Page 18 of Whiskers on Kittens

“I mean, they’re trying to traffic kittens. That puts them in the irredeemable bastard category automatically.” I skimmed through the interviews with the parents to see if there was any interesting information. “Ah. This also explains why we’re getting some help from the man upstairs. There’s at least one triad in their family line somewhere, and angels don’t care how many times removed part of their family is. The triad is intact, so it’s personal for the angel.”

“The traffickers did not pick their targets well it seems. The fastest way to get a pantheon on the move lately is to screw around with the family of a member of said pantheon.”

“That leads me to believe the traffickers had no idea there’s an angel in the family. So, the kids are your average kids. They’re attending a preschool for lycanthropes in the area and are part of various outreach groups trying to normalize lycanthropes in Chicago.” At their age, I would have already expected them to be in kindergarten. Frowning, I checked the laws in Chicago for infected children in school, discovering that after I had graduated, the school system had determined that the infected needed three years of preschool before being eligible for standard education—and those years didn’t count towards their progression.

I added the school board in the area as my next target.

“And that’s how you got the cooperation of the vampires so easily. They’re neck deep in those activities.”

“I got their cooperation because I am a beautiful feline lycanthrope who treats them like they’re people.”

“That would help your cause, yes.”

“This case is going to give me so many targets.” I allowed myself a long hiss, which I followed up with a growl. “After I’m done spanking the CPD, I’m going after Chicago’s school board.”

“Why?”

“They passed discrimination rulings forcing the kids, most of whom aren’t even contagious at this stage, to go through three years of preschool training before allowing them to receive public education. According to this, the schooling is not free, but it is required for them to get an education.”

“Okay, now you have my attention.”

“I’m going to have the school board’s attention once I get my paws on them, and I’ll give them a real reason to fear lycanthropes—of the adult variety. I’m going to be leveling accusations of trafficking their way because this system makes it exceptionally easy for traffickers to monitor lycanthrope children—and puts them in a situation where it’s easy to grab them.”

“Like what happened with the kittens we’re trying to rescue.”

“Precisely.”

“Considering that the CPD was directly involved with trafficking—of the adult variety—I can readily buy into the school board being involved with child trafficking. But how do you prove it?”

“I don’t. I’m going to make the vampires snoop around and see who comes looking at the kids.” Grabbing my phone, I shot Ernesto a text, told him where to read up on the lycanthropy rules for public education, and suggested that if his brood start doing the foundation work on clearing out the school board of potential traffickers, I might let him sip some of my nicer sake.

A moment later, my phone pinged, and the ancient vampire informed me I was the true ruler of Chicago and that he would do my bidding.

“There. Ernesto is going to start looking into it, and he’ll have his brood feed me information. At the very least, the preschools will be monitored. We might be able to prevent additional kidnappings.”

If the school board was involved with the trafficking of lycanthrope children, we’d find out sooner than later—and those involved would likely disappear under mysterious circumstances or be invited to a trial that would make national news and warn the traffickers that the vampires were coming for them.

“Do you know what would have to happen for such progress in the CPD?”

“I’m guessing at least one dead kid, more than one kidnapping incident, and a riot by the people, as they don’t view lycanthropes as people.”

“I was going to say at least one dead kid, but you’re right about the rest, too.”

“Sometimes, being right sucks. This is one of those times. You drive, I’ll research, and hopefully by the time we reach this express airport, I’ll know which questions to ask.”

SEVEN

“Can you tell me what seemed weird about them?”

The express airport blended civilian and military use, and to my disgust, it proved simple enough to walk on in and go to the cafe, which was located near the baggage claim. To my relief, while there were a few people in the area, nobody was at the shop. A single woman handled the place, which made my job easy.

Armed with pictures of the missing kittens, all of them bright eyed and grinning for the camera, I headed over with Mr. Goody-Goody following close behind me. I ordered a coffee and eyed the cop until he also ordered. While she worked, I considered how best to approach talking to the woman.

I hoped asking if she had seen the kids would open the door and get her talking. If not, I’d have to press—or hope the cop came to the rescue. Once I paid for our coffees, I gave her a twenty dollar tip before turning the photograph so she could see it. “Have you seen these little kids? They were kidnapped, and I’m checking the local airports to see if anyone has seen them.”

The woman’s eyes widened, but then she leaned closer for a closer look of the kittens. “No, I can’t say I have seen those kids, but I have seen some kids coming through here recently that seemed a bit weird.”

Bingo. I put the photo away, pulled out my phone, and asked, “Do you mind if I record this conversation? We’re trying to make sure a bunch of kids get home for the holidays.” I gestured to Easton. “He’s a cop, and he’s been assigned to help with this.”