Page 74 of Unexpected Entanglement

With everything going on between the wedding, the mysterious vandalisms, and Rae, it would be best if they kept the rest of his stay here—Professional? Friendly?She couldn’t find the right word.

Rowan was about to start the cycle when she heard scratches. She paused and listened. What the hell was that? She hoped she didn’t have a rodent invasion. She didn’t need another fucking problem.

The scratching became more persistent. Rowan looked for the source and ended up at the back door. She exhaled a breath of relief, realizing it was probably Felix wanting some pre-breakfast petting. She opened the door and was thrilled to find her little tiger. But to her surprise, Naomi and Charles weren’t too far behind.

Since she’d adopted them last April, she hardly saw the two bigger cats near the house. They preferred to wander outside at night, snoozed in some corner during the day, and sometimes came around when it was time to eat. Unlike Felix, those two liked their independence, which was fine by Rowan as long as they did their job.

“What’s up, fellas?” Rowan squatted down, giving Felix a scratch on his head, but after the first contact, he moved back. Rowan's eyebrows shot up at the odd behavior.

Naomi made a short, guttural sound. The cat had too much dignity to meow to please a human—even a human who fed her. Felix walked toward the other cats but stopped and stared back at Rowan. Actually, all three cats looked at her expectantly.

“It’s not seven yet, guys. I’ll get your food out soon, okay?” Rowan told the cats.

Felix usually would come first at feeding time. The other two knew that food was there, but they’d come in their own time. They preferred to hunt their own food at night. That was why they got so big—not fat, but huge. The shelter didn’t really know, but these three might be mostly Maine Coon mixed with other cats.

When Rowan just stood there watching them, Charles howled loudly. Alarmed, she quickly closed the door and followed the cats when they trotted away. It was so weird.

“What the hell?” Rowan muttered.

She tried to keep up with cats, even with the boot on. But she could guess where they were going. It looked like they were heading to the equipment barn, a little farther away from the house and the gray barn. They stored their lawn equipment, extra building materials, and other things there. She’d also allowed Chris to park his motorcycle there since he wasn’t using it.

Rowan stopped in her tracks when she got closer to the barn. The door was open. They always locked that door for the night. And nobody had needed anything from there since Wednesday when Chris had taken materials to fix the cottage steps.

Did he forget to lock up?

Rowan approached the opening and spotted the lock hanging off the door. After one closer look, she immediately pulled her phone out of her pocket and dialed. Chris picked up on the first ring.

“Come to the equipment barn,” Rowan told him without a greeting.

“I haven’t had my coffee yet.”

“Someone broke in.”

His answer was swift. “Don’t touch anything. I’ll be right there.”

Rowan sighed and looked at the three cats. Was it her imagination, or did they all look pleased with themselves? She went to give each of them a quick rub, which the two large cats tolerated for only a few seconds before slipping away.

But Felix stayed and plopped down on his side so Rowan could give him a full body rub. The feline playfully caught her hand with his front paws. His claws were out, but he wasn’t hurting her. But something in his claws caught Rowan’s eyes: a miniscule swath of black fabric.

“You got him, did you?” she snickered. “Atta boy.”

Chris watched the police car drive off after an exhausting morning reporting the latest break-in. Kieran and Rowan had agreed to make a report this time. There was no doubt someone cut the lock to the barn, though nothing seemed disturbed. And the security cameras had caught nothing but shadows.

According to Rowan, her barn cats had clued her into the disturbance, and she’d noticed some fabric stuck in Felix's claws. She assumed the cat must've gone after the intruder. Chris’ respect for the cats had gone up a few notches.

However, Kieran and the officers had scoffed at the theory, saying even if it were true, the fabric was too small and common to be matched with anything. But Chris thought the idea was plausible. He’d definitely think twice about breaking and entering if confronted by three large cats.

Rowan always referred to Felix as her tiny tiger, but that was precisely what he was: a mini tiger. He wasn’t this teeny tiny cat. He just seemed small compared to the other two dinosaurs Rowan called cats.

“What a great way to start a Sunday morning,” Kieran deadpanned.

“At least whoever it was didn’t take anything,” Alex said. “And we have the incidents on record now.”

“I doubt that’ll help. I got the sense that Tom and Cole won’t put too much effort into investigating it,” Rowan said, referring to the two officers who took their report.

“Unfortunately, theft is a common enough crime, and when nothing is really missing, the police don’t have enough resources to put on our case,” Kieran added.

It sounded outrageous to Chris. A crime was a crime and should be investigated. But that was the reality. Even in big cities like New York and Boston, there weren’t enough resources to enforce laws or prevent crimes.

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