Slowly, I turned to look over my shoulder and found another gun pointed in my general direction.

“Willa?” Gus said, squinting at me.

“Gus?” My voice sounded weak even to my own ears. Then again, my night hadn’t exactly gone as planned. “How did you find me?”

She glanced over at Barney, still rolling around with Fluff’s claws gouging his face, then shook her head. “What is it with you and cats, sis?”

Fluff stopped his attack suddenly and looked back at us, as if realizing for the first time that he wasn’t alone. Then he gave one last, vicious swipe with his claw across Barney’s battered nose and took off into the forest.

Barney Delaney rolled around on the ground, moaning and holding his head. “Help me! Willa tried to hit me with a shovel.”

“What?” I wrinkled my nose in disbelief. At least the guy was consistent with his lies. “I did not—”

“Nice try, Delaney,” Gus said, striding over to haul him to his feet. “Maybe next time you try to frame someone, don’t use such a lame alibi.”

“Lame?” Barney sounded outraged. “My alibi’s rock solid.”

“Really?” Gus spun him around and patted him down for more weapons before slapping a pair of handcuffs on him. “I can tell you for a fact it wasn’t. See, I’ve suspected you all along. First was that diner receipt. Yes, you were there, but your order wasn’t clocked in until five fifty-seven.” Gus stepped back and crossed her arms. “Myrna’s pretty darned quick. Meaning you would’ve had plenty of time that morning to kill Albert Schumer at five forty-five then rush back to the diner to get your food. It’s just down the street. At least you were smart enough to park your car on the street, so you were already near the diner.”

“That’s not true. Not a word,” Barney protested. “Yes, I was at the diner for a while before I ordered, but it took me a long time to decide what I wanted. Besides, I’m not the person you should be looking at for murder at all. The person you want is Nathan Anderson. There’s even a witness who saw his car coming out of the post office parking lot around the time of the murder.”

“Again, nice try,” Gus countered, the smirk on her face saying she was enjoying nailing Barney to the wall. “But Myrna told me that you ordered the same thing you always do. No menu or deliberation needed. In fact, I was just on my way over to question you when I got a disturbance call from Mrs. McCarthy about some screeching in the woods behind her house. Didn’t take long to follow all the earsplitting screeches from her driveway right here to you. I have no idea why you’d be out in the woods.” Gus nodded at the shovel. “But I think that shovel will come in handy for evidence. I bet my next paycheck it was stolen from Nathan Anderson. The only thing I can’t figure out is what Willa is doing out here too.”

“Because he made me come,” I said. “He held me at gunpoint and made me walk here. He said he was going to hit me with a shovel then throw me in the stream.”

“That so?” Gus raised a brow. “Well, I can see how my sister might drive you to want to do that sometimes, but no one hurts my family.”

Before I could say anything more, the sound of snapping branches and approaching footsteps drew my attention. Next thing I knew, Striker and Pandora walked out of the forest and over to our little group. Several other cats emerged as well, ones I recognized from Elspeth’s farm.

“Jeez, more cats?” Gus groused. She took Barney by the arm and shoved him forward toward the path and Striker. “And you. Where have you been? You were supposed to be covering my shift tonight so I could investigate. When I radioed in five minutes ago, though, they said you weren’t at your desk, and now you end up here.” Gus looked around. “With a bunch of cats. Seriously, what is up with all these cats?”

Pandora was busy rubbing her fur against my face and purring loudly. I scratched her behind the ears then glanced up to catch Striker’s eye. He gave me an embarrassed smile then turned to face the wrath of Gus again.

“I guess they must have followed me,” he said.

Gus looked at him as if she thought he was nuts. “Right. Okay, then, Pied Piper. I’m gonna traipse back through the woods to my cruiser with Delaney. Meet you at the station in ten. And no cats!” Gus led Barney off, reading him his rights as they went.

Striker came over to crouch beside me, his fingers ruffling through Pandora’s thick fur too. “So, Barney’s the killer, huh? You okay, Chance?”

“Yes, on both counts.” I took his hand to help me stand then brushed the leaves and muck off my pants. “Good thing Gus got here when she did too. He was going to knock me on the head and let me float away in the river.”

“Well, I’m glad you’re all right.” He reached out to pluck a leaf from my hair, his fingertips grazing my cheek before falling away. Heat and awareness prickled my skin from his touch, and we both looked away, awkwardness ensuing. “And I know your sister isn’t a believer in all the magical stuff around here, but she did more than lock up a killer tonight. Barney’s a danger in more ways than one.”

“He had the letter.” I glanced up into the sky. “It floated off. We’re going to need to come back here and look for it.”

“We will. As soon as daylight hits.”

I bent and picked up Pandora then walked out of the clearing with Striker by my side and the other cats swirling around our feet. “I hope it’s not lost. Though maybe that would be for the best. Still, I’d like to make sure it’s not floating around out there, able to get into the wrong hands. Though I have to say, a bit of old-world, not-so-commercial charm wouldn’t be unwelcome around here. Barney was right about that.”

Striker gave me a look over his shoulder. “Huh? So, you’d be fine with drawing your water from a well and using an outhouse again?”

“Okay. Maybe not that old-world.” I chuckled and linked arms with him. “But there’s something to be said for tiny-town treasures.”

“Yeah, Chance.” He patted my hand, his skin warm against mine. “There definitely is.”