The Secret in the Whiskers Read online

  “I know,” Craig said.

  The victim tried to sit up. “Can you call my wife? Tell her…”

  “Sure,” Craig said, supporting the man’s weight. “What’s her number?”

  He choked up. “I’ve been so worried. My family…those people took my money and my tickets.”

  “Your lottery tickets?” Craig asked.

  Aaron nodded and began to weep. “I should never have gone out that night. I always lose, anyway. Now they have nothing…my family.” He asked for another sip of water, then lay back down and said, “I was scratching a ticket off when…when I was hit.”

  “Yes,” Craig said, “about that ticket…”

  Just then Espinosa called, “They’re here. Make room for the paramedics.”

  Craig patted Aaron Baker’s shoulder and smiled at him. “You’re going to be just fine and so will your family. You take care now.” He picked up Rags and he and Savannah quickly slipped out of the icehouse before the paramedics walked in.

  Aaron lifted his head and asked the paramedic, “What did that detective mean…about me and my family…will be fine?”

  The paramedic shrugged. “Let’s take care of you and you can talk to him later. Just lie back and let us get you stabilized for your ride to the hospital.”

  “But my family…” he said just before the paramedic fitted him with an oxygen mask.

  Chapter Two

  “So, is this the cat I’ve heard so much about?” Sergeant Dave Bertles asked when Craig and Savannah carried Rags into the precinct later that night.

  Craig nodded. “This is my partner, Rags. He led us to Mr. Baker, and he found this,” he said, holding up the winning lottery ticket. “I believe this belongs to the victim. Can you make sure he gets it? He doesn’t know yet what it’s worth; I don’t think he knows we found it. He told me that Daryl Sanders and his punk friends took his tickets from him, along with some money. I believe he’d just cashed his paycheck when he bought those tickets.”

  The sergeant looked at the ticket and emitted a low whistle. “What a homecoming this will be for that family!”

  “Sure will,” Craig agreed, grinning widely.

  “And it’s all because of this cat?” Sergeant Bertles confirmed.

  “Well, someone might have eventually discovered the ticket,” Craig said, “but yeah, Rags found it this evening hidden under a stack of boxes where those hoodlums had been living.”

  The sergeant shook his head. “No, Sledge. I doubt it would have been found in time.”

  “Huh?” Craig asked. “What do you mean?”

  “That rat trap where Sanders and his bunch were keeping Baker was torched tonight.”

  “Tonight?” Craig asked. “We didn’t see any fire out there.” He thought for a moment. “We did pass some engines just now headed that way, though.”

  Bertles nodded. “Yeah, we just got the call. The fire smoldered inside for a while before it broke through and someone spotted it. We suspect it was an accomplice of Sanders who was ordered to get rid of any evidence that might be lingering in their living quarters.” He shrugged. “Or it was a coincidence. Who knows? But everything inside that old warehouse is gone.” He looked down at Rags. “You found that young man’s future just in the nick of time, cat.” He asked Savannah, “What’s his name again?”

  “Rags. Actually Ragsdale.”

  “Can I take a picture of him?” Bertles asked. He chuckled. “This story will make for interesting conversation in some of those boring meetings we have to sit through.”

  “Sure,” Savannah said.

  The sergeant smiled. “How about a selfie with me, cat?”

  “Or I could take a picture of you with Rags,” Savannah offered.

  Once they’d snapped a few photos, Savannah asked, “How is he? I mean, Mr. Baker?”

  “He’ll be okay,” the sergeant said. He grinned. “And boy, is he ready to sing. In fact, you may have a passenger for your trip home tomorrow morning or tonight or whenever you’re leaving here.”

  “Who?” Savannah asked.

  “Karl Sanders.”

  “Oh,” Savannah said brightly. “You’re releasing him?”

  “We sure are. He never should have been arrested in the first place, but we didn’t know that then. From what I gather, Mr. Baker’s story implicates Sanders’s kid. He’s positive that Karl Sanders was nowhere around. He wasn’t involved in any way.” The sergeant chuckled. “In fact, Baker said he heard the kid bragging about the fact that his old man was taking the rap.”

  Craig shook his head in disgust. “I hope Karl learned a good lesson.”

  “How’s that?” the sergeant asked.

  “To stop trying to protect his delinquent kid and let him grow up. That kid needs to roll around in his own…uh…you know what I mean,” Craig said.

  “Daryl Sanders won’t see the light of day for quite a while. Do you suppose he’ll grow up in prison?” the sergeant asked, a cynical edge to his voice.

  “Doubtful,” Craig said, “but possible, I guess. Karl’s been spoiling him for much too long. What do you think he’ll get, fifteen?”

  “Probably around there,” Bertles agreed.

  Savannah pulled her phone out of her pocket. “I’d better call Mom. What time is it?”

  “Eleven fifteen,” the sergeant said.

  “I don’t think she’ll mind me waking her up to give her good news.” She placed the call, then reported, “It went to voice mail.” Minutes later, Savannah’s phone chimed. “It’s a text from Mom. She says Karl called her. She was on the phone with him when I called.” She looked up. “I guess they’ve released him already.”

  “Yup,” Craig said, “here he comes.” He greeted, “Hey, champ. Good to see you on the outside.”

  “Thanks,” Karl said, firmly shaking Craig’s hand. “And thank you for making it happen.” He smiled at Craig and Savannah. “I guess you two and the cat had something to do with this, right? Gladys told me you were here with him.” He looked down at Rags, then at Savannah.

  “Hi Karl,” she said, hugging him. “It must be bittersweet.”

  Just then two policemen walked into the lobby with Daryl Sanders between them. One of the officers said, “Hey, Sarge, they want us to deliver him to the crosstown facility.”

  The sergeant nodded.

  Before the trio could walk on through to the back exit, Daryl stopped and smirked at his father. “They let you out, did they, Pop? Are you gonna make my bail? Sure would appreciate it. I have things to do, you know. I really need to get back to my life.”

  Unsmiling, Karl spat, “And you were willing to ruin mine?”

  “Sure,” Daryl said, “it’s almost over anyway; look how old you are—what—sixty? Sixty-five? What’s it matter to you?”

  “Yeah,” Karl muttered, “what’s it matter?” He took a deep breath. “Son, I’m sorry.”

  “Yeah, you should be,” Daryl spat. “Isn’t a parent supposed to protect their kid?”

  Karl winced. “That’s not what I’m sorry about, Daryl. I’m sorry that I ever lifted a hand to help you do the wrong thing. That’s all you’ve ever done, Son, is the wrong thing, and I helped you do it by taking your punishment or paying your way out of trouble.”

  “And I thank you for that, Pop,” Daryl said. “That’s what parents are for—to get their kids out of trouble, right?”

  “No. You’ve got it all backwards, and I’m sorry about that, too. I take some of the blame for that.”

  “That’s okay, Pop. I don’t blame you. Now when will they let me loose? You got me a good lawyer, didn’t you? You’ll tell them that you were driving the car, right, Pop? That was your car, you know.”

  “Yes, that car’s in my name,” Karl said with an impatient sigh, “but no, Daryl. I won’t help you shirk your responsibility. Never again. You did the crime, you’ll do the time.”

  “But, Pop, I can’t go to jail,” Daryl whimpered. “Please, Dad, please help me. I didn’t mean to hurt
anybody. Anyway, the guy didn’t die.”

  “Sorry, Daryl. You’re on your own this time,” Karl said.

  “Awww, you don’t mean that, Pop. Mom wouldn’t like it, you know that.”

  Karl stared at the young man for a moment before saying, “Good bye, Son. I hope you spend your time in prison thinking about your life and commit to making better choices.”

  “But Dad…” he called as the officers ushered him out of the building. “Dad, no, don’t let them do this to me. Dad,” he shouted, “I’m scared!”

  Karl watched his son disappear out the door with the officers and into the darkness. He dropped his head and blew out a long breath.

  Savannah patted Karl’s shoulder. “I’m so sorry,” she said. “That was rough.”

  He nodded. “Yeah, it was, but it’s time I allow that boy to grow up. It certainly wasn’t working, the way I’ve been handling things. He just got more and more out of control. Now this—a kidnapping? I hear the guy’s okay, right?”

  “Yes, but no thanks to that kid of yours,” Craig said. “He wouldn’t have lasted but a few more days in that tomb they locked him in.”

  Karl grimaced. “I’m so sorry I allowed this to happen. So terribly sorry.”

  “Lesson learned,” Craig said. “Let’s hope there’s a trickle-down effect.”

  “Amen,” Karl said.

  “Ready to fly home?” Craig asked, slapping Karl on the back.

  Karl nodded and smiled. “More than ready.”

  “Wait,” Craig said when he saw a young woman walk into the station cautiously.

  “May I help you?” the clerk asked.

  “I’m Mrs. Baker,” she said timidly. “My husband is Aaron Baker. He said I should come here and pick up something that belongs to us.”

  “How’s he doing?” Craig asked, approaching the woman. He bowed slightly. “I’m Detective Craig Sledge. I met your husband a little while ago.”

  “I’m Sarah.” She looked around at the others and saw Rags. She pointed. “Is that the cat, who…”

  “Found your husband?” Craig finished. “Yes. This is Rags and his owner, Savannah.”

  Sarah kneeled next to Rags and rubbed her face against his fur. “Thank you, beautiful boy. Thank you so much. We adore cats, and to know that one saved my Aaron…” she choked up. “Well, I can’t tell you how special that is.” She petted Rags and smiled down at him, then stood up. “I need to get back home to my children. Grandfather shouldn’t be left with them for too long. They’re sleeping of course, but…” She took a shallow breath. “Everyone’s been so worried about Aaron.”

  “How is he?” Craig asked again. “What do the doctors say?”

  “He’ll be just fine. He was…what do you call it…without water and food…”

  “Dehydrated?”

  Sarah nodded. “They believe he can leave the hospital tomorrow and go back to work in maybe two or three days.” She bowed her head. “I’ll get extra work at the hotel where I clean rooms.” She looked up at Craig and Savannah. “Those awful men took our money—Aaron’s pay.”

  “Oh,” Sergeant Bertles said, picking up an envelope. He handed it to Craig. “I imagine you’d get great pleasure in giving this to her, Sledge.”

  Craig smiled widely. “I’d love to. Thank you.” He handed her the envelope. “Mrs. Baker, this is what your husband wanted us to give you. It belongs to him—to your family.” He looked down at Rags. “The cat found it for you in a warehouse just before it burned.”

  She looked puzzled. “Oh? What is it?” She turned the envelope over a couple of times.

  “Open it,” Savannah said eagerly.

  Sarah looked at her, then down at the envelope. She opened it. “A lottery ticket,” she said without expression. “He’s always wasting money on these things.”

  When she started to shove the ticket back into the envelope, Craig prompted, “Look at it, Mrs. Baker.”

  She frowned, then stared down at the ticket for a moment, finally shouting, “Oh! Oh my!”

  The others all grinned at her.

  She held it up. “Does this say what I think it says? It’s a winner?”

  “Ten-thousand-dollars’ worth,” Craig said, beaming.

  “Oh,” she remarked, quickly sitting down and fanning herself with the envelope. She looked at the ticket again and started to laugh. She held it out to the others. “Did you see this? It’s cats. It’s a lottery ticket with cats on it. I guess cats are my husband’s guardian angel.” She held the ticket to herself and gushed, “Thank you everyone, so much. I must go home to my children now. Oh, my, this is just wonderful! Thank you again,” she said, as she put the ticket in her purse and walked out of the police station.

  “Ready to go home, Karl?” Craig asked.

  He nodded. “More than ready.”

  Craig nudged Savannah. “How about you?”

  She wiped at her eyes. “I guess so. I don’t think I can handle any more happy news tonight.”

  ****

  “You came in late last night,” Michael whispered into Savannah’s ear when she began to stir the next morning. “Everything go okay?”

  “Beautiful,” she murmured. She rolled over and blinked at him a few times. “We brought Karl home with us. Well, he went to his house, but he’sout of jail, and his son and his delinquent friends are in jail. The man they hit is going to be okay.” She yawned. “In fact, he’s better than okay, because he won a bunch of money in the lottery.”

  “Savannah, are you hallucinating?” he asked.

  She pushed up on one elbow. “No. Mr. Baker was walking home from buying a lottery ticket when he was hit, and he won ten thousand dollars on it.” She closed her eyes for a moment and frowned. “I hope his hospital stay doesn’t eat it all up. Maybe he has health insurance where he works. Let’s hope so.”

  “No kidding? He won ten thousand dollars?” Michael asked.

  “Yeah, and those bully creeps tried to steal the ticket from him, but Rags found it before it was burned to a crisp.”

  “What?” Michael asked.

  “Yeah, someone torched the place where Rags found it,” she explained.

  “Who?” he asked.

  “Probably friends of Daryl Sanders or maybe someone he doesn’t even know. I guess it could have been an accident, but I kind of doubt it.” She took a breath. “Anyway, it was scary as all get-out, but successful. Rags and Rochelle helped us find the old icehouse where those idiots had left poor Aaron Baker to die. It was hidden under a big pile of garbage. We had to dig through it to find the poor man.”

  “So Rochelle’s vision was helpful?” he asked.

  “Sure was,” she said. She yawned. “So how was your evening?”

  “Heck,” he said, “there wasn’t even anything that exciting on TV last night.”

  She tousled his hair and slipped out of bed. “Well, I have things to do, and I’d better get busy.” She called over her shoulder before stepping into the bathroom, “Did I tell you I’m taking the cats to the retirement home today?”

  “Cats?” he asked when she returned. “Which cats?”

  “Rags and Glori. Joyce—you know, the manager—said the residents keep asking about Rags, and I figured this would be a good time to take him back there.” She grinned. “He’s probably worn out after his rescue mission last night. Anyway, Glori seems to do better when he’s with her.” She ruffled the fur on the calico’s head when she approached. “Huh, sweet thing?” she crooned. “You were a little naughty last time I took you there alone.”

  “She was?” Michael asked, rolling out of the bed. “What did she do?”

  Savannah picked up the cat and snuggled with her. “Didn’t I tell you? She wanted to explore. She didn’t make a very good therapy cat that day. We had to keep chasing her down and bringing her back to sit with someone.”

  He watched Savannah and Glori for a moment and asked, “Are you sure you’re up to taking both of them today? You didn’t get much sleep last ni
ght.”

  “Yes, and I’m taking Lily too—you know, make it a sort of mother-daughter outing. I think those folks would enjoy meeting our sweet, bright girl, don’t you?”

  “Well, maybe.”

  Savannah continued, “Lily seems interested in going with me. In fact, she’s been making gifts for the residents.”

  Michael smiled. “Oh, that’s what she was talking about last night. She didn’t want to go to bed until she’d made presents for all ten of her new old friends.”

  “Cute,” Savannah said. “Did you let her stay up?”

  “How could I resist? She was thinking of others and that’s a value we want to teach her, right?”

  Savannah chuckled. “Sure, as long as it doesn’t become a lesson in how to manipulate her parents in order to get what she wants—like staying up late.”

  They both laughed, and he stepped into the bathroom.

  “So what’s Teddy doing today?” he asked minutes later while pulling on a pair of jeans.

  “He has a playdate with Rosemary. I’m sure Mom wants to spend time with Karl, so it’ll work out well. Mom was going someplace with Auntie today, but after getting the news about Karl last night, I’m pretty sure she’s changed her mind about that.”

  “So everything’s falling into place, huh?” he asked.

  “I guess so, except…”

  “Except what?” he asked, slipping into his shoes.

  “I just hope, with all that’s happening around here, that I can get us ready to go to Oregon next week.”

  “What do you still have to do to get ready?” he asked.

  “Everything!” she exclaimed. “Laundry, packing, banking, making arrangements for the animals.” She faced him while buttoning her blouse. “And don’t forget that Adam and Simon will be here Friday.”

  He grinned. “No, I haven’t forgotten that.”

  “So what do you want to do while the boys are here?” she asked.

  “Peter and Rochelle are coming with them, right?”

  She nodded.

  “Then we’d better plan both adult and kid activities.”

  Savannah finished buttoning her blouse and smiled. “I hear our son. Coming, honey!” she called. She said to Michael, “I know he can climb out of that crib, but he never tries.”