Page 38 of Impurrfections

“And her house,” the cop repeated, though without as much conviction. He glared into my eyes. I thought for a second about asking for my busking dollars back, but that was a whole can of worms now Theo was watching. Cop would probably just deny seeing it, and get madder and defensive. I kissed forty-odd bucks goodbye and lowered my gaze. To my surprise, he pulled the wad of bills out of his pocket and tossed them at my feet. “And get a damned current ID.”

Then the cop turned to Theo. “And you, Lafontaine.” He didn’t get in Theo’s face the same way, but his expression stayed cold. “You’d better look into local property regulationsandI’d suggest you ask for a bunch of references before you give this man a key to your property. If he screws up in your employ, you’re liable.” He strode to his car, swung into the seat, turned off the flashers, and pulled a three-point turn that headed him down the driveway.

I stared at the back of the cop car as he drove off.If Theo had been five minutes later, I’d be locked in that back seat on my way to jail.A shudder crashed through me. Being arrested mostly wasn’t that bad, but sometimes it was.

The woman turned to watch the cop go, then seemed to realize she was standing ten feet away from the guy she tried to have arrested, who was no longer wearing handcuffs. She shook a finger at me. “If I see you around again, I’ll call him back.” Whirling, she clacked off in her heeled shoes as fast as she could without running.

“What a charming neighbor,” Theo murmured.

All the adrenaline and anger that I’d kept stuffed down inside roared to life. “You.” I lunged at Theo and poked him in the chest with my finger. “You!” Words wouldn’t come.

“Let’s go inside.” I hated how calm he sounded. “We don’t want her calling the cops back.”

“Fuck you.” But that made sense. I snatched up my money off the ground, yanked the unlocked door open, and strode inside.

Theo followed me, letting the door slam shut. He reached back and turned the deadbolt knob, then fumbled with his key ring and held out a key. “Here. So you can come and go.”

I whacked the offering out of his hand. The key hit the floor with a soft chime. “You lied to me!”

“I didn’t lie.” He wasn’t meeting my eyes, though. “I just didn’t tell you the whole truth.”

“Yeah. The whole truth about how youown this fucking building.”

“I don’t want it.”

“The hell you don’t. It’s worth what? Two million dollars?”

“Closer to seven.”

“Seven million. Fuuuuck!” I shouted the word to the empty walls. “You said you weren’t that kind of millionaire.”

“I don’t count my grandparents’ stuff as mine.”

“Except you own it.” I hurried off toward the kitchen.

“What are you doing?”

“Getting my shit.” I opened the industrial dishwasher and pulled out my half-empty pack. Didn’t matter if he saw my hiding places. I wasn’t coming back. I slung the strap over my shoulder.

“You don’t have to go.”

“Yeah, I do.” I whistled for Mimsy as I hurried to the laundry room and pushed up a drop-ceiling tile to get the rest of my stuff.

Theo trailed after me like a stupid duckling as I headed back toward the door. Mimsy stood at the top of the stairs, looking down. She’d probably just started her nap and wasn’t happy to be disturbed, but she was a traveling cat. She’d roll with it. I set my pack on the second step and began fitting stuff in.

My fingers hit that damned paperback Theo left for me. I wanted it, bad. I was starved for new reading. But I pulled the novel out and set it on the step. “Got no room for shit like that.”

Theo’s face went stricken in the dim light of the stairway.

I couldn’t look at him anymore. Not right now. I tightened the bottom ties around the rolled-up mat. If Theo wasn’t standing there, I might’ve taken a couple of the towels, but he was, so I left them in a heap on the floor.Not stealing anything, not even stained towels.Mimsy trotted down the stairs toward us and went to Theo, bumping her head on his shins.Traitor.He squatted and petted her.

I slung the straps over my shoulders and went to the door, flipping the lock.

Behind me, Theo said, “That’s it? You’re just going to walk out?”

“Yep.” Enough people had lied to me in my life. I didn’t need one more.

“You’re sure you don’t at least want the book?”

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