Maverick Touch: The Cat

CHAPTER ELEVEN

  The phone ringing woke both Nadia and Anabella up at nine a.m. “Yes?” Anabella said into the phone. She handed the phone over her head and dropped it on top of Nadia’s head.

  Nadia fumbled around for it for a moment then answered. “Hello?”

  “Did I wake you two?” Gabe’s voice came through on the other line.

  “Obviously, what’s up? Better be important, we were passed out.” Nadia rubbed her eyes and turned into her pillow.

  “I got the article you emailed me last night, and I showed it to Scully. We want to make sure you really want to send that to press.” Gabe’s voice was very hesitant. Nadia was a bit confused and took a few moments to wake up.

  “I wanted to last night, but then I read Malory’s article. I don’t know Gabe, but I think people need to be aware of what’s going on inside their community, don’t you?”

  “I think you need to be careful. I know you don’t out him in the article and say who it is, but I’m sure he’ll know you’re talking about him.”

  “Print it, Gabe. People have a right to know.”

  Gabe sighed; she could hear his frustration through the phone. “Alright, but you are going to stay at Kain’s for a while then.”

  “Only until my house is fixed up. I can’t run forever Gabe, you know that. It’s not in my DNA.”

  “Yeah, but you don’t want to end up like Matt.”

  “I know. I’m gonna get up. Run the article Gabe.” Nadia hung the phone up and put it on the night stand next to her. She sat up in bed and Triple T moved into her lap. She started stroking his fur and the tears started again.

  “Hey honey no crying, it’s okay. What’s wrong?” Anabella sat up and put her arms around Nadia and held her close.

  She had nothing to say, no words; Nadia just cried in her sister’s arms.

  “He’s dead because of me. I just don’t see how I’m going to get over that, you know?”

  Anabella rocked her in her arms, stroking her hair. “I know sweetie I know. Come on, let’s get up and get some breakfast. It’ll be okay honey.”

  Nadia let her sister pull her out of bed, and they walked into the kitchen. The house seemed empty, so they made breakfast in silence. “Ana, do you think his family will ever forgive me?”

  “I don’t know, Nadia. If it was me, probably, but I’ve also experienced death and a lot of evil in my time serving. I know it’s not good to dwell.”

  “So what you are saying is a normal person wouldn’t.”

  “I didn’t say that, I said if it was me, I would.” Anabella sat the food down and looked at her sister; she knew there was nothing to ease the pain.

  “I think I need to see his family.”

  “Are you sure that’s what you want to do?” Anabella was hesitant to let her do that. She didn’t see anything positive coming out of a trip like that.

  “I don’t see how I can get over this if I don’t talk to them.” Nadia stood up and started walking towards the room they were staying in.

  “Nadia wait.” Anabella walked up to her and turned her around. “You know that they won’t want to see you and will blame you. You could just write them a letter.”

  “I got their son killed, Anabella! I need to apologize in person. End of story. I’m going.” Nadia pulled her arm free of her sister, turned around, went into the room, and slammed the door shut behind her. She pulled on a change of clothes and grabbed her purse. She went back into the living room and grabbed the car keys out of Anabella’s purse. She walked out of the house and realized she didn’t know where his family lived. Well damn. She called Gabe once she was in the car and the heater was turned on.

  “Hey, you okay Nadia?” Gabe answered.

  “Yeah, I’m fine. What’s Matt’s parents’ address? I want to send them flowers.” She didn’t feel like another lecture, easier to claim to send a gift than tell the truth.

  “Hold on, I’ll text it to you.”

  She heard the sound of her text message ding in her ear and quickly said, “Thanks Gabe, see ya later.” She hung the phone up and looked at the address; it wasn’t too far from where Kain lived. She pulled out of the neighborhood and went towards the Holmes residence.

  Nadia sat in the car across the street from Matt’s parents’ house for twenty minutes. She was trying to find the nerve to walk up to the front door, but all the sudden the fire had died inside of her, and she couldn’t move her feet. She pulled a small notepad out of her purse and a pen. She thought maybe a note would be easier to manage.

  Maybe.

  Mr. and Mrs. Holmes,

  My name is Nadia Maverick. Although we have not met, I am sure that you know who I am. I cannot express to you how deeply sorry I am that Matt has passed away. He was a good man, fun and full of life. I was with him the night he died. I don’t know how much you know about the circumstances surrounding his death. He was part of a team of people at the paper who are investigating an underground crime ring in the middle of our city.

  Matt and I were watching the building and we were discovered. I thought he had managed to escape before the police arrived. He ran and I didn’t see him anywhere. It wasn’t until I was home that we discovered his body in my living room.

  I am so sorry for everything that has happened to Matt. He was my responsibility, and I cannot believe he is gone.

  I am so sorry.

  Nadia.

  She looked over the letter she had written. Her handwriting sketchy; she couldn’t control the nervousness in her hands. She folded it in half and wrote on the top of the folded side, “Homes Family.” She got out of the car and walked up to the mailbox. With a quick motion she opened the mailbox and slipped the note inside. She hurried back to her car and gave the home one more look, her eyes looked over everything, she wanted to be able to remember it all before she drove off. There was no sign of anyone home except the car in the drive way. She couldn’t imagine what they were going through right now.

  Guilt was getting the best of her, so she sped down the street and back toward Kain’s home. She suddenly realized she hadn’t heard if they caught the men who ran off that night. All at once she remembered that she couldn’t even remember their names. She pulled her phone out and called Kevin. His number rang and rang before the voicemail picked up on the fifth ring.

  “Kevin, it’s Nadia. I just realized I don’t know if any of the bad guys were caught. Call me.”

  She put her cell phone back in her pocket and pulled into the neighborhood where Kain lived. Her phone started to vibrate in her pocket while she was parking Anabella’s car in Kain’s driveway. She pulled it out and saw that Kevin was returning her call.

  “Kevin?!?” Her tone was frantic and full of excitement.

  “Nadia, what’s wrong? Is everything okay?” His voice was calm and even; he always maintained an emotion free tone when on the job.

  “Did you catch them yet?” She held onto the phone as if her life was depending on this single moment.

  “We have Bruno in custody and the other one, Dan, we have a lead on him. The third man we are still trying to name and locate. Your car rendered no prints and neither did your home. He was very professional, and it’s obvious this isn’t their first time.”

  There was silence on the phone for about thirty seconds. “Nadia, are you still there?”

  “Yeah, I just wish I could go home and that Matt’s killer was caught.”

  “I know, but we did find out some information from Bruno about what happened to your pet store attendant.”

  Nadia cut him off; her mind started racing a million miles an hour. “Was it Carlisle? Did he do it? Tell me everything!”

  “Nadia calm down. I cannot discuss with you what the details of the case are. You know that. You are going to have to stay quiet for a while. Don’t do anything to bring attention to yourself.”

  “Kevin, you know that’s not possible. Please find these guys soon. I won’t feel safe till you do.”

  “I
know; I’ll do what I can. I did speak with Kain, and your house has been cleaned, the door replaced, and an alarm installed. You should be good to come home tomorrow. You sound shaken up right now.”

  “I am. I’ll go home tomorrow, good idea. Thanks Kevin. Goodbye.”

  She hung the phone up without waiting for him to respond. She locked the car and went inside the house. Kain and Anabella were waiting for her in the kitchen. She set her purse on the couch and walked over to them. Anabella got up and went to pour Nadia a cup of hot chocolate and returned to the table. They were silent as Anabella handed her the cup.

  They all took a drink, and Kain was the first to say something. “Ana told me, did you do it?”

  Nadia’s eyes were focused on her drink. She was swirling the hot chocolate in the mug; she didn’t want to answer. She felt ashamed she couldn’t even face them.

  “It’s okay Nadia, tell us what happened.” Anabella’s soft voice said. She reached her hand up and placed it on Nadia’s shoulder, trying to offer her little sister comfort.

  “I…” She sighed deeply. “I left a note.”

  “You left a note?” Kain’s voice sounded confused and unsure what she meant by “a note”. “What was in the note?”

  Her eyes looked up and met his. “I said I was sorry and explained what happened in a note, and I left it in their mailbox.”

  Anabella squeezed her shoulder, and Nadia turned to her sister and smiled. “I tried. I said I was sorry. That’s what counts right?”

  “Yes honey, that’s what counts, but it isn’t your fault, you know that.” Anabella looked to Kain and then back to Nadia. She wished she could take the pain away from her sister.

  “I spoke to Kevin. Do you want to stay here for a few more days or go home?” Kain reached his hand across the table and took Nadia’s in his hand.

  She sat there, surrounded by the love of her family, and Nadia couldn’t feel anything but emptiness. “I told Kevin five minutes ago that I would go home tomorrow. I don’t want to keep putting you out.”

  “Do you want me to stay with you for a few days at the house? I can work from home and get my reports out while we veg and take care of you.”

  Nadia looked to her sister and smiled; she nodded her head yes. Outside they could hear Kain’s sons playing on the swing set in the back yard, and Nadia got an idea.

  “What if we all went bowling, got out of the house, and had fun with Daman and Leon?”

  Kain and Anabella both thought that was a great idea. Kain pushed away from the table and went to the back door and opened it. “Kids, come on inside and change, and we are all going bowling, boys against girls!”

  Daman and Leon came running into the house, both hollering and cheering. They loved to bowl and the old rule was whichever team lost bowling would have to cook whatever the winners wanted for dinner. Conveniently the boys’ team had won the last five games.

  “Good idea, Nadia,” Anabella said.

  Both ladies stood up, and Nadia took the glasses and washed them off, while Anabella went and got ready. She heard the clinking of Triple T’s collar and saw him sitting on the floor under the table. She smiled and kneeled down, patting her leg with her hand and calling him. He slowly stood up and made his way over to her.

  “Hey there, T.” She picked him up and cuddled him to her chest. He purred into her hand then started to run his rough tongue across her skin. “No licks there, little guy.” She carried him to the bedroom and pulled his cat food out. She sat him on the bed while she put some in his bowl. She picked him back up and took him into the kitchen again, where she sat the bowl and him down and he began to eat.

  She heard everyone behind her and turned around and smiled, Leon and Daman had grins on their faces and were anxiously waiting at the front door.

  “Aunt Dia, Aunt Dia, come on! We’re going to be late, get your purse!”

  “We aren’t going to be late, lil’ man. Don’t worry so much.” Nadia grabbed her purse and walked up to him, tussling his hair. She hugged him tight. “Love you.”

  “Love you too, Aunt Dia.”

  Leon rolled his eyes as he watched them. “Daman, you are such a girl.”

  “Am not!” he hollered back.

  “Are too, only girls worry about the time.”

  “I’m not a girl, you are!”

  Kain interrupted their little dispute. “Boy’s stop, no one’s a girl, now let’s go.”

  They all piled into Kain’s car and drove off to the bowling alley. Nadia’s mind was in a daze. She wasn’t listening to the conversation taking place beside her. She kept thinking back to Matt restrained by that man. At least Kevin had found one of them; maybe the other two would be caught soon. She wished she could stop obsessing about this. Nothing she said or thought now would change the past.

  They arrived at the bowling alley, and Daman grabbed Nadia’s hand and pulled her out of the car. She had to jog to keep up with his running to the front door. They all went inside, and Kain secured them two lanes side by side. Anabella and Nadia gathered all the shoes, and the boys picked out all of the balls. They gathered on lanes fifteen and sixteen, and Leon entered everyone’s names in their orders.

  “Aunt Ana, you’re first.” Leon gave orders like an old pro; they always let him lead. He took pride in his ability to keep score and keep everyone on pace.

  “Leon you always have me first.” Anabella laughed and got up and went to her ball, she palmed it and looked down the lane.

  “That’s because ladies go first, and you’re the oldest of the girls, Aunt Ana.”

  “Leon!” Kain called out. “Stop that. You know we never talk about a woman’s age.”

  Leon’s innocent eyes looked up at his dad. He smiled and shrugged. “What? She asked.”

  “Actually, I made a statement, I didn’t ask,” Anabella said. She looked at the pins, walked up to the lane, and let the ball go. All five of them stayed in silence as the ball made its way down the lane.

  “Nine! You got nine!” Leon shouted. “Dad you’re going to have to bowl real good to beat her.”

  “Your dad always has to bowl real good to beat me, Leon.” Anabella smirked up at her older brother as she heard the final pin fall from her second ball. “You’re up, old man.”

  “Watch it, brat. I’m not an old man; I’m only four years older than you.”

  “Sounds old to me, right Leon?” Anabella smiled down at her nephew and waited for his answer.

  “Can’t you all be equally old?” Daman asked.

  Nadia pulled in him for a hug then gave him a noogie. “Watch it, lil’ man. I am way younger than those two old ones.”

  “Ahhh, Dad, help!!” Daman tried to wiggle out of his aunt’s grasp but failed. They all laughed at him while Nadia gave her best attempt at torture.