Officer Seth stares into the cardboard box that Lucy found sitting on the hood of her car when she went out to fetch the charging cable.

“I don’t think this cat was shot and killed,” he says.

Continuing to hold Lucy, who’s been shaking ever since she found the box and discovered it held a dead cat, I glare at Seth. “No. It was beaten to death by some sicko with a shovel and then put in Lucy’s car.” The idea that anyone capable of doing something like that is in Patina Falls, that they were right here, just a few feet from where Lucy and I are sitting, fills me with equal parts dread and anger.

“I’ll admit that’s what it looks like,” Seth says. “But I don’t think it’s what happened.”

“Okay, I’ll bite. What do you think happened to the poor cat?”

“I think it’s been dead for a while, probably since yesterday morning.”

“That doesn’t make me feel better,” I tell him as Lucy shudders.

“I also think it was hit by a car.”

This gets my attention. “A car?”

“Or a truck, motorcycle, maybe even a tractor. Maybe even all three of those things.”

I sense he’s waiting for me to put all this information together and come up with the answer, but I’m not in the mood. “What are you saying?”

“That I think this cat was roadkill.”

Lucy looks up. “Really?”

Seth nods. “I’m seeing bits of gravel and broken pieces of asphalt in the box. Plus the body has tire tracks on it, which would explain why it’s all flattened and mangled. What I can’t understand is how come it also appears to have three bullets in it. One is right through one of the tire tracks, but it doesn’t appear to be flattened at all, which makes me wonder why someone would be shooting a dead cat...”

“I want to know why and how it ended up in Lucy’s car.” I drag a hand through my hair. “I’m assuming that whoever did this is the same one who keyed my car?”

“That’s my guess.” Seth carefully folds the top of the box, sealing the cat inside of it. “And I don’t like how fast they’re escalating. It’s a huge jump from writing a few crude words to scooping roadkill off the road and hand delivering it. Ms. Higgins, do you know when this box could have shown up?”

Lucy shakes her head. “Not really. My friend, Bea, drove it here yesterday afternoon, just before we left for Detroit. It’s been in the garage ever since.”

“We’ve had a bodyguard watching the house while we’re in it,” I tell Seth. “He would have seen someone creeping around the house.”

“So, looks like the most likely time for someone to do this was while everyone was in Michigan, which actually gives us a pretty good chunk of time.” Seth pulls out his pen and notepad and scribbles something on the paper. “Who knew you were going on this trip?”

“Not very many,” I say. “It was a spur of the moment thing. My agent and her sister set everything up and accompanied us. The only other people that should have known about it are a few members of the hospital staff, including Dr. Christian Murphy, and Nathan’s parents.”

“Okay. That’s enough to at least give this investigation a solid starting point. I’ll make talking to these people my first priority of the day.” Seth writes down the names and tucks the notebook back in his pocket. “If the two of you don’t mind telling me how you’re spending the rest of the day, I’ll arrange things so that there’s a patrol officer nearby.”

I rub Lucy’s back. “We’re spending the day at the hospital.”

Seth’s eyes sharpen. “There’s nothing wrong, is there?”

“No,” I assure him. “I’m shooting a commercial for them today and I don’t think Lucy should be alone, so she’s coming too.”

Lucy’s eyes bore into me, telegraphing her displeasure in having me plan her day.

“Okay.” Seth gingerly picks up the box containing the cat remains and holds it away from his body. “I’ll take this to the lab to be analyzed, and start talking to people.”

Lucy waits until he gets into his car before turning to me. “What do you mean, ‘she’s coming too’?”

“You said you didn’t have to work, that your office was closed down for the week to give everyone a chance to recover from Suzie’s wedding.” I stand up and extend a hand to Lucy to help her up. She ignores it. “And based on what just happened, do you really think that you should be alone here?”

“Probably not,” Lucy says as she stands up, “but that doesn’t mean you get to make decisions for me. Ever. If this thing between us is going to work, you need to include me in the discussion, not make plans for me.”

Her tone startles me. It’s the first time I’ve ever heard it sound sharp, almost like she’s irritated with me. From her, this is practically like being screamed at.

A warm glow envelopes my chest. Most men don’t enjoy a sharp reprimand, but I’m pleased, for a couple of different reasons. One, losing her fear of conflict means no one like Suzie will ever be able to walk all over her again. And two, maybe it means she’s starting to put the accident, Lance, and her guilt over what happened behind her, because she’s starting to fall for me.

It’s a start.