My Fake Fling

“We didn’t know,” I answered. “We just happened to show up. I was worried about you being here late. Your dad and I were waiting for you and decided to come and see you here.”

“You were waiting for me?” She looked to her father.

He nodded. “I was hoping we could talk.”

She nodded. “Okay.”

“The cops are here,” I said. “You’ll need to give a statement. Then I’m sure you and your dad can find a minute to talk.”

“I’m going to check on the dogs,” Lucas said.

Thea gnawed her lower lip. I touched her arm. “I’ll go with him. Your dad will stay with you.”

“Thank you. Wait! The cats! Lucas, check the cats!”

“Oh shi—oot,” Lucas said.

“What’s wrong with the cats?” I asked.

“They went into the room,” Lucas said.

I followed behind him. “Thank you,” I said.

“For?”

He pushed open the door where the adult cats hung out. There were actually several cat rooms. This one looked fine. The cats all looked to be just fine. Lucas turned off the light and closed the door.

“For being brave enough to do what you did,” I said. “That took guts.”

“I had the dogs,” he said.

“You weren’t afraid they would turn on you or Kona?” I asked.

He grinned as he opened the next door. “Nah. I only let out the dogs I knew would be good. There are some that would probably go crazy. I didn’t pull them out.”

“It was smart,” I said. “Good job.”

One of the cat trees was knocked over in the room. The cats were hiding inside their little box homes. I stayed in the doorway while Lucas checked every cat. I listened as he soothed the animals. He reminded me a lot of Thea with the way the animals were naturally drawn to him. I didn’t have that kind of affinity for any animal.

“Everything okay?” I asked him.

“Yep. Jerks.” He righted the cat tree and we left the room.

“Lucas!” Ally’s voice echoed down the hall.

“Ma’am, you can’t come in here! It’s a crime scene!”

Lucas laughed. “I wonder if they’ll handcuff her?”

“For their sake, I hope they don’t try,” I replied.

“Lucas!”

I stepped out of the way of the woman barreling down on us. I hoped she had brakes on those feet. If not, she was going to run him right through the wall.