Page 20 of The Fixer

“I’m going to save you from yourself. It’s what I do.”

An anxious laugh escaped me, and I shook my head, ridding it of the emotions that had drowned me a moment before. “It is what you do. What are you planning on doing when you get here?”

“Mmm.” There was temptation in every beat of his silence. In every sound that he made. I found myself falling into it, waiting on bated breath. “We’ll have to see. What do you want?”

Biting my lip, I rounded the kitchen counter, intent on heading toward the couch. My foot brushed the plate I’d left out that morning for Mr. Jingles, and when I looked down, I found a surprise. “What in the world?”

The plate was right where I left it.

Exactly as I left it.

The blob of stinky, mushy cat food had a dry, hard layer on the top, a slimy liquid seeping out around the edges. But other than that, it was untouched.

“What is it?”

Jet’s voice did nothing to soothe my mind. Rushing around the apartment, I searched for Mr. Jingles. First to my bedroom, then to the bathroom just beyond. Both doors were open with no hungry cat locked within.

“Eliza, what is it?”

“Mr. Jingles,” I said, and it came out a cry. “She didn’t eat her food this morning. I don’t know where she is.”

“Is she locked in your room?”

“No, I just checked there.”

“Did you check under the couch?”

My gaze was drawn there, to the base of the loveseat she always disappeared under. Hesitating, I stepped forward, my feet dragging as I did. My knees shook as I crouched down, and the smell hit me before I’d lowered my face.

“No, please.” A cry escaped me, and I pulled my hand to my face.

“Eliza?”

Beneath the couch was my father’s beloved cat, the poor thing laying on her side, her body not moving an inch. Her head lay in a pool of vomit. Her behind was covered in a mess of poop.

“She’s cold,” I whimpered to Jet as I touched the poor girl’s side.

“Eliza, what’s going on?”

“Mr. Jingles. She’s… She’s dead.”

“Where’d you find her?”

I told him. Told where she was, what she was laying in, covered in, as my heart broke.

“Get away from her,” Jet said, a command to his voice. “Get away from her, Eliza. Go wash your hands. Go to your room. Stay away from her until I get there.”

“Why?” I asked even though I did exactly what he demanded. Over the phone, I heard a car door slam. “What’s happening?”

“Just do as I say.” There was a clip to his voice. A bite that slashed through me, cutting through the tether wrapped around my heart. In my haste to get away from it, I dropped my phone, scrambling to the bathroom before locking myself inside.

5

Jet

“Thank you for coming.”

Santini raised an eyebrow at me as he lifted the cardboard box off Eliza’s kitchen table. “The boss calls, I come running. Isn’t that what you told me when you recruited me years ago?”