FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Chapter 17: Relationship Troubles

Jason woke up hungry and thirsty. He rolled out of bed and plunged to the floor with a

yowl of surprise. Scrambling to his feet, he looked at the bed in confusion: the mattress was

higher above the floor than he was tall. If he stretched up on his tiptoes, he could peer on top.

What's going on? He looked around his bedroom: everything was similarly oversized. He made

his way downstairs cautiously: aside from everything being too large, it certainly looked like his

house.

In the kitchen, the counter was at least twice his height. Crouching down, he sprang and

landed on top. He walked across to the sink to lap some water out of the faucet. At least he

wasn't thirsty anymore, but he was going to have a terrible time trying to cook anything. He leapt

back down to check the refrigerator, but before he could reach it, he heard claws clicking across

the wood downstairs floor. His heart jumped in alarm. Who else is here?! His eyes darted

around the room for a place to hide. Whatever was going on, he didn't think he wanted to face

an intruder right now! He pulled open one of the cabinets under the counter and started to

scramble inside, pushing aside cereal boxes; he didn't remember having so many.

"There you are, Jason!" Ellie's voice piped. "What are you doing?"

Jason turned around; Ellie was bounding across the kitchen toward him. Like everything

else she towered above him: he barely stood above her knees. She crouched down and

scooped him up under the arms. She stood and held his face up to hers.

"Ellie? What's-" his own voice surprised him, coming out in a high-pitched mew, and he

paused.

"What's what, Jason?"

"What's going on?!"

Ellie smirked, "Were you sleepwalking, silly kitty? You were just trying to climb in with the

cereal. That's what's going on."

Why's she acting like nothing is wrong?! "I mean, what's going on with me?! Why am I

so much smaller than you and everything?"

Ellie gave him a bemused smile, "That's how it works, silly kitty. You start small and

grow big. One day you'll be bigger than me!"

"But I'm already big!" he protested. Why didn't she remember?

Ellie hugged him to her chest and snuggled his head under her chin. "I know; you're a

big kitty," she crooned.

Jason felt his ears get hot. He squirmed in her grasp, but she held him firmly. "Ellie, put

me down!"

She nuzzled his cheek, "I know they said it'd be hard for you to accept with me being a

rabbit, but I wish you would call me Mom, Sweetheart."

Jason nearly swooned with shock and wasn't able to speak for several seconds, his

tongue like rubber in his mouth. "I a-already have a mom," he finally managed.

Ellie hugged him tighter. "I know, Sweetheart. You must miss her and your dad so

much," she murmured sadly.

Jason wasn't sure how to respond. Somehow Ellie was under the delusion that she was

his adoptive mother. He couldn't even begin to imagine how this had happened. How can I

convince her otherwise? "We're private inspectors together, Ellie! Don't you remember? We

have an office in downtown!"

She smiled, "I remember. I took you to work with me last Friday. You had so much fun

sitting at my desk and helping me research my case."

"Don't you remember just this weekend when you got locked up on suspicion of murder

and I had to come help get you out?!"

Ellie gave him a funny look, "It sounds like you've been having some grandiose dreams,

Jason." She looked over his head then back down at him. "What do you say we take care of

your bath, and then I'll make your breakfast?"

"Bath!" he squeaked. "Ellie! I hate getting wet!"

"You'll get used to it, Jason," she consoled.

"I don't want to get used to it!" he mewed in protest. He struggled in her grasp.

"Now, now, Jason, if you don't behave, I won't fix you any meat with your breakfast," she

scolded.

"But I'm hungry!" he protested.

"Then you'd better behave." She carried him upstairs and closed him in the bathroom

with her while she filled the tub.

He waited until she wasn't looking and dashed to the door. Reaching on tiptoes to get

the handle, he opened the door and ran to his room.

"Hey! Come back here!" Ellie yelled.

She gave chase, and he scurried under his bed, heart pounding. She lay down on the

royal blue carpet and peered under at him. He scooted toward the middle, hoping he was out of

reach. Ellie stood up and walked around to the end of the bed. He saw the mattress come off

the far side to prop lengthwise against the wall. Next the box spring followed, and Ellie looked

down at him crossly through the open frame of the bed.

"Enough fooling around, Jason. It's time for your bath."

He leapt up over the frame and pelted for the door. Ellie raced after him and, with a

powerful bound, sailed through the air to tackle him. She pulled him underneath her, but he

rolled onto his back and struck out with his claws extended, scratching her shoulder.

"Ow!" She forcibly rolled him back onto his stomach and sat on his back, squashing him

against the floor. "That hurt, Jason!" she scolded angrily. "What have I told you about keeping

your claws sheathed?!"

"Let me up, Ellie! You're crushing me!"

"Tough. I'm not letting you up until you calm down and apologize. Then you're taking

your bath, and if you're very good in the tub, I might let you have something besides oatmeal for

breakfast."

With the full-sized rabbit's weight crushing him, he soon exhausted himself trying to get

away and flopped down on the carpet.

"Are you ready to behave?" Ellie asked after a few more minutes.

"Yes," he mewed weakly.

"Say you're sorry."

"I'm sorry."

"For?"

"I'm sorry for scratching you."

She got off of him and turned to pick him up under his arms. She carried him back to the

bathroom. He whimpered when he saw the hungry pool of water waiting to swallow him. Ellie

lowered him toward it, and he squeezed his eyes shut.

"Gah!" Jason's eyes shot open as he hit the hot water. He was lying in bed. He pushed

up his feet under the covers: he seemed to be the correct length. He looked around the room:

everything else also seemed to be the correct size. He pushed away the pillow he was holding

and turned over to look at the clock, 5:12. It was still early Monday morning. What a disturbing

dream! 1 He rolled back over and shut his eyes, but he couldn't chase away the image of Ellie

holding him over the tub. He opened his eyes again and groaned: it didn't seem he was going to

be getting any more sleep tonight. As much as he'd liked the idea of Ellie being able to hold and

cuddle him, it was probably a good thing that she wasn't actually large enough to force her will

on him. At least not to that extent.

Unable to go back to sleep, Jason ended up going to work early. He arrived a little after

seven and checked the answering machine: there was a message from the cocker spaniel who

had previously misplaced his favorite chew toy. I hope we don't have to dig through the city

dump again to find it. However, Jason had a suspicion about how the chew toy had ended up

there the first time. He left Ellie a note and drove to the dog's home, which was located to the

West of downtown.

He pulled up next to the red vinyl-sided house and strode up to knock on the brown front

door behind the covered front porch. He rapped on the door, and after a short pause, he was

greeted by boisterous yapping emanating from inside the domicile. Despite his best intentions,

the noisy yapping made Jason more and more anxious as it approached the door. He was

nervously considering his routes of escape when the door swung open, causing him to jump.

"Inspector Brown!" the long-eared tan dog yapped. "You got my message then."

Trying to calm his rapidly beating heart, Jason nodded, "I have an idea of where it might

be."

The dog perked up excitedly, "Where?!" he yapped.

"Where do you keep your garbage before it's picked up?"

The cocker spaniel led him to a shed behind the house. An older cocker spaniel, who

Jason assumed was his mother, came out the back door to watch them. The wooden shed had

three black bags of garbage inside. Jason pulled out one, ripped it open, and dumped the

contents into the yard.

"Hey! What are you doing?!" the younger dog yelped in surprise.

"Looking," Jason answered perfunctorily. He dumped out the second bag.

The older dog stomped across the yard, "You're making a mess!" she growled.

"Sorry, I'm sure he'll be happy to clean it up when I'm done." He inspected the pile of

garbage: he noticed something red and kicked aside an empty potato chip bag. He bent down

and gingerly picked the well-chewed red plastic bone out of the trash.

"You found it!" his client yelped. "How did you know it would be there?!"

Jason glanced at his client's mother. "Maybe you should discuss that with her. I'll send

you a bill in the mail." He turned to the older dog, "Have a nice day, Ma'am." He turned and

1 There is an extended version of the dream.

hurried out of the yard. As he made his way to his car, he could hear the dogs arguing angrily

and was happy he had managed to avoid getting caught in the middle of their feud.

Jason stopped at a gas station and washed his hands thoroughly on his way back to

work. He noticed they were selling cell phone holsters with belts next to the sunglasses at the

front counter. Too many crises had occurred of late where he'd needed to be close to his cell

phone. What if he had missed Ellie's call from the police station like he'd missed her calls when

her date had abandoned her? He tried the black holster on, looping the belt above his hips. He

wasn't sure how well it went with his white shirt collar and red and white striped tie, but he

bought it anyway and slipped his phone inside when he returned to his car.

When Jason returned to the office, Ellie had arrived.

"Good morning! Anything happen while I was gone?"

Ellie shook her head, "Nope. But I am going to be leaving a little early today. I called the

other guy from the speed dating, and it turns out Monday is his day off. He said he could meet

for dinner this evening."

Tell her how you feel, Jason urged himself. He opened his mouth, but anxiety stopped

the words from coming out. "I hope it goes better than your last date," he replied instead.

"It had better. I'm not making the mistake of letting him drive me anywhere, and I picked

out the movie."

"What did you pick?"

"Alien, I grabbed a copy at the library this morning."

Jason nodded approvingly, "Good choice. I hope he isn't too squeamish."

Ellie smirked, "Or at least he's cute when he's scared."

The rest of the morning was uneventful. After lunch, they were visited by a wire-haired

dachshund in a gray tweed jacket.

"Good afternoon, my name is Rupert Hart," he introduced himself. "I work at Starling-

Soft. You may have heard of us, we're a local software developer."

Jason nodded, "What can we help you with, Sir?"

The dachshund pulled a portrait photograph of a brown and white papillon out of his

jacket. "This is Melissa Chester. She started working for the company two weeks ago. Myself

and some of the other management have noticed that she's very inquisitive about the different

projects we're working on. It could be innocent curiosity, but we want to be sure she's not a spy

for a competitor. Do you think you could handle that?"

"If she's working for someone else, we'll find out," Jason assured him.

"Very good, here's my card" he left the card next to the picture on Jason's desk and

turned to go. "Good day, let me know as soon as you find out one way or the other." He left.

Ellie walked over to Jason's desk to look at the picture. "She doesn't look like a spy," she

commented.

"I assume that's one of the qualifications for being one," Jason pointed out. He paused.

"We can start investigating tomorrow so that it doesn't interfere with your date."

"Thanks, Jason. Hopefully, she's as indiscreet about her activities as the Scottie from

last week, and we'll be able to wrap it up in a couple days. I'd be disappointed if we were too

busy for me to meet your date this Friday."

That would probably be for the best.

Around 4:30, Ellie left for her date.

"Have a good time! I hope he's nice."

"Bye, I'll let you know all the juicy details tomorrow!" Ellie quipped before stepping out

the door.

Jason felt his ears get warm as he blushed. He knew Ellie was joking, but he kind of

hoped there wouldn't be any juicy details. He frowned; it wasn't right to hope Ellie didn't hit it off

with her date, especially when he hadn't stopped dating Rosa yet. Another uncomfortable

realization pinched in Jason's stomach: what would he do about his lack of sexual attraction for

Ellie if he did reveal his feelings? Was he okay with not having sex? If it means being with Ellie,

then yes. But what if Ellie felt differently? Would it be right to ask her to forgo sex if he couldn't

perform? Jason didn't think he'd be comfortable with her being intimate with other people if they

were in a committed relationship, but perhaps that was better than not being with her at all. He

shook his head vigorously: he was being stupid! Of course he could manage if that's what Ellie

wanted! Sex was just another form of intimacy! He'd do anything he could to make Ellie happy!

Maybe he'd even enjoy it; despite her being a rabbit, it'd probably still feel--he shook his head

again. He'd think about that after he figured out how to explain his feelings to her. If he decided

to tell her at all; it seemed the more he thought about it, the more difficulties there were.

* * *

Ellie arrived at the Indian restaurant at ten till five after some difficulty finding a place to

park. Her date had not yet arrived. The tufted titmouse she recognized from her previous visit

greeted her.

"Good afternoon. How many?"

"Two. My date will be joining me shortly."

The bird led her to one of the smaller wooden tables with two seats near the back of the

restaurant. Ellie scanned the menu while she waited. A fisher in a pinstripe dark blue vest

brought two glasses of iceless ice water.

"Would you like anything else to drink?" he asked.

"No thanks."

"Are you ready to order?"

"I'll wait for my date, thanks."

He nodded and sauntered over to another table.

Around a quarter after five, Ellie's date finally arrived. He was a black rabbit with hazel

eyes. He was wearing a black t-shirt with torn off sleeves that depicted a fist bursting through a

feline skull with red lettering that read 'Kat Meat!' Ellie assumed it was some band she had

never heard of. His tasteless attire made her feel a bit overdressed in her white, short-sleeved,

button-up blouse, but she supposed it was his day off.

"Hi, Marcus, good to see you again!"

"Call me Mark. It's great to see you again too!" He sat across from her. He looked

around. "This is a nice place."

"Have you ever been here before?"

"No, actually, I own a restaurant on the other side of town; I rarely go out to eat myself. I

would have suggested we meet there, but that would have been a little awkward for a first date.

Anyway, we're closed Monday."

"That's neat! What's it called?"

"Bunny Bites, maybe you've heard of us," he answered with a confidence that suggested

he assumed she certainly had.

"Uh, sorry, no. Is it very new?"

He frowned, "A couple years old now. You really haven't heard of it?"

Ellie shook her head, "What do you serve?"

"We specialize in raw food," he boasted.

"I'll have to check it out sometime," Ellie said politely.

He grinned and nodded, "I'll help you pick out our best dishes. You'll be amazed, I'm

sure!"

Ellie was less sure she would be. Raw food sounded like what you ate when you were

too lazy or busy to cook. "It definitely sounds interesting. I don't suppose you serve anything a

cat might eat."

"Of course not!" he scoffed. "Raw meat?" He shuddered.

"Right. So, uh, do you know what you want to order?"

He glanced at the menu and back at her. "What are you getting?"

"I was going to try the vegetable curry."

"Sounds good. I'll get that too."

"If you get something different, we can share," Ellie explained.

"Oh, okay, what do you suggest?"

"Chana saag is always a good option."

"Cool, I'll get that then." He scanned the restaurant. "Who's our server?"

"The fisher in the blue vest."

Mark waved at him, and he sauntered over to their table.

"Good evening, Sir. Are the two of you ready to order?"

"I'll have the, uh." He turned to Ellie, "What did you call it?"

"Chana saag, and I'll have the vegetable curry."

"How spicy would you like it?" the fisher asked.

"Medium," Ellie answered.

"Light me on fire!" Mark quipped.

Maybe we won't be sharing after all.

The fisher left, and Mark turned back to Ellie. "So you're a private inspector, right?"

"That's right."

"Any juicy cases you can tell me about?"

"Sorry, no, I can't tell you about any specific case. Client confidentiality, you know."

"I guess that makes sense. What's it like in general though? Is it fun?"

"Sometimes, it can be fun. Other times, it's heartbreaking. It's always interesting though."

"Do you work by yourself?"

"No, I have a partner, Jason. I was originally going to start on my own, but then I met

him. I can't imagine what it would be like without him now."

"What's he like?"

Ellie smirked, "He's a goofball. He tries to act so serious, but he's really a sweet kitty."

Mark blinked, "He's a cat?"

"Yeah."

Mark gave her a quizzical look, "That must be so weird."

"Huh? Why?" Ellie asked, confused.

Mark shrugged, "I don't know. I guess I just don't really know any cats. They always

seem so aloof, and their claws creep me out."

"If you met Jason, you'd feel differently," Ellie assured him.

"If you say so." He didn't sound convinced.

Ellie decided to change the subject. She wasn't really sure how it was possible that Mark

hadn't really met a cat before; they weren't exactly uncommon. If they make him nervous

enough, he may just avoid them. "I've never heard of the band on your shirt. What kind of music

do they play?"

"They're a punk band."

"Do you listen to a lot of punk?"

"That and metal. What do you listen to?"

"I like jazz."

"Well, at least it's not opera or country or something."

"If different tastes in music is the biggest conflict we have, I think we'll get along fine,"

she concluded. She thought back to her last date and smirked. "You aren't devoted to the

monarchy, are you?"

He gave her a confused look, "Should I be? Who really cares?"

"Some people care. I met a guy last week who was obsessed with the King's opinion,

but I generally don't think about them either."

"That's good. I would have been weirded out if you had a giant portrait of the King in

your bedroom." He paused. "We are still going back to your place after dinner, right?"

"That's the plan. I got a movie out of the library. My tv isn't very big, but I've spent

enough time at the cinema lately. Anyway, there was nothing good showing."

"What did you pick?"

"Alien."

"That's a horror movie, isn't it?"

"Uh, yeah, it's a pretty famous one."

"I haven't seen it."

"You're in for a treat then, but if you get too scared, I'll let you hold my hand," she

teased.

"Is that so? I'll do my best to be terrified then." He punctuated his statement with a wink.

Ellie giggled.

Shortly, the fisher returned with their food, setting their respective dishes in front of them

and the rice between.

Ellie spooned the vegetable curry onto her plate before taking a small spoonful of the

chana saag. She carefully tasted the chana saag first: the hot pepper was like a hot coal on her

tongue. She quickly washed it down with a gulp of water, finishing with a cough. "That's too hot

for me!"

Mark smirked. He took a large bite of the chana saag; his ears shot up, and his eyes

instantly started to water. He swallowed then grabbed his water glass, draining it. Tears

streaming down his face, he grabbed Ellie's water glass and drained it too. He gasped and

stuck out his tongue to wave his hand over it.

Ellie blinked. "Hotter than you expected, I take it."

"How does anyone eat that?!"

"You asked for it to be really hot," she pointed out. She waved the fisher back over. "I'm

sorry. I don't think either of us are going to be able to eat the chana saag. Could you bring us a

mild chana saag and bring me a fresh water glass?"

The fisher nodded nonchalantly, took the chana saag, and returned to the kitchen.

"They're probably snickering at us back in the kitchen," Mark grumbled.

"Well, it is pretty silly to order your food really hot at a restaurant you've never been to

before," Ellie noted.

His ears drooped and his countenance took on a downcast, castigated expression, "I

don't suppose you'll want to take me home with you after all," he moaned pitifully.

Ellie frowned, "I don't care whether you can eat spicy food or not, and I don't want to cut

our date short. Do you?"

"No."

"Good. Then you can share my food while we wait for them to prepare you a new one."

He brightened up, "Cool. I knew you weren't the kind of girl to be concerned about dumb

stuff like that!"

It certainly didn't seem like it. Ellie let it slide. He was probably more anxious to impress

her than he wanted to let on. The fisher brought Ellie a fresh glass of water and filled Mark's.

She and Mark shared the vegetable curry; Ellie noticed that he still kept drinking a lot of water,

but she decided not to tease him about it since he'd been so upset before. It was more difficult

to know where the limits were with someone she'd only just met than with someone she knew

well, like Jason for example. She didn't want to say anything to really offend him, but at least,

she didn't think it would be as easy to upset him as the loony hare from Friday. Eventually, the

fisher returned with the mild chana saag.

"It's nice to be able to share for a change," Ellie noted after she took some of the

chickpeas. "When I was here last time, my friends got to share, but I didn't."

Mark looked befuddled, "Why was that?"

"Well, Jason is a cat, like I told you, and Tom is a ferret. So they both wanted to order

meat dishes."

Mark blinked, "You go out to eat with your cat colleague too? Doesn't the meat smell

bother you?"

"It does a bit, mostly when it's cooking, but it's nice to be able to eat with my friends even

if their food doesn't look appetizing to me."

Mark shook his head, "You must have a lot higher tolerance for it than me. Still, it must

be nice when you get together with just your herbivore friends."

Ellie felt just a bit self-conscious correcting him, "I don't really have any herbivore

friends."

"None?!" Mark gasped in shock. He paused and gave her a nervous look. "You're not

hiding a pair of fangs under those pretty incisors, are you?"

"Drat, you've seen through my devious disguise!" Ellie exclaimed as seriously as she

could manage.

Mark's hazel eyes widened, and he trembled slightly while his eyes darted over her as if

trying to determine what species had managed to disguise itself so convincingly.

Ellie couldn't hold a straight face and burst out laughing, "Ahahaha, oh Zeus! I can't

believe you thought that was serious for even a second!"

"Well, it is weird!" Mark defended himself. "I don't know any other rabbits with only

carnivore friends!"

Ellie waved her hand dismissively, "I'm sure there are plenty, and it's not like I've never

had any herbivore friends. I just don't have any currently." She smirked. "Won't you feel special

as my only one?" she teased.

Mark seemed to like the idea and grinned. "I'll have to remind you what you've been

missing besides sharing food," he replied meaningfully.

Ellie grinned back. He was quite an attractive rabbit despite his attire, and she was

pleased that she could have some fun joking around with him. This date is going worlds better

than the last one.

Once they had finished eating, they split the bill and headed to their respective cars. Ellie

gave Mark her address, and hurried home so that she would be there by the time he arrived.

She waited in the parking lot until his yellow hatchback pulled in. He got out of his car, and she

led him to the door.

"At least it's another rabbit this time," the gravely squeak came from beside the

dumpster.

Ellie turned to look, and Joe stepped into view.

"Hi, El."

"Zeus blast you, Joe! Were you hiding back there to spy on me?" Ellie yelled.

"I can stand where I like," he countered. He turned to Mark. "Whoever this twerp is, at

least I don't need to worry about him ripping your throat out."

Mark gawked at the brown rat, "Ellie? Who is this?"

"My neighbor. He's a creep. Just ignore him." Ellie unlocked the door, pushed Mark

inside, and pulled it shut behind her. She marched him quickly to the elevator to ascend to the

fifth floor.

While they were in the elevator, Mark turned to look at her concernedly, "Does he bother

you a lot? Do you want me to say something to him?"

"He's just a nuisance, and no, definitely not. I can handle him, and there's nothing you

could say anyway."

"Does he really spy on you though? Maybe you should tell the police or-"

Ellie cut him off, "Let's not talk about him anymore." She led him to her apartment.

Ellie had already rearranged her mauve sectional couch so that two of the sections

faced the small tv. She took the DVD out of her bag and went to put it into the player. Mark

followed her to the living room.

"Interesting color scheme," he remarked.

"I know; it's terribly gaudy. I don't know what they were thinking when they picked bright

green carpet or yellow paint, but I'm not spending the time and money to fix it. I hope to be out

of here before too much longer." She gestured to the couch, "Go ahead and sit down while I get

things set up."

Ellie dimmed the lights and started the movie playing. Mark had taken the left cushion,

so she sat on the right. The movie began, and after a few minutes, Ellie glanced at Mark: he

appeared to be entranced by the film. Then came the chestburster scene; even knowing what

was going to happen, the scene always made Ellie jump. She wondered how Mark would react

and peered at him sidelong.

At first, he remained silent, staring at the screen, but he then let out a little gasp when

the first blood appeared. "Oh Zeus, what is that?!" he yelped as the alien burst forth. The alien

fled, and he turned to Ellie, "What the fuck is this?! You wanted to watch this?!"

Ellie was slightly taken aback, "It's a horror movie. I told you that's what it is."

"I thought you meant like Frankenstein or Dracula, not this gruesome shit!"

Ellie frowned, "Sorry, I didn't think it would be too scary for you. I was teasing earlier, but

you can hold my hand if you want."

"Hold your hand?" he asked indignantly. "Look, I get that you wanted to test how tough I

am, and that's why you took me to eat spicy food and now are showing me this horrific shit. But

do you need to try to humiliate me after I fail?"

"I'm not trying to humiliate you!" Ellie gasped. "And I'm not trying to put you through any

silly tests. Why would you think that?"

"First, you ordered me milder food than yours, and now you want me to cling to your

hand for comfort like a scared little kit. How is that not humiliating?!"

Ellie frowned, "Okay, I'm sorry about not letting you pick the spice level the second time,

but like I told you, I don't care whether you can handle spicy food. And it would be nice if we

enjoyed the same kind of movies, but it's okay if you don't like gory horror movies. And you

didn't seem opposed to holding my hand earlier."

"I thought you were joking earlier!"

"I was, but you can hold my hand if that'll make you feel better. Or if the movie is really

too scary for you, we can do something else: watch another movie, play cards, or whatever."

Mark scowled, "Look, if you really don't care about any of this shit, then why don't we

just skip ahead to where we fuck?"

"Pwha?! Fuck?! We aren't going to fuck on our first date!" Ellie shouted indignantly. "I

barely know you!"

"Then why'd you invite me back to your apartment? What was all of the innuendo

about?"

Annoyedly, Ellie articulated herself as if to a moron, "I invited you back to spend more

time getting to know you better, and as far as innuendo, I don't know what I said that you

interpreted as an invitation to fuck. But you can forget about us ever having sex now; I'm not

interested in coddling your fragile ego."

Mark's scowl deepened, "Whatever, I probably would have woken up with your teeth in

my throat anyway. I knew there was something wrong with you. What kind of rabbit only has

carnivore friends and wants to watch people getting ripped apart?"

Ellie glared back, "I think you had better go," she growled.

Mark hopped off the couch and stomped to the door of the apartment, slamming it

behind him. Fucking Tartarus, what a douchebag! Ellie got up and went to lock the door in case

he decided to come back and then returned to the couch. She rewound back to the chestburster

scene and continued watching the movie.

* * *

Jason and Ellie spent a long day Tuesday watching the brown and white papillon. She

certainly didn't seem suspicious. She was unremarkably dressed in a black pinstripe jacket and

collared white blouse. She went to lunch at a sandwich shop a little after noon and then took a

coffee break around 2:30. Unfortunately, for Ellie, she also worked late, and Ellie had to wait

until after seven before she finally emerged from the office building and got in her car.

Ellie followed in her own car and was surprised when the dog stopped outside of

Garmann Brothers bank. Surely, they're closed by now. Ellie pulled around the corner, parked,

and hurried around to the front again; she was just quick enough to see the papillon going

inside. Ellie slipped back around to the side and called Jason on her tablet: for once, he

answered promptly.

"Ellie? Is she doing something?"

"She just went into Garmann Brothers bank. I can't believe they're open. She must be

meeting someone who works there."

"What's with Garmann Brothers and all of the shady characters and weirdos associated

with them?"

"I don't know. Should I follow her in? Assuming the door is still unlocked, that is."

"No, wait for me; it's too risky for you alone. I'll be there in a few minutes." The line hung

up.

Ellie waited in her car until Jason's dark blue sedan pulled up on the opposite side of the

road. He got out and she waved him over.

"We'll probably have to just wait and see who else comes out," Jason stated. "I doubt

they left the door unlocked after she went in."

Ellie agreed, so they were both surprised to find the door still unlocked. Jason pulled the

door open slowly and stuck his head in to listen. His tail swished back and forth as he listened.

He pulled back and silently closed the door behind him.

"I can hear one or two voices coming from somewhere upstairs. We can go in to listen,

but we need to be absolutely silent. We don't know how many of them there might be or what

they're up to."

Ellie nodded.

They crept inside and up the right marble staircase, which was mirrored by a second

staircase on the left. The bank was quite dark, but a crack of light shone from behind the heavy

oak door of one of the upstairs rooms. Jason and Ellie silently slipped up to the door to hear the

conversation coming from within. The voices were muffled but distinguishable.

"I'm getting bored," came a high-pitched yap Ellie assumed was the papillon. "Let's just

off the bitch and go home."

Another dog growled back, "Not yet! We still need her, and I'm not leaving until I know

for sure."

"You dumb bitch," the papillon taunted. "All you had to do was keep your nose out of

places where it didn't belong. What did you want that you weren't provided with? But what did

you do? You went and shoved it right into a hornets' nest. Now, you're going to die, and you

have no one to blame but yourself."

Jason turned to Ellie, "We can't stand by while someone is murdered!" he whispered

urgently.

Ellie nodded. "On the count of three, we burst in and take them by surprise," she

whispered back. She reached into her satchel and moved her tablet aside to feel her

subcompact handgun secure in its side holster. If things got ugly, she was ready.

"Alright, one, two, three!" Jason counted.

They pushed through the door into the room. The papillon and the Scottish terrier who

they had exposed for cheating on his wife were standing next to his dachshund wife, who was

tied to a chair and gagged. The three of them were situated in front of a large oak desk. Ellie

noticed patches of missing fur showing from under the Scotty's green tweed jacket. The door

slammed behind them, and Ellie turned to see the wire-haired dachshund who had asked them

to investigate the papillon. He locked the door and slipped the key into the pocket of his gray

tweed jacket.

"Look at the two chew toys who decided to join us," the Scotty growled. He turned to his

wife and grabbed her by the neck. "This is them, right?" he snarled.

She nodded, looking at Jason and Ellie desperately.

The Scotty turned back to them, "You think you can ruin my life and get away with it?" he

snarled. "I'm going to have fun ripping you to pieces!"

"Dibs on the rabbit!" the papillon yapped excitedly.

Jason looked at the three dogs, and turned to Ellie, "I'm so sorry, Ellie," he murmured

despondently. "I shouldn't have gotten you into this. I'll protect you as long as I can, but with

three of them," his voice trailed off, and he paused. "If we die, I just-"

"We're not going to," Ellie stated. She drew her gun and pointed it at the Scotty. "The two

of you step away from her and over by your friend, or I'll put holes in your heads."

The Scotty sneered, "You think you can scare us with that toy?"

Ellie aimed it at his right foot and pulled the trigger. BANG! He collapsed to the floor with

a howl of pain, blood gushing out of a hole in his right foot. Ellie aimed at the papillon, "Help him

over."

She heard a growl from behind her, but it was cut off by a sharp yelp of pain.

"I've got this one under control," Jason told her.

Ellie ventured a quick glance at him and noted blood covering the claws of his right

hand. She gestured to the papillon with the gun. "Hurry up. I'm not aiming for the foot the next

time."

The papillon nervously crept over to the disabled Scottish terrier and lifted him on his

right side to support him. They slowly walked over to stand by the door with the wire-haired

dachshund. Ellie turned to follow them with the gun.

"Alright, now just stand there quietly," Ellie instructed. "Jason, call the police, and then let

Mrs. Clark up."

Jason went to pick up the phone on the desk and dialed.

"Hello, this is Jason Brown. Is Lily there?"

...

"Okay, well, we've apprehended a trio of dogs--a Scotty, a dachshund, and a papillon--

at Garmann Brothers bank in downtown. We found them with another dog, the Scotty's wife,

tied up. They were threatening to kill her."

...

"Right, they're still here. Ellie has them under guard."

...

"Thanks, we'll do our best to hold them until you get here." He hung up. "They're on their

way," he stated. He turned to Mrs. Clark and started untying her.

When he was done, she leapt up and hugged him, "Thank Zeus! I was so scared! You're

a lifesaver, Inspector Brown!"

Jason flicked his ears embarrassedly. "You should be thanking Ellie. I hardly did

anything."

Ellie noticed one of the dogs moving furtively toward the door and redirected her full

attention to them. "Stop right there!" she commanded the wire-haired dachshund. "Step back

from the door and slide that key over to me."

He obeyed reluctantly. Ellie noticed four bloody lines down the left side of his face, which

must have been where Jason had scratched him. She reached her left foot forward and stepped

on the key, pulling it back so that she could stand on it.

Before long, Ellie heard the wail of sirens approaching the bank. The dogs obviously

heard them too. The papillon and wire-haired dachshund turned to look nervously at the door,

but the Scotty just glared at Ellie from the floor where he was nursing his foot.

"Damn you, rabbit. The next time I see you, you're going to die. Slowly," he growled.

"I doubt I'll be seeing you any time soon, but if you'd like a matching hole in your left foot,

give me a call," Ellie replied sarcastically.

The papillon glared down at him and then kicked him savagely, causing him to yelp.

"Damn you, Reggie! You and your stupid revenge! You got us into this!" she barked with rage.

"I seem to remember you being awfully willing to participate!" he snarled back. "What did

you say? 'Let's just off her?' 'Dibs on the rabbit?'"

The papillon looked like she might attack the Scotty, but she was interrupted by the door

being kicked in with a resounding crack. Lily, Katya, and an otter and raccoon Ellie didn't

recognize pushed through the door with handguns drawn. Ellie quickly lowered hers and slipped

it back into its holster.

"You three hounds, lie on the ground with your hands where I can see them!" Lily

commanded.

"Only he's a hound!" the papillon protested, looking at the wire-haired dachshund.

Lily growled, "If I say you're a hound, then you are one. Now get on your belly or I'll put

you on it myself!"

The dogs obeyed. Ellie noticed Mrs. Clark starting to lie down as well, but Jason caught

her by the arm.

"You're fine," he assured her.

Katya and the other officers proceeded to handcuff the dogs whilst Lily stomped over to

Jason, "What in Tartarus is going on here, Jason?!" she shouted.

"I told whoever I talked to on the phone," Jason answered. "Those three had her tied up,

and they were going to kill her. They threatened to kill us as well."

"I mean, how did you get involved with this at all?" Lily sniped back. She turned to the

dogs and other three officers. "Go ahead and muzzle them as well. You can't be too careful with

mutts like these."

"None of us are mutts!" the papillon gasped.

Lily smirked and turned back to Jason, "Well?"

"I guess it started when we took Mrs. Clark's case last week. We found out her husband

was cheating on her, and I guess that's what precipitated this whole thing." He turned to Mrs.

Clark. "Is that right?"

"Yes, but please call me Olivia. I'm not going to be keeping that bastard's name!"

Jason winced, "Sorry." He turned back to Lily, "Then he told us to investigate her, and

she led us here," Jason recounted, indicating the wire-haired dachshund and papillon in turn.

"So you were lured into a trap," Lily summarized, deadpan. She glared angrily at Jason,

"I told you this private inspector business was idiocy, Jason! You're going to get yourself killed!

Keep out of things that don't concern you; open a shop or something. If you really need the

rabbit around, bring her along, but leave this kind of thing to us."

It was obvious to Ellie that Lily's anger was driven by concern, but she was still annoyed

by her insistence that they should quit their practice to 'open a shop.' "We didn't come

unprepared for danger!" she cut in. She opened her satchel to show Lily her handgun.

Lily sniffed contemptuously. "I wondered how you were keeping them 'under guard.' Do

you have a permit for that?"

"Of course!" Ellie shot back annoyedly.

"You'd better." She looked at the Scotty, whose foot was still oozing blood. "I guess

that's how he got the hole in his foot. What were you aiming for?"

"His foot!"

Olivia interrupted them in a distressed, tremulous voice, "If they hadn't come, I'd

probably be dead! They saved my life!"

"If they hadn't gotten involved in the first place, you wouldn't have been in danger," Lily

countered.

"I was going to find out about my husband's cheating eventually!"

Lily frowned.

"I agree; it was heroic," Katya put in. "They risked their lives to save hers. Who knows if

we would have made it in time if they had opted to just call us instead?!"

Lily turned her scowling visage to Katya.

Apparently unperturbed, Katya went on, "I can understand why you don't like Inspector

Brown, but I don't get why you don't like Inspector Bennett. She's kind and brave; she reminds

me so much of you!" Katya finished her remarks. But then hurriedly added, "Ma'am."

Lily kind? Ellie exchanged a grimace with the bobcat. It didn't seem Lily relished the

comparison any more than Ellie did.

"Next you'll be suggesting we should all be friends and go toast marshmallows around a

fire together," Lily replied sarcastically.

"What's wrong with being friends?!" Katya rejoined. She paused before going on more

hesitantly, "Actually, there's something I wanted to ask Inspector Bennett if that's okay, Ma'am."

Lily sighed exasperatedly, "Go ahead."

Katya turned to Ellie, "Would you be willing to meet sometime for coffee or something?"

"Sure, you're welcome to hang out with Jason and me sometime. I'll let you know when

we're planning something, and you can join us."

"Thanks, that sounds nice too, but I meant just you and me."

"Oh!" Ellie's ears got warm as she blushed. Is she asking me on a date?

Katya seemed to read her mind, "Not on a date. I know you and Inspector Brown are

together."

"Actually, we're no-"

Katya continued, ignoring Ellie's interjection, "But I'd like to meet with you to talk about,

about what happened to James," she concluded mournfully.

Ellie had done her best to push down the dreadful memory of her night in jail, but Katya's

words brought up a fresh wave of sadness and horror as well as guilt, "I'm so sorry about that,

Katya," she murmured. "I wish there had been something I could have done to prevent it."

Katya shook her head, "I don't blame you, but you were there during his last moments."

Two tears rolled down her ginger fur from the corner of her green eyes. She took a shaky breath

before continuing thickly, "I want to know how he died, whether, whether he suffered." She

sobbed, and more tears began to stream down her face. "He must have been so afraid!" she

wailed. "Oh, why couldn't I have been there for him?!"

Lily rushed to her and hugged the ginger cat to her chest, "We've talked about this," she

growled softly. "It wasn't your fault either." Lily continued to hold the cat as she wept. She turned

to the otter and raccoon, "Start getting these dirtbags loaded. We'll meet you down there."

The otter and raccoon filed the three restrained dogs out of the room. Shortly Katya

stopped crying, and Lily used her own uniform top to dab the cat's eyes.

"I'll meet you anytime you want," Ellie told Katya.

"Thank you," she murmured.

"If there's nothing more you need to tell us, we'll be on our way," Lily addressed Ellie and

Jason brusquely.

"I think we've told you everything," Jason stated.

Lily turned to Olivia, "We'll need you to come make a formal statement, but it can wait

until tomorrow." She left, one arm still around Katya's shoulders.

Jason spoke to Olivia, "Do you have any way to get home?"

"Yes, I can take the car Reginald brought me in. I suppose he still has the key, but I

know where the spare is."

They walked downstairs and outside with the dachshund before parting ways toward

their separate cars.

Jason waved before he crossed the street to his dark blue sedan, "Bye, Ellie. See you

tomorrow, and thank you for saving both of our necks back there!"

"I couldn't have done it without you, Jason," she called back. "For once, I'm hoping

tomorrow is a lot less exciting than today."

* * *

Melissa found herself locked in the back of a police cruiser with the two feline officers in

the front. Damn you, Reginald! She wished she'd finished the job the cat had started when he'd

crawled up to her apartment after his ill-fated liaison with his mistress last week. She could have

claimed he died of his wounds and avoided this mess altogether. Instead, she'd taken pity on

her friend's pathetic whining and agreed to help him get revenge. Look where compassion had

gotten her! She looked angrily at the backs of the feline heads in front of her. First, she'd been

thwarted by a rabbit and now a pair of cats were dragging her away to prison.

"I heard about that debacle you were wailing about," she sneered. "Poor little rabbit

ripped apart. I would have liked to see that, especially if it were Inspector Bonnet or whatever

you called her."

The bobcat snarled, "Shut up!" but not before Melissa was rewarded with a sob from the

ginger cat. Pathetic. These twits are who're supposed to be keeping the peace?

Eventually, they arrived at the police station. The bobcat led her to the jail. They passed

Reginald and Rupert in a cell together on the way back to the cell the bobcat shoved her into.

The bobcat slammed the door and locked it.

"Aren't you going to remove these?" Melissa growled through the muzzle, pointedly

pulling at the cuffs behind her back.

The bobcat sneered, "I don't think so. I don't want you fighting with your cellmate."

Cellmate? Melissa looked around and then almost jumped as a gray tabby sprang down

from the bunk where she'd been lurking. Her long fur was matted and her bright yellow eyes

pierced Melissa as she stared at her. Melissa snorted. Another stupid cat. The tabby began to

stalk around her, and she growled threateningly.

"Awfully feisty for a scratching post," the cat growled. "I'll have to teach you some

manners." She leapt forward whipping out her right hand to slash Melissa's face with her razor-

sharp claws.

Melissa yipped in pain. "Did you see that? She attacked me!" she yelped at the bobcat.

"I must have blinked," the bobcat replied laconically.

The tabby licked the blood off of her claws. "Not bad," she growled. "I may have to

sharpen my claws elsewhere. I've never tasted dog before."

Melissa stared at her in disbelief, "What?"

"Obviously, you'll be a little big for me to finish in one sitting, but it's not every day I get a

meal wrapped up so nicely." She stalked up behind Melissa, who snarled as threateningly as

she could, and reached her right arm around to trace a claw across her belly. "Shh, making

nasty sounds won't do you any good at all. Just relax; this is a sure-fire way into the news. 'Cat

Devours Dog!' It'll be the top headline across the whole country."

It was absurd. People would be snickering at her funeral. Besides, the two of them were

roughly the same size; there was no way the cat could eat her! That doesn't mean she won't try.

Melissa looked fearfully at the bobcat, "She's threatening to eat me!" she whined. "You can't

leave me defenseless like this!"

The bobcat grinned wickedly, "Is she now?" she taunted. She slowly ran her amber eyes

over Melissa. "Save me a piece, Jessica. You can't buy dog meat at the grocery." She turned

and walked out of the jail.

The tabby purred and licked her teeth.

Melissa whimpered.

* * *

For the first couple hours, Ellie seemed to be getting her wish for a more peaceful day at

work. She and Jason spent the morning reading though, more than once, Ellie caught Jason

peering at her over his paper. Each time, he quickly looked away when she looked up. Weird.

Ellie wondered if she should ask what was bothering him. So many things had happened the

past few days that it was difficult to guess. However, a little after eleven, the phone rang; Ellie

picked it up.

"Bennett and Brown Private Inspectors, Inspector Bennett speaking."

"Hi, Ellie. This is Tom. I need to talk with you. Can you meet me at Mole's Mugs in half

an hour?"

"Just me?"

"Bring Brown too. I can't say more right now. See you then?"

"We'll be there."

"Thanks. Bye." He hung up.

"That was Tom," Ellie informed Jason. "He wants to meet us at Mole's Mugs in half an

hour. It sounded urgent."

"Right. I guess we'll, uh, we'll have to leave shortly then." Jason sounded distracted.

Ellie frowned, "Is something bothering you today, Jason?"

"No, I, um, just didn't get a lot of sleep last night."

Ellie suspected it was more than that since that hardly explained why he kept staring at

her. "Okay, but you know you can tell me if anything is bothering you, right?"

He nodded though he seemed uncertain. She'd have to talk to him more later to see if

she could figure out what was wrong, but now, they needed to get on their way.

They left the office and took the elevator down to the street level. After a mild week and

a half, the scorching summer heat had returned with vengeance. Ellie was glad Jason had

gotten the new air conditioner installed in the office, but she was soon panting and fanning her

light blue short-sleeved blouse as they made their way to the coffee shop. The late morning sun

baked down, heating the roads and sidewalks so that walking was a bit uncomfortable even

through Ellie's thick foot fur. Jason didn't seem to mind the heat as much, though he was only

wearing a black shirt collar and tie. He didn't offer any conversation as they walked, seeming

contemplative. Ellie noticed the tip of his tail twitching back and forth.

They arrived at Mole's Mugs early, but Tom had already arrived. He waved them over to

a table.

"What's going on, Fitzie?" Jason queried.

"The psycho who killed the rabbit and the squirrel, he's struck again!"

"How do you know it's a he?" Ellie asked. "It could be a she, couldn't it?"

"Well, yes, but statistically serial killers are usually male," Tom rejoined.

"Those statistics didn't seem to factor in last week when you thought it might have been

me!" Ellie cut back.

Tom winced, "I'm sorry, Ellie. I should have known it wasn't you. Schulz sounded so

confident, but I should have known that didn't mean anything. She's confident even when she

knows she's dead wrong. I hope you can forgive me. I feel terrible about what you went

through."

"I would have gone through the same shit regardless, but it would have been nice to

know my friend knew better. Fortunately, Jason did and was there to get me out. I hope you'll

have a little more confidence in me in the future."

"I will, Ellie. I'm sorry," Tom replied ashamedly.

"Good. Then I forgive you. Go ahead and tell us about the latest murder."

"Murders," Tom corrected. This time it was a squirrel and her two children.

Oh Zeus. Ellie felt a pit of horror in her stomach, "They tortured children?!" she gasped.

"Mercifully--if you can say that in a murder--no. The children appeared to have been

killed quickly."

"What makes you think it is the same killer then?" Jason asked.

"The mother had been dissected, though Schulz isn't convinced because her limbs were

intact, but several of her organs had been removed: liver, kidneys, spleen, pancreas, even one

of her lungs. She probably bled to death when the killer decided to go for a thyroid and

accidentally nicked her carotid artery."

"What can we do to help?" Ellie asked.

"I thought you might like to help with the inquiries. We already got her identity, Michelle

Wickle. Her car was in a ditch about a mile from her home."

"Where did you find the bodies?" Ellie inquired.

"They were tied to posts on the edge of a cornfield, the killer's idea of a joke, I guess."

"Lily won't be happy about us getting involved," Jason commented warily. "She was mad

enough when we saved our client last night."

"I know," Tom admitted. "But they need all the help they can get. We need to stop this

killer before they murder someone else. There's no reason to think they'll stop otherwise."

Ellie nodded, "Right, we have to stop them. Lily can get mad if she wants."

"You two are right; stopping this murderer is the most important thing," Jason agreed.

"Alright, we have her address as 2327 Route 321. It's some distance to the East of here,

the middle of nowhere."

"Thanks, Fitzie. We'll let you know what we find out," Jason concluded.

They got up, left the coffee shop, and went their separate ways, Fitzie heading back

toward the police station and Ellie and Jason heading toward their office. Jason remained quiet

on their walk back and then on their drive out to the country. The squirrel's house was indeed in

the middle of nowhere. The narrow highway was surrounded by cornfields. The road was also

fairly flat and straight allowing Ellie to drive at high speed. Jason dug his claws into the seat.

"Alright, Jason, out with it. What's bothering you?" she demanded.

"Right now, how fast we're going," he answered nervously.

Ellie pushed the accelerator down further, and he groaned. "You know what I mean!

What's been bothering you today?"

"I told you! I didn't get enough sleep."

Ellie pushed the accelerator harder; the engine of the compact car squealed, and the

tires roared against the asphalt as the speedometer crept over 90 mph. Jason moaned.

"Bullshit. What's really the matter?!"

"I was just wondering how your date went!" he cried.

Ellie let up on the accelerator, and Jason breathed a sigh of relief. "That's it!?" She

asked incredulously. "You were so bothered because you wanted to know how my date went?!

That's kind of weird, Jason. I thought it would be something, you know, important."

"Your happiness is important to me, Ellie!" Jason protested. "Besides, you wanted to

know how my date went!"

Ellie didn't know whether to be annoyed or touched though she was leaning toward the

former. "It went badly," she admitted. "Seems I'm not as lucky in love as you are. This guy

wasn't a nutter like the last one, but he was still an egotistical jerk."

"I'm sorry to hear that, Ellie. You're such a compassionate and brilliant rabbit; you should

be able to find someone who loves you like you deserve."

His kind words softened Ellie's annoyance. "Thanks, Jason."

Before long, they arrived at the squirrel's house. The only other house around was a

two-story brick house across the road.

"At least talking to the neighbors won't take long," Ellie remarked. There was already a

police cruiser in the neighbor's driveway. "Looks like Lily is going to find out we're investigating

sooner rather than later." Ellie pulled into the driveway behind the cruiser, and they got out. She

was surprised when Katya climbed out of the cruiser. "Katya? I thought you worked evenings."

"Hi, Inspector Bennett! I do, but Officer Schulz sent me home early last night. Then I was

bored, so I came in this morning. She said she didn't want me moping around the station and

sent me over here." She paused. "What are you doing here?"

"We're investigating the murder, same as you."

Katya frowned, "Officer Schulz isn't going to be happy about that. She made it pretty

clear she doesn't want you involved in police work."

"Let her be mad. You need to get the bottom of these murders, and we're here to help!"

Katya nodded, seeming convinced. "I'd appreciate it if you could help me with the

inquiry, actually. Maybe you'll think to ask something I don't."

She led them to the brown front door and rang the doorbell.

"Boo!" the beagle barked as the door flew aside.

Katya jumped with a squawk, "Akk!"

Jason also started, and Ellie, who was in the back, noticed his tail fur fluff out and his

claws extend. She snorted, holding back laughter, and resisted the urge to smooth his stripy fur.

On the threshold was elderly female beagle in a light blue dress, who had apparently

been waiting on the other side of the door. She grinned, "Still got it." She looked over the three

of them. "Two cats and a rabbit, kind of an unlikely trio. What do you want?"

Both cats took a moment to compose themselves, retracting their claws and laying down

their fur. Ellie pushed around past them to address the beagle.

"We're here to talk to you about your neighbors, Ms. Wickle and her children."

The beagle frowned, "I noticed they hadn't come back yet. Are they missing?"

Ellie hesitated uncomfortably, regretting her decision to push to the front. "They're dead,

Ma'am, murdered."

The beagle's mouth fell open. "Oh no!" She cried in distress. "Who am I going to watch

now?!"

Ellie was taken aback by her response; she'd been ready for the dog to be upset but not

about her creepy recreation of spying on her neighbors.

Katya was apparently even more shocked, "Who are you going to watch?!" she hissed.

"Your neighbors are dead, and that's your biggest concern?!"

The beagle shook her head mournfully, "I spent so many hours watching them scurry

around their house with their funny tails twitching and flailing behind them. I almost felt like they

were family. I can't believe they're gone."

Ellie felt a bit guilty for her initial reaction to the dog's surprised response; though still

creepy, she didn't seem quite so callous as she had at first. "I know it's a difficult time after you

just found out what happened, but could you tell us about the last time you saw them?"

The beagle nodded, "They got home Monday around six as usual, but then I saw

Michelle go out about nine."

"Was she alone?" Katya asked.

"Yes, she often left them alone for short periods. I kept an eye on them, but I think the

children were in bed; there were no lights on."

"How long was she gone?" Katya asked.

"That's the thing; she never came back. I started to get really worried an hour in, but

then another car pulled into their driveway, and they led the children out."

"Didn't you think that was suspicious?" Katya inquired.

The beagle shrugged, "It was odd, but they didn't break in. I assumed she sent them to

bring the children." A dark cloud of distress passed over her visage. "I guess I was wrong. Poor

dears, I should have helped them. If I'd called the police when she didn't come home or just

gone to fetch the children myself, they'd be alive right now." She looked down ashamedly.

"Don't be too hard on yourself. You couldn't have known what was going on, especially if

they didn't break in," Ellie tried to console her. "Can you tell us what kind of car it was or who

came to get the children?"

"It was dark, but I guess the car was a dark sedan. There were two people I saw besides

the squirrels. I'm not sure what species they were, badgers or something similar."

Ellie exchanged a glance with Jason, the dark sedan could be the black one without a

license plate the blue jay had seen before. "Did the car have a license plate?"

"I couldn't tell, sorry."

"Is there anything else you've noticed out of the ordinary lately?" Katya queried. "Anyone

hanging around or visiting their house?"

The beagle shook her head.

"Okay, thank you for your time, Ma'am." Katya concluded.

They turned to go.

"Bye! Sorry about the scare I gave you when you arrived, just a silly old dog's bit of fun."

"I thought it was quite amusing," Ellie told her as they walked back toward the cars. She

noticed Jason roll his eyes.

When they reached the cruiser, Katya halted and turned to Ellie, "Hey, Inspector

Bennett, could we have that talk now? About James."

Ellie's chest tightened with anxiety. She wasn't looking forward to revisiting the horrific

experience, and even though Katya had assured her that she didn't blame her for what

happened, her own guilt caused her to feel nervous that she would blame her when she learned

the full story. "Okay."

Katya opened the driver's side door of the cruiser. "We can sit in my car."

"I'll just wait by your car if that's okay," Jason said.

Ellie nodded to him and climbed into the passenger's seat of the black cruiser. The car

was like an oven inside. Thankfully, Katya started the ignition to run the air conditioner.

Ellie took a deep breath to prepare herself. "Do you want me to go through the whole

thing?"

Katya shook her head. "First, just tell me, did, did he suffer?"

"I don't think so. She killed him pretty quickly. I never heard him cry out in pain."

Katya nodded slowly, tears welling up in her eyes. "Was he scared?"

Ellie hesitated. He'd been terrified. Should she tell Katya he hadn't been afraid to die? It

might make her feel better, but it would be a lie. She deserved to hear the truth no matter how

hard it would be. "Yes, she made sure of that."

Katya's expression turned to a gape of horror, "What do you mean 'she made sure of

that'? I thought you said he wasn't in pain!"

"She made sure he knew what was going to happen to him, taunted him, even let him try

to get his taser back so that she could catch him again."

"Oh Zeus," Katya sobbed. "Why?! Why would she be so cruel?"

Ellie shook her head, "I don't know." The tabby had done her best to scare her too, and it

easily could have been her instead of the poor black and white rabbit who had met that cruel

end. Ellie felt sick to her stomach. She wanted to comfort Katya, but how could she when she

hadn't even come to terms with what had happened herself? What could she possibly say? She

reached across the middle console to grasp Katya's hand. "I'm so sorry about what happened to

your friend, Katya. I wish I knew how to make it easier for you, but I don't."

Katya squeezed her hand back; she did so a little too hard, and Ellie tried not to wince. "I

just keep thinking how horrible it is that it was another cat who killed him. If he hadn't been

comfortable around me, maybe he wouldn't have gone into the cell with her. I feel like, by being

his friend, I betrayed him somehow."

"You didn't betray him!" Ellie insisted forcefully. "You shouldn't feel guilty for being his

friend! You're kind, and I'm sure he wouldn't regret having been your friend. You aren't

responsible for her actions just because you're the same species!"

"But he might be alive if he hadn't been!" Katya sobbed.

Ellie squeezed her hand tighter, "Listen!" she implored. "If it had been me who died, I

wouldn't want Jason to feel guilty for being my friend, not for a second. You aren't like her, and

you aren't responsible for what she did! I'm sure James would feel the same way! He was

fortunate to be your friend just as you were fortunate to be his. Don't ever think that was wrong!

Least of all because of what someone else did!"

"Thank you, Inspector Bennett," Katya murmured thickly. "I hope you're right."

"I know I am! And if you want to talk again or you just need a friend, I hope that you

won't hesitate to ask me again. I think I'd also be fortunate to be your friend."

"I'll remember that." Katya paused. "Were you serious about inviting me to spend time

with you and Jason? I don't want to be a bother."

"I'd love it if you would! Are you doing anything this evening? I assume you won't be

working since you're already working now."

"I guess not."

"Great! Do you drink? We could meet at the brewery in West downtown. I can't ever

remember the name, something about pirates. Do you know the one?"

Katya nodded, "Alright, I'll see you there, I guess."

"Around six?"

Katya nodded.

"I'll be looking forward to it then." Ellie opened the door and climbed out of the cruiser.

"Bye, Inspector Bennett."

Ellie waved and shut the door. She loped back to her own car. Jason was waiting in front

of the car, and he stepped into her path to catch her in a tight hug.

Surprised, "What's this for?" Ellie asked.

"I thought you might need it after that discussion," Jason explained.

Ellie hugged him back, "Thanks, but I'm alright."

"Do you want me to let you go then?"

"Maybe just a few seconds longer." Ellie nuzzled her nose into his soft chest fur, and

Jason purred. Ellie didn't know how close Katya and James had been, but she knew she would

be devastated if something happened to Jason. While she knew they couldn't replace the friend

she'd lost, she hoped they could still comfort Katya somewhat. She shouldn't have to go through

this alone. While Lily had shown some signs of caring for the ginger cat, Ellie had serious

doubts about the quality of emotional support the bobcat could provide.

After several more seconds they broke apart.

"Ready to go?" Jason asked.

"Just a minute. There's one more thing I have to do." Ellie bounded back over to the

cruiser and knocked on Katya's door.

Katya opened it a crack, "Is there something wrong?"

"Can you step out for a second?"

Katya climbed out of the car, and Ellie reached around her torso to pull her into a friendly

hug.

"I thought you might need one too," she explained.

Katya lightly reached her right arm around Ellie's back. After a few seconds, Ellie broke

away and looked up at the obviously embarrassed cat.

"Thanks, that was, that was nice, Inspector Bennett."

"You can call me Ellie. I'm sure Jason won't mind you calling him by his first name either.

You don't need to be so formal among friends."

"Right, and you can call me Katya."

"I already do."

"Oh, er, right. I assumed you just couldn't remember my last name."

"I knew we were going to be friends the first time I met you. But I also couldn't remember

your last name."

Katya smiled amusedly, "It's Letova."

"Alright, well, I'll see you later, Officer Letova." Ellie replied with mock formality. She

turned and skipped back to her silver compact car.

"Bye, Ellie!"

Ellie and Jason climbed into her car and started back to downtown Maplesburg.

However, Ellie had only been driving a few minutes when she spotted red and blue flashing

lights in her rear-view mirror. She pulled over, and the police cruiser pulled up behind her. Katya

got out and walked up to Ellie's window.

Ellie rolled it down and gave her a puzzled look. "Is something wrong?"

"Do you know how fast you were going?"

"I don't know, about seventy?"

"The speed limit is fifty! Hold out your left hand."

Ellie held it out, and Katya scanned it.

"It seems you're alright in terms of your license and insurance." She pulled a pad of

yellow paper out of her pocket. "However, I'm still writing you a ticket for speeding." She

scrawled on the notepad, tore off the top piece of paper, and handed it to Ellie.

Ellie glanced at the ticket, "A hundred credits!" she yelped. "Katya! Can't you cut me a

break?!"

Katya frowned, "I can't give you special treatment for being my friend. You can pay it

now or the next time you visit the station."

Ellie grumbled, "I guess I'll pay it now."

Katya punched a few buttons on the scanner and scanned Ellie's hand again. She

checked the screen and nodded. "Drive safely," she said before walking back to her car.

Ellie hoped that Katya would go ahead, but she waited for Ellie to pull out before

following. They were going to almost the same place, so the feline officer would be behind her

the entire way back. Ellie was forced to drive cautiously, frequently checking her speed. She

didn't want to get another ticket.

Jason turned to look at the police cruiser behind them and then looked at Ellie, grinning.

"I like her," he quipped.

"Maybe I should have let you pay the ticket then," Ellie grumbled.

"You were driving."

The rest of the afternoon was uneventful. Jason and Ellie were unsure what else they

could contribute to the case unless they happened to spot a black sedan carrying a pair of

badgers. At least the police had some description of the perpetrators to go on this time. They

were having a late lunch--Ellie was eating a salad and a hay and oat bar, and Jason was eating

some sort of cold cut sandwich--when Ellie had an idea about the case.

"The fact that there are at least two of them makes your cult theory seem a lot more

likely, Jason. I know we thought the skunk had to have an accomplice, but he struck me as

more of a nutter than a cultist. But now we have at least two people involved, and they were

coordinated. They didn't just happen across the three of them."

"I still can't figure out which one it would be. I've looked over the files we selected again,

but nothing really matches. Plenty of them have cut up their victims, but I couldn't find any

mention of a cult that stitched their victims up while they were dissecting them."

"It could be a new cult or a particularly cruel member of one of the existing cults."

Jason nodded, "That doesn't give us much to go on though, and it could still be a group

of psychos. There's no particular evidence of anything ritualistic."

"How would people like that find each other?"

Jason shrugged, "How do they find each other to form a cult? It's not like they can put an

ad in the newspaper. 'Murderer Seeks Individuals with Compatible Interests'. They'd be arrested

immediately."

"When we catch them, I guess we can ask."

"I guess. Do you think we will catch them?"

"We have too! For Danny and his parents, for Ms. Wickle and her children, for all the

people who might be the future victims of these monsters!"

Jason nodded, looking resolute, "Right, and we finally have a description we can use. It's

only a matter of time before they're caught."

At half past five, they headed to the brewpub. The sun was still beating down on the

sweltering city, and Ellie was more than ready for a cold drink by the time they arrived.

However, she made sure to take a quick glance at the sign before they went inside: it read

'Silver Beard's Swarthy Brews for Swashbuckling Buccaneers'. No wonder I can't remember it.

Inside the mercifully cool taproom, she filled a glass of water from the cooler and quaffed it

before they went to order their beer. Ellie and Jason ordered a nut brown ale and an oatmeal

stout, respectively, and they went to sit at one of the long, high wood tables. Jason sat on one of

the stools at the end, and Ellie sat on his right.

Before long, Katya stepped through the front door: she had changed out of her uniform

top and was wearing a green t-shirt that matched her kelly green eyes. Ellie waved to the ginger

cat, but her hand froze when a familiar bobcat stepped through the door behind her. Why did

she bring her? Lily spotted them and sneered before ushering Katya to the bar; she had also

changed out of her uniform and was wearing a peach blouse with wide short sleeves that was

printed with sunflowers. Ellie could hardly imagine a shirt less fitting to the nasty bobcat's

personality.

Ellie turned to Jason, "I didn't ask her to bring Lily," she murmured. "Why would she

bring that jerk?"

"She probably doesn't think she is a jerk. Lily is her commanding officer; you should

assume she looks up to her and try not get into an argument that will upset Katya." He paused.

"If you can help it, that is."

Lily stalked over to their table with Katya close behind, both carrying amber beers. Katya

sat on the empty stool across from Ellie, but Lily walked around the end of the table to sit beside

Ellie. The bobcat looked down to grin at her menacingly.

"I told Officer Schulz about our plans, and she wanted to come. I hope that's okay,"

Katya explained anxiously.

Ellie tried to smile reassuringly, "No problem."

"Don't sell yourself short, Katya," Lily chided. She looked over Ellie's head to address

Jason. "Katya made your little pet sound so wonderful that I decided I needed to give her

another chance, see if I should get one of my own. Although," she ran a finger down Ellie's

spine and then pricked her with her claw just above the tail, causing Ellie to flinch. "I may need

to borrow her from you for a little while to be sure."

Jason's arm shot behind Ellie, jostling her as he yanked Lily's hand away from her.

"Keep your hands off her!" he growled.

Lily jerked her arm away, jostling Ellie again, "Keep your hands off of me!" she snarled.

Concerned about being caught between two fighting cats, Ellie ducked under the tall

table and popped up beside Katya and across from Jason. "Can you grab my beer?" she asked

her.

Katya complied. "I'm sorry about bringing Officer Schulz," she whispered. "But she

insisted on coming, and I didn't know how to tell her no."

Lily and Jason were still staring daggers at each other.

"Don't be an idiot, Jason. You think I was actually going to hurt her?" Lily growled.

"Hard to assume you wouldn't after the last time you decided to have some fun with her,"

Jason shot back.

"I didn't mean for any of that shit to happen!" Lily retorted. "You think I wanted that to

happen to one of my officers!?"

"I meant when you decided to play your sick little game with her," Jason growled.

Lily snorted derisively. "She was fine."

"That's why she limped into my house with claw marks on her back, is it?" Jason cut

back.

Lily turned to sneer at Ellie, "Did the poor little bunny run crying to her kitty? I'm sure he

kissed it and made it all better."

Katya had been fidgeting uncomfortably during their heated exchange, and she glanced

from Lily to Ellie and back, disturbed, "What did you do to her, Ma'am?"

"Just taught her a lesson, one she seems to have forgotten."

"She thought it would be fun to simulate hunting her: she pounced on her repeatedly,

and like I said, she obviously didn't keep her claws sheathed," Jason rebutted.

Katya gaped at Lily wide-eyed, "But you could have really hurt her like that!"

"Does she look like I did? She was fine," Lily responded dismissively.

"But your instincts could have kicked in and-"

"I'm not some idiot kitten!" Lily snarled. "You think I don't have a handle on that?!"

Katya looked down at the table. Ellie put her hand on top of Katya's and gave it a

comforting squeeze.

"Why did you really decide to come here, Lily?" Jason demanded.

"How about because I don't want you corrupting her?" Lily shot back.

"That makes sense. Jason is a very dangerous influence," Ellie rejoined sarcastically.

Lily glared at her, "Of course you don't think so, but I'm not going to stand by and watch

another decent cat turn into some impudent rabbit's foot-licker."

Ellie scoffed, "I thought I was Jason's pet. Now he's my foot-licker? Can't you even keep

your insults straight?"

"They're not mutually exclusive," Lily rebutted.

"Ma'am, please!" Katya cried in distress. "Inspector Bennett was kind to me, and I

wanted to have a nice time!"

"She's an insolent oik; you can do better." She stood. "Let's get a different table. I'm tired

of the smell of rabbit, and I can't tell which of them it's stronger on." She grabbed her glass and

walked around the end of the table. She glared at Katya, who was still seated, "Well?"

"Sorry," Katya murmured to Ellie. She got up and quickly followed Lily across the room.

"Fucking Tartarus!" Ellie grumbled. "And you dated that asshole."

"She's definitely gotten a lot worse," Jason muttered.

"Poor Katya. I can understand why she didn't feel like she could say no to her. I hope

she doesn't let it slip the next time we invite her to join us."

"Next time? You want to invite her again?"

"Of course! It's not her fault Lily is a jerk! Katya is really nice. I was hoping you'd get to

know her better tonight, but I guess it will have to wait."

"If you say she's nice, she must be. I'm sorry for starting the argument, right after I told

you not to too."

"You'd better be, foot-licker!" Ellie snapped.

Jason's mouth fell open, "Huh?"

Ellie couldn't keep a straight face and giggled, "Heeheehee, Lily's insults are so stupid.

I'm your pet, but you are my foot-licker. Do I have to wear a collar while you lick them then?"

Jason smirked and shrugged, "It must be tough for her determining which of us she

despises more."

By the time they had finished their beer, Lily and Katya were gone. They headed outside

to make their way home. The sun was creeping below the tops of the high rises behind them as

they walked back toward the office, stretching their shadows out in front of them. Ellie was

thinking about Katya, worrying that they had gotten her in trouble with her surly boss, when

Jason's tail bumped against her. She ignored it and kept walking. It bumped her again. She

looked down: the tail swung away and back toward her again. She paused her walking, but it

changed directions to correct and bumped against her a third time.

"You're doing that on purpose!" she accused in surprise.

"You forgot to mess with my tail this time," Jason replied.

Ellie blinked, "I thought that embarrassed you."

"It does, but I don't know, it's kind of funny."

"It kind of ruins the joke if you want me to do it."

"Oh, sorry."

Suddenly, a ginger cat sprang down in front of them from the fire escape of the building

they were passing. Ellie let out a little yelp of surprise, and Jason jumped between her and the

other feline. However, they quickly recognized that it was Katya.

"Sorry!" she cried hurriedly. "I waved, but you didn't see me."

Ellie peaked out from behind Jason. "Katya? I thought you left with Lily."

"I did, but after we got back, I told her I was going home and came back. I had to run all

the way here."

"Was there something you needed?" Jason inquired curtly.

Katya squirmed embarrassedly and looked at the ground, "I just wanted to apologize for

bringing Officer Schulz. I knew she didn't like the two of you, and I should have never mentioned

our plans to her. But I just thought if I told her how kind Inspector Bennett had been, she'd give

you another chance. And, and I understand if you're angry or you don't want to invite me again,

but-"

Ellie pushed past Jason and bounded forward to wrap Katya in a hug. "You don't have to

apologize. None of that was your fault, and I hope you'll join us again soon."

Katya returned the hug with both of her arms this time, squeezing Ellie lightly.

Ellie looked up at the ginger cat, "Do you want to walk back with us? I would have liked

to spend more time with you this evening, but we can still spend a little while."

Katya glanced over Ellie at Jason, "If that's okay with Inspector Brown."

Ellie turned her head to look at him: he was frowning, but he nodded slightly. What has

him grumpy? He knows it wasn't Katya's fault Lily decided to come be a jerk. Ellie let go of

Katya and hopped back over next to Jason, snatching his tail and wrapping it around her. "I

hope it won't bother you, Katya, but Jason and I have a little ritual for after we've been out

drinking. You see, Jason completely loses all sense of direction after a drink, so I lead him back

by the tail. I'd have to drive him home if he didn't have a GPS."

Katya stared at him like she was looking at some sort of medical curiosity, with shock

and pity barely outweighing amusement.

"That's not-" Jason started to protest.

Ellie cut him off, "He's a little embarrassed about it, so try not to let it get out to anyone

else."

Katya nodded solemnly though a twinkle of amusement in her eyes belied her otherwise

sober expression. Jason flicked his ears and tried to yank his tail back, but Ellie held it firmly.

She grinned and ran the end of his tail through her free right hand.

She gave the tail a light yank. "Come on, kitty. Let's go,"

The three of them walked side-by-side as they made their way to the office building.

"Do you have any plans for the weekend, Katya," Ellie inquired.

"Yes, actually, I have a date Saturday," Katya replied cheerfully.

"That's nice. Have you met him before, or is this your first date?"

"She's a black-footed cat, and we've been dating a few weeks."

"That's interesting; that's a species I assume, not a descriptor."

"Yes, she doesn't have black feet actually. She looks a bit like Inspector Brown except

that she has spots as well as stripes, and she's about your size, Ellie."

"A rabbit-sized cat! You ought to bring her along sometime, just so I can stand next to

her."

"I'm not sure she'd agree to that," Katya replied cautiously. "She's pretty shy. We chatted

online for a month before she agreed to meet me."

"Oh, I understand then."

"I'm sure she'd like you if she met you though," Katya added.

"That's nice of you to say, but I do rub some people the wrong way, it seems."

"You mean like Officer Schulz," Katya murmured embarrassedly.

"Her among others. I've had two dates in the past week who decided they didn't like me

at all."

Katya gave her a puzzled look, "I thought you and Inspector Brown were together."

Ellie shook her head, "We're close friends. As a matter of fact, Jason has a date this

weekend too, and I'm going to meet her for the first time Friday."

Katya frowned, "I was sure Officer Schulz said-"

"You can't believe everything Lily says about us. Jason has never offered to lick my feet

once, for example."

Katya looked away embarrassedly, "Sorry, I thought you seemed like such a good

couple that I assumed it was true."

"We do make a good team," Ellie piped cheerfully. "Don't worry about it."

Katya peered down at Jason's tail in Ellie's hands, "So you weren't kidding about him

losing all sense of direction then?"

Ellie smirked, "That's right. He's hopeless without my direction."

"That's not true," Jason grumbled, breaking his embarrassed silence. "The first time we

went there, she got so drunk that I was the one leading her home."

Katya shook her head, perplexed.

"Jason doesn't mind when I tease him," Ellie explained.

"He must not. I mean, I like you, but if you were messing with my tail like that, I'd

probably swat you. Your tail is kind of personal, you know?"

Ellie shrugged and wiggled her short scut, "I hardly have one." She looked at Jason: he

looked away embarrassedly.

"I don't mind," he mumbled.

Ellie turned back to Katya. "We're close friends like I said," she concluded. "If he can

hold me on his lap, then I assume holding his tail is no big deal."

Katya blinked, "Yeah, I'd, uh, say that's the case," she agreed awkwardly.

"Has there been any update on the case?" Jason asked quickly.

"Oh, I guess I didn't get to tell you. Officer Schulz said the case is closed."

"Pfwha?!" Ellie yelped. "How can it be closed? Did you catch them that fast?"

"I'm afraid not. Officer Schulz said there was nothing to go on. She said we'd have to

wait and hope they were more careless the next time."

"She wants to wait for someone else to die!?" Ellie seethed. "That neg-"

"It's certainly surprising she decided to close the case so quickly," Jason interrupted with

a pointed look at Ellie.

"I thought it was quick too, but Officer Schulz must know what she's doing," Katya

replied. "And you have to admit there wasn't much to go on."

"More than we've had before!" Ellie rebutted. "Until today, the best description of the

perpetrators we had was that they sounded 'big and scary' and that they probably drive a black

sedan with no license plate. Now we know they are badgers or something similar. I'd say that

narrows it down quite a bit!"

Katya frowned, "Officer Schulz must not think it's enough."

"Maybe she's right. Regardless, if she says the case is closed, that's that," Jason

concluded.

Ellie turned angrily to deliver a biting rebuke to his idiocy, but he gave her a warning look

that told her he didn't want to discuss this further now. Ellie took a deep breath to calm her ire at

Lily's negligence.

"Do you know Fitzie?" Jason asked Katya lightly.

"Who?"

"Sorry, Dr. Fitzgerald. I call him Fitzie."

"The coroner? I've met him, I guess. Why?"

"He's a friend of mine. I just wondered how well you knew him."

"Not that well. He's not usually there when I am, and the coroner's office is kind of a

different building even if they're connected."

"Well, if you ever work with him, let him know you're friends with me, and he'll be more

amiable. He can be a little standoffish otherwise."

Katya smiled shyly. "Thank you, Inspector Brown. I guess you know a few of the people

at the station."

"Mostly just Fitzie and Lily. I've known Fitzie a long time, and I met Lily at, er, at school."

"I know. Officer Schulz told me why you dropped out of the police academy."

Jason grimaced, "Did she really?"

Katya nodded.

"What, what did she say?" Jason asked warily.

"She said that you threw away your career because you thought you knew better than

everyone else."

"I guess that's one way to look at it," Jason muttered embarrassedly.

"That's another thing you shouldn't believe Lily on," Ellie defended him. "What Jason did

was very brave. He stood up for what was right even when he knew the consequences were

severe."

Katya blinked, "If you say so." She didn't sound convinced.

"Tell her what really happened, Jason!" Ellie demanded.

"Maybe some other time," he muttered. "We're almost back."

They reached the office building and said goodnight to Katya before heading inside. Ellie

needed to collect her things, and Jason rode the elevator up with her and followed her into the

office.

"Sorry for stopping you earlier. I didn't want to discuss it in front of Katya, but you were

right. I can't believe Lily closed the case before it even started!"

Ellie clenched her fists in rage, "What does that negligent piece of shit have to do that's

more important than investigating a fucking serial killer?!"

"Well, it's another thing I didn't want to say in front of Katya, but maybe she figures that

it's no big deal as long as it's prey dying."

Ellie gaped at him in shock, "Fucking Tartarus! You really think that's possible?"

Jason shrugged, "I don't know what to think about her anymore. When we were together

at the academy, I would have told you she'd be committed to justice no matter who was

involved, but after what she did to you, first at the gym and then when she arrested you, it's hard

for me to believe that anymore."

Ellie frowned darkly, "If that's the case, then we don't have a choice. We have to

investigate ourselves."

"I agree. If the police aren't going to investigate, we need to. We'll go see what we can

find at the squirrels' house tomorrow. Even if they didn't break in, they must have left some

evidence."

Ellie nodded resolutely. "Tomorrow then." She paused. "It's probably a good thing you

did stop me. Katya may be nice, but she's still an officer. We don't want her knowing that we're

going ahead with the investigation ourselves. She'd definitely tell Lily; it wouldn't even be right to

ask her to risk her job by not telling her."

"That was my thinking. Plus, I didn't want you to upset her by calling Lily 'a negligent

piece of shit.' I don't think she would have taken that well."

Ellie smirked, "Probably not."

She collected her satchel, and they took the elevator back down to the parking garage

where they parted to go to their cars. Whether Lily was a negligent piece of shit or a negligent

piece of shit with no regard for the lives of prey, someone still needed to stop this murderer

before more people died. If the police were content to sit on their hands, then it was up to her

and Jason to do it.

* * *

They left the office to go back to the squirrels' house first thing Thursday morning. Ellie

apparently didn't want to waste any time, and Jason almost wished they had asked Katya to

come along just so his fur wouldn't have been on end during the drive. They parked in the

neighbor's driveway so as not to disturb any tire tracks that might have been in the squirrels'

driveway.

The squirrels' house was a one-story house with light gray vinyl siding and forest green

fixtures. The roof was dark gray composite, which Jason got a good look at because the house

was, of course, squirrel size appropriate. Ellie would be able to fit without issue as long as she

was careful not to bump her head on the doorways. Jason, on the other hand, would have to

stoop just to fit inside. He wondered how the badgers had fit inside. Maybe they had convinced

the children to come outside instead.

"I think you'd better go in by yourself," Jason noted.

"I'm sure you can fit," Ellie responded.

"Can isn't the issue. It won't do much good if I'm making a mess knocking over furniture

just trying to maneuver."

"I guess," Ellie conceded.

"I'll see what I can find out here."

Ellie selected a sizable rock from the driveway and went around back to break in whilst.

Jason started to look around outside. He checked the gravel driveway but none of the tracks

were detailed. If only it had happened a few days before, sooner after that big storm. Next, he

examined the rose bushes out front. He spotted something darker peaking betwixt the dark

green leaves and pink roses on the side of the bush nearest the door: it was a tuft of black fur.

He gingerly transferred it to one of the plastic baggies they'd brought to collect evidence and

continued searching. He found a few more tufts of fur, all gray or gray and brown. He assumed

they were from the squirrels, but he bagged each separately anyway.

He was checking around back for good measure when he heard a pair of cars pull into

the driveway in quick succession. He hurried around the house and was in time to see Lily step

out of one of the black police cruisers. Shit.

She grinned ominously, "Ah, Jason, how did I know it would be you sticking your nose in

where it doesn't belong?" She sounded almost cheerful. "I assume your pet is hiding inside."

"I came alone."

"Right," Lily replied sarcastically.

A female badger and a male groundhog stepped out of the other cruiser.

"Daisy, hold him. Bert, go find the rabbit. She's inside."

The badger, who was one and a half times Jason's height and at least twice his weight

ambled over to grasp his arms tightly in her large, blunt-clawed hands.

He looked up at her nervously, "Hi."

She looked at him boredly and didn't reply. Not the conversive type.

The groundhog scurried to the front door and yanked on it. "It's locked!" he yelped,

surprised.

"No shit," Lily drawled. She tossed him a key, which he dropped and scrambled to pick

up from the ground. He unlocked the door, flung it open, and dashed in, only to whack his head

on the top of the doorway. Jason winced.

"Idiot!" Lily growled. "It's a squirrel's house. Pay attention!"

"Sorry, Ma'am!" he apologized hastily. He ducked and dashed through into the house. A

few minutes later, he ushered Ellie out in handcuffs. She was walking in front while he followed,

carrying her satchel.

"Set that on the hood of my car if you will," Ellie instructed, nodding to her car across the

street.

"No problem, Ma'am." He shuffled quickly down the driveway, leaving Ellie in front of the

house.

"Where do you think you're going?!" Lily bellowed.

The groundhog scrambled to a halt, almost toppling over. "I was just t-taking the lady's

purse to her car, M-Ma'am."

"Bring it here, you dolt!"

He scurried back over to Lily who took the bag, poked around in it for a few seconds,

and then shoved it back into his hands.

"Get rid of that, and bring her to me," she ordered.

The groundhog seemed confused about what to do with the bag, glancing from it to

Ellie's car, to Ellie, and back.

"You can just set it on the front step," Ellie told him.

He nodded and shuffled back to the front of the house, gingerly setting the bag on the

front step before leading Ellie over to the maliciously grinning bobcat.

"Did you really need handcuffs to deal with a rabbit?" Lily asked scathingly.

"S-sorry, Ma'am!"

Lily held out her hand, and he stared at it dumbly.

"The key!" she snarled.

He fumbled trying to get the key out of his pocket while Lily glared at him murderously,

finally delivering it to her hand.

"That'll be all for now," she growled.

"Yes, Ma'am." He turned and quickly scurried away to stand closer to Jason and the

badger.

The badger looked at him boredly while he straightened his uniform top and took a few

deep breaths. Jason felt sorry for him.

Lily undid Ellie's handcuffs and slipped them into one of her pockets. She then lifted Ellie

by the front of her lavender blouse to hold her face-to-face. "So what have we caught today?"

she growled, sounding simultaneously pleased and threatening. "A little breaking and entering

bunny. I know a certain gray tabby who's going to be delighted to see you again."

A wave of sickening horror flooded over Jason, "Lily! You can't!" he gasped.

She turned to grin at him viciously, "Can't I?" She turned back to sneer at Ellie. "Maybe if

you give her a hug, she'll decide you're her new best friend," she taunted.

"Is that your problem?" Ellie asked dryly. "You're upset that I haven't hugged you?"

"Don't you wish that were the case?" Lily growled. "I'm sure you'd have a field day if

every cat were that pathetic or naive."

"I'd settle for competent," Ellie cut back. "We wouldn't even be here if you were doing

your job instead of sitting on your ass while people die!"

"And so it's up to you to do my job for me then, is that it?" Lily snarled.

"Exactly," Ellie answered flippantly.

"We'll see how long that insolence lasts when you're in Jessica's tender care," Lily

growled. "I'm looking forward to hearing you beg."

"You can't put her with someone who wants to kill her!" Jason shouted.

Lily turned to regard him slyly, "I might decide to let her go, forget this whole thing ever

happened, for a price."

"Name it!"

"I'll let her go, and you too, if you swear to never get involved with another murder case.

Stick to investigating adulterous perverts if that's what gets you off, but I don't want to hear

about you so much as wondering about a murder case again."

"She's bluffing, Jason! Don't agree to anything!" Ellie yelled.

Lily turned back to glare at her, "You think so, do you?" she growled. "Do you think I'd

shed a tear if you got ripped apart?"

"No, but you're not such an idiot that you think you'd get away with feeding me to that

psycho cat. She just ate a rabbit. If you put another with her, it would obvious to everyone that it

was murder."

"You never know what kind of accident might happen," Lily growled.

Maybe Ellie was right, but Jason couldn't let her take that chance. "I-I agree, Lily. We

won't investigate murder cases ever again."

"Jason!" Ellie yelled.

Lily grinned toothily, "Wise decision, Jason. I assume you can control your little pet well

enough to ensure she won't get involved without you."

Jason nodded, "Sorry, Ellie," he murmured.

Lily grinned triumphantly at Ellie before dropping her to the ground. She turned to the

badger and groundhog. "Right, we're going."

The badger released Jason with a shove and tromped back to the second police cruiser.

Jason caught himself and straightened his maroon and gold striped tie in his white collar. The

groundhog scurried after her. Lily sauntered back to her own car and opened the door before

turning to sneer at Ellie again, "Looks like I outmaneuvered you again, rabbit. You ought to think

about opening that shop unless you've changed your mind about becoming my personal toy."

She sat in her car and slammed the door.

The badger and groundhog backed out onto the road, and Lily followed close behind.

The roar of their engines soon faded into the distance as they sped away.

Ellie turned to glare at Jason. "She was bluffing, Jason! What are we going to do now?!

Sit on our hands while people are murdered like that negligent piece of shit?!"

"I'm sorry, Ellie!" Jason repeated. "If there was even a tiny chance that she would have

let that murderous cat get you, I couldn't let you take that risk! I couldn't live with myself if I let

that happen, and I couldn't live without you!"

Ellie shook her head, "You should have listened to me, Jason. It was my risk to take."

"Would you let me take a risk like that?"

Ellie frowned and stared at him a few seconds before she sighed resignedly, "Fair

enough, Jason." She scowled at the squirrels' house, "I guess we might as well go home."

Jason retrieved her satchel, and they crossed the street to Ellie's car. Jason noticed the

elderly beagle peering out of one of the upstairs windows of the two-story brick house. Damned

nosey dog. He assumed she had been the one to call the police. She might have done that the

other day! Although, of course, they could have told her what they were up to if they'd thought of

it. He supposed he couldn't really blame her for trying to make up for her mistake even if it was

too little too late.

As he climbed into the car, Jason gave Ellie a sidelong glance. He understood why she

was upset, but there was no way he could have allowed her to take that risk. She'd almost fallen

victim to the murderous tabby once, and even forcing her back into a similar situation where she

would have been constantly reminded of that horrific event would have been unacceptable.

Besides, he couldn't risk losing her. Having her upset with him was one thing; having her dead

was unthinkable. He reached across the center console to place his hand on her shoulder.

"I really am sorry, Ellie," he murmured. "I wanted to stop these monsters too, but I would

have promised Lily anything to protect you. Maybe it's selfish, but I meant what I said: I couldn't

live without you."

Ellie reached her left hand across to pat his. "I wouldn't want to lose you either, Jason,"

she murmured. "I know you did what you thought you had to, and I think, in your place, I would

have done the same. It's just hard to accept that it's up to Lily to stop this murderer now when

she seems to have no interest in doing so."

"Did you find anything?"

Ellie shook her head, "Nothing."

Jason held up the four baggies of fur, "It's not much, but this black fur at least doesn't

look like squirrel fur."

Ellie immediately brightened up, grinning. "Where were you hiding those?!"

"I slipped them into my holster with my cell phone. Luckily, they didn't search me."

She peered at the fur, "Three of them definitely look like they came from gray squirrels,

but the fourth one could be from one of the badgers or whatever they were!"

"Right, we may not be able to investigate further, but we can still give these to Fitzie. If

they can extract DNA, he should be able to say what species it's from at least."

Ellie drove them back to downtown, pulling in at the coroner's office. They found Fitzie

behind his desk. The ferret blinked in surprise.

"Brown, Ellie, what are you doing here? Is it some kind of emergency? You know Schulz

won't be happy to hear I was helping you again."

"You won't have to worry about that anymore," Ellie stated dryly.

Fitzie gave her a confused look, "Huh?"

"I'll let Jason explain," Ellie answered.

Fitzie turned to him questioningly.

Jason sighed, "We can't work on this case anymore or any other murder case."

"But I thought you wanted to help catch this serial killer!"

"We did, but I promised Lily we'd stop investigating murders."

"Why'd y-"

"She was going to arrest Ellie. She was threatening to lock her in with the cat who ate

the other rabbit."

"She was bluffing," Ellie cut in dryly.

"Whether she was or not, I couldn't give her the chance to hurt Ellie again. She's

changed, Fitzie. I don't know if I'd put anything past her."

Fitzie grimaced, "I have to admit I know what you mean." He glanced concernedly at

Ellie before leaning forward and dropping his voice to a whisper. "That cat killed her cellmate

just a couple nights ago. Female papillon, they found her half-eaten Wednesday morning."

"She ate a dog?!" Ellie gasped in horror. "How?!"

"That's the thing," Fitzie whispered. "The papillon was still handcuffed and muzzled. It's

like Schulz intended it to happen. She, of course, denies it, says she didn't think for a second

that a cat would eat a dog, but," he let the sentence hang meaningfully.

Jason's stomach churned nauseously. If Lily had purposely fed one prisoner to the

murderous cat, there was little reason to think she wouldn't have arranged some way for Ellie to

fall victim as well. He caught her left hand in his right and squeezed it as much to comfort

himself as her.

Ellie turned to look at him, aghast, "M-maybe she wasn't bluffing," she murmured

shakily.

Jason wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into a hug. "Whether she was or not,

I'm just glad you're safe."

Ellie hugged him back. Still holding her with his left arm, Jason retrieved the baggies of

fur from his cell phone holster and slid them across the desk to Fitzie.

"This is why we came here," he explained. "I found these clumps of fur in the bush by the

squirrels' front door. Three of them look like squirrel fur, but the other doesn't."

Fitzie examined the fur through the plastic, "Thanks, Brown. This should be helpful."

"Do you think you'll be able to identify the species?"

Fitzie nodded, "I'll send the samples to the lab. If we're lucky, we'll be able to identify the

species and the individual. Even if their DNA isn't on file, this could be critical for placing them at

the scene when we do catch them."

"I hope so," Jason replied. "If it's the last thing we can contribute, then I hope it's an

important piece of the case and not just the mail carrier's fur."

"I'll let you know what I find out," Fitzie promised. "I'm going to miss working with the two

of you. Schulz is a moron to turn away help on a case like this."

Ellie broke away from Jason. "We can still hang out though, Tom. We're still friends even

if we're not working together."

Fitzie smiled, "Anytime, it'll be nice to not always be discussing such grim topics

anyway."

"Right, I'm sure we'll see you around, Fitzie. Until then, take care," Jason said.

"Bye, see you soon."

"Good luck, Tom! It's up to you now!" Ellie stressed.

"It's going to be harder without your help, but we'll get them," Fitzie asserted.

They left the coroner's office and drove back to their own. On the short trip back, Ellie

was grim.

As they were ascending up the elevator she muttered angrily, "We should still be

helping."

"I know, Ellie. I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault, Jason."

They didn't have any visitors the rest of the afternoon though they could have used the

distraction. Jason glanced at Ellie a number of times as they sat reading, and each time she

appeared to be sullenly brooding. At last, he couldn't bear to see her so miserable anymore and

got up to go stand in front of her desk. She looked up grumpily.

"I wish there was something I could do to cheer you up," Jason murmured.

Ellie swung her feet up onto the desk, "How about you lick my feet?" she rejoined

tersely.

Jason looked at her feet in surprise. If that'll really cheer her up, then-. He crouched

down and took her left ankle gingerly in his hands. He inspected her foot and grimaced: her

thick white fur was colored gray with dirt. He could deal with some dirt if it made Ellie feel better.

He stretched out his tongue.

Ellie jerked her foot away, "Gross, Jason! I was joking!"

"S-so was I!" he protested.

"No, you weren't! You were going to do it!"

"I wasn't!"

She thrust her foot back into his face, "Go ahead if you really want to!"

He pushed it aside, "I don't!"

"You were going to!"

"You said it would cheer you up!"

"Ha! I knew you were going to do it!"

Jason frowned, "I just wanted to cheer you up."

Ellie shook her head exasperatedly, "Stick to cleaning my apartment, Jason. I don't need

your slobber on my feet." She paused a couple seconds and smirked. "Though, it might have

been amusing to watch you try to clean them. I don't imagine they taste very good." She wiggled

her toes. "Go ahead and lick them if you want to. Make sure you get between my toes, so you

can tell me what my toe jam tastes like."

Jason stood and crossed his arms, "No."

"Come on, you were going to. I thought you wanted to cheer me up," she coaxed.

Jason frowned dubiously, "How will it cheer you up?"

"It will. Just talking about it is already taking my mind off of things."

Jason hesitated. If it would really cheer her up, it was no big deal: her feet were no dirtier

than his usually were, and cats often gave each other a wash, typically around the head and

neck where you couldn't reach yourself but sometimes more extensive. He'd even given Fitzie a

wash around the ears a number of times while they were growing up, and of course, he and Lily

had frequently groomed each other when they'd been dating. He felt a prickle of warmth in his

ears as he wondered whether Ellie would accept more extensive grooming if they were

together.

"Are you going to or not?" Ellie asked impatiently.

In answer, Jason crouched back down and again took her left ankle in his hands. She

stretched her toes in anticipation. He glanced up at her, and she grinned.

"Go ahead," she prompted.

He stretched out his tongue and rasped it up her long foot from the bottom of her ankle

to her toes. Bleck. Her thick fur really was very well inundated with dirt. He ran his tongue up her

foot again before wiping his tongue on his hand.

"How does it taste?" Ellie teased.

"Like dirt. I guess a lot gets stuck in your fur since you don't have footpads."

He continued grooming the bottom of her foot until the fur was once again white and

then moved to her toes. She spread them as he pushed his tongue between each pair of the

pointy-clawed digits.

"Any toe jam for you?" she inquired.

"Not that I noticed."

"Lucky you. I guess it's a good thing I didn't step in anything nasty this morning," she

jested. "Don't forget to get my claws."

Jason honestly had been planning to skip them as a significant amount of grit was visibly

embedded underneath them. He frowned as he examined them hesitantly.

"Come on, kitty. You want to do a thorough job, don't you?"

Reluctantly, Jason put the first of her claws in his mouth. Using his bottom teeth, he

scraped out the grit before giving the underside of the claw a lick to remove the residuals. He

quickly wiped the grit off of his tongue with his hand.

"Yuck," he complained. "Can't you do that part yourself?"

Ellie pouted, "Come on, Jason. You're almost done! Do it for me."

He sighed resignedly and moved to her next claw. After finishing her last claw, he gave

his tongue a few extra wipes with his hand to remove all of the grit and dirt.

Ellie thrust her right foot into his face, "Alright, now the other one!"

Dutifully, Jason began the process a second time. When he was finally done, he wiped

his tongue on his clean hand then stood up and went to his desk to take a quick gulp of

lukewarm coffee to wash the taste of dirt out of his mouth.

"That was so gross, Jason. I can't believe you actually did that," Ellie remarked.

He whipped around, blushing, "You wanted me to!" he protested.

"I just wanted to see if I could actually get you to do it, but I'll give you this: watching you

lick my feet definitely cheered me up." She held up her tablet. "I even recorded the second one,

so I can watch it again. Maybe I should send the video to Lily and thank her for the suggestion."

Jason's tail flailed anxiously, "Please don't send it to Lily."

"Don't worry, I'm not going to. I don't want to give her the satisfaction of knowing that her

dumb insults are even a little close to reality." She smirked, "Seems I didn't have to wear a collar

after all though."

Jason crossed her arms, his tail still flipping in annoyance, "That's because I wouldn't

make you wear one to amuse me."

"No, but you'd probably put it on yourself if I told you to."

He turned away with his arms still crossed, trying to appear angry to hide his

embarrassment at her percipient rebuttal.

Ellie got up from her desk and hopped across the room to grasp him in a hug. "Don't be

mad, Jason. I think it's sweet that you were willing to do whatever I asked to make me feel

better, and I'm sorry I took advantage of that to make you do something gross."

He looked down at her, and her brown eyes gazed back at him sincerely. His annoyance

and embarrassment melted away in the warmth of his love for his partner. He knew she hadn't

been trying to be malicious even if she'd taken her teasing a bit too far this time. He hugged her

back.

"It's okay, Ellie. I forgive you."

"It was a little bit funny though, wasn't it?" she teased.

"I suppose so," he admitted. "And it wasn't even that gross for me. I've had to wash

myself when I was dirtier."

Ellie nuzzled his chest, "That's so gross, Jason, but I'm glad my feet weren't too much

for you to handle."

"I don't want to make licking your feet a regular thing, but I'd like it if you let me groom

your head sometimes."

Ellie looked up to frown at him, "I don't think I want you slobbering all over my face,

Jason!" she emphasized disconcertedly.

"Just around your ears then. It's not uncommon for friends among cats-"

"I'm sure!"

"And I did it with Lily-"

"You were dating."

"And Fitzie."

Ellie blinked in surprise, "Tom let you lick his ears?"

"Yeah, and the top of his head. He didn't seem to mind."

Ellie wrinkled her nose, "I don't know. I'll think about it. It still sounds gross."

"I understand. I won't try to if you don't want me to."

"You'd better not unless you want me to headbutt you in the chin!"

He held her tighter and growled playfully, "I'm sure I could hold you well enough if I

wanted to, bunny."

She squirmed in his grasp, "You'd better be planning to keep holding me then because

as soon as you let go, you'd be toast!"

He nuzzled the top of her head, "I'm terrified."

He let her go, and she broke away. Narrowing her eyes threateningly, she crouched as if

preparing to spring. He widened his stance and brought up his arms to prepare himself if she

leapt at him. She made a quick start forward, and he jumped.

"Ha! Some fierce predator!" She relaxed, and he did too. She smirked and then broke

into a giggle, "Heeheeheehee, you're such a goofball, Jason. I'm glad we're partners; I don't

know how I'd do this job without you."

"I don't know how I'd do it without you either. Maybe I'd actually be running a shop like

Lily said."

Ellie stepped forward to hug him again. "I'm sure it would be a lovely shop with such a

nice manager."

He returned the hug and stroked her head. "Maybe, but unless you were my co-

manager, there would be something missing."

She hugged him tighter, "Something would be missing without my sweet, silly kitty too,

whatever I was doing."

They held each other for several more seconds. Jason was nearly overwhelmed with

deep affection that ached in his chest. He longed to keep on holding her. He longed to tell her

why it was that he would do anything to make her happy. Maybe now was the right time. He just

needed to say it. I love you, Ellie. Four simple words that could change his life forever. She

would understand because she cared for him too. Even if she couldn't love him as he loved her,

she would understand. He opened his mouth to speak, but then Ellie pulled away.

"Tomorrow, I get to meet your date," she reminded him. "I hope she's nice enough to

deserve such a sweet kitty."

Jason shut his mouth and nodded dumbly.

"Anything you want to tell me about her besides that she's a dog who's not too smelly for

you, or are you going to let it be a surprise?"

Jason wondered if he should tell Ellie about some of Rosa's worrisome views on prey,

but he hoped he could avoid that discussion altogether. Rosa had said she would be nice, and

he didn't think Ellie would bring it up. "You'll like her, I hope. She's a little different but still nice."

"Different how?"

"You'll see."

Ellie grinned mischievously, "So you are leaving it as a surprise. Alright then, I like

surprises. I don't have long to wait now anyway. I'll try not to embarrass you too much." She

glanced at the clock on his desk. "Looks like it's about time to go home." She hopped back over

to her desk and started to pack away her things.

When she was done, they left and rode the elevator down to the garage together.

Before heading to her car, Ellie turned to Jason again, "See you tomorrow, Jason. I can't

wait to meet your pretty doggie." She turned and loped away toward her car.

"See you!" Jason called. He trudged to his own car, groaning as he sat inside. He should

have been quicker to tell Ellie how he felt when the time had been right, and he should have

never agreed to go on the second date with Rosa. He just hoped their meeting tomorrow

wouldn't be an unmitigated disaster.