Cat Seeing Double

But where the sun shone in against the cell wall, silhouetting the oak branch, it silhouetted, as well, two pairs of feline ears, sharply pricked. Joe prayed Dulcie would see the reflection, that she and the kit would back off.

Ryan stood outside the cell with Rock waiting for an officer to unlock the door. Rock stared in at the boy, whining. And beyond the glass doors of the front entry, a police unit pulled into the red zone. Talk about timing! Joe could see, behind the unit's wire barrier, the golden-haired passenger. He watched Detective Juana Davis and Officer Green emerge from the car observing the area around them, then quickly unlock the back door and order Maria

She slid from the car maintaining her grace despite being shackled by handcuffs. Immediately Davis marched her toward the glass doors. The dispatcher hit the admittance button. Joe glanced to the cell's telltale shadow again, and saw that the two pairs of pricked ears had vanished. The officers and Maria

Maria

"Rock, sit!" Maria

Rock sat, but he kept snarling, torn between hatred and what he'd been trained to do. So, Joe thought. So they had indeed found Rock's owner. Ryan stepped to the dog's side, taking hold of his collar.

But a catch of breath made Joe look past the rigid tableau to the holding cell where Curtis Farger stood at the bars, his face white, his dark eyes burning not with anger but with fear. The boy's knuckles were white where he clutched the bars.

Maria

The keys, Joe thought. Curtis did take those keys for Maria

At the sound of Rock's barking, Garza and Harper had appeared in the hall with several officers. The whole station seemed to be gathering, crowding down the hall, all the officers watching the dog, Martie, and Curtis. Only Davis and Green remained focused totally on their prisoner. Rock, though still sitting as he'd been commanded, was tensed to leap, his gaze fixed on Maria

"Down, Rock. Back and down."

Now, he defied her. He backed one step, but he wouldn't lie down for her. He stood snarling as, beside him, Ryan turned to look at Curtis.

She said no word, just looked. Curtis looked back, his eyes huge.

"Whose dog is this?"

"Her dog. He's her dog." His voice was unsteady.

"Shut up, you little bastard!"

"Hers. She tried to train him like the others, like those rottweilers, but she only made him mad, made him turn on her." Curtis looked terrified. "She beat him, beat him bad. She shot at him with a shotgun. You feel his skin, the little lumps? Buckshot where she shot him to run him off the place because half the time he wouldn't mind her. He wouldn't attack for her so she didn't want him anymore."

Maria

Dallas looked at Curtis. "How do you know who owns him?"

"I… Someone I know works up there. I went with him sometimes. I saw her try to train Rock, her and that real-estate guy. It takes two to train a guard dog. That Williams was the… I don't know what to call it. He wore the padded suit."

"The agitator?" Dallas said.

Curtis nodded.

Maria

"Larn was good friends with her?" Dallas asked Curtis.

"I said..." Maria

"He was all over her," the boy said. "Her husband never knew, he was gone half the time. Hu-my friend saw Williams sneaking around."

Dallas said, "Why didn't you tell me before, who owned the dog?"

"Afraid you'd take him back to her"

"And what about the sheriff?" Dallas asked Curtis. "Did he know where the dog belonged?"

"He knew. He didn't want him taken back there and pe

"And your gramps wanted you to come back," Ryan said softly.

"No! I told you, I decided to come back to Mama."

"Then why didn't you go on down the coast to your mama?"

"I called her to come get me but she wasn't home, she didn't answer the phone. I thought to stay with Gramps for the night and call her again."

"Did you take my keys?" Ryan said. "Did you give them to Maria

"I want my lawyer now! You can't question that boy like that. I want…" Davis twisted her arm, hard.

Curtis glanced at Maria

"Do you know what she did with them?"

Curtis shook his head. "She said she'd keep her mouth shut about… certain things, if I'd get the keys."

Ryan, keeping Rock close to her, had moved nearer to Curtis. She stood just beside his door, her back to the gathered officers and to Maria

"Would you testify for me, Curtis? This is a murder charge. I could be facing life in prison. Or worse." She reached through the bars, to touch his hand. "If Maria

She looked at him deeply. "Would you tell a jury the truth? That you took my keys for Maria

Curtis looked back at her. "Would you keep Rock? For good? For your own dog?"

"I promise I'll keep him for good. For my own dog."

"Could I visit him?"

"You could visit him," she said softly. "Or he could visit you."

Curtis nodded. "If you'll promise to keep him, I'll tell… testify."

"Please understand, Curtis. I want you only to tell the truth."

Curtis nodded. "If you'll keep him, I can do that."

And Joe Grey heard, from high above him, the faintest mewl echoing through the roof, the kind of murmur Dulcie or the kit made when they got emotional, a plaintive cry too soft for human ears. A tenderhearted mutter that made him frown with male superiority.