Page 22 of Cop Blocked

“You’ll take care of them?” Mrs. Beasley pleads while Piper coos at them.

“You have my word; I’ll get them taken care of, just like we did with Kitty,” I assure her. “Do you still have that spare pet carrier?”

“I do.”

“May I borrow it to get these two over to the vet clinic? I’ll bring it back over next week.”

“I’ll go get it.” Mrs. Beesley takes the little girl’s hand. “Alright, Piper, back inside with me.”

“Bye, Logan!” Piper waves shyly over her shoulder.

Miss Beasley fetches the pet carrier, and I secure the two kittens inside. Once I’ve got them sitting in my cruiser, I pop the trunk and pull out a bag from the grocery store.

“Couldn’t forget about my favorite furball,” I tell Mrs. Beesley, handing her a small bag of dry food and package of Kitty’s favorite canned food.

She pats my hand and smiles, “You’re too good to us, Logan.”

“Anything for my favorite ladies.”

“You know, Piper’s mom will be here soon. You could stay for dinner.” She smiles, innocently. “Since you stood me up the last time I invited you over.”

“Ah, there it is. Are you trying to play matchmaker again?”

“Little ol’ me?” She bats her eyes. “I would never.”

“Of course you wouldn’t,” I laugh. “I need to get going if I’m going to get those kittens checked out before my buddy leaves for the day.”

She reluctantly shoos me off, “Fine. Another time then.”

TWELVE

Rachel

The minute I walk into Nana’s house, Piper starts rattling about kittens.

“Nana, what’s she talking about?” I leave these two long enough to go to the grocery store for Nana, and they’ve already stirred up trouble, no doubt about it.

“Oh, dear. Didn’t you hear Kitty bellowing earlier?”

“No, Nana, I didn’t.”

“Well, she was making all sorts of fuss. That’s when I realized I hadn’t seen her all day. I went outside, and sure enough, I could hear her under the porch.”

As if she knows we’re talking about her, Kitty saunters in and rubs against my leg with a purr.

“I see she came back.”

“We might have had a little help.” Nana has the nerve to look bashful.

“Nana called the police!” Piper adds.

My eyes widen. “Nana! You can’t call the police for things like that.”

“Now, now. Don’t you worry. I called the station directly and had one of my officer friends come over.”

“Officer friends? You’re on a first-name basis with the local PD now?”

“Only one of them. Logan’s a fine young man. He comes by and checks on me often, even when I don’t call. Helps me take care of the place, too. Cut my grass for me a few weeks back. I tried to get him to stay for dinner, but he had to run and take the kittens to the vet’s office before they closed.”

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