Bit by the Bug (Matthews Sisters 1) by Michelle M. Pillow Page A

Saturdays and I’ll tell him you have to come with me. He’s so hard up for help I doubt he’ll care either way. That is if he even notices there’s another person in the building with us. I tell you, the guy is very strange.’
    ‘He sounds interesting to me.’
    ‘He would.’ Kat chuckled. ‘Say you’ll come, Ella. My apartment is too quiet. I pawned my television to buy some chemicals for my darkroom and there is no sound whatsoever. Well, unless you count the toilet.’
    ‘You pawned your TV again?’ Ella laughed. ‘So, I take it you haven’t found a new roommate yet? Need me to work on mom to get you some cash? I can tell her youhaven’t eaten in a week or something, but you’re too proud to call home. I guarantee she’ll be over there stocking your fridge and hiding twenties in your underwear drawer.’
    ‘No, not again,’ Kat said, chuckling. ‘I was supposed to interview someone the other day, but they never showed.’
    ‘That sucks.’
    ‘It happens.’
    ‘Let me check with mom, but I’m sure she’ll let me come stay with you,’ Ella said.
    Kat grinned into the phone, excited to see her little sister. ‘Call me tomorrow?’
    ‘Yep.’
    Kat hung up the phone, knowing Ella wouldn’t expect a goodbye. She glanced around her lonely studio apartment. One wall was filled with pictures she’d taken of her and her sisters over the years. The smiling faces stared at her and Kat stared back. She didn’t put them into frames, but instead glued them into a giant collage on the biggest piece of canvas she’d ever seen. The younger years started in the middle and spiralled out as they grew. It was a testament to their lives and she was still adding pictures around the edges.
    The apartment was quiet. For what it was, the place was nice and only cost her 1600 a month. The building was a brownstone in a great location between Central Park West and Columbus, within short walking distance of the park.
    Her kitchen and bathroom were small. She had a wood-burning fireplace in the living room, high ceilings and wood floors. There was only one bedroom, but she hung a thick curtain down the middle and called it two. The pipes were noisy and she had to jiggle the toilet handle or else the water would run – like it was doing right now.
    Kat didn’t mind being alone, but she liked the feeling of someone in the other room better. Picking up thephone, she dialled her older sister and got voice mail, ‘You have reached Detective Megan Matthews’ personal line. If this is about a case, please contact the department and they will page me immediately. Otherwise, leave a message. Thank you.’
    ‘Meg, honey, it’s Kat again,’ Kat said, twirling the cord, ‘Do you ever not work? I haven’t heard from you in weeks and I miss you. Anyway, I got a new job. You’d like it, Ella does. It’s creepy and the guy I work for is weird. Well, he’s cute in a weird way, but I’ll never admit to saying it out loud so don’t try to use it against me later. Or maybe it’s just that I think he would be cute if I could actually see his face. His build is nice. Well, anyway, never mind because it doesn’t matter. He is so not my type. Anyway, I miss you.’ Kat paused. ‘I said that already, huh. Well, I’m, ah, getting married. Call me.’ Then, as an afterthought, she added, ‘Don’t tell mom. Or dad. Or the sisters. Call me. Love you. Miss you. Bye.’
    Kat hung up the phone and smiled. That would make her older sister talk to her. Then, looking at the clock she frowned. Zoe would be in bed because she got up before dawn, but Kat wondered if it was too late to call Sasha. Desperate for something to pass the time, she tried to ring her college-based sister. It turned out Sasha wasn’t in her dorm and after ten minutes’ chatting with her sister’s feminist roommate about being oppressed or some such thing, Kat told the woman goodbye and unwound herself and her chair from the cord.
    Boredom set in and she