A Mew to a Kill by Leighann Dobbs Page A

back to the front, I plucked a catnip toy—a stuffed spider with a pouch full of catnip in his body and eight dangly arms—out of the filing cabinet where I’d hidden it in the top drawer.
    I dangled the spider in front of Pandora. “You want to play?”
    Pandora looked at me out of the corner of her eye then at the spider. I could tell she was trying to feign disinterest, but the eight swinging legs were too much for her.
    “ Merow! ” Her paw shot out toward the spider and skewered it, sending it flying across the room. Pandora took off after it in a flash and we ran to the door, opened it a crack, snuck through, and slammed it shut before she even realized what was happening.  
    The last thing I saw walking down the street as I glanced back at my window was Pandora’s face pressed against the glass, her eyes glowing with anger. I wondered what kind of punishment would be in store for me when I got back.
    Striker grabbed my hand as we walked down the street and I felt all warm and fuzzy. Probably just another hot flash. I had to admit, it felt good being with him. Comfortable. We’d been dating for a little over a year and it was starting to feel like this could be permanent. We’d never talked about it, though. That subject was scary for both of us, especially since we’d both failed at more permanent relationships before.  
    The Mystic Café was a coffee and sandwich shop, a small place with great food. The kind of place where the locals ate. Tonight it was fairly empty except for the bistro tables on the sidewalk, which were full. We opted for a more private booth inside. The owner, Myrna, looked at us over her blue cat’s-eye glasses as we entered. “Well, fancy seeing you again.”
    “Again?” I looked at Striker.  
    “Myrna called in the fire so I interviewed her earlier today.”  
    I made a mental note to talk to Myrna when Striker wasn’t around.
    We slid into a booth and I ordered a roast beef and Swiss with extra onions. Striker ordered a ham and cheese.  
    “So, how was your day?” I ask innocently.
    “I’m not going to tell you about the case.”
    “I wasn’t asking.” I knew he wouldn’t tell me anything. He was worse than Gus.  
    He reached over and put his hand on top of mine. “Well, in that case, it was pretty good. How about you?”
    “Great. I managed to get most of my backlog of work done. I had a lot of customers. I think most of them came in to gawk at Paisley’s shop, though.” Myrna came with our sandwiches and Striker removed his hand from mine so we could dig in. “Any idea when the photography shop will be fixed up?”
    Striker leveled a look at me. “I see what you are doing, trying to sneak in some questions.” He sighed at my look of feigned innocence. “I guess I can tell you that we need to look at the evidence before we can determine that.
    I wiped a drip of cheese from the corner of my sandwich and put my finger in my mouth, rolling the tang of the salty cheese on my tongue. “I would think someone would want to get her things out … a family member. You know, next of kin.”
    “She didn’t have any … well, not any that we can find to notify.”
    “What? Who has no next of kin?”
    Striker shrugged. “Her parents are dead. She has a brother but he seems to have dropped off the radar. There’s no record of an address for him or anything.”
    Striker must have seen the interest spark in my eye as I mentally added Paisley’s mystery brother to my suspect list. He shifted in his seat. His gray eyes turned stormy. “Don’t go getting any ideas.”
    I shoved the last of my sandwich into my mouth and brushed the crumbs off my hands. “Don’t worry.”
    He looked worried.
    “Anyway,” I glanced at my watch. “We should get going.”
    On the walk back, I hooked my arm in his. Feeling the warmth of him next to me and smelling his woodsy scent made me realize how nice it was to be with him. I almost didn’t want him to leave. Almost. But I had