Day Three

I was ok with the kitten waking me up again on the third day of our arrangement. I wondered what was causing the repeated dreams that featured Lucy, Nathan, and my mother all trying to do me in, in various ways. The winner for the day was the one where Nathan tried to choke me to death. I woke up with an orange glob on my mouth. This put a whole new spin on having a furry tongue. To bad there hadn't been alcohol to go with it.

I got out of bed and got into the shower. The kitten got into the shower with me. I began to suspect that my aquanaut put himself into that water bowl on the day I picked him up. He continued to seek out water. I had a cat that thought he was a Labrador. And he was more active and demanding than Finch had been.

This morning I had awoken to every toy the kitten had placed around me in the bed. I felt like a shrine. The previous night he had demanded I play fetch with him and his spider until well past midnight.

I wanted to see Audrey but I didn't want to see Nathan. I weighed the options and eventually decided to bring some of Rosemary's pastries over to Audrey and not share them with Nathan. I bought some bear claws and arrived at the station at around 11AM. I wandered into the office the two shared and handed the bag to Audrey. I tried very hard to ignore Nathan. Nathan tried very hard to ignore me.

"Hey Audrey, these are to remind you that nothing in Boston has anything on Rosemary's. I know, I'll look in on Eleanor's beasts over the weekend. You don't need to remind me." I smiled at her.

"Thanks, Duke!" She smiled at me and eagerly opened up the wrapping to reveal the pastries. She bit into one and smiled. For a moment she chewed rapidly and then swallowed. "I may be able to take care of it. I think I may have to put going to Boston off."

"Why?" I asked, she seemed very intent on closing out her affairs in Boston while she was living in Haven. "World need saving, Officer Agent Parker?"

"Just our little piece of it. We've had three people die in their sleep this week. All between 18 and 45. No medical history of heart problems. Way too old for SIDS. No links between any of them." She got that cute puzzled look on her face as she considered the case.

Nathan sighed. "Some times people just die, Audrey."

"Not in this town, they don't," she replied.

"Audrey, there's no reason not to go down to Boston this weekend. I'm sure that it's an unfortunate coincidence." Nathan leaned up against the edge of his desk.

I thought that she would continue to protest her need to be present but the Chief walked in. "Audrey, get the hell out of Haven and let my son do his job for once. I'm tired of him sitting there making moon eyes at you. And when he's not making moon eyes he's talking to you. Yap, yap, yap. That's all I hear. I want peace and quiet. If I have to run you out on a rail, I will." Garland paused. "I'm not kidding either. The Downeaster train runs right through the next town over. I'll put you on that train so fast your head would spin."

"Chief..." Audrey started but got no further.

"I don't want to hear it, Audrey. You're going one way or the other. You need to take care of your business. There's nothing here that can't keep for a couple days." Garland face told me he would not be moved on this. I wondered how long Audrey would continue to bash herself against the rock that was Garland being stubborn. Garland could out stubborn a continent when he put his mind to it. It was a foregone conclusion that Audrey would go. She just hadn't gotten there yet. I decided to bow out of the scheduled fight.

"I will check on the cats, Audrey. I will see you on Monday." I waved at the happy trio and left before the decibels could get high enough to damage my hearing.

Two deliveries and a shift as a bar tender at the Gull later I finally made it back home to my kitten. This time I came prepared. I had a piece of plywood that I used to barricade the short hall caused by the windbreak that kept the sea out of my home when it got rough. I opened the door and stuck my foot through. When I felt Butterbrains bounce off my shin, I used the kitten's temporary setback to open the door wider and slip through and shut the door before he could run out and repeat yesterday's performance. This time he was successfully contained.

"Got you this time, Cheezey-Pouf!" I crowed. The kitten continued to ignore me.

That night I was feeling pretty good about my pet ownership abilities. That was until I stepped into the puddle of vomit on the kitchen floor with my bare foot.