Paws and Effect (Mystic Notch 4 4) by Leighann Dobbs Page A

down her senses to keep from gagging.
    “You know where the box is?” Inkspot asked Pandora.
    “Gus said she was going to keep it in her office,” Pandora answered.
    Inkspot turned to the others—Kelley, Sasha, Snowball and, of course, Otis, who Pandora thought only came along because he didn’t want her to be in on something that he wasn’t.
    “We don’t want to be too conspicuous,” Inkspot said. “So only two of us will go in. Me and Pandora. We will locate the box, look inside and then return.”
    “Maybe whatever is in the box is small enough that you can take it with you,” Snowball suggested.
    Inkspot tilted his head to the left. “I don’t know if that would be a good idea. We could leave it on the porch for Elspeth. I wonder if she would know what it is.”
    “I don’t think we should meddle in the business of humans!” Otis hissed. “Until we know exactly what is going on it might not be safe for us to take whatever is in there, especially if it is a vial of this mythical celestrium lily extract.” Otis’ yellow eyes slid over to Pandora.
    Pandora ignored him. “If it is easy to carry then why not take it? We are in agreement that whatever’s in there is dangerous and should be given to the right parties, right?”
    “Yes, this is true. But dropping it on the porch for Elspeth is risky. She might not know what to do with it and it could cause problems for her if she has to explain to the other humans how she came to possess it. I think it is best that we get a handle on what is going on first, and then decide if we need to take such drastic intervention,” Inkspot said.
    The alley door to the police station opened and Pandora saw their chance to get inside. She didn’t want to waste all night out there arguing with the cats.
    “Here is our chance,” she whispered. “Let’s not sit around talking all night when we could be doing .”
    She ignored Otis’ hiss of disapproval and rushed across the alley.
    Pandora and Inkspot kept to the shadows, skulking along the alley to the doorway, where they slipped inside just as the door was closing. The police station buzzed with the hubbub of conversation, clacking of computer keys and ringing of phones. It stank with the sweat of fear and stale booze from the drunk and disorderly arrests that made up the bulk of Mystic Notch’s crime. Pandora dialed down her senses another notch and pressed on.
    They made their way down the hall, taking care to hide in the shadows of doorways and under the hard, orange plastic chairs that seemed to be everywhere. A pair of red stilettos came out of Gus’ office and click-clacked down the hallway causing Pandora and Inkspot to dive under a small table.
    Pandora could not see who it was without revealing their hiding spot, but once the person had passed, the hallway was empty. Now was their chance to get into Gus’ office unseen.
    They scurried out from under the table. Pandora was feeling pretty good about the success of their mission until they rounded the corner into Gus' office and found it crowded with humans who were engaged in some sort of argument.
    Pandora froze when she saw that one of those humans was Oscar Danforth, the other was Felicity Bates. Pandora and Inkspot entered unnoticed and hunkered down under a gray metal folding chair. Inkspot motioned with his tail toward Gus' standard-issue green metal desk. On the corner sat the silver box.
    Pandora’s eyes flicked from Danforth to the box. Was he trying to edge his way closer?
    “No one is getting the box!” Gus was saying.
    “I’m not sure what you’re talking about,” Felicity rasped, her red hair flowing about her head as if it was possessed. “I just came to get the town clerk to notarize Fluff’s pedigree papers. I heard about the box and wanted to stop by. I never said I wanted to take it … but I would be interested to see what’s in it.”
    Pandora shuddered as she remembered her earlier run-in with the evil white cat. She peeked