Numb. She felt numb. There wasn't the sort of panic she had felt at Courage's yesterday after seeing that article. No, to hear someone was actively wanting her dead, to hear that he might, by proxy, be responsible for her partner being dead? Clara felt numb, pure and simple. It was probably for the best that she did, something of a survival technique, because if she had passed out or worse before these two men who, evidently, had found her through a hit? She might not ever wake up.

Her heart thudded when she took a deep breath in. Her head started to spin as if delayed. There were so many questions, too many questions, and she couldn't find the words to use in asking them. Kitty was forgotten, Francis was put aside mentally, and her head felt full of sludge.

Her blue eyes found Katz's yellow ones. "...Did you do all of this to...to torture me? Like a lamb for slaughter?" 'All this'. If Mad Dog had wanted her dead, she would have gladly done so a week or two ago. But now? Katz had prompted her to eat, to drink, to bathe, to live...but why? That had been the question. She had assumed it was from him wanting to use her in a scheme somehow - but death? For a reward? If the reward for her death was equivalent to what he had lost those years ago on his spider, she should have felt a bit honored to be considered so valuable. But there was a certain odd sting of betrayal in that line of thinking. After all, hadn't Katz essentially saved her? Never mind the meals he had cooked, the mere constant presence of his that had driven out her isolation, or the bed they had shared...had he done all of this just to kill her, or bring her to death?

"No," Katz said firmly, his tone somber and a bit forceful, "I did not. I am not here to complete the request of a revolting dog."

"But you are." Clara turned to look at the fox. She didn't know him beyond much so there was no disbelief or betrayal. Instead, and for the better, a bit of emotion kicked in. She felt fury and hatred. "I'll strangle you with your own tail if you try it."

Her facial expression must have changed from a pale, bland look to one of pink rage, eyes narrowed and a snarl on her lips, because that, coupled with her promise, made the fox step back with his hands up. "Whoa there, mon petit, no need to be so vicious. I'm not here to kill ya, I promise. I'm sayin' I found you through Mad Dog's request...took me a bit to find ya, but I had enough details to use, given our, uh, past history."

A dozen questions, a dozen and she wasn't sure what to pick first. "Then why are you here? Both of you?" She took advantage of the heated feeling that filled her, latching onto it while she could. "Tell me. Tell right this instance and tell me the truth or else I assure you, you will not breathe one minute longer in my house, consequences be damned."

A shaky laugh left the orange haired man. "I'm here because you owe me a new award-winning recipe...preferably passed on through your family."

Clara moved her gaze to Katz. The red haired man made a small face, then looked away. "Money."

A scoff left Clara, then a laugh, one bitter and cold. "Well I hate to tell you both, but you're shit out of luck! I haven't gotten any famous award-winning recipes - hell, I haven't had a family since I was eight! And I don't have much money, nowhere near the amount you want, so why don't you both pack up and get the hell out of my house? What, Katz, you want the house as compensation? I doubt that would make up the difference!"

The pair wisely said nothing, letting her process the emotions and her outburst. After a minute, Katz spoke again, completely cool and calm, "There is another way for me to obtain my money...as well as replenish your stocks."

There was just a bit of sharpness left in her, of temper that shot out one last time, "I will not become a prostitute or be your slave in schemes, you sharp-nose bastard."

"Ho ho!" Cajun clapped his hands, calling out with a laugh. "Damn, she got you good there."

A bright pink covered Katz' face as he growled at the fox. "Be silent, you cretan." He looked back at Clara and, still blushing, said, "And you, girl," he looked like he was trying to recover and save some face, "whatever you do on the side is your doing, but...prostitution," his voice dipped lower at the word, "was not what I had in mind." Clara didn't snap at him only because she knew she had put a dent in his armor already. "Nor was I going to suggest a sort of ownership system."

"Then what were you going to suggest?" She glared, disbelieving.

Katz inhaled deeply and stood straighter, the blush leaving his face at last. "An equal partnership." At last, he had shown his cards. Clara blinked and stared, processing. He added, "You are neither the type nor in the situation to be out for the remainder of your life. I can't picture you in an office job either so that means, sooner or later, you will engage in your schemes once more. Given your loss," he said tactifully, "I thought it would benefit both of us to join and work together in order to make a living - and for you to pay me back the distress you put me through."

Before Clara could think or speak, Cajun gave a short laugh. "Is that your version of a marriage proposal?"

Katz's ears went back and his tail stood up straight. "Listen here you redneck inbred fox!"

"And you?" Clara interrupted before violence could erupt, pointedly not responding to Katz's suggestion. She spoke to the fox. "I have no recipe so get out."

"Well hey now," he said as he took a step away from Katz, "I'm liking the sound of this partnership thing - why not split it threesies?"

"Because the idea of you being at all subtle in a scheme is as laughable as...well, as you are." Katz interjected.

The two started to bicker while Clara tried to process it all. She shook her head, feeling a headache come on. Okay, so neither of them wanted to kill her. That was great. But that still brought up the origin of their finding her - Mad Dog. That was one who did want her dead. "I don't understand," the two stopped immediately when she spoke, "how did you find me from Mad Dog's hit? If he had my address, why am I alive?"

"It's because he doesn't have your address that you're alive." Katz said with a deadpan tone.

Before she could ask how they found her then, Cajun spoke up. "He was able to describe you, but he didn't know your name. Add that info in with your little schemes, I was able to figure out who he was lookin' for. Figured you would be nearby when I heard this fool," he gestured to Katz with his thumb, "was in town."

Clara blinked twice. "So you do know each other?"

"Unfortunately." Katz finally admitted with disgust.

"How?"

Cajun smirked, amused at Katz's displeasure and enjoying the fact that he was likely going to add to it. "You're infamous in our little circle, cherie. There's a string of us who've been huntin' for ya all this time. All it took was a question or two, someone who knows someone, and here we are. Took a few years, but you are more than worth the wait, hmm, hmm, hmm." Through the sunglasses, she could all but feel the man's gaze travel over her.

Clara gritted her teeth. She shouldn't be so surprised, yet she was to learn that the fox and cat, likely the others she and Francis had stolen from in the past, had been low-key looking for her all this time. But who had set off the first alert? "And Mad Dog asked the right question?"

Cajun shook his head. "Nope...this fool here did."

Clara and Katz met eyes. There was a moment of silence before it became clear that Katz wouldn't speak first. Luckily, he didn't need to as Clara's mind started to work once more. "Kitty." It wasn't a question. Kitty had alerted him.

There was a flinch of his lips, a flash of a scowl, before he returned to a neutral expression. "Of sorts." He didn't want to divulge more with the fox next to him. But, Clara thought, there was a puzzle piece missing. It was something she'd have to let go of for now.

"But how...oh." Clara stared at Katz. "My phone." She forgot she had left her phone in his car that night when he had 'saved' her. Of course he had used that to find her location. The fact that he didn't dispute it confirmed it.

The matter of the proposed partnership, three-way or otherwise, had to be addressed. Except… "Did Mad Dog kill Francis?" If there was a crack in her tone, neither could possibly blame her. It was a frightening question but it had to be answered.

The two shared a glance. "We don't know." Katz spoke for them both. "It is difficult to ascertain such a possibility since we were only alerted about you. There was no mention of your late partner."

That didn't sound good. In fact, it made her think that it was likely he had. Mad Dog's men had almost attacked her that night, Francis was killed not too long after, and then Mad Dog put out a hit on her. It seemed too likely to be anything else. Clara wasn't sure how to feel about this. She would need time to process it.

But out of this came some solid knowledge, namely how the pair had found her and why they wanted to, what they wanted. Now...now she just had to figure out what to do next. She walked past them both and started to put her shoes on.

"Where ya goin', mon cherie?" Cajun asked. Katz didn't.

"A walk." She said, back to the numbness from before.

"In the middle of Nowhere?" Cajun scoffed.

Clara glanced up at him. "Nearly in the middle of Nowhere." She didn't have a phone, didn't even order one last night from Courage's computer, but she didn't care. It was unlikely a car would be near her by a dozen yards with the path she'd be walking. "I need to think." About Mad Dog, Francis, Katz, Cajun, and work. It was an unspoken statement that she didn't want to be followed.

Cajun turned to Katz and raised a brow, pointing his thumb towards Clara. "You just gonna let her walk out?"

Katz frowned. He didn't want to, but wasn't about to let Cajun have a moral high ground of being right. "She can handle herself."

The door shut and the last thing Clara heard Cajun say before it did was, "Man, you're letting your golden goose go out to be got." She believed he would be wrong. She'd be fine on the walk from anyone hunting her. And maybe, if the weather suggested anything, it might rain and give her some coverage. She just needed to get away from everyone for a bit.