Page 44 of S.O.S. Billboard

The granddaughter couldn’t say for sure if the subsequent stories she’d been told were true, but a number of times when her grandmother had lost consciousness due to a history of arrhythmia, the older woman had sworn that after she passed out, the cat had pushed the life-line alert button that hung around her grandmother’s neck, saving her life.

The granddaughter must have bought intosomeof the woo-woo stuff, because she believed it was her fault Zoe ran away. As she’d carried Zoe to her car, saying out loud that a new home would have to be found for her, the cat had squirmed from her arms, jumped down, and disappeared.

“I don’t know if it’s possible that Zoya understood what I said, but we never saw her again, which was odd. She’d always been very friendly to me and my husband.”

“What are you thinking about so hard over there?” Billboard asked after they’d traveled a few miles. “I can almost see your brain smoking.”

O’Shea chewed on her lower lip. “I… I know it sounds stupid, but do you think Zoe waited for me to come along? I mean, she’dbeen missing for two months. Why did she go without a home for so long? She’s amazingly friendly. Why didn’t she find a new person to take her in?”

“Maybe she did,” Billboard said reasonably. “She could have tried out a home or two, and…the potential owners had other animals she didn’t get along with, or something of the sort.”

“I guess that makes sense.” O’Shea agreed, but she couldn’t help feeling like it was some kind of…kismet. Especially since she’d picked out a name that was so close to Zoe’s old one. It was almost as if their subconscious’s had linked…

Nah.Too far-fetched.

O’Shea stopped her fancifulness, turned around and threaded her fingers through the mesh on the front of the carrier. Zoe began purring and pushing into O’Shea’s touch immediately. “No matter how it happened, sweetie,” she cooed to the cat. “telepathy or not, you have a forever home with me…as soon as we find one.”

Right.If she really was going to remain in Boston, she couldn’t keep mooching off Billboard. She needed to start the hunt for a place of her own.

“There’s no hurry,” Billboard rushed to tell her. “You should at least wait until you hear from the Police Commissioners Office before you make plans. And it’s no hardship, having you stay with me. As you’ve seen, I have plenty of room at my place, and my mother clearly adores you.”

O’Shea had noted the easy acceptance she’d received from Celia Seingold. And it felt…good. But strange. O’Shea had always avoided anything to do with mothers, since her experience with her own had never proven to be anything but negative. Still, there was part of her that had always craved the love and acceptance of a matriarch, and… Could this be the one?

O’Shea just hoped she wasn’t putting too many expectations on her new relationship with Celia, especially since theirassociation might not last long. If Billboard couldn’t come to grips with spilling all the things he was clearly bottling up inside him, their tenure together could be short.

She wasn’t being negative, just realistic. It was, after all, the conditionBillboardhadmade; that if things didn’t progress toward a good, trusting mental connection, there’d be nothing more on the table.

Which blew O’Shea’s mind.

It really amazed her that Billboard was so blind. Didn’t he realize they already had a bond? Despite everything he believed to the contrary, he’d already demonstrated that he cared. It’s one of the reasons she’d taken a chance to come north. He’d treated her so well back in Louisiana; in tune with the case they’d cracked to protect Brigid and Billy, while also making sure her ass was covered as the old-boys-network was unraveled. She couldn’t remember anybody other than her brother treating her with such care before.

And here, when she’d needed his help with Zoe, he’d stepped up immediately. Without question, he’d brought them both into his home. He also hadn’t balked that she’d been breakfasting with his mother, and that said a lot. A man didn’t just let you into his family’s bosom, without some serious vetting.

Then there was the fact that he’d taken today off, something heneverdid. He’d also insisted on paying for half of Zoe’s new accoutrements before accompanying them to the vet. And now…

Right.Now what?

“What’s on the agenda for the rest of the day?” she asked curiously, not having thought about it.

“I don’t have any plans,” he returned easily. “What would you like to do?”

Something on her wish-list popped out of her mouth. “Can we go to your office?” she asked excitedly. “I mean, I know it’s your day off, and it’s the last thing you probably want to do, butI’d like to see where you work. Maybe even hear what’s on SOS’s upcoming docket.”

“Why?” he asked curiously, then his face took on a speculative, almost knowing cast. “You’re interested in asking Del for a job, aren’t you?”

He didn’t seem upset about it, so O’Shea decided to spill her thoughts, which at best, were jumbled.

“No. Maybe. I don’t know.” Frustrated, she blew a strand of hair off her face. “I’drathergo with what I do best, which is policing,” she told him. “But if I get turned down by the-powers-that-be, I’ll need to find something else if I want to stay in Boston.”

“And do you?” he probed. “Want to stay here?”

“Well, there are things… There’s Brigid, for instance,” she postured. “I miss her a lot.” O’Shea drew out her explanation. “And I’ve always wanted to get to know Mizzay better. And now I have Zoe. I can relocate her to my home down south, but she seems like a northern climate kind of cat.”

Her thought process fizzled.

“And?” Billboard prompted, impatiently tapping his fingers in a staccato pattern on the steering wheel.

O’Shea got it. Now the man was just being cheeky. He could justaskif he was part of the staying local equation.

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