Mint Cookie Murder Read Online Free

bed and headed for the kitchen with me trailing behind him. He stopped dead in his tracks at the breakfast bar, and I plowed into him.
    "Whoa," he said. I followed his eyes to see the cat sitting in the middle of the breakfast bar, narrowing his eyes at Riley.
    "That's my new attack cat. I don't think he likes you. You should go," I said quickly.
    As if sensing my disapproval of the situation, the animal hissed. Maybe he wasn't so bad after all.
    Riley reached out, and the cat leaned into him, eyes closed and purring like a semi with a bad muffler. Now that was a real traitor.
    "I like cats," Riley said as the fat beast dropped and exposed his belly. Stupid cat! "What's his name? He kind of looks like Hitler."
    "He showed up when Lenny did. I've never seen him before, but Rex wants me to keep an eye on him."
    Riley frowned and ran his hands over the animal, who purred even louder. "Did you search him?"
    I stared at him. "Search who? The cat? Are you serious?" I was more pissed at myself than him. I'd seen animals used as everything from messengers to drug mules. Why hadn't I thought of that?
    Riley gave me a glance that intimated that maybe I was an idiot. I walked over to the "everything" drawer and pulled out a pair of latex gloves.
    "Okay," I said, tossing them to him. "Show me how it's done."
    "I am not doing a cavity search on a cat." Riley ignored the gloves. "Just check the litter box in a couple of days."
    There was no way I was doing that. No way. Not a chance.
    I changed the subject. "You can't move in here, Riley. This is my house. And I don't work for you. You have no rights here."
    Riley sat down at the breakfast bar. The cat came closer to him, purring so loudly I could barely hear. Great.
    "Tell me what happened with Lenny," he said.
    I sighed and sat down next to him. It took me about five minutes to tell him everything I knew…which wasn't a lot. The cat started rubbing all over Riley like the tanned blond with wavy hair was covered in tuna. Every now and then, the beast would stop and glare at me.
    "He doesn't like you," Riley said with something I interpreted as satisfaction.
    "The feeling's mutual," I said, glaring back as the cat ignored me.
    "Why? You told me you wanted to get a cat."
    Yes. I had told him that. "I wanted to get a nice cat. Maybe start with a kitten. I didn't want to inherit a possible double-crossing beast like this."
    Riley smiled at the animal. "It couldn't have been Lenny's. The supermax, ADX Florence in Colorado, didn't even know he was out. There wasn't enough time for him to adopt a cat."
    "Well, he made it from California to here in an orange hatchback," I said. "He could've picked up a cat along the way."
    "That's true." Riley nodded. "But according to prison officials, Lenny was at roll call this morning."
    "Maybe he could time travel. Maybe the cat's some sort of evil wizard," I suggested. I'd been reading a lot of science fiction lately and even binge-watched Battlestar Galactica in a marathon session that had me glued to the couch for a week.
    "Well, it couldn't have been Lenny at the prison. Not if he was here. They obviously made a mistake. Probably covering it up." He scratched the cat behind the ears. "Something's going on," Riley mused. "I think we need to get this kitty scanned."
    "That's what Kelly said."
    He nodded. "Dr. Rye is who she recommended." Riley started dialing his cell before I could ask whether Kelly was spying for him or if my kitchen was bugged. Either way, I was going to make sure he bought a couple dozen cases of Girl Scout Cookies.
     
     
     
    "I don't like it, Ms. Wrath," Dr. Rye said for the fourth time as he felt up my cat on the exam table. The 50-something veterinarian talked like a game show host with a loud, dramatic flourish at the end that for some reason made me hold my breath. And every now and then he would walk over to the wall, turn his back toward us, and shake his head. It was weird. But then, this was my first veterinarian. Maybe