A MEOWvelous Witness (Klepto Cat Mystery Book 17) Read Online Free Page A

daughter doing now?” he asked.
    “Trying to give her dolly a bath in Lexie’s water bowl.”
    He shook his head. “She is creative.”
    “Yes, and quick.” Savannah grabbed a kitchen towel. “Here Lily; let’s dry off your baby. Help Mommy dry your baby.” Under her breath, she said, “I wish you’d learn to leave the animals’ water bowls alone.” She turned to Michael. “I didn’t tell you where I found her this afternoon.”
    “Where?” he asked.
    “Halfway in Buffy’s bed trying to brush her with her little broom set. Buffy didn’t seem to mind, did you, girl? But I know Lily can be rough. She clobbered Rags over the head with her dustpan while he was eating breakfast this morning and when he ran off, someone finished his food.”
    “The dog?” Michael asked, chuckling.
    “It probably was Lexie, or it could have been one of the other cats.” She shook her head. “I don’t know, Michael; some days it’s just hard to keep up with all the shenanigans around here.”
    “I know,” Michael said. “While you were gone that weekend with the girls, Lily gave Walter a juice bath.”
    “A juice bath?”
    “Yes. She found him sleeping under that blanket on the chair in there and started sprinkling juice from her sippy cup on his tail. I was glad I only had to clean his tail. The last time I gave that cat a bath—when I first found him—I thought he’d never speak to me again.” He put the last of the dishes in the drainer and wiped down the sink counter. “Hey, did you place the ad for all that stuff from the shed?”
    Suddenly Savannah turned toward Michael. “Oh, yeah, I forgot to tell you. Something happened when I went to the newspaper office this afternoon.”
    “What?” he asked, frowning.
    “Well, I saw Damon in the parking lot. He was either just arriving to work or just leaving, I guess. And he wasn’t alone.”
    “Who was he with?” Michael asked, as he dried a glass.
    “He was talking to a tall, dark-haired man, and, Michael, it wasn’t a cordial conversation. I mean they were raising their voices. I thought Damon was going to smack him one. I didn’t know what to do, so I just stayed in my car out of sight.”
    “Yeah, good idea. Could you hear what they were saying? Who do you think it was?”
    “I don’t know. But I did take a couple of pictures with my phone.” When Michael turned to pick up another glass to dry, she said, “That’s not all, Michael. While I was sitting there trying to figure out what to do, this bleached-blond woman, who was probably in her fifties, stepped out of an old turquoise car—you know a vintage car—that was parked not too far away. She had a handful of papers.”
    “Newspapers?” Michael asked, now leaning back against the counter.
    “No, like documents. I guess she’d been there the whole time, but I didn’t notice her until she got out of the car. She tried to get Damon to look at the papers, but it seemed like all he wanted was to get away from those people. When he tried to climb into his car, the man blocked him. I could see that Damon was getting pretty hot under the collar. Finally, two women walked out of the office into the parking lot and the couple jumped into their car and sped away.”
    “Good Lord. What did Damon do? Did you speak to him?”
    “No,” Savannah said. “He drove off and I went on into the newspaper office. What do you think that was all about, Michael?” Before he could respond, she turned toward the side kitchen door. “Sounds like Colbi’s here.” She kissed Michael, then leaned over and hugged Lily. “’Bye-bye, sweetheart. Mommy will see you in the morning,” she said, picking up her purse and coat.
    “Have fun!” Michael called after her.
    ****
    “So are you ready to choose a dress for one of the most important days in your life?” Savannah asked as Colbi drove her small sedan out of the long driveway minutes later.
    “Sure am,” she said, smiling weakly. “Like you said, I need to