Page 66 of Silver Claw

“I don’t know,” Lucy said, “but I got the sense she either has no close family, they’re estranged, or he’s isolated her to the point where they just don’t communicate.”

“Her captivity ends today,” I said grimly. “How has the cat been surviving, Lucy?”

“The neighbors put out food for strays,” she said. “She survives, though the other cats aren’t easy on her.”

“Are you running him out of town, killing him, or calling Rick?” Remy asked.

I shook my head. “I’ll know when I see him, I guess. Remy, have you got zip ties on you?”

“I do,” he answered. “Seems like you have a plan after all, then?”

“Not really, but if she wants it, I’d like to give Emma a chance to beat the fuck out of him before I figure out what to do with him.”

“It’s different with the humans,” Zach said, as though he wasn’t one. “If you restrain him and kick his ass, there’s a really good chance you’ll get charged with kidnapping and assault along with the breaking and entering. It won’t matter that you went in to rescue Emma.”

“He’s right, Kait,” Lucy said. “Call Rick.”

“There’s supernatural activity,” I told them. “I can go into the house.” Then I sighed. “I’ll go in, restrain him, and then call Rick. In the meantime, if he just happens to get loose and goes after Emma, I’ll have an excuse to rough him up.”

Remy laughed. “There you go,” he said.

“I just want Emma and her kitty to be safe,” Lucy murmured. “And the ghost, Kait.”

“I’ll help her cross over,” I told her.

Just before we reached the house, I stopped at a convenience store to get cat food. I doubted the asshole who’d tossed her out would have kept her food in the house.

“Don’t let him run,” I told Zach and Remy, and then I pulled in behind his car, and we sat for a few seconds looking at the house and getting a feel for the place.

“There’s the cat,” Zach said.

“And there’s the ghost,” I murmured, and pulled out my cell phone to call Rick.

“You found her?” he asked.

“We found her,” I told him, and gave him the address. “I’m going in, Rick. But you should probably get here pretty soon because I’m going to want to hurt him.”

“On my way,” he said.

We got out of the car. The little white cat sat quietly, and she kept her stare on me even as Zach and Remy jogged away, Remy going to the left side of the house, Zach to the right.

“I’ve got food, sweetie,” I told her, “but I’m taking you inside to eat it.” She didn’t resist at all, other than a flinch when I first picked her up, but she gave a small meow and sat quietly in my arms.

Then I looked at the ghost, who was watching with a spark of interest in her eyes. She’d talked to Lucy in Lucy’s…dream, so she knew why I was there.

She drifted to the door, then looked back at me before she slipped through. “Hurry,” she said. “The girl is not doing well.”

I rang the doorbell, the cat securely in my arms, and waited.

I heard footsteps on the other side of the door, even though the person was trying to be quiet. I was a wolf, and my hearing was exceptional. I heard him gently and nervously clear his throat as he peered through the fisheye.

I rang the doorbell again. “I’ve found your cat,” I said, trying for loud and cheerful, but any idiot would have heard the threat in my voice.

He opened the door, which was good, because I really didn’t want to have to kick in the door while holding an already traumatized cat. She might have tried to jump from my arms and run off to hide, and I did not want to lose her.

More than anything else, she’d be the thing that brought Emma out of her despair. Because at first, and maybe for a long time to come, Emma wasn’t going to believe she was truly free of her husband.

Lee Shope was around my height, bulky with muscle, buzz cut, cold green eyes. “Can I help you?” he asked, his voice soft but with an unmistakable and likely constant layer of anger beneath it.