Gone, Kitty, Gone by Eileen Watkins

Author:Eileen Watkins
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Kensington Books
Published: 2019-10-27T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 11

I took the elevator back up to the hotel’s elite suite and once again passed muster with the hall bodyguard. This time, Detective Angela Bonelli opened the door. Beyond her, the living/dining room, already designed to double as a meeting area, had taken on a more serious and utilitarian atmosphere. Papers lay spread out on the round, contemporary dining table, and a uniformed cop with a solid build and a flat Marine haircut sat typing on a laptop, as if copying information from some of the documents.

The bar on the other side of the room held remnants of a light lunch buffet, with fruit, cheese, and small sandwiches. Those present appeared to have eaten little of it, though.

Jaki still wore the same shapeless sweater and depressed air as she had that morning, though now at least she appeared dry-eyed. She huddled on the ivory sofa next to her father, who kept his arm loosely around her shoulders. Perry slumped in one of the elegant beige-suede side chairs, his clasped hands dangling between his knees. He still looked natty, in a deep blue open-collared shirt, a checked sports jacket, and gray slacks. Now, though, his eyes had a haunted expression—like those of a proud, free-roaming animal whose spirit had been broken. Was it just because the extravaganza he’d worked hard to promote seemed to be going off the rails so badly? Or, in the past three hours, had something even more dreadful happened?

I asked Bonelli, “What’s going on? You said there was a development.”

Her full lips quirked in grim amusement. “We’ve gotten a couple of what you might call ransom notes. Apparently, word has started to get around that Jaki’s cat is missing.”

In the corner of my eye, I caught an accusatory glance from the young singer. I assured her and the detective, “I only told five trusted people: Mark, Becky, and Chris . . . and just a little while ago, my mother and her friend Harry. They all know better than to tell anyone else. But they’re all watching for any suspicious activity on the cat show floor and the vendor concourse.”

“To be fair,” Perry said, “when Jaki and the rest of us met up in the parking garage, right after the blackout, none of us were keeping our voices down. We all were wondering out loud where the cat had gone. If Cassie and her friends overheard us, other people might have, too.”

“At any rate,” said Bonelli, “we’ve determined that it’s too risky for Jaki to go on tonight. Perry has notified everyone who bought tickets to her performance that it’s tentatively rescheduled for seven p.m. tomorrow.”

“If they can’t make it then, or if that show also has to be canceled, their money will be refunded,” Perry added.

Now I understood at least part of the reason why he looked like he was going to his own funeral. Proceeds from the mini concert would have gone a long way, no doubt, toward putting the whole expo in the black.

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