What’s New Pussycat(58)
Use your nose. Paranormals live and die by the scent of others, Martine. Had she taken the time to smell fake Jerry, she would have known he was an imposter.
More panic set in when she thought about sweet, insightful, kind Jerry. Was he hurt? Oh God. Rage made her legs shake. If Escobar had hurt Jerry, she’d find a way to kill him herself, even if it took until the end of time and a million years learning spells to do it.
Stretching back on her haunches, she watched Escobar, his round form moving from room to room in the condo as he gathered herbs and oils. He was in a rush to go somewhere, that much was clear.
Think, Martine. There has to be a way to get out of here. You have to get out of this damn cage in order to save Derrick. Do something.
Do what? She was stuck in shift. Even if she had a spell, she couldn’t speak to recite it anyway.
I dunno, but you’d damn well better figure it out!
As he approached the cage again, he cocked his dark head, his squinty gray eyes twinkling. “So one last mission into the realm for me, and then I’m afraid we have to call it a day. Breaking up is hard to do, huh, kitten?”
No. He was going to send her back into the realm? No. No. No.
She braced herself for the woozy feeling Escobar’s spell always created just before he sent her on a magic haul, her brain racing to find an answer.
But he paused for a moment, staring into the catio, a question in his eyes. “You know, I’ve been wondering something. Who do you suppose had the audacity to steal you from me?”
Her ears perked, her head cocked—and that was when she spotted it.
The key to getting out of this predicament.
* * *
Derrick shoved open the door to the bar, seeing Morris at a table with Jagger Dubrov first. “Have either of you seen Martine?”
Morris shook his head. “Nope. But I’d like to. That’s some good-lookin’ cat you got there. She owes me a rematch.” He waggled a finger at the pool table and cackled.
Jagger frowned and shot Morris a look of confusion. “Morris, she was just in here about two hours ago. Old age catching up with you, pal?”
“The hell I saw her. Two hours ago I was embalming some poor stud who fell off a roof and landed in a pool head first.”
Jagger held up his wide hand. “No, Morris. You were here. Right over there at the bar with me on my lunch break. You told her Derrick had gone into the city. She looked pale as a damn ghost over it, too.”
“The hell I was, boy! Call up my granddaughter Joy over at the funeral parlor and ask her where I was two damn hours ago,” Morris scoffed, rising from his seat and reaching for his sunglasses. He thumped Derrick on the back. “I ain’t seen your girl since our last pool game. Damn tired of you kids makin’ me feel like I’ve done lost my mind. I might be five hundred, but I still got my wits. So what’s wrong with my pussycat? She okay?”
Derrick didn’t want to worry or offend him. “Everything’s fine, Morris. No worries.”
Morris harrumphed and nodded. “Say hello to your girl when you see her.” He stalked off toward the door, wrapping a scarf around his head as he went.
Jagger rose from his chair, too, his enormous girth shadowing Derrick’s. “I’m telling you, Derrick, Martine was here about two hours ago while I was on my lunch break. I left just after she did and Morris was still here. He told her you went to the city. New York, to be exact. I don’t know what that old coot’s talking about, but I was right here when he said it.”
Derrick clenched his jaw. What the hell? If he knew anything, he knew Morris was sharp as a damn tack. But he didn’t have time to ask questions. Jagger was a solid member of the community, if a bit reclusive. If he said Morris told Martine he was in the city, he believed him.
“Did she say where she was going when she left?”
Jagger shook his dark head. “Nope. But she looked worried about you. I asked if there was anything I could do, but she wouldn’t hear it.”
Derrick’s nod was curt when he reached up and clapped Jagger’s shoulder. “Thanks, man. Appreciate it.”
Jagger looked down at him, his face, carved in granite, genuinely filled with concern. “You need help finding her?”
“I have a bad feeling she’s not here in Cedar Glen.” If Morris, or whoever, had told her he’d gone into the city, she probably thought he’d gone to see her mother behind her back.
He’d almost done just that, but he was going to try one more stab at talking her into finding all the help they could before she’d disappeared today.
“If you need me, you know where I am. Always happy to help,” Jagger said before taking his leave, his large feet clapping out his exit.