Accidentally Catty Read online

  Darnell eyed Casey with a concerned gaze. “Has Nina fed today?”

  Casey shook her head. “No. Which means you need to hurry, or I can guarantee you that poor Sheriff Glenn won’t be doing any local blood donation drives anytime soon.”

  Darnell nodded at the urgency of Casey’s words. “Aiiiight. I’m out. We’ll be back in no time flat.” With those words, he was gone as swiftly as he’d entered.

  Katie’s head spun, her legs growing weak and limp. Marty swung an arm around her shoulder to steady her. “Don’t worry, Katie. Darnell will get them out, and then we can figure out what’s going on. Trust me. He knows what he’s doing.”

  Two hours later and an unsuccessful nap under her belt, Katie let Marty guide her to the kitchen chair, plunking down in it with a depleted sigh. She was too tired to question her sudden trust in these complete strangers. Yet, there were things nagging her about this man Nina and Wanda were accused of putting in a coma. “Who is this old man Green?” she wondered, more to herself than to the people in the room, letting her head drop to the crook of her arm. “And how did he end up in a coma?”

  “Daniel Green?” Beck asked, coming down the stairs, a hammer in his hand.

  Katie’s head shot up. “You know him?”

  He let his fist, full of nails, drop to the railing of the old, oak banister, a frown lining his forehead. “I don’t know where that came from.”

  Well, facepalm then. “Silly me.”

  Beck’s eyes narrowed, glittering to fine, angry points. “Now don’t you get all huffy with me, pussycat. I really don’t know where that came from. I heard you use the surname Green and the rest just popped into my head and came out of my mouth.”

  Katie ran a thumb over her temple, a dull throb forming between her brows. “Well, whoever he is, he’s in a coma, and apparently, Nina and Wanda have been arrested for it. Why or how Sheriff Glenn thinks they’re involved is yet to be determined.”

  His wide chest expanded under his short shirt, his gasp, clearly one filled with anguish. “A coma?”

  Marty nodded, her brows knitting together. “That’s what he said. Did his name jar something loose? A memory?”

  Beck slid down to sit on the wide step at the end of the staircase, dominating the surface. “I can’t quite explain it, but hearing you say Daniel Green’s in a coma pains me.”

  “But you don’t know why, blah-blah-blah,” Katie blew the words out of her mouth, her chest tight, her lungs suddenly in need of air, though her eyes were still in fine working order if the roll of them at Beck’s answer was any indication.

  He scowled when he stood up, sauntering in her direction in all of his sauntering yumminess. “That’s right, Dr. Woods. I don’t know why, but I promise to try harder to find explanations in the time you deem appropriate.” His words weren’t just filled with his frustration but underlying anger that she clearly wasn’t coming to proper terms with his amnesia.

  It wasn’t his fault. Katie realized that even as she fought to catch her breath, becoming more labored and erratic with each gasp.

  Beck was instantly standing over her, then kneeling in front of her to capture her gaze. “Katie? What’s wrong?” He ran a hand over her forehead, the feel of his skin against hers welcome and consoling.

  Remembering Casey’s and Wanda’s warnings about the animal kingdom and the laws of nature, she waved his hand away, struggling to move out of his close proximity and failing when she flopped back down in the chair. Each struggle for breath she took left her bones feeling like melting butter. “I feel so weak and out of breath all of a sudden.”

  “Oh!” Marty yelped. “I know what’s happening.” She moved out of Katie’s line of vision to head toward the refrigerator. Reaching in, she handed the package she pulled out to Beck. “You need to eat. I’d bet you didn’t have breakfast. Just some coffee, right?”

  Right, she nodded with a weak bob of her head. Coffee and the gut-wrenching wish to eat some deer whole.

  “Protein,” Casey declared. “Meat, Katie. You need meat. You’re now at least half carnivore. A carnivore that hasn’t had a sufficient amount of protein to feed the changes your body’s going through.”

  Beck held up the package and smiled devilishly. “What would you do for a Scooby snack?”

  Marty grabbed it from him with a glare and slapped the package of deli roast beef in front of her. “Eat. Eat it all. Trust me when I tell you, I get this part of the change in your body. I was a vegan before I was turned. Now I’d eat a whole herd of cattle given the opportunity and some alone time on a grassy slope.You can’t deny it, so don’t bother. I’m going to keep my fingers crossed that while you’re in this odd limbo you don’t need to wax your legs twice a day like I did. But that’s a story for another time. Right now, I’ll look in the freezer to see if we can’t find something else of more substance, but for now, this’ll take the edge off.”

  Wax? Twice a day? Her hand would have immediately gone to her legs, which were lucky if they saw a razor once a month these days, but she was thwarted by the delicious call of protein in all its deli-liciousness.

  The roast beef became an instant temptation, making Katie slide her fingers into the package and fight to keep from tearing it out in a huge hunk. Instead, her shaky fingers argued with one another to take only one delicate slice and not shove it all down her throat.

  “Bread? Plate?” Beck inquired, lines of concern marring his forehead all while he kept an amused smile plastered across his lips.

  Katie shook her head as the smell of the roast beef engulfed her every sense. Who needed cutlery? Oh, the aroma, redolent, rich with garlic and spices. It was all she could do not to bury her nose in the bag and inhale it all at once. She slid the slice into her mouth and buried a groan of instant satisfaction.

  Beck dropped a paper napkin in front of her. “You know, for the carnage,” he said with a snide smile.

  “I’m worried about Wanda and Nina,” Katie said out of the side of her mouth, renewed energy rushing through her veins with each bite she took. Her head began to clear while her veins hummed with blood.

  “Hah!” Beck snorted. “I’d worry more for her jailor and cell mates.”

  Her stomach thanked her by way of a burp she stifled against her good hand. “I don’t know the name Green, and while I haven’t been in town very long, I know most everyone due to Aunt Teeny. I’m betting he was the guy who was here last night. That’s the only connection Wanda and Nina have to me and someone here in town. So who do you think he is and how did he end up in a coma? For that matter, how could Nina and Wanda possibly be held responsible for it?”

  A chilled gust of wind swept across her feet as the front door opened.

  “He’s the guy who was here last night. You remember him, right?” Nina inquired, stomping through the door, Wanda and Darnell, now returned to his former self, in tow. “The one who accused us of stealing whatever we’re calling him?” She pointed at Beck with the snap of her finger and an accusatory glance.

  Oh, shit.

  “Yeah,” Nina said in scathing tones, looking down into Katie’s face. “That’s what I said, too. So here’s what the deal is. They hauled our asses in for questioning because of that dude. Wanna know why, Doc?”

  No.

  Nina made a face moments after Katie felt her rooting around in her head. “Well, too fucking bad, because I’m gonna tell you anyway. That geriatric nut gave our descriptions just before he fell into a coma. Do you have any idea what it’s like to be in a jail cell with John-Boy and Bubba? Lady, I gotta tell ya, I’m not down with doin’ time with the Beverly Hillbillies. I don’t know what kind of bullshit you had going on before we got here, but I want out.”

  Wanda held her hand up in Nina’s furious face, her own weary. “Quiet. It’s hardly Katie’s fault we landed in jail, and it isn’t like they weren’t amicable roomies. John-Boy did let you use the only pillow in the entire place. He was generous almost to a fault.”

  Nina tightene
d the strings of her hoodie with a harsh yank. “Was that before or after he blew his Hungry-Man dinner on my goddamned shoes, Wanda?”

  Beck diverted Nina, taking her by the arm and leading her to the fridge, away from Katie. “Look, Dark Overlord—your friend, the one who came to rescue you, brought you a little snicky-snack. This should make everything right as rain.”

  He popped open the fridge to show Nina the blood Darnell had packed into the fridge in discreet brown wrapping she’d have to remember to move to the fridge in her office so Teeny wouldn’t try to cook with it. He waved his arm with flourish like he was Vanna White, revealing Wheel of Fortune letters. Nina’s face instantly lightened a shade.

  “What happened?” Katie asked, struggling to focus on Wanda and not on the fact that Nina was preparing to drink blood. Blood. Like she was grabbing a Bud or a Pepsi . . .

  Wanda squinted, pausing for only a moment. “We were in the middle of that dime-slash-feed store, Pappy’s, shopping for some decent clothes for poor Beck and supplies, when the good sheriff of Piney Creek hauled us out of there like we were serial killers, guns drawn.” Her words hitched and she paused, biting her knuckle to obviously keep from screaming her humiliation. She took another breath. “Ohhhh, the guns.”

  “Biiiig fucking guns,” Nina drawled, leaning down to leer at Wanda. “Like shotguns or some shit.”

  Wanda reached up and clamped Nina’s lips together to continue. “Anyway, he took us to the police station for questioning about this Daniel Green.”

  “So his first name is Daniel?” Beck interjected, his eyes searching Wanda’s face.

  Wanda nodded. “He was the man who was here last night and, according to the sheriff, beaten pretty badly when he was found by one of the janitors at the exotic animal park. Just before he slipped into a coma, he pointed the finger at Nina and me. The officer said he told them he’d been here at Katie’s office last night and we were responsible for stealing Spanky, er, Beck. The. Cat. He gave descriptions, though the sheriff did say they were disjointed and rambling, that matched ours. We, of course, are the obvious suspects. New in town, strangers etcetera. Clearly, after a gander around your town, we do look like we fell off the pages of . . .” She paused. “What was it the sheriff said Daniel claimed, Nina?”

  Nina snorted. “Good Housekeeping. Like we fell off the pages of Good Housekeeping.”

  “Right.” Wanda looked almost affronted. “Obviously, this Daniel Green’s never seen Cosmo. Nonetheless, next thing I know, we’re behind bars and in need of an outrageous amount of bail. It was dreadful.”

  Katie shook her head in disbelief. “I don’t know what to say. If anything, he should have blamed me. So who would beat Daniel Green badly enough to leave him in a coma?”

  Wanda pinched her temples. “Like I said, one of the janitors found him early this morning, and no one has any explanation for how he ended up in such bad shape.”

  “That led to a coma,” Nina muttered. “If the dude dies, we could be up for manslaughter. So now you know what, Doc?”

  Katie licked her lips in a gesture of nervous anticipation. “I can’t wait.”

  “Me and Wanda here—we can’t leave town until we’re cleared of any wrongdoing. Know what else that means?”

  “I should wash more sheets?” For whatever reason, Katie was reluctantly soothed by the fact that at least two of the shifter brigade would remain close.

  “It means I’m going to be even crankier than I was when I showed the fuck up last night.”

  Beck chuckled. “Does this mean I should break out the band saw and plane some wood for the coffin so a good night’s rest is in your future, milady?”

  Nina gave him a playful jab in the arm. “No. It means you better hide your jugular.”

  Wanda waved a hand at Nina. “Go finish feeding. Shut up.” She turned to Katie. “We won’t trouble you. We can stay at the motel in town until this is cleared up.”

  Katie shook her head with vehemence. “No. I’ve discommoded you both. I won’t have you staying in some flea-infested hotel.”

  Beck cocked his head. “What does this have to do with the commode?”

  She waved a hand at him. “It means to put someone out. Inconvenience them. Sorry, it’s all those crossword puzzles I do. I love words . . . Never mind.” She shoved more roast beef in her mouth to still her tongue.

  Wanda gave Katie’s good hand a pat. “Hopefully, this will be cleared up soon, and we won’t put you out for too long.”

  “It’d be cleared up if you’d have just let me get inside that sheriff’s big-assed, hillbilly head, Wanda,” Nina shouted.

  Wanda shook her head. “Oh, no. No way am I going to let you mess around some poor soul’s mind.You still don’t have the ability to make your magic stick. No matter how misguided he is about our innocence, we’re playing this straight for Katie’s sake. From the grumblings we heard in town, she doesn’t need any more hassles.”

  Nina snorted and tilted her dark head at Katie. “Yeah. It’s like you have the plague or some shit. Every time we told people who we were staying with, they suddenly got hinky.”

  Katie stopped devouring the roast beef, her eyes unable to meet theirs. “I’m so sorry. The people in town, they . . . well, they didn’t much like me setting up shop here. They think I’ve usurped the town’s only veterinarian and taken business from him. They don’t share well. Anyway, that’s not the point right now. The point is, you’ve been accused of something wrongfully, and I’ll go right down to the sheriff’s and tell him so myself.” She rose on unsteady legs, regaining her footing in time to wave off Beck’s hand to her elbow.

  “Wasted energy, Katie,” Wanda replied. “The sheriff has an eyewitness to the crime—the victim himself—and while all he can do is question us right now, because this Daniel Green didn’t accuse us of actually committing the crime, Sheriff Glenn can legally require that we not leave town.”

  Katie stopped in her tracks. She knew a little about the law—unfortunately, none of it was good. She’d once been ordered not to leave town . . . “You’re right, but there’s no way you’ll be staying at that motel.You’ll stay here. It’s the least I can do after all the trouble I caused. If not for Ingrid’s call to you, this never would have happened. So it’s settled. No more talk of motels.”

  Beck leaned into her ear, sending a wave of delicious chills along her exposed flesh. “Shall I begin that coffin?” he teased, his breath warm, the heat of his body close.

  Katie licked her lips, the savory roast beef still lingering on her lips. “I’d be very careful, were I you.”

  “Because?”

  “I get the impression Nina isn’t in love with our little town. Don’t rile the vampire.”

  Nina scraped her chair away from the table. “Yeah,” she agreed. “Don’t. She riles easily. And save the stupid-ass jokes about coffins. I don’t sleep in a coffin, Prince Charles. I sleep in a bed. With my man. A man I can’t see because of you, pal.You started all this shit. If I were you, I’d start trying to remember something, or I’ll knock your amnesia right the fuck out of you.”

  “Speaking of men,” Casey said. “Marty and I have to go cover for Wanda and Nina. First and foremost, because we have children. Second, those men will want explanations when they get home tomorrow. If we’re not there to provide them, you’ll have far worse descending upon your quiet little town than four mouthy women.”

  Marty hoisted Muffin over her shoulder, giving Katie a smile and a quick hug. “But don’t worry. Darnell’s on it. If anyone can find any information about what’s next, it’s Darnell. And we won’t be far. If you need us, all you have to do is call. I promise you, even though Nina’s a bitch in secondhand clothing, and she’s difficult and mouthy, she’s got your back. No one’s better at taking on a large, angry crowd than mouth here. Okay?”

  Katie gulped, returning Marty’s hug and giving Casey a quick one, too. “Thank you, both of you. I don’t know how all of this will end, or what to expect, but
I appreciate everything you’ve done.”

  “Don’t you worry ’bout nuthin’, Doc Katie,” Darnell said, his grin wide, the beefy hand he placed on her shoulder kind and reassuring. “I’m gonna find you some info. Till then, if you need me, all you gotta do is think my name and I’m here.” He pointed to the spot on the old wood flooring where he stood.

  Casey chuckled at Katie’s eleven-millionth surprised expression. “It’s true. If you can’t find one of us, think up Darnell. Just picture him in your mind—that’s all it takes. Now be safe, and remember what Wanda told you. There’ll be a day when you’ll laugh about this. Promise. Beck?You take care, and I sure hope you figure this out. Nina? Shut your big, opinionated mouth, and try to remember you’re a guest here. Wanda—call me and keep me updated. Love you both.” She gave Wanda a hug and Nina a jab in her upper arm.

  Darnell held out his hands to each woman. “Ladies, you ready?”

  Marty blew Katie a kiss before taking the demon’s hand. “Ready.”

  Casey nodded, too, before adding, “Say good-bye to Ingrid and Kaih for us.”

  They were gone in a shimmer of light and shade, as though they’d never been.

  Beck stood silent for a moment, clearly taking in Darnell’s ability to disappear with two women and a poodle in tow. “Do you suppose we cougars can disappear into thin air like that? I find it very amusing, not to mention useful.”

  “You mean for when you want to hurry home from the roller rink so you won’t miss your milk and cookies before your nap?”

  Beck cocked his head, dark and delicious, while he rolled up his sleeves. “Wow. I guess you are old. Aren’t roller rinks extinct?”

  Katie’s cheeks burned two bright spots of pink. She rolled her tongue in her cheek and narrowed her eyes, forcing herself to remember she was his elder, and there was an example to be set. “How do you feel about laundry? Lots of it? We have guests who need fresh linens, and we need to move that blood to my office refrigerator so Aunt Teeny doesn’t do something crazy like cook with it.”