Feline Fatale Read Free

other man, who joined us. He gestured toward the woman who had asked about me, presumably Ruth. He had a large, upswept mane of salt-and-pepper hair above squinting blue eyes. “She feels nearly as strongly about pets around here as you do, Margaret.”
    “That’s excellent news, Ruth. And, Teddy, with your background in public relations, I’m sure you can get her elected.” For the first time, Margaret acted semi-human and approached Ruth, giving her a small but stiff hug. “Together, we’ll fix what’s wrong with Brigadoon!”
    I half expected an invisible orchestra to start playing the music indicating the end of act one of whatever drama we were acting out. I glanced at James, who scowled his obvious anger.
    “There’s nothing wrong with Brigadoon,” he said coldly. “And I’m glad you’ve all given me this heads-up. I’ll fight the election of any resident who wants to ban pets. A lot of us love animals. That’s one reason many of us chose to buy units here. Nice to meet you, Kendra.” He stalked down the hall, pushing his shopping cart in front of him.
    Leaving me with the evil three.
    Well, hell. Hating me was their problem. I had a reason to be there, and I knew I didn’t look like a burglar. I’m in my mid-thirties, reasonably presentable, wearing casual clothes today, sure, but my shoulder-length brown hair was nice enough, and I always wore makeup to enhance the best features of my ordinary but relatively okay face. I was sure I didn’t scare them.
    Even so, I sighed, then said, “I’m sorry to hear there’s such a controversy here, but I’ve just come to take care of the animals I was assigned.” And if I could do anything to help their owners chuck these nasty characters and their hatred of pets out of there, I’d consider it. “Please excuse me.”
    As I started to turn toward one of the wreathed units—its number was on my list—a scream issued from behind me, causing me to cringe.
    It was Margaret. “There’s that damned cat again!” she shouted.
    I turned once more, and saw a streak of light yellow fur disappear down at the end of the hall. I guessed it was a small ginger cat—no, kitten, considering the size.
    I inhaled sharply. Wanda had warned me about a certain little kitty—an indoor, apartment sort not intended to roam outside at all, especially at Brigadoon, which had rules against such activities. Wanda had taken on its care this week. Which made me its weekend guardian.
    “That isn’t Lady Cuddles, is it?” I asked, glancing again at Margaret. Would someone who clearly hated animals as much as she did even know a cat’s name?
    When she glared at me and nodded angrily, I cried, “Oh, no!”
    Ignoring Margaret and her equally nasty neighbors, I hurried down the hallway in the direction the kitty had dashed.

Chapter Two
    LADY CUDDLES WAS every bit as elusive as Wanda had warned. Fortunately, James Jerome assisted me after he saw the kitten run by him. We finally cornered her at the far end of some additional twists in the hall. She’d found a decorative ficus plant and leaped into its upper leaves. As I reached to remove her, she hissed and extended her claws. Her blue metal ID tag, a cute little kitten face attached to a white mesh collar, sparkled as she moved, reflecting the sunlight streaming in through the nearest window.
    “Hi, Lady Cuddles,” I said soothingly. “We don’t know each other, but I’m here to take you home.”
    “Here.” James took off his cotton shirt and handed it to me. “Wrap this around your hands when you reach for her. I have some guinea pig food in my pockets, but it’s all vegetarian, and I don’t think it’ll tempt a cat.”
    I noticed he didn’t offer to attempt to pluck Lady Cuddles off the plant. But the kitten was my responsibility, so I couldn’t complain. I did use his shirt as protection, though, as I reached out and retrieved the clearly unhappy little feline from her precarious perch. I expected she’d try