Page 99 of Savage Promises

“No. I’ll talk to Lennox.” I melt into damage control.

The four of us head back to my house. Blade and Jett take off, opting to catch a cab to meet up with Connor at one of the stakeout locations.

At the bottom of my stoop, Rhys cups my arm. “Shane, it’s a cat. He’ll show up. They always do.”

“They just moved in here,” I ground out, feeling guilty, like I didn’t make Hawk feel at home.

Have I made Lennox feel like this is her home, too?

“Rhys is right,” my guard Creed says from the top of the stoop, leaning on the front door.

“Let’s hope.” I trudge up the steps. “Rhys, you can take off.”

“I’ll come out periodically and check the food bowl,” Creed says, patting my back. “Get dry, boss.”

The weight of this failure shreds my insides more with every step. But before I open the front door, something catches my attention. A faint sound.

Meow.

I freeze, my eyes snapping upward. The tree outside Lennox’s bedroom window sways in the wind. I focus my cellphone flashlight on the tree. “Fuck, there he is!”

Hawk is perched on a branch, his tail flicking as if he didn’t just scare the shit out of me. Relief floods my veins, but it’s quickly replaced by horror.

“He’s got something in his mouth, boss,” Creed says curiously.

A dead bird. Christ, that’s what this was about? A vendetta against the birds who flutter and tease himoutside the window?

“What are you doing, Hawk?” I watch his butt wiggle, like he thinks he can dive onto the narrow ceramic ledge under Lennox’s window.

It’s barely two inches wide and the way the water sluices down the side, I bet it’s slick. He’ll slip with his smooth indoor paws and fall thirty feet.

“No!” I rush down the steps. “Don’t you dare.”

Hawk crouches, his little body tensing with other ideas.

“Hawk!” I shout, panic lacing my voice. “Stay there!”

I’m about to yell at Lennox to open her bedroom window and call him when... The damn cat leaps.

He hits the glass with a dull thud, scrambling on the slick ledge for purchase, and then he’s falling. I dive forward, my arms outstretched. By some miracle, I catch him just before he hits the ground. I land hard on my knees, tearing my pants. The not-so-dead bird wiggles out of Hawk’s mouth and takes flight, getting a new lease on life.

I cradle the squirming ball of fur against my chest. My heart is pounding so hard I can barely breathe. Until I start sneezing.

“You little menace,” I mutter, pressing my face into his soft fur. “You’re lucky you’re cute.”

“Boss, I can’t believe you caught him!” Creed says, looking up at the tree.

“Yeah, me too.” I sniff, my eyes watering.

“Boss, can I make a suggestion?” Creed’s voice gets low.

“Make it quick.” I hold the squirming cat whose claws are sinking into my skin.

“There’s a shelter around the corner. You can drop him off. Say he’s lost.” He eyes the patch on my arm. “No more suffering.”

“My wifewill be devastated,” I bite back immediately.

“You can get her one of those hairless, hyperallergic cats. Or a dog.”

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