Chapter 2
"Bloody cats!" Mac Taylor ducked under the opening in the wire fence snagging his new top coat in the process. "Stella. Wait up!" He jogged across the waste ground towards the partially demolished building just in time to see his companion scramble over a pile of rubble and disappear from view.
Just when the evening had been going so well! They'd had a relaxing afternoon strolling round the farmer's market followed by drinks at a quiet bar that was once their favoured stamping ground. They'd then gone onto Angelo's, Stella's favourite Italian restaurant. As they were walking back to his apartment they heard a loud screech and had both almost shot out of their skins. When they saw that it was a only a cat, Stella had laughed and blamed her skittishness on too much Chianti. When she pushed him, Mac's excuse was that two weeks previously he had been on his way to play at Cozy's when he'd come across a young mother being attacked by her ex-husband which had led him into a game of cat and mouse with a killer in order to rescue the woman's son. Stella had bent down to stroke the furry feline that was winding itself around her legs. She had gasped when her hand came away covered in blood.
As they realised that the cat itself wasn't injured but the blood must have come from somewhere else, the animal had suddenly taken off down a side street. And Stella had taken off in hot pursuit. Mac had no choice but to follow.
Mac scrambled over pile of broken bricks and plaster, blinking his eyes to adjust to the poor lighting as they distanced themselves from the road. "Stella?" he called.
"Here!"
Mac turned to his left and could make out a doorway in the remnants of the building. He could just distinguish a faint blue glow. Stella was using her cell phone as a torch. He dug awkwardly in his pocket with his left hand to grab his phone when a man came up behind him.
"Please, my aunt! You have to help me!" He sounded desperate as he pawed at Mac's coat. "She's 80 and she's only wearing her nightdress and housecoat. She went after that bloody cat." he finished as though that explained everything.
"Wait here." ordered Mac. "Don't move! ... Stella?" Mac rushed through the doorway and held his phone high to see around the room. As his eyes adjusted to the light he could see that the back of the room had already been demolished and some of the rubble already cleared leaving a gaping hole where underground store rooms must have once been filled with goods for the store and apartments above.
Stella was bent down by an old woman, lying near the edge of the hole. "Oh I have to get to Tabitha ... she having kittens you know." The old woman pointed down across the hole to a pile of rubble and an old crate that was wedged there. As Stella shone her phone in the direction indicated by the old woman, two cat's eyes were reflected in the light although the creature itself was invisible in the dark.
"Mac! She's injured. Help me!" Mac carefully made his way across the debris that littered the floor and crouched down by the old woman. He could see a large gash on her leg that was bleeding profusely. Between them he and Stella managed to get her up. Mac winced as he felt the wound across his ribs stretch but said nothing. They managed to get her to the door when a head poked round.
"Aunt Patricia! Thank goodness! Are you all right?" The young man stretched his arms out and helped his aunt through the doorway relieving Mac of his burden.
"Oh! Philip? Is that you? Have you seen Tabitha? She's having kittens you know!" the old lady looked momentarily confused.
"Come on Aunt Patricia. This way. I'm sure Tabitha will be just fine." Philip sounded frustrated as though he'd uttered this phrase a thousand times.
"Oh but I must find her." Suddenly the old woman turned back to Mac. "You will find her won't you? She's having kittens you know." she asked as Stella helped her through the doorway.