Cat's Out - Book 3

Chapter 5 - sir Lance

Our first sting operation is about as ametuer as you can get. Jack buys herself The Mountain, which provides her all the frozen dairy and toppings a girl could need for extended surveillance operations.

It also looks riduculous. I roll my eyes as her face dissappears behind the sundae four tables away.

A white Mustang pulls into the lot near the Frosty Freeze and a trim black guy steps out. I recognize him now. The cop I overheard at the IHOP when Dad dropped me off for my summer out of his hair.

He picks me out of the light crowd and nods toward the Frosty Freeze window. "I'm buyin'."

I join Lance--who is the best looking cop at the Frosty Freeze--and order a frozen yogurt cone. No more sundaes or this kitty will have to take the elevator from now on. No more leaps from the garage roof.

"Make that two," Lance says.

We slip back to my table with our cones. I glance at Jack, who is totally blowing the whole undercover thing. I make a "close your jaw" gesture as she stares at my date. She gets the hint and shovels another mound of ice cream into her mouth.

Lance doesn't look like a cop. He's wearing a Red Wings t-shirt and loose jeans. His straggly beard would match that of most high school guys. Just an average city dweller. On the hot side, but no one would peg him for the police. At least not me.

He takes a bite of his frozen yogurt and starts with the introduction. "I don't know if Star mentioned me to you."

Mentioned him? Isn't she dead? Or something. I still haven't figured that part out. "Umm...no. Were you friends."

His refusal to meet my eyes was enough.

"Oh," I say. "How long?"

"About a year. She moved in with me a few months after we met at--" He dropped his gaze again. This cop had a lot to hide. "So, yeah, I guess you could say we were friends."

"With benefits."

He cocked an eyebrow at me. "No need to make it sound trashy."

"Was it?"

He shakes his head. "No. We were for real. I was going to propose."

Whoa. This cop is my almost brother-in-law? "I'm sorry."

"Me too." He takes another bite of his cone and stares at the remains for a few seconds. "I'm not really investigating her murder. Not...officially."

"And unofficially?"

"I'm here, aren't I?"

"You think I can help?"

He nods. "You called after talking to a boy at the church, right?"

"Yeah. But when I got--" I cut myself short. Careful, Darla. "When I called, the police said they couldn't do anything."

"And they can't. Not officially." He studies my face for a few moments. "Tell me, you didn't..." He shakes his head. "Never mind."

Does he know? It was dark next to Choppys that night, but he shined that high-beam light right in my face. Everything happened fast, though. I'm not even sure how much my face had changed. I felt the cat trying to come out and fight off those thugs, but I held it back, certain that I could get out of that mess on my own. And I'm pretty sure I growled at the cop who showed up. This cop.

He seemed to consider his next words carefully. "Can you tell me why you were looking for Star that day you called?"

"She emailed me. I haven't seen her in a few years, not since she left home."

"In Cherry Hill."

"Yeah. I'm spending the summer here with my mom. Star found out and told me to call her so we could meet up." I wipe the dripping yougurt off my hand. "But I never talked to her again after that email."

Lance nodded. "We were supposed to meet for lunch. She didn't show, but she called." His face darkened again, like he was still hiding something.

So that's who he was talking to. And right behind me! I was that close to Star and didn't know it. "So do you think she was taken? And murdered?"

"Yeah. I do."

"So are you a homicide detective or something?"

He shakes his head, a half smile playing on his lips. "No. Gang squad."

Gang squad? What in the world was that? "Well that won't help."

"Actually, it will."

The Resurrection. Though I'm not sure they classify as a gang. Maybe a cult. "Any leads?" I ask.

"Yeah. You. One cat-hanging nutjob. And a lot of scared people."

He had me at cat-hanging. "Why would a gang hang a cat?"

"Some sort of ritual. They drew this symbol behind it." He shows me a photo on his phone.

I try not to choke on my yogurt. I know right away what it is. What had Jacques said? When he was created, The Priest drew a symbol like this one on the ground and sacrificed a dog. Several dogs, actually, because the ritual didn't work all the time. The spirit of the animal was transferred into Jacques, bringing the Dogman into the world. So The Resurrection was trying to transfer the spirit of a cat into a human. And I could guess which human.

No wonder Moloch was so interested in me. He'd failed to turn himself into a shifter. And here he had one ready-made. Of course, I can't tell Lance any of this. He'd either think I was insane or a heck of a bad liar.

I changed the subject. "So what's next?"

"I keep looking." He finishes off his cone. "Anyway, I just wanted to meet you. Let you know I'm not giving up on this."

"Thanks."

He stands and offers his hand. I shake it.

"Quite a grip." He flexes his hand and starts to turn. "Oh, one more thing. Did you catch the name of the kid who tipped you off about Star?"

Now it gets dicey. Antonio trusted me. Well, after I nearly broke his arm he trusted me. And he's been a good friend. He may not want any police nosing around in his affairs. "No," I say. "He didn't."

"Too bad. What did he look like?"

"Kinda tall. Fat. Black...I mean African-American."

Lance smiles. "Black works for me. I'm all for fewer syllables. Well, your description narrows it down to half the city."

"Sorry. Guess I wasn't really paying attention."

"Understandable." He nods again, this time toward another table. "Better help your friend with that sundae. She'll be sick all night if she finishes it herself."

As he walks away, I turn to Jack and shake my head. Our future as undercover investigators is in question, but at least we have a new ally.

As long as the ally doesn't dislike cats.