Page 17 of Race to Save Her

Katie sat up with a start as she acclimated herself to the living room and not a terrible dream. She looked around and didn’t see Cisco, which was strange.

Putting her feet on the floor, she remained still.

There was more scratching coming from the front porch.

Katie grabbed her Glock and stealthily moved toward the front door. She glanced around and saw Cisco lying next to the door leading to the garage.

Why didn’t he alert to the sound?

She went to the window that had a view of the driveway, and peered out. There was a police cruiser down the street and she could see a black truck in the driveway.

She let out a breath and lowered her gun. Then opened the front door, where John stood with an overnight bag.

“John,” she said moving to hug him. “I’m so glad you’re here.”

“Hey, what’s wrong?” he said, dropping his bag to hold her closer.

“Nothing. Just… glad you’re back.”

“I wanted to surprise you, but I couldn’t find my key.” He chuckled a bit as he held her close.

“You didn’t have to leave the conference early,” she said.

“I know. But I wanted to be here.”

Katie released the hug and looked into his eyes. She kissed him.

John smiled. “Maybe I should go away more often.”

Katie opened the door wider as John entered. He looked around. “Where’s Cisco?”

Katie pointed to the door leading to the garage.

“What’s he doing there?”

“He has a new friend.”

John looked puzzled.

“A stray cat decided to break into my garage. We’ve been holding on to her for a bit.”

John laughed.

“And… Cisco seems to have taken a liking to her. I’ve been trying to find the owners, but there’s not been any luck.”

“So now you have a cat… Did not see that one coming.”

“Do you want something to eat?” she said, heading to the kitchen.

“That’s not exactly what I had in mind,” he said playfully.

Cisco finally left his spot to come and welcome John. Katie took her comfortable place on the sofa watching them play.

Finally, John sat down next to Katie and let out a sigh.

“How was the conference?” she said.

“It was great. Learned some new stuff and met people.”