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Chapter Seventeen
Ransom
“Ding dong.”
I knew that voice.
That was a voice I did not want to hear right now.
“Greta!” Luna hollered.
I glared at Luna and clenched my lips. “I thought you told me you weren’t going to call Greta today.”
“Shh,” Luna hissed. “And I said I wouldn’t invite her over when I thought you were leaving me at home.”
“So, you thought you would invite her down to a hot and musty storage unit to hangout?” I snapped.
We were getting nowhere in this storage unit, and my patience was wearing thin. Bear had taken off not even an hour after he got here and just said he had something he needed to take care of, so that just left me and Luna to sift through Tanya’s belongings. Belongings that included more than a hundred ceramic cats.
Ceramic. Fucking. Cats.
“She texted me when I went to the bathroom before, and she was having a breakdown. One of the doctors at the vet is being an asshole to her. If I hadn’t told her to come here on her lunch break, I was afraid she was going to stab him with a scalpel or something.” Luna lifted a duffle bag from the floor and dropped it on the table we had setup in the middle of the storage room. “It was she either comes here, or you get a call to go to the vet clinic for a stabbing.”
“What hole are you in?” Greta yelled. “I brought subs, but if I can’t find you, I’ll just have to eat them all.”
“Seven thirty-three,” Luna called back. She wagged her finger in my face. “And you better be nice to her,” she whispered.
I grabbed her hand and pulled her into my arms. She tipped her head back and pressed her hand to my chest.
“I’m gonna kiss you, Luna,” I warned.
“Why?”
“Because even when you’re hurting or in the middle of something, you make time for the people you love.” I pressed my lips to hers, and she relaxed in my arms. She moaned softly, and I threaded fingers in her hair.
Kissing Luna was something I always wanted to do. I didn’t have to fight the urge anymore.
A slow clap echoed around us. “Oh, boy,” Greta called. “Do you want me to do a lap around the building and come back?”
Luna pressed her forehead against mine and laughed. “If you do that, you better make it twenty laps.”
“And then make sure you knock really loud,” I added.
“We’ll pick this up later,” Luna whispered. She pressed a quick kiss to my lips and pulled out of my arms.
I wiped my lips with the back of my hand and sat down in one of the chairs Tanya had in the storage space.
“You know, when you told me to come out here, I didn’t think it was so you could throw your PDA with hot cop in my face.” Greta walked to the table and set down the bag with subs in it. “If I would have been five minutes later, you two would have been on this table, not out to lunch.”
“Always good to see you, Greta,” I mumbled.
Greta winked. “I don’t think you really mean that.”
“Oh, you got subs from Jake’s.” Luna grabbed the bag and opened it. “I hope you got me the Italian with extra giardiniera.” She pulled three subs out of the bag and laid them on the table.
“That’s what we all got. If you order something else from Jake’s, you’re a psychopath.” Greta grabbed a sub and handed it to me. “Maybe that is how you can find this guy. Stake out the sub shop and anyone who doesn’t order the Italian has to be the killer.”
I grabbed the sub and shook my head. “Or I’ll just keep going with the lead we have.”
Greta grabbed a chair from the side of the room and pulled it up to the table. “You’re not sitting?” Greta asked Luna.
Luna clumsily unwrapped her sub with her casted hand and took a huge bite. She dropped it back on the paper and used her other hand that had a glove on to unzip the duffel bag. “No time,” she mumbled around the mouthful of sub.
Greta shrugged and unwrapped her sub. “I guess you’re right, though I’ve been on my feet all morning helping Dr. Douchebag and your girl needs a damn break.”
“What’s the deal with Dr. Douchebag?” I asked.
“If I tell you he’s the serial killer, will you arrest him right now? Like, get in your car and straight up throw him in jail?” Greta popped a loose pepper into her mouth. “Because I will.”
I chuckled and shook my head. “I’m not too sure I would believe you.”
Greta sighed. “It was worth a shot.”
Luna shook her head. “Another one.” She pulled out a ceramic cat and set it on the table. “I had no idea Tanya was so into cats.”
Greta reached out and poked the ceramic cat in the nose. “Creepy AF. Please don’t tell me she actually had these on display.”
I chuckled. “I’m pretty sure she did.”
Greta laughed out loud. “Fucking classic.”
“Only you would think these cats are creepy but also funny.” Luna pulled another cat out of the bag. “Maybe you might want to start a creepy cat statue collection so when you pass away, your kids will have to fight over who has to take them.”
“I’m writing that down.” Greta reached into the bag. “That is totally something I would do.”
Luna ate her sandwich in between pulling papers and cats out of the duffle bag.
“I know there has to be a joke somewhere here, but I’m just astonished by the fact that there were seventeen cats in there.” Greta shook her head. “You guys give me shit about being a little on the crazy side, but there are people who are way more whacked than I am.”
“Yeah, like Paige,” Luna whispered.
Greta jumped up and pointed at Luna. “How could I forget about the Mary Moo Moos?” she exclaimed. “They are all over her damn house!”
Luna laughed and turned the duffle bag upside down to shake out the last pieces. “Because they are all over her house, but it’s done tastefully.” She flipped the bag back over and tossed it on the floor.
“Did you check the side pocket?” I asked.
“Mary Moo Moo and tastefully do not belong in the same sentence,” Greta laughed.
Luna grabbed the bag again. “No.” She unzipped the side pocket and her jaw dropped. “No,” she whispered.
“Another cat?” Greta guessed.
I smirked and stood so I could see better. “What is it, babe?”
Luna reached into the bag and pulled out a Popular Mechanics magazine.
Greta shot up from her chair.
We found it. This was four copies of Popular Mechanics we had found at the crime scenes.
“What I do?” Luna whispered. She looked like her hand was about to be blown off.
Greta busted out laughing, and I shook my head. I grabbed a rubber glove and put it on. “I’ll take it, babe.”
“Aren’t you going to look through it?” Greta asked. “Maybe there is a clue or something in it.”
I was sure that there was, but sitting in a dingy storage unit was not where I was going to look for it, and it also needed to be brushed for any fingerprints. If we were lucky, the killer would have left his fingerprints on at least one of the four magazines. “Finish up lunch, ladies.” I grabbed an evidence bag and dropped the magazine inside. “We might have just blown this investigation wide open.”
