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"You want me to lie to your brother," Noah says, searching my expression.
"I don't want you to lie," I say carefully. "I just want you to not mention it yet. That's all."
Dillon snorts softly. I shoot him a death glare. Sheriff or not, I still make his coffee and the scones he takes to Jules when he has to work late. He can be Team Aspen this once.
"Fine," Noah agrees. "I won't tell him. Yet."
"I'd like the record to reflect that I had nothing to do with this," Jack says.
"Uh, yeah, you do. Because you aren't telling him either." I cut my eyes at Jack. "Otherwise, I'm taking the day off while you deal with replacing the window and all the cranky customers."
Jack's eyes widen. "You wouldn't."
I eye him levelly.
"Well, now you're just being mean," he mutters.
I end up taking the day off anyway. Noah and Jack don't really give me much choice. They gang up on me and basically demand that I take the day off while the cleaning crew handles putting the shop back in order. Half an hour after the police clear out, I'm back in my car, headed home with Noah following behind me.
Brick meets us at the front door, meowing.
"Jesus Christ," Noah mutters. "That's the biggest cat I've ever seen."
I smile despite myself. Brick is massive. He appeared in my kitchen not long after I moved in. I have no idea where he came from, but no one ever does with the Cat Delivery System. It's just how the system works. He decided my house was his house and never left.
"You have to watch out for him," I warn Noah. "He's kind of shady."
"Aren't all cats?" Noah kneels down, extending a hand toward Brick.
Brick eyes him sideways for a minute, sniffs him, and then decides he's okay. He rubs against his hand, purring. Noah grins and scratches his ears.
"He has food issues," I murmur. "It doesn't matter where I hide the bag, he finds it. He's gotten into the pantry, my closet, the bathroom, the fridge…" I tick off the list on my fingers. "He's Houdini."
"He likes to eat."
"Until he can't hold anymore." He's so chonky, his belly practically drags the ground. "He's been on a diet for the last year, but he's very dramatic about it. I think maybe he broke into my house because he was starving."
Noah glances up at me, startled. "He broke into your house?"
"Yep. I came home from work, and he was hanging out in my kitchen."
"You're shitting me."
"I'm not." I laugh quietly at the shocked look on his face. "You haven't spent a lot of time around cats, have you?"
"Not criminal cats, no."
"I told you he was shady." I drop my keys in the bowl beside the door and head toward the back of the house. "I'm going to pack a bag, I guess."
"Where's Brick's stuff?"
I pause, turning to Noah in surprise. "You want to take Brick?"
"He can't stay here alone."
"It's only for the night…"
Noah's shaking his head before I even finish the sentence. "We don't know how long it'll take the sheriff to find these fuckers. It could be a while. You may need to stay with me for a while."
