Page 27 of Shadow Scorching

“It’s easy to make people disappear in this area. That’s one of the theories behind why we have so many serial killers,” I said. “The forests are so thick and vast here, the undergrowth so dense and deep, and the mountains so rugged and difficult to navigate, that it’s easy to hide the bodies. That would probably play into the dangerous packs settling here.”

Penn stood and stretched. “Well, it’s fascinating reading, I’ll say that. What do you want to do about dinner? I forgot to start anything.” She headed into the kitchen and I followed her.

“What do we have?”

She peeked into the fridge, then opened the freezer. “We have some frozen pot pies. I could bake a couple of those, or we could have soup and sandwiches. How about tomato soup, grilled cheese sandwiches, and we have leftover blackberry pie we can have for dessert.”

“That sounds good. I’ll feed the cats if you get started on the sandwiches.” I opened the cupboard and took out a large can of tomato soup and two cans of Feasty Bits—Jangles’s favorite food. Murdoch liked it, too, so I bought a lot of it.

Speaking of the cats, the moment they heard the pop-top on the cans, they came running. Murdoch skidded to a halt at my feet, gave me a quick sniff, and backed away. Jangles rubbed against my leg, purring.

“Hey, furbles, how are you?” I leaned down, picking up Jangles and patting Murdoch on the head. “How’s my beautiful girl?” I asked, holding the floof-ball of a tortie up to look at her before nestling her in my arms again.

Jangles purred loudly, leaning her head under my chin. I sat down on one of the counter stools and rested her on the counter, scratching beneath her chin and rubbing my face on her fur. Not about to be left out, Murdoch joined us, taking the counter in one easy leap, and he rolled over on his back, legs in the air, and let out a noisypurp.

“They miss you. They like me, but they adore you,” Penn said. “How many sandwiches do you want? Two?”

“Yes, please. How’s Mr. Crumbles? I haven’t seen him in a few days,” I asked.

Penn had a gorgeous parrot, a brilliantly colored Macaw, with an unusually large and colorful vocabulary. He mostlyignored the cats except when he was in a mood. He’d figured out that he could drive them nuts by whistling and so, when he was feeling ornery, Mr. Crumbles played with Murdoch and Jangles, sending them on wild goose chases, looking for the birds that weren’t there. Jangles had tried to swat him once, and that was the last time she ever attempted it. Mr. Crumbles was able to defend himself with ease.

“Mr. Crumbles figured out how to mimic the tea kettle today and was driving me nuts,” Penn said. “I think that, as charming as an old-fashioned tea kettle is, I’ll start using your electric one. That doesn’t whistle. And boy, can he whistle.” She rolled her eyes. “I swear, that bird could land a job as a sound effects technician.”

She paused to butter the bread and slice the cheese. Then, as she assembled the sandwiches in the pan, she turned to me. “Carson called me after the meeting today. He asked me out on a date.” She turned on the heat and then began to mix the soup and water into a pan.

“How do you feel about that?” I asked, even though I knew what her answer was.

“I don’t want to hurt him, and I would. I told him that I’m seeing someone, and that right now’s not a good time.” She sighed. “Truth is, Curl knows we’re walking on thin ice—I told him when I went into the relationship that I’m not cut out to be long term monogamous, and he accepted that we would likely have a passionate fling. But Carson, I don’t think he’s fling material, if you know what I mean.”

“I know what you mean. And you’re right. Carson wants someone to fall in love with, settled down with, and make babies. He’s lonely, but he isn’t good at making small talk.”

I needed to find Carson a girlfriend—some nice woman who wanted a happy home, who wanted to be treated like a queen, and who would be able to handle Carson’s quirks. Well,Icalledthem quirks, but to be honest, Carson was on the spectrum. He was highly functional, but his social game was non-existent.

“Well, I’m not that woman.” Penn whisked the soup smooth, then flipped the sandwiches as she turned the heat up under the soup pan.

I set the table with bowls and spoons, and bread-and-butter plates for our sandwiches. By the time I finished, the soup was hot and the sandwiches were done. Penn arranged them on a plate, then brought the soup over in the pan, with a ladle. We sat down to eat.

“How about you?” she asked. “Are you dating anybody?”

“No, but I’m about to try,” I mumbled, placing one of the sandwiches on my plate.

“What do you mean?”

I told her about the Dates Before Mates app, and what Dante had asked me to do. “I swear, I’m probably getting myself into trouble. But who knows? Maybe I’ll manage to catch this Jet guy in a web of lies and prove to Aunt Tilly that he’s a scoundrel.”

“Good luck. Don’t invite him to the house, though. We don’t know if the guy’s dangerous or whether he’s heading up a ring of thieves, or some such thing.” She paused, then said, “What do you think about throwing a Yule party? Just some friends and neighbors. I met your neighbor Ginger today. She’s cool.”

I arched my eyebrows. “Myneighbor?Ihaven’t even met most of my my neighbors. What’s she like?”

“Well, her name is Ginger Marquet, and she’s human. But she’s cool. Did you realize that she’s an EMT? Handy to have around in case of emergency. And she likes to garden, and she has an actual dalmatian, which she takes to the firehouse with her. She asked me if I’d keep an eye on her place when she’s gone, because her shift is four days on, three days off, and she sleeps at the firehouse when she’s on duty. I told her sure.” Penn ladled soup into her bowl, then filled mine.

“Ginger Marquet, huh? Well, I’ll try to catch a moment to say hello to her. And very cool that she’s an EMT.” I handed Penn the plate of sandwiches and she selected one. “So, you want to throw a Yule party?”

“Right. But it’s your house, so…”

“It’s your house, too,” I said. “I’m down with a Yule party, but isn’t it a little late to plan it?”

Penn laughed. “I can throw together a party in no time flat. Give me a list of people you’d like to invite and I’ll get on it tonight. The decorating is all done, so all I have to do is buy the food and pick the music.” She bit into her sandwich and sighed, looking out the window. “Look at the snow,” she said, in a quiet voice.

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