Trapped in Cherry Hills Read online

  Trapped in Cherry Hills

  A Cozy Cat Caper Mystery

  Book 21

  Paige Sleuth

  Copyright © 2018 Marla Bradeen (writing as Paige Sleuth)

  All rights reserved.

  Published by Marla Bradeen.

  This book or portions of it (excluding brief quotations) may not be reproduced without prior written permission from the publisher/author.

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons (living or dead), actual businesses, or actual events is purely coincidental.

  This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. If this ebook copy was not purchased by or for you, please purchase your own copy before reading. Thank you for respecting this author’s work.

  Table of Contents

  CHAPTER ONE

  CHAPTER TWO

  CHAPTER THREE

  CHAPTER FOUR

  CHAPTER FIVE

  CHAPTER SIX

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  CHAPTER NINE

  CHAPTER TEN

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR

  MISSING IN CHERRY HILLS

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  CHAPTER ONE

  “Have you ever trapped a feral cat before?” Imogene Little asked, glancing at Katherine Harper in the passenger seat.

  Kat shook her head. “Can’t say I have.”

  “I’m a bit rusty myself. But when Veronica asked for my help getting a crafty tom fixed I couldn’t say no.”

  “Your friend definitely chose the right person to reach out to.” As the president and founder of Furry Friends Foster Families, a Cherry Hills nonprofit that placed adoptable animals with foster families until they found permanent homes, Imogene was one of the most dedicated animal advocates Kat knew. It was no surprise she would be the first person someone would turn to for help with a neighborhood stray.

  Imogene turned right onto a residential road. She drove for a minute before making another turn into a cul-de-sac. Four houses were spaced around the dead-end circle. Single story and on the small side, the homes all struck Kat as quaint and cozy. A forested area stretched behind them, creating a lush, green backdrop. Kat could see why a feral would choose to call this area home.

  Imogene pulled up to one of the houses and parked by the curb. “It will be good to test out my trapping skills again. Now that I’m older and my joints have gotten creaky this tom will have the advantage, but don’t disqualify me yet. What I lack in physical competency I make up for in determination. And when it comes to keeping the cat population down I dare say I’m committed to doing my part. Why, if we can get this tom neutered we might prevent him from siring thousands of kittens. And fewer litters born means fewer cats euthanized in shelters.”

  The passion in Imogene’s voice brought a smile to Kat’s lips. “Creaky joints or not, my money’s on you.” At fifty-seven, Imogene had more energy than Kat, who was twenty-five years her junior. “This tom will be no match for the fierce animal protector known as Imogene Little.”

  Imogene chuckled. “You make me sound like a superhero.”

  They got out of the car and walked around to the back of the vehicle. The May afternoon was warm, and Kat relished the feel of the sun against her skin. She only hoped the weather stayed this nice for a while longer. She wasn’t looking forward to the summer months, which could get hot here in Central Washington.

  Her gaze caught on a calico cat sitting in the window of the house they were parked in front of. Patches of brown, gold, and white all vied for space on the pretty feline, and the look of longing on her face reminded Kat of her tortoiseshell Matty. Matty could often be found peering out of one of Kat’s apartment windows. Kat suspected the tortoiseshell spent much of that time scheming of ways to sneak outside.

  Imogene popped open her trunk. “This drop trap has been sitting in my garage unused for too long. It will be good to give it a go again.”

  “It’s bigger than I expected.” Constructed of wire mesh, the rectangular contraption stood a good eighteen inches high and looked to be about three feet wide by two feet long. It took up Imogene’s entire trunk.

  “There are certainly smaller traps out there, but Ronnie claims this particular cat won’t get anywhere near her cage trap.” Imogene touched her auburn hair, as if to make sure it was still secure in its ponytail. “That’s why she asked for my help.”

  “How does this thing work?”

  “See how the bottom is open? We’re going to prop this end up with the leg extension here, put some food under there for our friend, and when he goes to eat it we collapse the leg with a simple pull of a string.”

  Kat pictured the scenario Imogene had described while she tied her brown hair behind her head. Somehow she had a feeling the whole thing was more complicated than Imogene was making it sound.

  “Help me lift this up, will you?” Imogene said.

  Kat took hold of one end of the trap. “Where are we going to set this thing up?”

  “In Veronica’s backyard.” Imogene jutted her chin toward the house. “Apparently our target roams around back there most nights.”

  Together they managed to wrestle the trap out of the trunk and began carrying it up the driveway. But Kat came to a dead stop when she spotted a mostly gray cat crouched behind a cluster of bushes planted around the house to the east. He watched them with wary eyes, looking poised to bolt at the slightest threat.

  “Is that the feral?” Kat asked quietly.

  “Where?”

  “Back behind the bushes over there.”

  Imogene squinted. “Why, I’ll have to check with Ronnie, but it might very well be. He doesn’t have a collar and looks a little worse for wear.”

  “Think he knows we’re here to catch him?” Kat wasn’t sure why she was whispering. The feral had already spotted them, and it wasn’t as if he could understand what they were saying.

  “Perhaps. According to Ronnie he’s very intelligent. She says he’s even taken to stealing things she leaves outside. Apparently she caught him sneaking off with one of her socks the other day.”

  The trap was growing heavy in Kat’s arms, but she didn’t dare move. From the way Imogene stood stock-still, she figured her friend didn’t want to spook the tom any more than she did.

  Unfortunately, the calico in the window had no such qualms. She stood on her hind legs and pawed at the glass with quick, frantic motions as she tried to get the other cat’s attention.

  She got his attention, all right, but Kat didn’t think his reaction was the one the calico had been hoping for. With one last fearful look in the humans’ direction, the feral shot to his feet and darted away, disappearing around the back of the house.

  Kat’s heart went out to the animal. “He looked so scared.”

  “Ronnie says he’s not socialized at all, although he’s gotten used to seeing her and several of the neighbors around. He doesn’t run away when he spots them anymore, but he still won’t let anyone get too close.”

  “Was he born wild or did somebody abandon him?”

  “Only our furry friend knows the answer to that.” Imogene adjusted her hold on her end of the trap. “Come on. Let’s find a place to put this before my arms give out.”

  Kat kept pace with Imogene as they started up the driveway once more. “I take it we’ll have to monitor this thing.”

  “Yes, but right now we’re just going to set everything up and give Mustang some time to get used to seeing it here. I’ll come back tonight and attempt the actual trapping.”

  “Must
ang?”

  “That’s the name Veronica has given our tom. She says she knows he’s not hers to name, but she feels responsible for him nonetheless.”

  Kat smiled. “She sounds like she loves animals as much as you do.”

  “Oh, most definitely.” Imogene’s eyes sparkled, as they always did when she was talking about her favorite subject. “I’ve tried to get her to volunteer with 4F, but she says she’s too busy to help with our rescue efforts right now. Mark my words though, I will get her to come around eventually.”

  “If anybody can convince her, it’ll be you,” Kat replied.

  “What do you think you’re doing?”

  Kat’s head swiveled sideways. A sixtyish woman with long, red hair stood in the driveway of the house to the west. Dressed in a black blouse and matching slacks, she had a stern expression on her angular face.

  “Hello,” Imogene said, flashing the woman a smile. “We’re here to help trap a feral cat in your neighborhood.”

  “Oh.” The woman’s face softened. “It’s about time somebody came out here to take care of that nuisance. I was ready to kill it myself.”

  Time seemed to grind to a halt. The wind stopped blowing, the birds ceased chirping, and there was a charge in the air that hadn’t been present a second ago. Kat knew any talk of killing animals wouldn’t be well received by her friend.

  Sure enough, Imogene’s smile slipped right off her face. She lowered her end of the trap to the driveway, prompting Kat to do the same. When they both straightened up, Kat could see a quiet storm casting shadows over her friend’s face.

  “We’re not going to kill him.” Imogene spoke slowly, as though she were straining to keep her temper in check. “We’re having him TNRed.”

  The woman’s nose wrinkled. “TNRed?”

  “Trapped, neutered, and returned. We catch him, get him fixed, and then release him back here.”

  “What?” The redhead stared at Imogene as if she’d announced her intention to fly Mustang to outer space. “Why would you put it back?”

  Petite as she was, that didn’t stop Imogene from drawing herself up to her full height. “Because this is his home.”

  The woman scowled. “I’ll have you know, this is my home, not some stupid cat’s. You don’t see it paying my property taxes, do you? I want that thing gone.”

  “How is he bothering you?”

  “I don’t like looking at its ugly mug.”

  “I suppose you prefer rats.”

  The woman’s nostrils flared, and her fists landed on her hips. “Just what are you insinuating?”

  “I’m merely pointing out that cats are good at keeping the rodent population down. But since you find it objectionable to have one in the neighborhood, I’m sure you’re well prepared for the influx of rats that will follow once he’s relocated elsewhere.”

  A door banged open, and a woman with short, gray hair emerged from the house they were standing in front of. “Lenora,” she said, eyeing the redhead. “I thought that was you I heard out here.”

  Kat figured this had to be Veronica. Tall and stately, she didn’t look any happier to see her neighbor than Imogene did.

  “You’re not causing trouble again, are you, Lenora?” Veronica said. “I asked Imogene to trap Mustang, and she doesn’t need you giving her a hard time about it. You know as well as I do he needs to be fixed. You also know as well as I do that he’s not going anywhere. This is his neighborhood as much as it is yours or mine.”

  The redhead scowled. “Veronica. I should have known you were behind this madness. You and your bleeding heart.”

  Veronica moved closer to Imogene and Kat, as if to join them in solidarity. The calico watched all this from the window, her twitching whiskers and rounded eyes suggesting she found the drama in her driveway as fascinating as any soap opera.

  Lenora shook her finger at Veronica. “I want that beast carted away. Why you insist on letting it stay here is beyond me.”

  “It’s called living in harmony with God’s fellow creatures,” Veronica said. “And you should be happy I called Imogene out here. You don’t want a bunch of Mustang’s kittens showing up in your yard, do you?”

  “It wouldn’t have any kittens if you’d haul it to the pound like a sensible person,” Lenora grumbled.

  Imogene opened her mouth as though to say something, but Veronica spoke first.

  “There’s no point in arguing with her,” she said. “Lenora has her own narrow-minded opinions, and she refuses to budge on them.”

  “Because I’m right,” Lenora snapped. Before anyone could say another word, she pivoted on her heel and disappeared back the way she’d come, her front door banging shut behind her.

  “I don’t know how you can stand living next to a person like that,” Imogene said with an exasperated shake of her head. “I would go absolutely bonkers.”

  “It was so much nicer here last spring, before she moved in.” Veronica’s brown eyes shot daggers at Lenora’s house. “She’s a horrible person, and everyone in the neighborhood is hoping she goes away sooner rather than later.”

  Kat looked around the cul-de-sac. She couldn’t help but wonder what it would be like to live in a community where you had more enemies than friends.

  Somehow, it struck her as the type of situation that couldn’t possibly have a happy ending.

  CHAPTER TWO

  Kat was reading on the couch that evening, Matty curled up in her lap, when Imogene’s text message came through. It was only four words long, but it sent Kat’s stomach plummeting to the floor.

  Lenora’s dead, come quick!

  “Maybe it’s a joke,” Kat said to Matty, although her gut told her otherwise.

  The yellow-and-brown tortoiseshell lifted her head and peeled one eyelid open. She studied Kat’s cell phone as though to assess the seriousness of Imogene’s message. Then, with an exaggerated yawn, she laid her head back down on her paws.

  Matty’s nonchalance did nothing to ease Kat’s concerns. Kat had a hard time believing Imogene would send a prank text in such poor taste.

  She dialed Imogene’s number. The phone rang four times before going to voicemail. She hung up without leaving a message.

  “So much for a peaceful Sunday evening reading.” Kat tickled Matty’s rib cage. “Looks like I’m going to have to disturb you, baby.”

  Kat lifted the tortoiseshell from her lap and set her down on the sofa. Matty made sure her human was aware of her sacrifice with a dirty look, but it only took her a moment to get comfortable again. She settled into the depression made by two adjoining couch cushions, keeping her green eyes on her human as Kat laced up her sneakers.

  Kat’s chest grew tighter and tighter as she drove to Lenora’s neighborhood. Turning into the cul-de-sac, she saw Imogene’s car lined up in front of two others parked by the curb. She recognized one of the vehicles as belonging to Andrew Milhone, her boyfriend and a detective with the Cherry Hills Police Department. Normally she would be happy about the prospect of seeing him, but after Imogene’s disturbing text the sight of his vehicle only made her more uneasy.

  Kat parked her own car, cut the engine, and jumped out of the driver’s seat. Racing around the side of Veronica’s house, she saw Andrew, Imogene, and Chief Kenny, the beefy CHPD police chief, conferring in one corner of the backyard. She dashed over to them.

  “Where’s Lenora?” she asked, directing the question at no one in particular.

  Andrew nodded across the yard.

  “Somebody killed her near my drop trap,” Imogene contributed. She looked unusually pale, and there was an uncharacteristic wobble in her voice.

  Kat scanned Veronica’s backyard. Sure enough, even in the dimming light of day she could make out a black-clad figure next to the trap they’d set up that afternoon. The deceased’s face wasn’t visible from this distance, but Kat did catch a glimpse of red hair.

  “How did she die?” Kat asked.

  “From the nasty bruise on her forehead, I recko
n someone conked her on the noggin with something,” Chief Kenny said, his booming voice incongruous in the quiet of the gloaming hour.

  “Is there any chance this was an accident?” Kat asked. “Could she have tripped and hit her head on the trap?”

  “Nah. A fall wouldn’t have caused that injury. No way around it, this was deliberate.”

  “Who found her?”

  Imogene lifted her hand in the air. “When I showed up this evening to see if the food we put under the trap had been touched yet, there she was.”

  “Does Veronica know?” Kat asked.

  “Yes.” Imogene’s shoulders sagged. “Poor Ronnie. She looked so shaken when I pounded on her door to tell her what I’d found. I hate that I brought this upon her.”

  “It ain’t your fault.” Chief Kenny patted Imogene’s shoulder with the stiff movements of someone unaccustomed to doling out physical comfort.

  “Veronica didn’t see or hear anything before you arrived?” Kat asked Imogene.

  Imogene shook her head. “She told me she had the television on.”

  Kat eyeballed the distance between the drop trap and Veronica’s house. It was quite possible for an attack back here to go unnoticed. They had set up the trap near the back of Veronica’s property, figuring Mustang would be more inclined to go near it without the threat of people nearby. Now Kat wished they had placed it closer to the house.

  “Where is Veronica now?” Kat asked.

  “Inside,” Andrew replied. “She said the sight of a dead body made her queasy and wanted to lie down.”

  Or perhaps she had a guilty conscience and hadn’t wanted to hang around out here with the police, Kat thought.

  Of course, Kat considered, just because Lenora had been found on Veronica’s property didn’t mean Veronica had killed her. The backyards back here were all wide open spaces, without hedges, fences, or other physical structures to keep trespassers out. It wouldn’t have been difficult for one of the neighbors to spot Lenora out here by herself, hit her in the head, then run back home. The whole thing might have taken less than a minute.

  Kat gestured toward Lenora’s body. “Do you mind if I take a look at her?”