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“Sorry,” he said, seeming genuinely apologetic. He cleared his throat before speaking again. “Follow me. Um, please.”
My legs snapped into action, despite my mind screaming for them to stop, turn around, and run as fast as I could out the door.
I was a lifeless marionette in his hands, little Pinocchio before the fairy godmother brought him to life.
We walked down one hall, turned, and then walked to the end of another that opened into a large meeting room with a glass ceiling. I’d have been impressed if I weren’t already equal parts agitated and terrified.
“What do you want with me?” I demanded, searching Parker’s eyes, hoping that with the right expression I could convince him to let me go before any serious damage was done.
“Have a seat,” he said with what seemed like a sad shake of his head. I wasn’t buying that. If he was so sad about this, then he wouldn’t have kidnapped me in the first place.
My hands moved to grip the nearest chair and pull it back.
“You don’t have to,” Parker said suddenly, and my hands fell limply to my sides. “Unless you want to.”
“I’d rather stand,” I managed through gritted teeth. “Actually I’d rather go.”
I started toward the door.
“No!” he cried, and I froze in place. “I’m sorry. I know you must have a million questions, and you’ll get answers for all of them. Well, most at least. We just have to wait for—”
The door flew open and four people marched in, glancing briefly in my direction as they assembled themselves around the table. Most were much older than me or Parker. At least one of them looked like he was mere days away from celebrating his one-hundredth birthday. A long white beard hung limply against his chest, making him look a bit like Merlin in a business suit. Why would a one-hundred-year-old man need a business suit, and why would he be wearing it now? These were but a few of the many questions flying through my mind as I studied the new arrivals.
I had just peeked under the table to check out the footwear of a particularly well-dressed woman who appeared to be in her late fifties or early sixties when a black cat trotted through the doorway and leaped up onto the table in one graceful, confident pounce.
“Now that we’re all here,” the voice I’d heard in the outer room began.
Of course, I didn’t hear what he said next, because an internal scream took over my brain as I realized that same smooth voice was coming from the cat. The cat!
And it’s not just that the cat was talking—he seemed to be in charge, too.
He placed one paw directly in front of the other and sauntered across the table, his glowing yellow eyes fixed right on me. “Well?”
“Well, wh-what?” I stuttered. I also struggled and strained, but nothing I tried released my legs back into my control.
“Are you the one who killed her?” The words danced out from the cat’s mouth, and I realized now why it sounded so strange. He didn’t need his tongue to form the sounds. That removed a lot of the wet breathiness out of speech.
“No answer,” he said thoughtfully. “Does that mean you plead guilty?”
“No!” I shouted. “Now let me go!”
The cat turned to Parker and waited.
The once-confident police officer appeared frazzled in the company of the demanding feline. “She was there when I arrived. I thought we could—”
“Make use of her until we find out who really did it. Provided it’s not actually she who committed the deed, of course. Brilliant idea, Barnes.” The black cat strolled back to the head of the table, and the people seated on either side murmured their agreement.
I still had no idea what was going on, but at least now I knew they didn’t plan to kill me. “Excuse me,” I piped up. “Make use of me how?”
“Oh, you’ll see soon enough,” the cat promised with a rather unfriendly chuckle.
With that, Parker rose from his seat and strode toward me with one hand extended as he shot me an uneasy smile.
The others rose from their chairs, too, and formed a line behind him, waiting for their turn to greet me themselves, apparently.
When I hesitantly returned Parker’s handshake, he said, “Welcome to the Paranormal Temp Agency. You’re hired!”
What? How could I be hired when I hadn’t even applied for a job?
