“I’m going to shower,” Carter called from the living room.
“Okay!” Hudson yelled back. “Taking the trash out.”
“Don’t forget to lock the door.”
Hudson rolled his eyes. His brother was such a cop. They literally lived in a small town that had nearly zero crime. His brother was one of three police officers. Three! The fire department only had enough personnel to work three shifts with one fore engine and one ambulance. Some of them, like EJ, even split duties between being a firefighter and paramedic since he had the classification. There was a sheriff station close to the state park, but they dealt with county crimes not within city limits. Carter was not a fan of the sheriff, so Hudson made sure to steer clear himself.
Since he and Carter had moved to town, Hudson hadn’t heard of anything more than some teenagers skateboarding in the street. Neighbor disputes. And the occasional car accident.
Like seriously. No crime. And who was going to break into a cop’s house?
He chuckled as he pushed the screen door open and stepped outside. Carter had even added security lights onto their rental house. Large flood lights activated by movement. Hudson hoped that Carter would eventually find the peace he was searching for. If it helped his brother settle to add lights to the house and lock the door, Hudson would do it. He just looked forward to the day that Carter would relax without having to check every door and window three times before finally going to bed.
It hadn’t always been like this.
It was only after Lucy had been injured and Carter had watched his partner nearly lose her life that Carter’s paranoia had taken over.
Hudson was so sad for his brother, but he also didn’t know how to help him.
Walking around the house to the back of the garage, Hudson paused when he felt like he was being watched. The hair on the back of his neck stood as Hudson’s body reacted. Great, if something did happen, he would never hear the end of it from his brother.
He turned in a slow circle but didn’t spot anyone around.
They lived in a quiet neighborhood with good neighbors. To the right was a young couple and the wife was pregnant with their first child. To the left an older man that loved to catch Hudson after his morning run and always offered him a cup of coffee and baked good. Mel was the reason that Hudson was quickly becoming obsessed with the bakery in town.
Of course, thinking about the bakery brought back the memory of the cat, Bas.
All night Hudson had thought of that cat. Do they need a pet? It hadn’t been something that Hudson hadn’t thought about before. He’d really considered taking Bas home though. The cat’s fur had been soft and the rumble had vibrated Hudson’s chest in a pleasant way.
Taking one more look around, Hudson couldn’t spot any danger. He walked the trash bag and placed it in the large plastic bin. He turned, catching the glowing eyes in the tree in front of his bedroom window.
Could it be?
Hudson shuffled forward slowly to not scare the creature staring down at him.
“Hello,” Hudson whispered. The light didn’t quite reach that high in the tree, but Hudson knew that he was there. “Did you follow me home?”
This wasn’t good. Anger filled him at his furry friend being outside this late at night. Whoever this feline belonged to wasn’t taking proper care of this small creature. Hudson stood under the branch, peering up at his little stalker. He couldn’t believe that the cat had found him. And Hudson had no doubt this was Bas. Even in the dark he could see the uniqueness of this animal.
“Are you hungry?” Hudson questioned his feline buddy. “We don’t have tuna or anything but I’m sure I could find you something.”
The cat didn’t move. So not hungry? Hopefully at least the owner of this guy had fed him.
“Do you want to come down?”
He should probably feel silly talking to an animal that couldn’t speak back to him but there was just something about Bas that Hudson connected with. Who cared if he sounded like a crazy person?
Slowly, Bas rose from where he’d crouched on the branch.
Hudson’s excitement grew. Maybe the cat couldn’t understand him, but he was carefully making the trek down the wide tree trunk. He held his arms out in case the feline lost his footing.
Not that the cat appeared to need any help. Bas was several feet above him when he leapt, landing against Hudson’s chest. Immediately Hudson wrapped his arms around the animal.
“Hey there, buddy,” Hudson murmured.
Bas rubbed the top of his head against Hudson’s chest, neck, and chin. Hudson was going to have cat hair all over him, but he didn’t really care about that. He liked that Bas seemed as taken with him as he was with the feline.
“I’m glad to see you, although I do worry about you being out on your own once again.”
