Chapter Fourteen – Sam

Ophelia’s car looked as if it shouldn’t have been on the road, but Lenny assured them it was safe and, more importantly, legal.

“OK, then. Let’s hit Bear Bluff Animal Shelter and see if the cat is your sister.” Those were just about the craziest words he had ever said. They were about to go to an animal shelter to find a missing person.

You are just pissed you didn’t think of it first, his bear said.

His bear was right. He should have thought more laterally. But they were heading in the right direction now. At least, he hoped they were.

Lenny opened the garage door, and Sam pulled forward, watching in the rearview mirror as the young man, now a whole heap happier, closed the doors and ran back to the car.

“After I found my sister, she kept telling me that she knew I would come for her. Do you think that is what Ophelia is thinking?” Sam asked Lia.

“You wouldn’t set much faith in Lenny, you know, looking in. But he had the sense to call you.” Lia touched his hand as it rested on his thigh. “Maybe fate had a hand in this too.”

“As long as that same fate does us a favor tomorrow, I’m all for it,” Sam said with a grin.

“Tomorrow, I still can’t believe you set such a short deadline,” Lia said. “You could have at least given yourself a week.”

“I work best under pressure,” Sam flashed her a grin. Then he shook his head. “No, I don’t. I’m more of a meander-through-life type of guy. But I do want this all finished up, so we can start our new lives.” He looked over his shoulder as Lenny got in the car and shut the door.

“Good to go,” Lenny said excitedly.

“Then let’s do it.” Sam cast a huge smile at Lia. This was the part he liked the best. The part of the job when everything came together and he could sense the ending. Which he always hoped was happy. He was that kind of a guy.

As he drove, his smile faded. What about his happy ending with Lia? Was he right in his plan for tomorrow? Not one to usually second-guess himself, but that was exactly what Sam was doing. He was afraid he’d gotten it wrong. Afraid he’d been too cocky when setting himself a forty-eight-hour deadline.

So what if he didn’t get it right within that time? He wouldn’t get paid, sure. But that did not mean he was going to give up. Somewhere, hidden in all the fragments, was the truth.

Shut up and drive, his bear said. You’ve got this.

Sam thanked his bear, who was not usually known for being so supportive. His bear was more of a what do you think you are doing, fool? kind of a bear.

The road down from Cougar Ridge was steep, narrow, and winding. Sam took his time, but it wasn’t long before they were on the highway and heading in the direction of Bear Bluff.

“Do you have directions for the animal shelter?” Sam asked Lia.

“Yes.” She pulled out her phone. “I have it on Google Maps. Up here another two miles or so and then turn left.”

Sam followed her directions, and sure enough, they ended at a dead-end road, in front of two locked gates, behind which stood the animal shelter. “Nobody home?”

“The woman I spoke to, Ronni, said to give her a call when we got here.” Lia tapped the number into her phone and waited. “Hi, Ronni, it’s Lia, we’ve come about the cat with the broken leg.”

Sam saw movement behind the gate and then a figure of a woman appeared, illuminated in the headlights. Shielding her eyes from the glare, she moved to unlock the gates. As Ronni swung one gate open, Sam drove forward.

“Park your car just here, we can walk over to the building where the cats are housed. They get upset at night if there is too much noise,” Ronni said.

“Thanks for seeing us at such a late hour,” Sam replied, getting out of the car and towering above Ronni.

“That’s OK,” Ronni squeaked, looking flustered beside Sam.

“Don’t worry, he’s a gentle giant,” Lia said, coming to join them.

“I’m nervous, sorry. I shouldn’t really let people in this late,” Ronni explained.

“We won’t tell. And we’re sorry for coming at such a late hour, but Lenny here would never sleep tonight, knowing we might have located his cat.”

“Sister,” Lenny said quietly to Lia, but Ronni heard.

“You think the cat is your sister?” Ronni asked, shocked.

“Figure of speech,” Sam said quickly.

“They’re so close…” Lia’s voice trailed off as Ronni gave a smile.

“It’s OK, I’m a shifter too,” Ronni said. “And if it is your sister, I am sorry, she gave no indication she was anything other than a cat.”

“Can we see her?” Lenny asked in a hushed voice, his earlier excitement replaced by fear.

“Sure, this way.” Ronni led them away from the car, and toward a big building. Taking a key from her pocket, she unlocked the door and switched on a dim light. “I don’t want them all getting up. They’ll think it’s feeding time.”

They followed her quietly along a corridor. On either side of them were glass windows, behind which sat a cat, or sometimes two. They rubbed themselves against the glass, pressing forward for attention. As a cat lover, he had a soft spot for them all.

“Hey, maybe when we are settled,” Sam said to Lia, “We could get ourselves a cat. Or two.”

“I like that idea,” Lia said, reaching for his hand.

She was trembling and pressed her body close to his. “It’ll be OK,” he said.

“I hope so,” Lia whispered in return.

“Me too,” said Lenny.

“Here we are.” Ronni stopped outside one of the glass windows and peered inside. “She was at the vets in Bear Bluff. Someone took her in for them to treat after she was found injured on the road. They patched her up and sent her here to the animal shelter convalesce. Once her leg is mended, she’ll be rehomed.

“Ophelia,” Lenny called quietly. “Ophelia.”

From inside, there came a pitiful meow, and then a cat appeared, a front leg wrapped in a cast.

“Is that her?” Sam asked.

“Yes.” The words came out of Lenny as a strangled sob, and he leaned against the glass, while Ophelia pressed her feline body up against it. “Let her out.”

Ronni quickly unlocked the door adjacent to the window, and Lenny slipped inside, kneeling on the floor as Ophelia came to him. Scooping her up, he kissed her soft fur, and the three bystanders could hear the cat purring loudly, brushing her head against her brother.

“Well, I’ll be…” Sam said.

The three of them stood staring at the scene, not knowing what to say. Then Ronni sprung to life. “Right. Come with me to the house. I’ll fill in the adoption papers.”

“Adoption papers? She’s not a real cat,” Sam pointed out.

“I know, but my supervisor doesn’t know that. And she is not a shifter. So we do things by the book.” Ronni sounded businesslike, and Sam was not going to argue at this point.

“OK, we’ll do it your way,” Sam replied.

“While I fill in the paperwork, I suggest you call either Dr. Hansom or Dr. Malvern at the hospital here in Bear Bluff. They are both shifters and will know what to do.” Ronni locked all the doors behind them and led them across a courtyard, and into a small office. There she switched on the lights, which made Ophelia, still wrapped tightly in Lenny’s arms, blink. Her huge almond-shaped eyes were staring at the people around her.

“A doctor?” Lenny asked. “I don’t want Ophelia going to a hospital. She’s coming home.”

“She has a broken front leg, Lenny,” Lia said gently. “If she shifts, she will have a broken arm.”

“She needs to shift with a doctor by her side, who can x-ray her arm and then put it in a proper cast. Then you will have to look after her,” Lia warned.

Lenny nodded. “I will.”

An hour later they were inside the hospital, with Dr. Malvern assessing the situation. “I don’t see this kind of case every day. But they always make for interesting stories,” the doctor said.

“So you’ve had to treat shifters like this before?” Lia asked.

“Oh, yeah. Only usually they are bigger animals. Bears, lions, tigers, I even had an elephant once. Luckily, Ophelia here is small enough for you to smuggle in under your coat.” He stroked Ophelia’s head. “Now, I’m going to cut this cast off and assess the damage. Then you’re going to shift. When you are human, I want you to keep very still, and I’ll x-ray you. After that, we’ll get a cast on, and you should be on your way home in a couple of days.”

“A couple of days?” Lenny asked, his voice upset. “I thought Ophelia would be coming home right away.”

“I need to keep her in for observation,” Dr. Malvern said. “She’s been in her animal form for a couple of weeks from what you say, and that can be a little disorientating.”

“It will give us time to tidy and clean your house,” Sam said quietly to Lenny.

“I tried to keep it clean. But I ran out of dish soap, and towels.” Lenny looked anxious.

“It’s OK, we’ll help get you straightened out,” Lia said.

Dr. Malvern cut the bandage off Ophelia’s foreleg and examined her carefully. Ophelia lay perfectly still with her brother talking to her softly, but his worried were eyes fixed firmly on the doctor’s face.

“Is everything OK?” Lenny asked, unable to contain himself.

“The bone has started to mend. Now, if Ophelia can shift, we can patch her up properly.” Dr. Malvern kept his voice even, but there was concern in his expression. Sam had seen it before, shifters who had spent too long as their animal, it made their minds a little crazy.

“Come on, Ophelia,” Lenny coaxed. He stood back, giving his sister some room. Ophelia looked at him, her amber eyes unblinking. Nothing happened. “It’s OK, we’re here for you.”

Ophelia looked at all of them in turn, and then moved slightly, lifting herself up, her body trembling. “It’s OK, Ophelia, once you have shifted we can give you something for the pain if that is what you are scared of,” Dr. Malvern said gently.

Sam liked Dr. Malvern, he had a calm bedside manner and exuded confidence, which had a calming effect on his patients. He stroked, coaxed, and fussed over Ophelia until eventually, she allowed her cat form to disappear in a shimmer of air, to be replaced by a young woman, holding her damaged arm.

“OK, here we go.” Dr. Malvern worked quickly, ushering everyone out of the room while he took the x-rays, and allowing an anxious Lenny back in as soon as he could.

“Lenny. You’re OK,” Ophelia said, her voice scratchy from lack of use.

“Yes. I’m sorry I killed the battery. If you had driven your car, this wouldn’t have happened, would it?” Lenny asked.

“No, it wouldn’t. But then I wouldn’t have met my mate.”

All eyes turned to Ophelia, and Sam looked up at the doctor, wondering if he had sensed the same thing. “Oh, it’s not me,” Dr. Malvern said confidently, but then his face changed and he asked, “Is it?”

“No, it was the vet who set my leg,” Ophelia said. “Unfortunately he’s not a shifter. But he came to check on me nearly every day while I was at the shelter. I think he liked me.”

“So you didn’t mind being there too much?” Lia asked, with a knowing look.

“Not too much,” Ophelia said, then looked at Lenny. “But I did miss you. And I was so worried.”

Lenny hugged her. “I missed you too.”

“So we have a happy ending,” Sam said.

“We do,” Dr. Malvern said, checking the x-ray. “I’ll get you into a private room, Ophelia, and ask the nurse to make a bed up for you too, Lenny.”

“You mean I can stay with Ophelia?” Lenny asked.

“You can, at least for tonight.”

“And tomorrow afternoon, we’ll come by and pick Lenny up and take him home. We’ll clean your house, Ophelia. And get some groceries,” Sam said.

“Thanks,” Ophelia answered, then she looked slightly embarrassed. “I have no idea who you are.”

“I’m Sam Spencer, Private Investigator.” Sam shook her good hand.

“Thanks, Sam, I’m guessing I owe you for what you’ve done,” Ophelia said. “But you might have to take an IOU. I expect the bills have been piling up and I haven’t been working to earn any money.”

“Don’t worry yourself about it,” Sam said. “This one is on the house.”

Lia slipped her hand into his. “If you don’t need us any longer, we might get going.”

“Sure.” Dr. Malvern was preparing to move Ophelia. “We have to go and get a plaster cast on this arm, and then we’ll get you two fed.”

“Oh, anything other than cat food would be amazing,” Ophelia said.

“I’m sure even the hospital food is better than animal shelter food,” Lia joked, leaning against Sam.

He wrapped his arm around her and held her close. “We will see you tomorrow. This is one mystery case I’m happy to have solved.”

Lia and Sam left the hospital in Ophelia’s car and headed back to Lia’s house. Sam only hoped that tomorrow, they would solve the mystery of the thefts Lia had been blamed for. But he wasn’t sure it was going to be quite so easy.