Chapter 10.

"...No one saw anything happen, but it's looking like he got out through a window."

Katt let out a sigh and laid her head in her free paw, the other paw holding her cellphone to her ear. After spending a near sleepless night in Falco's vacant apartment, she started awake from her nap to her cellphone ringing and leapt from the couch to answer the call. Right when she heard Fox's voice, she sensed the vibes in his voice—it was bad.

"Looks like Falco's resistance to interrogation worked. He learned how to play dead."

"Yeah, well, Falco's a better actor than we give him credit for," said Fox. "Katt, he's throwing away his life. If he gets to his apartment, he could wind up killing himself."

"I—I know. I'll talk to him. He might listen to me."

"I won't leave you in that kind of position, Katt. Falco is different under the influence. He's almost a monster. You heard what he did at that bar last night."

"I know, but I—"

Katt tried to finish, but her tears came, and she struggled to fight back sobs. But her temperament didn't let it go on. She squared her shoulders and spoke with confidence, "Look, hon, you guys have done all you can to help him. It's my turn."

"He's not going to listen to you, Katt. I'll be damned if he even gives a care about you now."

"Right now, hon…I care about him. That's good enough for me."

A muffled sigh drifted through to the other end of the line.

"All right, Katt. Be careful."

Katt thanked Fox and said her goodbye—just as she heard a pair of male voices chattering outside. She moved toward the window and peeked her broad feline head through the narrow opening between the curtains.

As she heard Falco make his way up the stairs, she stepped away from the door. She heard her heart beating and felt her knees shaking as a set of keys jingled and the door opened with a soft click. As the door swung open and the shaft of light spread across the gray carpet, Katt folded her arms over her chest…but Falco's bloodshot eyes, dulled feathers and furrowed scowl brought tears to her eyes. And as their eyes met, Falco paused. At once his eyes glimmered…there was still a spark…but it faded as he stared at her.

"What are you doing here, Katt?"

"Hon, you have the nerve to ask me that when you don't even answer my calls?"

Falco held in a breath and glanced from side to side. "You found out."

"Yeah, I found out after I came, hon. Slippy called me yesterday, said you were missing."

"Or did Fox send you over here? To check up on me?"

Katt's jaw fell in alarm. "Falco, did you even hear what I said?"

"When did you find out?"

"Last night. I found that stash in the kitchen. I was just going to get something from the fridge; I didn't know what you had in there."

Falco scoffed. "You should never have come here, Katt."

"It's a little late for that, hon. You've done a good job hiding it from everyone, but you know Slippy—he will not let up until everything with his friends is all right again. He saved Marcus's life, and now he's trying to save yours. And now everyone you love knows about you, and they love you too much to just let you ruin your life."

Falco's eyes narrowed. "He couldn't keep his fucking mouth shut."

"Who can blame him, Falco? You look like a zombie. I'm not leaving until you get some help."

"It's not your problem, Katt. Get out."

"I'm not leaving."

"Katt, I'm one click away from calling the cops! GET OUT!"

"Call them if you want, Falco! I'm not leaving!"

"Why don't you mind your damn business?! I have a drinking problem, all right? I know I have one. But right now, I'd rather be facing this than all this shit I've had to go through. You have no idea what it's been like for me. Watching all those people die in Oberon, finding out my dad bludgeoned my mom to death and sentenced my sisters to the horrors of the foster care system—compared to that, drinking is nothing! You wanna help me? Help me with the problems that really matter!"

"You think this doesn't matter? The fight at the base, the brawl at the bar, crashing Fox's car—"

"THAT WAS AN ACCIDENT!"

"Yeah—your accident, because you can't even see straight. How much do you have to put us through until it matters to you? Fox is right: You're throwing away your life. You look nothing like the bird I knew."

Falco snorted and turned away.

"Hon, I know what you're going through. Fox and Peppy told me everything. Part of you thinks you're responsible for what happened in Oberon, everything that happened with your family. Everything between us…you and I have been fighting for so long, you think that's all we do. But I still love you, and—"

"Don't talk to me about love, Katt. You should hate me."

"Why?"

"Because I hate myself! I lied to you. I lied to you about everything! I made excuses so I could go out and drink without letting you know—and some of the other stuff I've done is so bad—"

"I don't care, Falco. I don't care about all that. I still love you," said Katt as tears rolled down her cheek. "Please just get your life back, if only because I love you."

Falco still gawked at her, tears forming in his eyes. "You know what, Katt? I'll do you a favor." He took in a sharp breath and said, "You have five seconds to leave. You don't need to see this."

"NO!"

Katt leapt at him and hurled a fist at Falco's chest. He flinched, but her fist made its mark. He lost his balance and fell to the floor, disoriented for but a moment. He sprang from the floor and heaved himself over the sofa and landed in a run toward the kitchen.

"You were warned, Katt!" he said, spinning around to face her. He grasped the handle to the cabinet door, the tendons and blood vessels in his arm protruding. "Get out of here! Now!"

With a strained grunt and a jerk of his slender arm, he barreled into the cabinet and reached for two bottles. The moment his fingers touched the dense glass, his flaming nerves subsided but a little—

Falco cried out as Katt yanked on his left arm. Before Falco could control his reaction, his other hand, grasping a bottle, flew out of control, plowing toward Katt's head at full speed.

There was a deep shattering—followed by a high yelp. The force of the impact hurled Katt to the floor with a SMACK. Shards of glass and droplets of alcohol sprayed across the kitchen in a shimmering cloud. Blood trickled from her lacerated forehead and soaked into her bandanna…and a few drops of blood oozed from behind her.

"Katt! KATT!"

Falco gawked in horror at Katt's sprawled body and bloodying head, and his hands began to tremble. The disembodied bottleneck slid out of his unclenching fingertips and clattered to the floor.

In a heartbeat, he dropped the other bottle of liquor to the floor and fell to his knees. "No…no!" He pushed his quaking hands on the back of her lower jaw, searching for a pulse. "No!"

There was no pulse.

"Katt…" He sobbed, clutching Katt's bleeding head. "Katt…answer me!"

She didn't awaken.

Falco plastered his hands to his head and convulsed, spitting bile onto the floor. In an instant, his life exploded into view. Five years flashed before him, sickening him to his core. His mind trailed backward, reeling through the memories of his binges. Tears streamed down his face as sobs wracked his frame.

However long he had lay there weeping, he did not know, but as his eyes dried and the room slipped into focus, he beheld the other bottle lying on the floor. Without hesitation, the simmering anger inside his heart came to a raging boil. Falco swallowed the bile in his throat and glared in hatred at the bottle sprawled upon the floor.

"It's over."

A surge of strength blazed through his veins. With a savage cry, he hurled the bottle toward the wall. The container tumbled end over end and shattered with a deep smash, sending fragmented glass hurtling every which way.

After a pause, he whirled around toward the cabinet and took each bottle of alcohol into his arms. As soon as he got his grip around all of them, he sped from the kitchen.

Once he entered the bathroom, he flung open the toilet lids and uncorked all ten bottles. He then grasped two bottles and emptied them without a second thought. As the liquor drained into the toilet, Falco's eyes screamed hatred and resolve.

Soon, two bottles were emptied. Four. Six. There were two bottles left—the most expensive ones. His heart fluttered at what he squandered. Even the money spent paled in comparison to the time squandered—five years wasted, only to never return.

Falco flipped the last two bottles upside-down, their contents splashing into the toilet with the rest of the alcohol.

"There," he snarled. As he rose, he squared his shoulders and said, "I want my life back…and I want it now."

He reached for the toilet handle and pressed down on it. As the bowl drained, he snatched up the glass bottles, and sped from the bathroom and out the front door.

Energy rose within him as he turned left and sped toward the balcony overlooking the empty dumpster below. Just as he stopped at the edge of the balcony, he opened his arms and released all ten empty bottles. In the fraction of a second when they hit the dumpster's metal floor, they shattered at once. Shards of glass leapt above the walls, only to fall back inside.

"Katt," Falco mumbled, feeling his stomach churn. In a heartbeat, he spun around and charged back toward his apartment. He barreled through the doorway and froze when he came to the entrance of the kitchen. Katt's eyes held open but a little, only to be hidden once more by her bloodied hand.

"Katt!" Falco cried, collapsing by her side. All care and compassion raced back into him as he scooped her up into his wiry arms. "I'm sorry," he said as tears gushed from his eyes. "I'm sorry!"

When he saw her bleeding head, he ripped off his outer shirt and put it over the wounds. As he tended to Katt's wounds, he kissed her marred face and whispered her name over and over…

"Falco!"

He jolted from his spot and glanced over his shoulder, his stomach lurching in his throat. "McCloud…"

"Falco Lombardi!"

"In here!"

A triangular-eared figure sprinted into the apartment and rounded the corner into the kitchen. He saw Falco's tear-stained face and the blood on Katt's forehead and the shattered glass all over the floor—and rage and horror filled Fox's face.

"What the hell?!"

"Fox, call 911! Katt needs to get to the hospital!"