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"How the hell would I know how to break into someone's house?" Natalie glared at me.
"Maybe you were involved in some animal rights group that liked to 'liberate' animals." I said. I could picture a younger Natalie doing that. She, if nothing else, was very passionate about animals.
"Like lab rats?" she retorted.
"Not necessarily." I said.
"Whenever I see an animal being abused, I go through the proper channels!" she insisted.
"Like playing undercover cop?" I retorted. Proper channels my ass!
"Aside from going undercover, I don't tread on the territory of the authorities."
"Where is the cat?" I demanded.
"Why are you accusing me?
"You have motive, and a possible means" I looked her square in the eye. The two of us, were in front of her desk.
"Come on! Have you even bothered to ask me where I was last night?" she paced a bit.
"I know you weren't with Dad" I was at their house last evening.
"I was at a friend's house" Natalie told me, as I sat on a corner of her desk. "She'll confirm it!"
"Of course she would" I rolled my eyes.
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What was with him? I thought investigators were supposed to come up with a conclusion based on the evidence!
"I can't believe this! I ask for your help, and you end up accusing me of breaking into someone's house and stealing! Is that part of the job? Being cynical and thinking the worst of people?"
"At least I don't play vet!" he snapped, referring to my undercover work.
"How else was I supposed to know how the cat was doing?" I charged.
"Where is it?" he asked again.
"If it were up to me, it would be at your apartment, scratching up the furniture!" I was just about ready to take the gloves off.
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Suddenly, a man with red and white hair stormed in, wearing a white coat. He, probably, was one of Natalie's business partners.
"Could you two keep it down? You're scaring my patient!" he folded his arms.
"Carl, he's accusing me of stealing the psychic cat!" Natalie told him.
"You're kidding!" The man looked shocked.
"I wish I were"
Carl turned to me. "You're Don, right? The F.B.I agent?"
"Yeah."
"Why are you accusing her of stealing the cat?"
"This conversation is between me and her" I told him, not in the mood for explaining things to third parties.
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"Maybe you'd like to search the clinic!" I snapped.
"I'd love to!"
"Let me show you where we keep our overnight guests" I angrily led him to where they were. We only had a few cats and dogs, most of who were to be spaded or neutered.
"Help yourself!" I stomped off, and tended to my next appointment.
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I quickly examined each cage, but I didn't see the so called psychic cat. Where could it be? Someone in teddy bear scrubs came in to fetch one of the feline 'guests' who mewed very loud.
"Can I help you sir?" she asked. "This area is for authorized personnel only.
"I'm a guest of Dr. Core's. You can talk to her" I explained.
"Don't worry about, it, Carla" Natalie came in. Then, she cooed at the cat. "Don't cry baby, it'll be over soon..."
When Carla left, Natalie gave me an annoyed look. "Find anything?"
"No..."
"Let's make a deal..."
"What kind of deal?" I asked, hoping it had to do with her confessing.
"Let's not mention this disagreement to your dad." she said.
"Sure." I didn't want to upset Dad. She only agreed to it because she knew that in a hitch, Dad would side with me.
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I had made the agreement because I didn't want to be a cause for Father/son friction and knew how angry Alan would get with Don if he found out about the accusations.
"So...where would I keep the stolen cat?" I asked, tongue in cheek.
"You tell me" he shrugged.
"What's it gonna take to convince you?"
Before he could say some smartass remark, his cell phone rang. He talked on it for a bit.
"I gotta go" the told me, but added as a warning "But we're not done"
My next patient was a black cat. It was its first time at our clinic.
"Hi! I'm Dr. Core!" I introduced myself in one of the rooms, while quickly scanning the form that was filled out. "What brings you here today?"
"I think my cat is an alien" the caregiver, a woman said. I inwardly groaned. What was it with crazy people and cats?
"What makes you say that?"
"It can open and close doors with its mind"
"I see..."
"And she scares the hell of all my other pets, even my Pit Bull" She said. "I would like you to examine her, see if she is really a cat."
"Uh..sure" I figured I might as well give the cat a full checkup.
"And could you take X-rays?" she requested.
"I don't like to give X-rays gratuitously, Ms. Pang." I said. "Given the exposure to radiation."
This of course, annoyed her. We argued for a bit, and she left, with her cat, in a huff. With a sigh, I went to the next patient.
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Natalie seemed to be in a bad mood when she got home. I could tell by the look on her face.
"Hard day?" I asked her as we kiss.
"Yeah...I had a few annoying clients, one of whom insisted that her cat was an alien. She even wanted me to take X-rays!" Nat sat on the couch with a sigh of relief. "How was your day?"
"Busy" I told her, as she gave some attention to the pets.
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I arrived at my apartment around midnight. It had been a long day, and I was glad to be home. While watching T.V to wind down, I tried to think of where Natalie would hide the cat. The only reason I gave a damn was because of Dad. It would upset him to see Nat in jail for B and E, not to mention stealing. Plus, he'd spend his hard earned money putting up her bail, and maybe even getting a lawyer if need be. Ironically, it was a good thing that Nat had gone undercover while visiting that psychic cat. Its owner didn't suspect her at all.
This really sucked. I have enough to do without trying to worry about recovering a stupid cat. Millions of woman in Southern California, and Dad had to date a nut.
TBC