Cat in an Aqua Storm by Carole Nelson Douglas

Author:Carole Nelson Douglas [Douglas, Carole Nelson]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Wishlist Publishing
Published: 2013-11-27T16:00:00+00:00

Talking to someone in the middle of the night was always therapeutic. When Temple returned to her bedroom—unaccompanied, darn!—visions of herself playing Karate Kid danced in her head until the fantasy became a dream and dream, morning.

She slipped into low-heeled slides and a wraparound sundress she didn’t have to dislocate her arms to get into, and entered the sunny front room. Not to worry. No Matt. The sofa was a sofa again, with the bedding folded neatly on one arm. Matt must have learned such disciplined bed-making at boot camp or something.

She shuffled into the kitchen for something hot and bracing. With Matt gone, Temple enjoyed a certain, guilty relief. She could limp around the apartment without putting a brave face on her injuries, and without worrying about what her actual makeup-bare face looked like. She could even cuss under her breath.

And she did. It hurt to open the cupboard door and reach up for the mug, to turn on the faucet and twist open the instant-coffee jar. Running the microwave didn’t hurt, thank goodness.

She turned from the cupboards, looking for some Equal to sweeten the straight black bitterness of coffee, and saw a foreign object poised on the opposite counter. Her shoe. Whole again. Heeled, so to speak. Heel and sole.

Temple smiled as she hobbled over to pick it up. Matt must have gotten up extra early and Super Glued the heel back on. She was standing there with a cup of coffee in one hand and mooning over a shoe in the other when her doorbell rang.

She glanced at the black-cat and pink-neon wall clock. Eight o’clock. Who’d call that early? Unless Lieutenant Molina couldn’t wait until nine for Temple to start her mug-shot search.

She reluctantly set down the shoe and wobbled for the door. She opened it on Electra’s worried face.

“Did you have a good night, dear? I mean, did you sleep well?”

“Mostly,” Temple answered vaguely. “Want some too-black coffee?”

“Never touch the stuff. Here, let me pour a little out, add a bit of water and... voila!”

“Thanks,” Temple said, accepting the diluted, drinkable coffee. “I’m not together yet, and I have to be at police headquarters downtown by nine.”

“That’s what I’m here for. Breakfast while you wait. Assistant dresser, whatever. Do you want me to give you a ride there? The Vampire awaiteth.”

“No, thanks. A bit too much agitation for me. I can get myself around once I get myself going. I wish—”

“Yes, dear—?”

“I wish I had another pair of ears and eyes at the Goliath for the strippers’ competition. I won’t be able to get in until ten or so, and I’ve got a feeling that the show has just begun to get on the road.”

“Can you still do that job under the circumstances?”

“If they lost two PR people in a row, they’d really freak. Besides, it’s too late for anyone else to come in cold.”

“Maybe Mr. Buchanan is feeling better and can spell you.”

“Electra, I’m going to be fine. I’ll be better off with work to take my mind off things.

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