Meow or Never (Vanessa Abbot Cat Protection League Cat Cozy Mystery Series Book 3) by Nancy C. Davis Read Free Book Online Page A

apartment, they
should be safe down here.”

    She glanced back at the shop. “All
right. You convinced me. Where are you going to take me?”

    “Penny and Alan are spending the night
over at the TipTop Motel on the other side of town,” he told her. “I'll take
you there, too.”

    He ushered her into his car, and drove
her across town. He knocked on one of the doors at the motel, and Penny opened
it.

    “Do you mind if Vanessa stays here with
you while I go and book her a room?” he asked.

    Penny's eyes widened. “What's going
on?”

    “Vanessa will tell you all about it,”
he replied. “I'll be right back.”

    Penny closed the door behind them. Vanessa
sank down onto the edge of the bed and peered up at Penny and Alan. “Someone
sabotaged my apartment. They drilled a hole in the gas line of the wall heater
in my bedroom. If my cats hadn't alerted me to it, I would be dead right now.”

    Penny gasped. “You don't think.....?”

    Vanessa nodded. “It must have been the
same person. It must have been Walter.” She shuddered. “He must have sneaked
into my apartment while I was at the police station. When he failed to shoot me
outside of town, he must have gone straight to my apartment and drilled the
hole before I got back.”

    “But how could he get in?” Penny asked.
“Don't you lock up when you leave?”

    Vanessa shrugged. “He's been operating
a criminal enterprise in this town for decades. He could have keys to every
building, for all we know.”

    “Then we won't be safe anywhere,” Penny
pointed out.

    A knock sounded on the door again, and
Pete came back. “I got you the room next door so you won't be far away.”

    “Did you have any success getting the
employee information from the real estate office?” Vanessa asked.

    He shook his head. “I tried, but the
manager dug in his heels. He said that was confidential information, and if we
wanted it, we had to get a court order.”

    Vanessa perked up her ears. “That sounds
like he's trying to hide something. He could be the connection we've been
looking for between the real estate office and Walter.”

    “Not really,” Pete replied. “He has a
point. They aren't allowed to give out personal employee information to just
anybody who asks for it.”

    “You aren't exactly anybody,” Vanessa
pointed out. “You're the police.”

    “We still need a court order,” he told
her.

    “But that could take days,” she cried.

    He nodded. “Months, even.”

    “We can't wait that long,” she
exclaimed. “We have to find Walter now, before he kills us all.”

    “You don't have to tell me,” he
replied. “I just don't know where we're going to start looking. We need a lucky
break.”

    At that moment, another knock rang out
on the door. They exchanged glances, and Pete pushed his jacket back so he
could reach his gun if he needed it. Then he opened the door a crack.

    Vanessa held her breath. Then she heard
a female voice outside. “Is Vanessa Abbot here?” She cried out in surprise.

    “Julie!” Vanessa pulled the door open
the rest of the way. “Julie McLeod is my real estate agent. She was with me
when Walter shot at us. This is Detective Pete Wheeler, Julie. He's the one
who's investigating the murder at the aluminum plant, and he's also in charge
of the case of that man shooting at us this afternoon.”

    Julie pushed her way into the room.
“You don't have to tell me, Vanessa. I know all about it.”

    “Well, you were there with me, weren't
you?” Vanessa replied.

    “No, I mean I know all about the
shooter being Walter Connelly,” Julie told her.

    Vanessa gasped. “You do? But how could
you know? I didn't even know you knew Walter.”

    “I know,” Julie replied, “because I'm
the one who told him you would be out at that property and when you would be
there.”

    Vanessa's mouth fell open. “Julie! How
could you tell him?”

    “I didn't know he was going to shoot at
you,” Julie replied. “I didn't know