Maverick Touch: The Cat

CHAPTER THREE

  Nadia took the litter box and began setting everything up in the spare bathroom for ‘Triple T’, as Daman was calling him. The kitty watched from the edge of the bathtub as she put bowls out and filled them with water and kitten food.

  “Aunt Nadia, come look. The snow’s piling up!” Leon hollered from the living room. “Can we go build a snowman?”

  Nadia picked up the kitten and walked into the living room, setting little Tony down with Daman.

  “Yeah we can. Daman, do you want to go outside and play too?”

  Daman nodded his head yes as he stroked the soft fur. “Yes, but we need a real carrot for the nose, right Leon? Not some stick.”

  “I think I can do that. You boys go get your jackets and gloves on, and I’ll grab the carrot and meet you outside.

  “Yay!!” Daman screamed as he let go of the kitten, which was now hiding under the couch, scared from all of the noise.

  Leon shook his head as he went to put on his winter things. “Kids.”

  “You know you were no different at that age, right short stuff?” Nadia said from inside the kitchen.

  “I don’t believe you,” Leon said as he laughed at Daman who was putting his coat on upside down.

  “Don’t laugh at me.” Daman said. You could tell he was getting frustrated with things.

  Nadia walked over to her nephew and helped take his jacket off and slip it on correctly. She zipped it up and kissed his nose before putting his stocking cap down on his head. She helped him get into his gloves, and within a few minutes, they were all outside. They all sat in the snow and began rolling three different balls together. Nadia watched the boys smile as they each took delicate care at their tasks.

  “Okay my ball is ready,” Leon said as he pushed his large snowball to the middle of the yard.

  “Help me get mine over there, Leon,” Daman said as he tried to lift it up on his own.

  “Here, I got it.” Nadia stood up and leaned over, picking up Daman’s clump of snow. She walked over and set it on-top of Leon’s. “Make sure you pack some snow in there so it doesn’t fall off.”

  Both boys piled the snow on thick as she finished forming the top ball and placed it on the snowman. She handed Daman the carrot and lifted him up so he could properly set it on the face of the snowman. Leon pulled two rocks from his pocket and pushed them into the snow, making the eyes. The three of them stepped away from the snowman and all smiled at their work.

  “We need a magic hat, Aunt Dia,” Daman said, running inside, kicking snow up in his path.

  “I can’t wait to see what he uses as a hat; we didn’t bring any extra.”

  “I’m sure it’ll be creative.”

  Daman came running back outside with one of Nadia’s Halloween wigs, Leon laughed hard when Daman handed it to Nadia. “Here you go, Aunt Dia, put this on him.”

  Nadia grabbed the wig and shook her head. “If we put this on it, won’t it be a her?”

  “Oh, yes. Put this on her.” Daman beamed when she put the blonde wig on the snowwoman.

  “What are you two going to name her?”

  Both boys stood there for a minute in silence, their little minds working hard to come up with a name.

  “How about Ana?” Leon suggested.

  “I’m sure your aunt would love that,” Nadia said while straightening the wig, making sure the hair was placed on straight.

  “No, she needs a cool name, like Raine!” Daman exclaimed.

  “I like Raine. What do you think Leon?”

  “Yeah, it’s cool.”

  Nadia saw the door was still open from when Daman had gone inside and noticed the kitten standing on the edge of the porch. She went over to the steps and picked him up, holding him close to her. “Alright boys, you play outside a bit, and I’ll get dinner started.” The boys both hollered back and began a snow fight when she went inside and shut the door. Her living room desk looked out onto the front yard, so she decided to watch the boys and do a little research for work.

  “There you go, Triple T. Just sit here on the desk.” She set him on her stack of papers and turned on her laptop. Something was off about the pet store visit today, and she felt the need to dig into what was going on with that man. She pulled up her search engine and typed in the name of the pet store. She noticed that a lot of police activity had been reported at the location.

  She read over the articles and police bulletins she found. Triple T started to purr as he slept, his tail swinging back and forth against her desk. She watched it for a few seconds, then went back to her reading. She found an article about a shooting that happened outside of the shop in their back alley.

  Interesting…..

  Nadia was deep in a trance when Leon came into the room. “Aunt Nadia, we want pizza.”

  She looked up at him and nodded. That was a good thing, since she forgot to start the dinner. “Coming right up. What do you want, meat lovers?” He nodded and went back outside to continue the snowball fight.

  Nadia ordered the pizza online from the local shop and kept reading more articles. She came across one that she couldn’t help thinking there was more to.

  What really happens at the pet store?

  Date April 25th, 2012

  You might have heard of the pet store that opened last year, ‘Paws Pals’. If you haven’t, now’s the time to read and learn. This new business seems to be cursed. It’s only been open ten months, and already they have had a fire, a break in, and a death. What could be going on with these dogs and cats to cause so much drama? Some people have their suspicions, but right now all we can report is this is definitely a place to keep a watch on.

  Your Daily Reporter –

  Susan McRyan.

  This article left Nadia wanting more information. She typed ‘Susan McRyan’ into her search and discovered Susan had been found dead in her apartment after what appeared to be a break in on May 1st. Nadia didn’t believe in coincidences. Her gut was telling her that she was onto something with this pet store.

  She brought up the VPN for her work, logged into her chat network, and saw her friend Gabe was online. She clicked on his name and began talking to him about her idea.

  NewsGirl22: Hey Gabe, have you heard of Paws Pals?

  GabetheMan: Hey Nadia-the pet store? Finally get a cat?

  NewsGirl22: Yeah I did get a cat, callin him Tony the Tiger or Triple T. Anyway-so the guy there was a bit off and I saw something shady go down out back. I pulled up some news articles and police bulletins and I think we have a story here.

  GabetheMan: Oh? Awesome you want to do a team up like last time?

  NewsGirl22: Yeah I’m thinkin so. Can you check with your PD contact? See if there is anything they know. You know Susan McRyan?

  GabetheMan: The reporter who died earlier this year? Yeah what about her, she was nice

  NewsGirl22: She did an article on this place, then a week later she had a break in and was killed, or so the article says.

  GabetheMan: Hmm

  NewsGirl22: I’m telling you, we got a winner.

  GabetheMan: Ok don’t do anything till I call and check it out. We can talk about it tomorrow when you’re here.

  NewsGirl22: k, see ya.

  Nadia closed her laptop just as the boys came running in the house screaming, “Pizza’s here!” She paid the driver, and they all went and sat on the couch in front of the television.

  “Can we watch Scooby?” Daman asked.

  “Sure thing.”

  Nadia pulled out their Scooby DVD and put it in the player. The boys ate and enjoyed their show, while Nadia slowly ate her slice and thought about what she had stumbled on.