Cat's Out...a Darla The Alpha Cat Novel

Chapter 13 - storming the castle walls

I don't care who sees me now. I stand in the middle of the White Castle parking lot screaming Jacqueline's name at the top of my lungs. Judging by the expressions on the few people streaming in and out of the restaurant, my screams are a little  inhuman.

Gone. They took Jack. But not for long. Not if I have anything to say about it.

The front seat is still full of her scent. Thank God the girl loves her fancy bath soaps. Those leave a trail that may as well be made of neon lights. Unfortunately, the scent stops ten feet away. Another car.

No trail to follow. Think, Darla, think!

"Hey girl!"

I turn toward the voice. Three guys, older than me, walk out of the White Castle. They're city dwellers, no doubt about that. Their pants hang down around their thighs, revealing the most ridiculous looking striped boxers I've ever seen. Not that I've seen many.

The leader of this trio, who towers over me by about a foot and a half, sidles up to me. "You are lookin' fine. New around here?"

"You could say that."

I don't sense hostile intentions. They're good guys. Just obnoxious. One of them turns and waves to another guy sitting at a window booth.

"Hey," I say, "you guys were sitting right there?" I point at the window.

"Yeah, sweet thing. Just chillin' before the party gets started. Care to join us?"

"Thank you. No." I point to my car. "Did you happen to see where the girl who was in that car went off to?"

All three freeze and suddenly find me uninteresting. "Um...no. We didn't see a thing."

I step up to his chest and crane my neck to make sure we're making eye contact. "I think you're lying. Tell me what the car looked like and where it went."

"Whoa!" He shoves me off. "Who you callin' a liar?"

"Just the three cowards in front of me. Now tell me what I need to know."

He turns his back on me. "You can kiss my--"

I drop the bat and pounce on him, knocking him to the ground. Within a second, I've got one arm twisted behind his back. "Wrong answer!"

The other two come at me. With my free hand, I grab the first by the wrist and launch him into the bed of an old pickup parked nearby. The second finds his landing spot on the trunk of an ancient Cadillac.

"If I don't get the answer I need in two seconds, your arm will join your friends." I lean down and whisper into his ear. "Just your arm." I apply pressure to drive home my intentions.

"You bit--"

"Uh-uh," I say. "Be nice."

"Okay, okay! It was a silver SUV. A newer Yukon I think."

I give his arm a little twist. "Which direction?"

"Into the city. Now get off me!"

I don't wait. I leap off his back, grab the bat, and race back in the direction I came. I didn't notice any Silver SUVs on my way out of the city, so they must have made a turn. But where? Detroit is huge. They could have gone anywhere. As I pass the city limits sign again, I see fewer and fewer cars. Eerie.

But that means...

I stop on the sidewalk and close my eyes. Noises of the city spring up all around me. I filter them out, one by one, until I've got car engines humming from every direction. Most are small engines. I filter them out. Some sound rough, from old cars. Filtered. Only a few remain within my hearing range. How far would they have gone? If the neighborhoods around Choppy's were their primary drug-selling territory, they wouldn't travel far. Well, according to television.

It's all I have. I pick the closest large new engine sound and run toward it.

God help anyone who gets in my way.