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  Shaun’s eyes darkened. “After Dad died Lenora figured the tables had turned. She may have been Dad’s second choice when he was alive, but once she got his money she figured she had moved up a level. And that meant it was payback time.”

  “What did she do to you?” Kat asked.

  “As if it wasn’t bad enough that she moved out here, when she found out I was dating Kylie she bought a house in her neighborhood so she could make sure we ran into each other all the time. Every time Kylie and I took Duke out for a walk, there was Lenora, waiting to gloat over how she had Dad’s money now instead of me.” He looked at Kylie. “Didn’t you ever find it strange that Lenora always happened to be coming out of her house whenever we were walking Duke?”

  “I—I guess I never thought about it,” Kylie said.

  “And all that jewelry she wore when she ran into us? I guarantee she put all that on for my benefit. She never wore stuff like that when Dad was alive, but I guess it was an easy way for her to rub it in my face that she now had control over Dad’s money.”

  Kylie’s lower lip trembled. “I had no idea.”

  “And I tried to keep it that way. I didn’t need her poison leaching into our relationship. I didn’t want her to have that kind of hold over my life.”

  But of course she had had a hold over him, Kat thought, her chest tight. He never would have killed her otherwise.

  “So what exactly happened after you confronted Lenora in Veronica’s yard?” Kat asked Shaun. “You decided that would be an ideal time to kill her, so you came back later with Audrey Duncan’s garden trowel in hand?”

  Shaun shook his head. “That’s not how it played out at all. Lenora took that trowel herself. She already had it with her when I caught her trespassing. She planned to use it to kill that cat.”

  Kat touched her stomach, sick at the thought.

  “You should have heard her prattling on about how much she despised that cat,” he went on. “But listening to her, it occurred to me that she was describing my feelings toward her exactly. And just like that feral cat, I couldn’t get away from her. She would always be there, waiting. There was no escape. Even if I moved she would follow me. I was trapped.”

  Kylie’s face twisted in anguish, and Kat’s heart went out to the girl. It must be devastating to realize the man she cared for had been suffering in silence this whole time.

  Shaun stared at Veronica’s house as if he could see straight through it to the backyard. “At one point she said it was about time she took matters into her own hands and eliminated the bane of her existence once and for all. And her statement got me thinking. I could do the same thing.”

  “Except the bane of your existence wasn’t a cat,” Kat filled in. “It was Lenora herself.”

  “At that moment it felt like I’d be doing the world a favor by killing her. She was the type of person who wasn’t happy unless she was spreading her misery, and I wasn’t her only target.” Shaun looked down at his palms. “It wasn’t hard to wrestle that trowel out of her hand. I was stronger than she was.”

  “Weren’t you worried she would yell for help?” Kat asked.

  “And alert everyone to the fact that she had been sneaking around Ronnie’s backyard so she could harm a cat?” He scoffed. “No, if Ronnie knew why she was out there she would have pressed charges for sure.”

  “But with her life in danger, wasn’t it worth the risk?”

  “I don’t think she knew my intentions when I grabbed that trowel from her. She probably thought I was only protecting the cat.”

  Duke whimpered. Kylie picked him up, clutching the terrier like a lifeline.

  “Why did you want to frame Imogene?” Kat asked.

  “I didn’t want to frame anyone. But your friend was convenient, and I knew I had to provide the cops with an obvious suspect before they dug too deeply into Lenora’s past and found out about our history together. I’d heard your friend had words with Lenora earlier that day. Then when I saw her again that night it seemed too perfect.”

  Kat’s lungs burned, any sympathy she had felt for Shaun over Lenora’s abuse wiped out by the reminder that he had been all too willing to let an innocent woman go to jail for his crime.

  “It only took a second to drop that trowel on the passenger floorboard,” Shaun said. “I did it while you all were inside Ronnie’s house and the police were busy in the backyard. I used one of Duke’s doggie bags to make sure I didn’t leave my prints anywhere. That had to be when I dropped Dad’s watch. It must have fallen out of my pocket when I pulled out the doggie bag.”

  “Why don’t you wear the watch?” Kat asked.

  “I couldn’t risk Lenora seeing it.” Shaun fished the watch from his jeans pocket and ran his thumb over the face. “I had to steal this from Dad’s stuff after he died, you know. Lenora never would have let me have it otherwise. And if she had ever spotted me with it she would have sued me to get it back. I’m sure of it. She would have won too. Not only did she have the money for a good lawyer, but legally it was hers.”

  Kat could only surmise that Mustang must have found the watch and squirreled it away. What she wasn’t sure of was why. Had he simply been attracted to its shine? Or had he taken it to protect Shaun from falling under police scrutiny? Maybe he knew Shaun had saved him when he had murdered Lenora. Maybe the tom cat had even been trying to return the watch when he’d dropped it where Duke would find it. Maybe Mustang already knew what Kat had only figured out this evening, that Shaun wasn’t a bad person, he was simply a young man who had been pushed too far by a woman he despised.

  Or maybe Kat was reading way too much into the animal’s motives.

  But Shaun’s motives were crystal clear. And provoked or not, he had still deliberately and willfully ended a woman’s life.

  Her heart heavy, Kat pulled her cell phone out of her jeans pocket and called Andrew.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  “I’m delighted to report that Mustang has been successfully TNRed,” Imogene announced several days later as she breezed into Kat’s apartment. “He will no longer be siring any new kittens.”

  Kat closed her front door. “That’s great.”

  Tom seemed to think it was great too. He rushed over to chirp his praises.

  Imogene bent down to pet the chatty feline. “It was an ordeal, but I’m happy it’s over.”

  Kat wasn’t sure if the ordeal Imogene was referring to was trapping Mustang or figuring out who had framed her for Lenora’s murder, but either way Kat was glad it was over too.

  Imogene rubbed Tom’s belly for a minute before straightening back up. “I ran into Kylie when I was returning Mustang to Veronica’s.”

  “How is she doing?”

  “As well as can be expected. I think it helps that Ethel has promised to secure the best criminal defense attorney on the West Coast to represent Shaun.”

  “Ethel is doing that?” Kat was stunned. “She’s not upset he killed her sister?”

  “From what Kylie says, Ethel understands Shaun’s motives. And apparently Ethel plans to use the money from Lenora’s estate to cover the attorney fees. She told Kylie it was only right given how that money should have been Shaun’s in the first place.”

  “So Lenora’s money will go toward defending her killer.” Kat didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. It seemed both fitting and horribly tragic.

  Imogene flicked her ponytail over her shoulder. “Well, I should get going.”

  “You just got here.”

  “I only popped in to tell you about Mustang. I’m actually on my way somewhere. Kenny is taking me out to dinner.”

  Kat grinned. “I guess that means you’ve forgiven him for considering you to be a person of interest in Lenora’s case.”

  Imogene gave her a sly smile. “Yes, but he doesn’t know that yet.”

  Kat laughed. “Well, have fun. And don’t punish Chief Kenny too much. He was only doing his job.”

  “Don’t you fret over it. I won’t make him suffe
r any longer than he deserves.” Imogene reached for the doorknob. “See you later, Kat.”

  “Bye.”

  Tom meowed his own goodbye. Imogene gave him one last pat then ducked into the corridor.

  Kat looked at Tom. “What should we do now, Tommy?”

  He smacked his chops.

  “You just ate. You can’t possibly be hungry again.”

  Tom clearly didn’t agree. He stood up and headed for the kitchen.

  Kat sat down on the sofa next to Matty. “What do you think, Matty? You up for a quiet evening reading?”

  The tortoiseshell met her human’s eye and gave her a long, slow blink. Kat returned the gesture, then reached over to scratch the feline’s head.

  “I’ll take that as a yes.”

  But Matty evidently hadn’t meant it as such. She jumped off the couch and walked over to the front door. After staring at the doorknob for a long moment, she trained her green eyes on Kat.

  “Oh, I see,” Kat said. “You were just buttering me up so I would take you outside.”

  Matty pawed at the door crack, then recommenced staring at her human.

  Kat stood up and plucked Matty’s harness off of the coffee table. “I guess I could take you out for a few minutes.”

  Tom sauntered into the living room, his tongue swiping at his lips. As soon as he saw the harness in Kat’s hand he whirled around and slunk back into the kitchen.

  Kat smirked. On his list of most despised activities, Tom ranked wearing a harness somewhere up there with baths and trips to the vet.

  Matty, on the other hand, didn’t protest as Kat secured the harness around her body. Matty was the type of cat who would allow Kat to dress her up in costume if it meant getting to spend more time outdoors.

  “You’re all set,” Kat said.

  She carried Matty out of the apartment, only setting her down when they reached the grassy area outside the building.

  Matty didn’t waste any time sniffing the same spots she always sniffed. If she ever found anything new Kat couldn’t tell. Nonetheless, she seemed to enjoy the routine.

  Kat wondered if Mustang enjoyed being outdoors as much as Matty did. Of course, for Mustang being outside wasn’t a choice, it was his lot in life. Whereas Tom could head to the kitchen for a snack whenever his stomach grumbled and Matty could seek shelter inside whenever the weather turned bad, Mustang didn’t have that luxury. He was out on his own.

  Kat sighed. “You don’t know how lucky you are, Matty.”

  The tortoiseshell tilted her head up and gave Kat that slow blink again.

  Maybe she did know after all, Kat considered. Or maybe Kat was really the lucky one, to have garnered this special creature’s love and trust.

  How sad would it be to live your whole life without ever experiencing the magical bond that could only be found between humans and animals? Kat wondered. She had gone a long time without an animal companion herself, but now she couldn’t imagine living without one.

  She thought about Lenora, a person who, toward the end anyway, had no interest in welcoming another living creature into her life. Alone and miserable, she had let the smallest things bother her.

  Then there was Matty, a creature who never failed to find joy in the small things. Whether it was locating a patch of sun to sit in, or spotting a bird up in the trees, or smelling the same blade of grass she’d smelled a hundred times before, Matty took pleasure in it all.

  Kat smiled as Matty swatted at a bug. She supposed she was a bit like Matty in that she too had the ability to appreciate the small things in life.

  Then again, was that any surprise? After all, she thought as she reached down to pet the tortoiseshell, in her experience life’s greatest joys came wrapped in the smallest packages.

  NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR

  Thank you for visiting Cherry Hills, home of Kat, Matty, and Tom! If you enjoyed their story, please consider leaving a book review on your favorite online retailer and/or review site. Also join my readers’ group so you’ll be one of the first to know when their next adventure is published.

  Please keep reading for an excerpt from Book 22 of the Cozy Cat Caper Mystery series, Missing in Cherry Hills. Thank you!

  MISSING IN CHERRY HILLS

  “Wow, this is some exciting birthday.” Lucy Callahan rolled her eyes as she dragged the deshedding brush down Tom’s back. “Sitting in your living room, fussing over a couple of cats like two old biddies. I hope I’m not this boring when I turn thirty-three.”

  Katherine Harper worked at untangling a snag in her cat Matty’s yellow-and-brown coat. “What, you’re not enjoying this?”

  Tom gazed up at Lucy with sleepy green eyes. The brown-and-black cat was stretched out across the length of Lucy’s thighs, and he had a look of utter contentment on his face. There was no doubt he was enjoying this, not that that came as any surprise to Kat. Since she had adopted Tom last summer, she had never known him to shun a chance to be the center of attention.

  Lucy pulled some fur out of the brush. “I’m not sure I shouldn’t be more concerned. You’re really venturing into spinster territory here.”

  Kat laughed. “Okay, so it’s not the most exciting birthday. But you have to admit, this is pretty relaxing.”

  “Spoken like a true old maid.” Lucy held up the wad of fur she’d gotten off Tom. “I have to say, I had no idea cats had this much loose hair on them.”

  “You don’t brush Tabitha?”

  “Nope. Should I?”

  “There are a lot of benefits. For one thing, it will help to reduce the number of hairballs that develop in her stomach. Any fur you manually remove can’t end up in her digestive system. It also can’t end up all over your furniture. And it’s a chance to spend some quality time with her. Brushing can be a beautiful bonding experience.”

  “A beautiful bonding experience?” Lucy snorted as she pushed her red hair away from her face using the back of her hand. “Wow, you really do sound like a hopeless cat lady.”

  “Hey, you asked.”

  “My mistake.”

  Kat peered at Matty. With her eyelids half closed and the steady thrum of a purr emanating from her little body, the tortoiseshell looked almost drunk.

  Frankly, Kat was surprised Matty hadn’t run off yet. Unlike Tom, Matty could only tolerate brushing in small doses. She tended to start squirming after a couple minutes.

  Kat smiled, wondering if the feline somehow knew it was her birthday. Maybe this was Matty’s gift to her.

  Lucy squinted at Kat. “How come you’re not out with Andrew tonight? Surely he doesn’t approve of his girlfriend turning into a crazy cat lady.”

  “Andrew had to work.” As a detective with the Cherry Hills Police Department, Andrew often kept unconventional hours. Kat was used to his unpredictable schedule, but she couldn’t completely banish her disappointment that they hadn’t been able to connect today of all days.

  Lucy plucked a few loose hairs off of Tom’s tail. “Well, at least you didn’t voluntarily decline a date with him to hang out with these two fuzzballs. Then I’d really worry about you.”

  “Need I remind you that you’re not doing anything more exciting than I am right now?”

  “Yeah, but it’s not my birthday.”

  “But it is Friday. Which compels me to ask, how come you don’t have a date tonight?”

  Lucy slumped against the back of Kat’s sofa. “I’d love to go out on a date, but I haven’t run into anybody interesting in months. You might not have noticed after snagging the last hot man in the area, but for the rest of us it’s slim pickings here in Nowheresville, Washington. It’s so bleak I’ve even thought about moving to Seattle. At least there I’d have a chance at meeting someone.”

  “I thought that guy on the second floor was interested in you.”

  “You mean Ryan Pollack, aka Mr. Desperate?”

  Kat frowned. “He didn’t seem that desperate to me.”

  “That’s because you’re taken. For us singleto
ns it’s an entirely different story. He’s like a dog starving for attention. You know the ones, those flea-bitten mutts who haven’t had a bath in months and are just begging for someone to take them home and love them?”

  An image of six-foot-six Ryan sporting a pitiful puppy dog face popped into Kat’s head, and a fit of giggles wracked her body. Matty shot daggers at her human before crawling off of Kat’s lap and relocating to the other end of the couch. So much for their beautiful bonding experience.

  “I’m glad you find it funny,” Lucy grumbled. “I guarantee you’d think differently if you were the subject of Ryan’s misguided affections. Just ask Janice. He’s always after her too. And poor Janice lives right across the hall from Mr. Desperate. At least I’m up here on the third floor, where the only thing I can fault my neighbors with is an unhealthy obsession with cats.”

  Kat rolled her eyes at the good-natured jab. “Speaking of Janice, I wonder what happened to her. She said she’d stop by when I invited her up a few days ago.”

  “She probably changed her mind after you told her what we’d be doing.”

  “Ha ha.” Kat set Matty’s brush down and glanced at the wall clock. “Seriously though, it’s after nine. She said she’d stop by around eight-thirty.”

  “Then give her a call. Tell her if she doesn’t hurry she’ll miss out on all the excitement.”

  “All right.” Kat grabbed her cell phone off the coffee table, found Janice’s number in her contact list, and hit the button to connect the call.

  Lucy tossed Tom’s brush aside. Tom eyed it for a moment before nipping at Lucy’s fingers. Lucy spread her palm over the top of the cat’s head and gave him a playful jostle, prompting Tom to grab her wrist with both paws. He pulled her hand to his chest, then licked her fingers.

  The phone stopped ringing and voicemail picked up. Kat hung up.

  “She’s not answering,” she said.

  Lucy didn’t look up, still busy with Tom. “Maybe she’s on a date, although where she found a man in this town I have no clue.”