The Curious Case of Cat and Cupid [manxman]

Chapter Three

Friday, February 10th

Scott sighed, shaking his head as he folded his arms over his chest. "I'm telling you, I didn't find anything at all. There's no signs of a forced entry. I'm not picking up on any weird magical frequencies... I don't know what to tell you, Jude."

I ran my hands through my hair, pulling a few of the knots loose in the short brown waves. "There was someone in this house last night. I know it. Someone was here the night before too."

"If that's the case, then they've done astoundingly well at keeping their tracks covered so far. I—" Scott looked down and grinned as Coop meowed loudly and brushed against his legs. "Aw, come here, kitty." He picked the cat up and cradled him against his chest, petting Coop's ears. Glancing back up at me, Scott said, "I never thought the cat thing would go this well."

"I'm not sure that it is going all that well. None of this started happening until I brought Coop in."

He meowed loudly at that.

"I don't know. I'm not blaming you," I told the cat. "Something just doesn't feel right."

"Look, the best I can do without finding anything is set up an increased patrol here. If you really want to get to the bottom of things, you might want to set up a video camera. If you can't, just stay awake, keep a watch on the place," Scott said.

I nodded, watching the cat as he wriggled in Scott's arms, wanting to be put down. Scott finally obliged him, and Coop scampered off, running into the bedroom.

"Give me a call if you find anything here."

"Yeah. Thanks, Scott."

"No problem. Let me know if you find anything else out with the Cupid Case too. Did Nina did agree to go to Blacklick Forest with you, since I have interviews?"

"Yeah." I opened the door for him.

As he stepped out, he glanced back at me. "Watch your back for the banshee too, all right?"

"I—"

"I don't believe for one goddamn second that you're not lonely, Jude. And on top of that, you're actively working to help the cupid. If that's not enough for her to target you, then I don't know what is."

"Fine," I sighed. "I'll be on the lookout."

"It might not hurt to put up a couple of those charms either."

"Okay, fine. I'll do that as soon as I get home tonight."

"Thank you."

I rolled my eyes. "Whatever."

Scott grinned and winked before leaving my home. After shutting the door behind him, I turned around to my empty house. Coop strutted out of the bedroom, rubbing himself against the doorframe.

"You know, if you actually have something to do with this whole cupid mess, I'm going to be pissed if you're just here to kill me when I've fed and took care of you for two days," I said, glaring the cat down.

His dark eyes snapped up to me as he meowed loudly, as if he were arguing with me.

I propped my fists on my hips. "Don't sass me, I'm just saying. Well, do you want to stay here while I go to the Blacklick Forest with Nina? I can always come back to get you before I go to the shop."

Padding across the living room, Coop scratched at the door. He wanted to go.

"I should've figured. Let me get dressed and give her a call, then we'll head out. What do you say?"