Page 43 of Heartsong
It didn’t help when Carrie said, “Oh, I came over for a reason, actually. Detective Ramirez got in touch yesterday to say he would be coming by the museum today or tomorrow for follow-up interviews.” She made a sympathetic face. “I’m sorry you’ll have to go through the story again.”
“It’s okay,” Anna said through numb lips, “anything to help.”
Carrie patted her on the shoulder before departing, but Anna barely felt it. Her stomach was in so many knots that the moment she was alone again in the lobby, she slapped down herBe Right Back!sign and booked it to the employee bathroom.
Shit shit shitshitshitshit!
Anna wetted a paper towel to hold to her burning cheeks and avoided looking at herself in the mirror. She didn’t need to see her own face to know her anxiety was spiking. Her right eye twinged, and sparks of pain burst across her temples.
She took calming breaths, reminding herself that it would be okay. The detective would ask the same questions and she’d give the same answers. It would be fine.
Just so long as he didn’t come to the apartment.
13
Frey woke to a darkening, cold apartment. Captain lounged across his shoulders, feet slung around his neck, and a thick purr rattled in his ear.
“At least you are here to greet me,” Frey grumbled. It took merely a sniff to know Anna wasn’t here.
A wave of protectiveness drew him toward the window, and his unease only grew when he saw no one on the street below. The night was still new, the sky not the full inky dark, but he knew Anna should have been home by now.
Scratching under Captain’s chin with a claw, he remarked, “Where is your mistress, hmm? Is she often late? Why did she not say?”
The cat couldn’t answer him, nor did he seem to share Frey’s unease. Instead, Captain hopped from Frey’s shoulder onto the couch, then the floor, to pad over to what Anna called hisfeeding station. His bowl stood empty, and it was past the time Anna usually fed him.
To dispel any ambiguity, Captain blinked at him and meowed. Loudly.
“All right, my friend, all right.”
Frey got a little thrill turning on the lights to the kitchen, the spark of light, of electricity, still a novelty he enjoyed. In one of the cabinets, he found the tins of food Anna kept for Captain. Different pictures of different foods had been affixed to the tins, and he reached for one with what looked to be a fish filet.
Rumbling hungrily, he said, “I’ve always been partial to fish. You may have to share.”
Another plaintive yowl accompanied thepopof the tin as Frey opened it with a claw. The metal lid peeled away easily, and he held it up to sniff what kind of fish would be put in a tin.
His eyes—and nose—were met with a fishy reek from a gray, tin-shaped blob that perhaps had once been meat.
Gagging, Frey unceremoniously dropped it into Captain’s bowl, horrified when it kept its cylindrical shape. He managed to break it into smaller pieces with a spoon before Captain butted his hand out of the way and began to eat.
“Youenjoythat travesty?”
The loud purring as Captain ate was Frey’s answer.
Disgusted, Frey wandered back into the kitchen. The food Anna made was nothing like that. Opening cabinets, he eventually found a few things he recognized, and a search of therefrigeratorrevealed uncooked chicken parts.
Most excellent.
Frey was determined to find new opportunities to woo his cautious Anna. There were more ways than one to prove his worth, and until she allowed him into the bedchamber to prove his prowess in bringing her pleasure, he could at least cook her a meal.
Decided, Frey gathered the ingredients he knew and began.
By the time he heard the scrape of a key in the lock, dinner was almost ready, sizzling in a pan of fragrant butter and garlic cloves. Wiping his hands, Frey hurried to open the door.
Anna looked up at him in surprise from the other side of the threshold, her arms laden with colorful canvas bags.
“Oh!” she gasped when Frey took the bags from her and swept her inside with the crook of his wing. He shut the door and locked it with his tail.
Ushering her inside, he set the bags down on the counter before running his hands over Anna’s arms.
