Page 45 of On A Rift's Edge
The four of them finally showed up at the shelter, brand-new cat carrier in Kat’s hand, only to find out that it had closed twenty minutes earlier.
That led to more arguing, as Jenny kept banging on the door and Naomi left multiple messages on the shelter’s voicemail.
“Look.” Lyall paused, as if even that one word of verbal interaction had been exhausting. “I spotted one of those little carnivores in a window a block back. I can break in and steal that cat if you want.”
Both Jenny and Naomi turned toward him, mouths open and for once at a loss for words.
“That’s a good one.” Kat pretended to laugh and clapped Lyall on the shoulder, a little harder than necessary. “Great joke. Why don’t we head to my parents’ house, and I’ll stop by here tomorrow.”
Before his sisters could criticize Kat’s plan, the door swung open and a frazzled young man in a cat-fur-covered sweatshirt leaned out. “Sorry. I was in the back. Nakamura family again?”
Kat and his sisters trooped inside, but Lyall hung back at the entrance until the shelter volunteer waved them all into a back room.
Lyall was great at sneaking up on people. Which, given that he was an assassin/mercenary/bodyguard kind of guy, made sense. He had surprised Kat plenty of times by coming up behind him. But this time Kat knew exactly when Lyall entered the room, even if he couldn’t see him.
Because every cat in the shelter flew into a rage.
There were about twenty felines in cages on each side of the room, and the combined sound of their yowls, hisses, and shrieks of fury was deafening.
Kat waved at Lyall frantically to get out and saw Jenny narrowing her eyes as she caught him doing it.
The hellhound finally stepped back, clearly unhappy, which was ridiculous. It wasn’t like the rescue animals or the volunteer were going to attack Kat, although the former might give him permanent hearing damage. With a good deal of difficulty and more than a few scratches, the three of them managed to get the spitting-mad rescue cat—ironically named Happy—into the carrier and out the door.
Both the yowls and the ammonia scent of cat pee faded as they left the shelter and returned to the car.
Happy wanted no part of being in the back seat with Lyall, so Kat switched places with him and did his best to soothe the cat.
“You know what they say.” Naomi gave Lyall a vicious grin as she pulled the car out of the parking lot. “Animals are great judges of character.”
Half an hour later, Kat didn’t know whether to be relieved or terrified to arrive at his parents’ house. At least the ride was over. Happy the not-so-happy cat stopped hissing once Kat took him out of the car and away from Lyall. Naomi had a business call that required privacy, so she stopped needling Lyall and left to answer it.
That left Kat, Lyall, and Jenny to walk together up to the front door.
“I need to talk to you alone.” Lyall snarled the words in Kat’s ear.
Jenny had amazing hearing when it came to conversations she wasn’t meant to listen in on, so she plucked at Lyall’s sleeve with a grin. “Meet the parents first, have your little lovers’ spat later.”
Any chance for conversation came to an abrupt halt as the door was flung open and George Nakamura bellowed, “Welcome to our house, Paul! We’ve heard so much about you.”
He came forward to engulf Lyall in a hug that wasn’t reciprocated.
“I’m not Paul Cicero.” Lyall held still until George released him, then took a step back and brushed cat hairs off the sweatshirt and jeans he had thrown on before their road trip from hell. “And you smell like a cat.”
George sniffed himself and nodded, not at all bothered by the comment. “I’ve been with one of our rescues all day. Vomited up a tapeworm.”
“Dad.” Kat wanted to stop his father before even more messy details of the pet’s medical issues came up. “This is Lyall. He’s a friend of mine who’s staying at the ranch to help with security issues.”
“Welcome, Lyall!” George pumped the hellhound’s arm up and down and mercifully didn’t attempt another hug. Instead, he began his version of a boyfriend interrogation. “Are you hungry? What do you like to eat? Do you want a drink?”
He followed that up by slinging an arm over Lyall’s shoulder and steering the hellhound toward the door.
“I’m always hungry.” Lyall answered George’s questions one by one as he allowed himself to be led. “Meat is good. Scotch would be better.”
Kat followed a few steps behind. Jenny took a little longer, since she was laughing so hard.
Lyall took off his sneakers before entering the house without prompting, which was at least one polite gesture. Once they were inside, he began to check out his surroundings, immersed in what Kat now knew was his where-could-the-assassins-break-in mode. They were all inside a den that had been refurbished into what his family called the Cat Room. There were floor to ceiling climbing towers, hanging circular hammocks, and a full play bridge that stretched over their heads and allowed the pampered felines to perch high above it all. Multiple litter machines filled with fully compostable materials gave the animals a variety of potty options. His parents kept the place clean, but Kat imagined that Lyall’s inhuman sniffing ability might find it overwhelming.
Lyall moved on from searching for hidden attackers and complaining about cat smells to carrying out his own interrogation.
