Page 35 of Rising Storm

Gareth grabbed his arm just as a woman started griping about her husband forgetting to set the security system again. He griped back about her accidentally locking Coco in the downstairs bathroom.

Coco? If it was a dog, it would surely give them away.

Helix tugged Gareth into a room he assumed was a guest bedroom and pointed to the bed. He dove and shimmied under the frame, careful not to bend the comics. Gareth followed. They were both breathing hard and Gareth’s grin flashed a little in the darkness under the bed.

When a cat crawled between them, they both froze.

“Coco!” a man called out.

The cat meowed and Gareth’s frantic gaze met his. Helix started pushing the cat out from under the bed as gently as he could. The thing hissed and clawed at his hand, then crawled farther up between them until it was lying between their heads. It looked around at both of them, then meowed again.

“Coco! Where are you, you silly baby? We’re sorry you got locked in the bathroom again.”

Gareth, who was on the side of the bed closest to the wall, slowly scooted out from under the bed and tried to coax the cat out. The little bell on its collar jingled as it rolled onto its back, then stretched. The thing was obviously looking for a belly rub or something.

The humor in the situation hit Helix and he had to cover his mouth to hold back a snort.

“Treats, Coco!” The man shook something in the hallway and the cat zoomed out from under the bed while Gareth laid flat again. He slowly scooched back and they stared at each other, both grinning.

“That’s my sweet baby girl,” the man crooned as he walked down the hall.

They waited under the bed as there were sounds of more footsteps, then all was quiet. “Might as well settle in,” Helix whispered. “We won’t be moving for hours.”

“I thought for sure that cat was going to give us away.”

“Me too.”

They lay there for what felt like forever, the only sound Gareth breathing beside him. It wasn’t long before Coco rejoined them, crawling up to headbutt Helix. He sneezed and froze. Then he sneezed again. The cat, who didn’t care that she was tearing his sinuses up, tried to wedge her body on top of his and he pushed her away. She army crawled over to Gareth and gave him the same treatment.

By the time Helix felt it was safe to sneak out, his eyes burned and he felt like he couldn’t breathe. He slowly climbed out from under the bed and Gareth followed silently. They made quick work of getting out of the house. Coco’s little bell jingled as she followed them.

Helix made sure she didn’t get out as he shut the back door.

They jogged down to their car and climbed in. Helix started sneezing and couldn’t stop. “I hadn’t even realized I was allergic to cats.”

“Well, that cat anyway. What was she, a Persian?”

“Some kind of evil long-haired thing.” Helix rubbed his gritty eyes. “Glad you’re driving because I can barely see. You still feeling okay about the re-steal?”

“Surprisingly yeah.” He drove through the neighborhood. “You know, I can’t help but think that one of these days, a re-steal is going to come back and bite us on the ass. Someone broke into Hayrick’s house, did I tell you that?”

“You didn’t.”

“It was Kavaugh. The man who broke in had an eagle tattoo and I saw it on the arm of your brother’s husband. So obviously he knows Hayrick is missing. Email was obviously not the only way Hayrick handled things.”

“My brother said that we stumbled onto something bigger here. That Kavaugh stole from Hayrick, so I get the feeling he was some kind of partner.”

“Well, one could mean more. We’re going to have to warn Shelli to be extra vigilant when it comes to the communication.”

“She’s pretty good. So’s Lane.”

“And I think we’re about to acquire Isaac as well. With three good people on the computers, we should be set.”

“You think your other friends will come, too?”

Gareth nodded and pulled the car to a stop at a red light. He looked over at Helix. “You and your distrust of cops. The thought of three more in that house give you hives?”

“Pretty damn much,” Helix muttered before sneezing again.

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