A Case Full of Cats Read online

  Courtney glanced up at the bright sunshine coming through the roof. She looked all around, waiting to see a tiny paw or tail, but there was nothing. “Kitty, kitty, kitty!” she called softly.

  “Mew?” came a tiny response.

  Her heartbeat quickened. “Where are you, kitty?” she called again, keeping her voice light and sweet. Cats had a certain way they liked to be talked to. The kitten was probably frightened, and she didn’t want to do anything other than coax it to come out. “I’m here to help you, sweetie. I might have a treat in it for you, if you come out.”

  “Mew? Mew?”

  Courtney followed the sound back along the row of kennels. They were fronted in chain-link, making it easy to see inside. The walls between them were solid, so that they didn’t have to worry about the dogs snapping at each other if they didn’t get along. Every single cage was empty until she got down to the last ones, which still held the bigger dogs. A big lab stood at the front of his kennel and wagged her tail eagerly. A shaggy mutt named Charlotte lapped from her water bowl. A big Australian shepherd mix named Beau slept soundly with a little ball of gray fluff between his paws. A boxer danced happily in hopes of getting to go for a walk soon.

  “Hold on.” Courtney backed up the to the Australian shepherd mix’s cage. She lifted the latch on his door and walked slowly inside, seeing a tiny face peeking out at her from between the dog’s legs. “What do you think you’re doing in here?”

  “Mew?” the kitten asked again innocently, blinking up at her, but not moving from its cozy spot.

  “Beau, did you find yourself a little friend?” Courtney bent down and picked up the kitten. It was warm from having snuggled with the large dog.

  Beau’s ears drooped as he looked up at Courtney with sad eyes and sniffed the air toward the kitten.

  “Aw, is this your little buddy now?” Courtney scratched the top of his head. Poor Beau looked so upset that she was taking the kitten away. “I’m sorry, honey. She’s got to go back in her cage with her siblings, but maybe I can arrange for the two of you to have some playtime together later.”

  Finally putting the last cat away, Courtney rounded up the other two women and slumped into her chair in the office. “I hope that never happens again.”

  “The key is figuring out how to prevent it,” Dora commented.

  “Yeah, I’ve been thinking about that. With all the break-ins happening lately, I put in a call to Hinkle’s Security Systems earlier today. I was thinking about my apartment, but I wonder if they’d be able put up something in here.”

  Jessi nodded as she started up the coffee pot. “I’ve heard of several other shelters that have live video feeds that can be monitored remotely, so the animals can be checked on any time of day.”

  “If you want to get real fancy, we could put a camera in each cage of the hotel, and patrons could pay extra to log in from their phones and see what their babies are up to,” Dora added.

  “That all sounds wonderful, but I’m concerned about affording any of it. We didn’t even have the funds to get the outside security cameras fixed right away. But this incident with the cats has really made me think. We’re going to have to do something.” She glanced at the door to the shelter side, hoping they could get everything fixed with the fundraiser money from Mrs. Throgmorton. “We could just put locks on all the cages. Then nobody could let them out unless they had the keys or a bolt cutter.”

  Jessi shook her head. “That’s a no-go. We talked about that once, but Ms. O’Donnell is concerned it would be a fire hazard. You need to be able to get the animals out quickly in case there’s an emergency.”

  “That makes sense,” Courtney agreed.

  The phone rang, and Dora answered. She hung up a moment later. “There’s nobody there.”

  Courtney was beginning to wonder if there was.

  Chapter Three

  “All right, dear. The first thing we have to do is make sure there’s a reason for people to come.” Mrs. Throgmorton was driving, speeding along behind the wheel of her Cadillac as though she were the only woman on the road. “The wealthy are willing to pay steep prices to attend a fundraising event like this because they want the bragging rights. It’s not just bragging about supporting a good cause, though, it’s also about the event itself.”

  Courtney was trying not to leave nail marks in Mrs. Throgmorton’s leather interior. “How much do you think we should charge to get in?”

  “Well, let’s see. I was thinking we should do this really big. It’ll be short notice, since you need the money so badly, so we have to find the perfect balance on the price. If we can pull it all together well enough, and I assure you we can with my connections, then we can have dinner, music, a silent auction, and a fashion show. We can charge a good price for all that, but we need to make sure we’re not investing more than what you’re getting out of it.” Mrs. Throgmorton took a hard right that left another car hitting the brakes and honking their horn.

  “I should let you know that the shelter really doesn’t have any money to invest,” Courtney said through gritted teeth, not wanting to upset the woman who was offering to help them out by insulting her driving.

  “Don’t you worry! I’ve set up so many of these fundraisers for various causes around town. Everyone will work with you and expect payment once the event is over. I’ll be taking care of part of the bill myself, which will help as well.” Not bothering with her turn signal, Mrs. Throgmorton swung into a parking lot in front of the caterer’s.

  “Mrs. Throgmorton!” enthused the man behind the counter when he saw her enter, coming around the counter to give her a hug. “It’s so nice to see you today. And here you are with your lovely niece?” He held out his hand to take Courtney’s and brush his lips against the back of it.

  She didn’t know if she should be flattered or embarrassed, but she was a little bit of both.

  “This is Courtney Cain, the manager of the pet hotel where Sir Glitter stays,” Mrs. Throgmorton explained.

  “And where is your lovely little dog today? I have a special treat for him if he’s waiting in the car.”

  “Oh, no! He’s staying at my sister’s for the day. You see, I’m putting together a fundraiser. The pet hotel is also a shelter, and they’ve had significant damage from the storm. What can you put together for us by next Friday night?”

  “Oh, my!” Federico clucked his tongue as he moved back behind the counter to look at his calendar. “You’re in luck! We have a wedding on a Saturday, but we’re free on Friday. For anyone else, I’d say there simply isn’t enough time to put it all together. For you, I’ll be more than happy to make the arrangements. What would you like?” Federico produced a menu.

  Mrs. Throgmorton waved it away. “You know I trust you with the selections!”

  “Ah, perfecto! Let’s start with a mushroom crostini appetizer, followed by clam risotto, grilled polenta with spinach, and beef braciola. With a vegetarian option available, of course.” He rolled his hand in the air with a flourish.

  “That sounds wonderful, Federico! Add some wine and a salad and we’ve got it made,” Mrs. Throgmorton trilled.

  “I have you in the most permanent of ink on my calendar, my lovely. It was so nice to meet you, Miss Cain.” The caterer didn’t kiss her hand this time, much to Courtney’s relief.

  What she wasn’t relieved about was the dishes themselves, and she told Mrs. Throgmorton so as they walked back out the car. “All of this sounds incredibly delicious, but I’m still really worried about the cost,” she admitted. “I don’t want the catering to cost so much that we don’t have any money to fix the roof.”

  Mrs. Throgmorton waved her finger in the air as she got behind the wheel. “It’s not just the catering you have to think about! There’s going to be a fee for the venue, and of course the band won’t work for free.”

  “Which is exactly why I’m worried,” Courtney replied.

  Turning up the air conditioning, Mrs. Throgmorton shook her head, mak
ing her diamond earrings dance in the sunlight. “My dear, you have absolutely nothing to fear. I’ll do all the math. When Ken and I were still married, he always thought I wasn’t good at anything but spending money. I am very good at that, I assure you, but I do know how budget when I want to. You just leave it to me, and I’ll make sure you have plenty of funds.”

  “Okay.” It was hard for Courtney to completely let go of this, but Mrs. Throgmorton did seem to know what she was doing.

  “Speaking of funds, does the pet hotel have some sort of safe? You’re going to want a secure place to put all the money as it comes in.” Mrs. Throgmorton zipped off to the other side of town.

  “No. I’ll look into getting one, though. Do I have a reason to be concerned?” Courtney thought once again about the burglaries happening in Curly Bay. Her stomach did a flip that had nothing to do with Mrs. Throgmorton’s driving.

  “It’s simply one of those things you learn from being rich for so long. You can’t trust most people, even if they’re rich as well. Once you find someone good, though, someone you really can trust, you keep them close.” Her mouth turned to a hard line as she drove, for once without the gas pedal all the way to the floorboard.

  Courtney wondered if she was thinking of her ex, but she wasn’t going to ask. “You really do seem to know a lot about putting these fundraisers together,” she said cheerily. “I’m so glad I have you to help me.”

  Mrs. Throgmorton’s smile returned. “I do pride myself on event coordination! All those dinner parties paid off, and now I can use my skills for a good cause. It wouldn’t be proper of me to say exactly how much, but you’d be surprised what I was able to help raise for the children’s home! Ah, here we are!” She swung into the Old Train Depot.

  “This is interesting.” Courtney took in the tall brick walls, stained glass windows, and tiled roof. “What a pretty place.”

  “Isn’t it, though? I’ve held quite a few events here. It used to actually be the train station for Curly Bay, but it was shut down for decades when passenger trains went out of style. Eventually it was purchased by the Larsons and fixed up, and this larger building on the back was added, so there’s plenty of room.” Mrs. Throgmorton jangled her keys, finding the right one and unlocking the door. She smiled at Courtney over her shoulder. “I call and ask for the key so often that eventually they just gave me one of my own.”

  “Wow.” The high beamed ceilings stretched up overhead, leading off to the ticket booth in the back corner that was now used as a concession window. Courtney was impressed by all the original hardwood, including the floors. “This is quite a piece of history.”

  “You and the pet hotel will be the absolute talk of the town, dear. I’ve gotten in good with the Larsons, so I get this place for next to nothing. It makes all the other wealthy women incredibly jealous, but that’s something I’m willing to live with.” Her heels clacked against the hard floor as she sauntered through the main room.

  Courtney smiled. Mrs. Throgmorton was a character, and she hadn’t been certain she liked her when she’d first come to Curly Bay. That was quickly changing. “Have you already talked to the Larsons to make sure the depot is available?”

  “Oh, yes! Everything is settled. The band can play right over here, where the acoustics are the best. Federico can set up his catering tables here. There’s plenty of floor space for dinner and dancing. I thought we’d use the new building for the silent auction.” Mrs. Throgmorton led the way through a door into the next room. It wasn’t nearly as fancy as the original part of the depot but had plenty of space.

  “Silent auction?” Courtney asked.

  “There’s no better way to pry money out of the hands of those who have it! Local businesses and families donate items, which are all tax deductible for them. They come to us at no cost, and everyone wins! Oh, speaking of.” Mrs. Throgmorton began rummaging around in her purse. “Now, where did I put that thing? Ah, here.”

  Courtney gaped at the diamond-encrusted dog collar the older woman put in here hand. “This isn’t real, is it?”

  “Of course, it is! Nobody will bid on it, otherwise! You keep that, and as we get other items donated for the auction, we’ll gather them up at the pet hotel and then bring them all here on the night of the event.”

  Gripping the collar tightly in her hand to make sure she didn’t drop it, Courtney bit her lip. “I had an idea for the fundraiser I’d like to run by you.”

  Mrs. Throgmorton lifted one perfectly tweezed brow. “Go ahead.”

  “What about an adoption event? We bring several animals in and set them up with handlers, maybe here in this part of the building where things will be quieter. Guests can interact with the animals, see if there’s one that suits them, and adopt them on the spot.” She watched the other woman’s face, expecting to see a bit of a sneer at the idea of bringing strays and rescues into such an elite event.

  But Mrs. Throgmorton’s face split into a wide grin. “That’s perfect! There’s actually a room right back here that might work the best.” She led the way into a side room, where things would be even more peaceful for the potential adoptees. “We can have a table set up with all the paperwork and information, and we’ll announce several times during the event that folks can come back her and visit with the animals. I love it. I just love it!”

  Courtney was beginning to love it, too. “This will be wonderful. We’ll get the money for the roof as well as new homes for the rescues.” Her heart soared as they walked back through the building and locked it up.

  “Now on to meet with the band, my dear,” Mrs. Throgmorton announced. “I’ll leave you in charge of the bid sheets for the silent auction items and any social media stuff you want to do. I have many talents, but a computer simply isn’t one of them.”

  “Not a problem.” Courtney put on her seatbelt and hardly noticed Mrs. Throgmorton’s terrible driving this time. Everything was going to be okay.

  Chapter Four

  Courtney left home and headed for the shelter early the next day. She had a lot of work to do. There was always the work of the shelter itself, managing the hotel and spa appointments that mostly had to be postponed for now, making sure the current tenants got all the care they needed, and generally keeping things clean and presentable. There was also a contractor coming that day to take a look at the storm damage, not to mention getting a start on work for the fundraiser. She hoped she’d have at least a little bit of time to take the diamond collar from Mrs. Throgmorton out of her bottom desk drawer in the office, figure out how much it was worth, and create a bid sheet for it.

  As soon as she pulled in the parking lot in front of the Curly Bay Pet Hotel and Rescue, a black car whipped out of a parking spot near the door. It screeched across the asphalt, nearly swiping the side of Courtney’s car as it zoomed out onto the street without even a turn signal. Courtney yanked her wheel to the side to keep it from hitting her and slammed on the brakes. By the time she turned around to look at it, the car was nothing but a dark blob in the distance.

  Automatically, Courtney looked to the front door of the building. It didn’t look to be open or damaged, but there was definitely something suspicious about a car leaving like that. Courtney pulled her car into a slot and dove out. She had visions of all the cats and dogs running around loose inside the building. It’d only been the cats out the other day, but what if someone was trying to wreak havoc on the business? What would give someone the motivation to do such a thing? Courtney gripped her keys tightly to keep her fingers from shaking as she unlocked the door.

  The office was quiet. Not even Ritz was lurking through the building. Courtney moved through the shelter side, seeing that all the cats and dogs were in their respective cages. The most excitement came from some of the dogs that were ready for a morning walk outside. Just to be sure, Courtney peeked into the hotel side as well. Yorkies and Shih Tzus slept soundly next to Persians and Bengals. Everything was okay.

  Taking a deep breath of relief, Courtney imm
ediately began her typical work for the day. She fired up her computer to do payroll for the week and then opened a different program to make sure the schedules were filled out for the next month. She picked up a pencil cup that’d somehow been knocked to the floor and scribbled out a few notes. Then she took to the shelter’s social media pages to start making posts about the upcoming fundraiser when someone hollered from the office.

  “Anyone in here?”

  Courtney trotted to the front to find a big man standing at the counter. He wore a denim shirt that he’d left unbuttoned at the top, giving a rather unsavory peek at his hairy chest. His hat and his toolbelt told her who he was. “You must be from Cooper’s Construction. I really appreciate you coming by to take a look at things. I’m Courtney Cain.”

  He tugged the front of his cap in greeting. “Yes, ma’am. The name’s Mark Cooper, and it’s nice to meet you. I’m sorry I wasn’t able to come by earlier. A situation that involves a damaged roof is something I take very seriously, and I usually try to come the same day.”

  Courtney opened the gate and waved him behind the counter. “I understand completely. I’m sure you’ve had a lot of calls after that big storm. I’ve seen several trees down through town.”

  Mark nodded soberly. “I wish I could say it was just the storm.”

  “Oh?” Courtney paused with her hand on the doorknob to the shelter.

  “I’m sure you’ve heard about the burglaries here in Curly Bay. Unfortunately, that also means a lot of broken doors and windows. I like it when business is good, but not when it’s for reasons like that.” Mark shook his head and rubbed the stubble on his jaw.

  “I see. That makes sense. I called Hinkle’s about a security system, and they were so busy they didn’t even have time to talk to me.” She still hadn’t gotten a call back, either. Courtney opened the door and led him past the cat room.