgety but nodded nevertheless. Ainsley expected Garth to protest. What boyfriend would let his girl stick her nose in a dead cat’s fur? But she knew her father had a strange influence on people, and most of the time people did whatever he suggested. Oliver, however, rushed to Melb’s side to hold her hand.

“Go ahead, Melb. It’s okay. He’s not going to bite.” The sheriff stepped back and waited.

Melb rolled her eyes, teared up again, whimpered, bit her lip, then closed her eyes and stuck her nose down in the fur.

“Rub it around a little, there you go …”

She raised her head, gasping for breath, as if she’d been under water for minutes. Then the room waited. Thirty seconds. Sixty. Two minutes. But Melb didn’t swell. Her eyes didn’t water. And she never even sniffled. Finally the sheriff turned to Wolfe, pointed his finger at him and said, “He killed my cat!”

Then the reverend stepped forward. “Sheriff Parker, I witnessed Wolfe take the cat.”

Sheriff Parker turned to the reverend. “Excuse me?”

“I saw him upstairs when I went to the bathroom. He was in your bedroom; Thief was on the bed.”

“Aha!” the sheriff said.

“Wait a minute,” Reverend Peck said. “What I’m trying to say is that Wolfe told me exactly what he told you. He said that Melb was having trouble with her allergies, and that he wanted to help out. He said that Melb was a little self-conscious about it, and that she probably wouldn’t want to ask.” The reverend looked down at Wolfe. “I think you should take him at his word. He was trying to help.”

Ainsley watched her father briefly contemplate the reverend’s words, but she could tell by the expression on his face that he was thinking over other things, too. He looked around at the room full of people and said, “All right. Well, let’s just open this up. Did anyone else see anything? Witness Wolfe ‘helping Melb?’ ” The room was quiet. “Speak up, if you’ve got something to say.”

Alfred cleared his throat, causing everyone to jump and turn. “I saw something.”

“Mr. Tennison. Please, tell us what you saw,” the sheriff said.

Alfred looked at Wolfe. “I met Wolfe when he was coming down the stairs with the cat.”

“And?”

“He was carrying the cat between two pillows.”

Surprised gasps.

“The cat was alive then,” Alfred quickly added. “I saw its tail swishing.”

“And what did Wolfe say to you?”

Alfreds gaze lowered. “I asked him what he was doing, and he said I didn’t want to know.”

More surprised gasps. Ainsley’s stomach tensed.

“I asked about the pillows,” Alfred continued, “and he said it was a long story. He put the cat in the garage, and then I said I wanted to talk to him. He said it wasn’t a good time, but that he had some ‘ideas.’ ”

“Ideas?”

“Yes, and that’s all that happened.”

The sheriff looked around the room. “Anyone else?”

Ainsley grabbed her father’s arm. “This is crazy. You know Wolfe didn’t hurt Thief. Why are you doing this?”

“You’re blind, Ainsley. Your feelings for this man are keeping you from seeing what you should.”

“No,
your
feelings are blinding
you
. You’re being ridiculous. There has to be a reasonable explanation for what has happened.”

Garth spoke up suddenly. “It’s weird, like a scene out of his book.”

Sheriff Parker turned. “Book?”

“Yeah. You know, his latest book. It’s called
Black Cats
.”

Another round of gasps. The statement even took Ainsley’s breath away. She hadn’t thought of that.

Garth continued. “I mean, the whole book revolves around black cats and how evil they are, and they rise up against this little town and everyone in the town has to fight for their lives, so they come up with this plan on how to kill off all the black cats.”

The startled guests all turned to look at Wolfe, who was slumbering like a baby. Ainsley’s heart went out to him, but Garth’s words rang in her ears.

“It’s a coincidence,” Ainsley said.

“He told me he doesn’t like cats,” Garth said. “I didn’t think he meant he’d kill a cat.”

Alfred suddenly made a strange noise from where he stood, and as everyone turned to him, they noticed he was laughing, snorting really. “What a great promotional stunt!”

Ainsley said, “What are you talking about?”

“He said he had ideas. Promotional ideas! Of course! He’s a genius!” Alfred’s exuberant expression faded as his eyes scanned the mortified crowd. “I was just thinking out loud … um … yeah … terrible idea.”

But it seemed to be too late. The idea had been planted, and by the look on everyone’s face, Ainsley knew there were grave doubts forming in their minds. With tears in her eyes, she said, “All of you, stop it. Please. We don’t know what happened, but you can’t just stand here and blame someone for this. It’s not fair, no matter how it looks. We have to get Wolfe’s side of the story.”

A few started nodding, and Ainsley thought everyone might come around, until Garth said, “I’m afraid I have more bad news. I didn’t know how to say it before, but”—he stepped around the couch to stand by Melb, who still had the cat on her lap—“Thief was poisoned.”

“No!” came a collective gasp.

“How do you know he’s been poisoned?”

Garth stared at the cat as he said, “By the, um … the way his mouth is closed. Cats tend to die with their mouths open unless they’re poisoned.” He shrugged. “Don’t ask me why. That’s just something they teach in medical school.”

The mumbling started, and the whispers whipped around the room like a verbal tornado. Even Ainsley felt doubt now. Melb was obviously not allergic to cats. And this all looked like an incredible promotional stunt for his book. And
poison?

A groan came from Wolfe’s throat, and he was coming to. Ainsley bent down over his face. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah. I’m … What happened?”

“Garth cut his hand. You passed out.” Ainsley watched as he sat up.

Her father stepped closer to Wolfe and said, “Get up. Get out. Get out of my house.”

“Daddy, no. Please. Let’s just—”

“He murdered our cat!”

“You don’t know that.”

“Wolfe was the last person to see him alive! People witnessed him putting Thief in the garage! And Garth says he’s poisoned. We arrest
people for murder on less evidence than that!” He looked at Wolfe. “Get out of my house!”

Wolfe looked confused and hurt, and Ainsley’s heart sank. She had so many questions. So many doubts. She watched as Wolfe carefully looked around the room, making eye contact with every person before standing and straightening his shirt.

“All right,” Wolfe sighed. He looked at the reverend. “I didn’t do this.” Then he looked at Ainsley. “You know I could never do this.”

Tears dripped down Ainsley’s cheeks. But she could form no words. She watched as he crossed the living room toward the door, but he stopped briefly, stared at Garth, then continued on. From where she stood, she could see him grab his coat and put his hat and gloves on. She turned to her father. “Daddy! There must be a foot of snow on the ground, or more! He’s not going to be able to drive his car, and he can’t walk in this weather. You know that. You
know that
!”

His eyes, stalwart and steady, stared forward. “Maybe that’s what Thief felt like being left out in the garage.” And then the sheriff left the room, just as the front door of the house opened and then shut.

Then the only sound in the entire house was Melb, who was still whimpering and staring at the ceiling, the dead cat limp across her knees.

W
OLFE WAS TOO
cold to cry. But he felt that horrible lump in his throat, the same one that had been there so many years ago when he’d learned his parents had died. How could this happen? It was the only question he was focused enough to ask himself as he trudged through the snow, shivering with each step. The wind chill, he was sure, was below zero.

There would be no driving in this weather, so his only hope was to go by foot. A small forest stood between the Parkers’ house and a road that would lead back to Wolfe’s. It was the shortest way, but definitely not the best. It was off the beaten path, and if something happened …

He erased the thought from his mind. Why did he care if something happened? He was going to ask the woman of his dreams to marry him today, and now she thought he’d murdered her cat. It seemed the only person who believed in him was the reverend. He had been about to protest, challenge Garth, but he had seen the doubt in Ainsley’s eyes. And it had crushed him. His mind spun with the reality of the disastrous day as he stepped forward into the snowy forest.

His skin ached with the cold, and his coat was getting soaked. His emotions swung from grief to anger to confusion. He had just been trying to help Melb! At Garth’s request. Why hadn’t Garth helped him out? Why had Melb sat on the couch with that dumbfounded look on her face?

He hardly noticed that his steps were becoming more difficult, his breathing more labored, his skin numb. Inside he felt so hot … so angry. He just kept plodding through the snow, one step after another, one thought pushing out another.

Just make it home
, he thought to himself as he waded through icy snow and forest brush. Soon, even his anger subsided, and he could concentrate on only one thought, which was putting one foot in front of the other. His body shivered uncontrollably.

Just keep walking. Just keep walking
. He repeated the phrase over and over in his mind, delirious, frigid.

Ainsley was crying in the corner of the room, the reverend’s arm around one shoulder, her brother’s hand resting on her opposite arm. “I can’t believe this has happened.” Ainsley swiped at hot tears.

The reverend said, “You can’t believe Wolfe did this.”

“But nothing makes sense. How did Thief die? Who poisoned him? I’m so confused.” She crumpled into the reverend’s arms, sobbing. “I pray Wolfe is okay.”

A commotion in the middle of the living room caused Ainsley to look up. Her father had reentered and was now making his way to the coffee table, where Thief again lay, at Melb’s insistence. Oliver had offered to pick up the cat and place him there. But poor Melb was apparently so mortified that she hadn’t moved from the couch and still sat in the exact same position as before, her legs pressed together, her arms and hands away from her lap as if the plague sat there.

Her father was holding a blanket. “It’s time to say good-bye to Thief,” her father said gravely. “What a horrible day. How could this have happened?”

Ainsley noticed Garth looked sick to his stomach, a fretful expression besetting his features. She guessed it was hard to see any animal die if you were a vet.

Her father stood over the cat and shook his head, trying to find words to say. Ainsley moved to his side, but she couldn’t console her dad. She was too sad herself, for too many reasons.

“Well, I’m not a man of fancy words,” the sheriff said softly, “so I guess all I can say is, good-bye, old friend. We’ll miss you.”

And with that, he unfolded the blanket and started to put it over the cat, when the most surprising thing happened.

“WWWWWWRRRRRREEEEEEEEOOOOOOOOWWWWWW!”

The room filled with horrified screams as Thief came back to life with a roaring screech. He seemed to fly off the table without ever using his legs, and he landed smack dab in the middle of Melb’s lap. Fortunately for Melb, she was passed out cold on the couch, as were three other people at the site of this unlikely resurrection.

Ainsley watched Thief jump around the room and shriek as though he was on speed. He pounced from one piece of furniture to another, causing those who were still conscious to scramble out of the way, screaming and flailing as if they were being attacked.