Shadows Of A Wolf Moon(22)

Catty gritted her teeth. Shelly was Mrs. Willis’s granddaughter. She’d met her a few times. She’d come over once while Catty was visiting and asked her grandmother for money. With dark hair and blue eyes, Shelly was attractive and knew how to dress to accentuate her body. She didn’t have any tattoos or piercings and seemed nice enough. But there was something about the girl Catty didn’t trust.

When she found out Shelly was cleaning Mrs. Willis’s house for money, she’d made a point of checking out the furniture and floors when she came over. While the floors had been swept and stuff picked up, it was evident no deep cleaning had been done. Nothing had been dusted, the toilets hadn’t been cleaned, and the rugs had not been vacuumed. She didn’t want to worry Mrs. Willis with her suspicions of a lazy girl, so she kept her mouth shut.

“Is she still liking school?” She tried to keep her tone casual as Mrs. Willis shuffled over in the direction of her rocking chair. Catty gently laid her hand on the woman’s arm to escort her.

“She’s doing fine. She says her classes are going well.” Mrs. Willis eased into the rocker that had been in her family for generations. And although it squeaked like a mouse, she said she loved it and had no reason to get another.

“You’re up mighty early. Did you have to work last night?” Mrs. Willis asked.

Catty worried her lip with her teeth at the mention of her job. She’d lied to Mrs. Willis when she’d asked what she did for a living. She knew what the woman’s reaction would have been if she found out she was a stripper. So instead she’d told her she worked at a convenience store.

“I do worry about you working so late at night. Crime gets bad in the city at night when people think God ain’t watching. But believe me, God is always watching.”

Catty’s stomach twisted. That was what she was afraid of.

“I was in the neighborhood and thought I would pop in and see if you needed me to do anything for you.”

“How sweet of you. You know, Shelly can run errands for me, but lately she’s been in a hurry when she drops by. There’s no time for a proper visit.” She shook her head and rested her cane against her knee.

“I’m sure she’s just busy.” Busy with what, she wasn’t real sure.

“How about I fix you a cup of tea?” Catty stood before she could be waved off.

“You’re so sweet, dear. Thank you.”

She walked into the kitchen and frowned when she saw the state of the cabinets. They were all open and the dishes inside disturbed. Not the way Mrs. Willis usually liked her tidy kitchen.

She quickly filled the kettle with water and placed it on the stove. She turned on the heat and then turned her attention back to the cabinets. She went to the first one and straightened the dishes as quietly as possible.

“Are you finding everything okay, Catty?”

“Yes, ma’am. Getting your pretty china,” she lied.

After straightening the set of plates, she closed the cabinet and moved to the next one. Immediately she spied the blue and white china pattern. The intricate pattern was no knockoff, and she knew the set must have been in Mrs. Willis’s family for years. It had to be valuable. Catty was always worried someone would break in and steal it and hurt Mrs. Willis in the process.

The kettle whistled as she finished setting the cabinets to rights. She set two cups and saucers on the counter and found the tea canister and pulled out two tea bags.

She poured the hot water over the bags and watched as the water turned light brown. She opened the cabinet to pull out the silver tray.

It wasn’t there. Maybe it had gotten moved when Shelly cleaned.

She found a wooden tray instead and set the cups down. She grabbed some lemon cookies she found in the pantry and placed them on the tray as well.

“Here we go.” Catty smiled as she set the tray down on the coffee table.

She passed a cup and saucer to Mrs. Willis before taking her seat on the couch and placing her saucer and tea cup on her lap.

“Ah, cookies too. You’re such a dear, Catty. Your mother must be so proud to have such a lady like you.”

She flinched. Her mother would be anything but proud.

“So tell me what really brings you here today.” Mrs. Willis took a sip of her tea as a smile settled around her wrinkled lips. “I may not see so well, but I know when a girl is having some man problems. You, my dear girl, are having some man problems. Wanna tell me his name?”





Chapter Ten



“Son of a bitch.” Barrett threw the package across the room and curled his fingers into tightly coiled fists. His heart pounded as rage swelled in his gut.

He knew without opening it what the box held. The coppery scent of blood permeated the room and sent anger raging through his veins.