Lucifer’s head was on her shoulder. He was a cute little bundle, Heather thought. She petted him and felt fur like soft, downy silk. Then he started the meowing again. The sound was excruciating and painfully loud with his cries right next to her ear.
“Ouch, Lucifer,” she said. “That hurts.”
The auditory decibels went down but the sad meows were continuous from the small cat as Heather went through Michelle’s place. It seemed to be totally empty. When she looked through the bedroom door, the room was vacant. To make sure she looked under the bed and walked into the bathroom, even peering inside the shower. Michelle wasn’t in her apartment.
Heather wasn’t panicking or frantic yet. There could be a good explanation. Michelle could be visiting a friend or in the pool, although she couldn’t imagine her forgetting that they planned on going shopping together tonight. Besides, Michelle had called on her cell when she was leaving work.
Heather went to the balcony lanai and looked down, where Wendy had fallen the night before. The yellow crime tape was gone and there were people in the pool, but Michelle wasn’t there.
“Are you hungry, Lucifer?” Heather asked the cat. Then she felt silly, talking to a cat, until she heard a little low throaty growl from him. She hurriedly put him on the floor and went into the kitchen. Water and kibbles were in bowls on the counter, but Heather knew Michelle fed him other icky stuff—usually raw. She saw some cut up liver in a closed container in the refrigerator and put it in a dish.
Lucifer leaped on the counter and started attacking it. He growled and shook each piece, pulling it out of the dish, placing it on the counter and holding it down with a paw, then tearing into it with his teeth. After he finished each segment of liver he licked off his paws. It was kind of revolting, reminding her of lions eating their prey.
As she stood and watched the cat devour the uncooked meat, Heather called all her neighbors, asking if they’d seen Michelle this evening. No one had. Then she called 911 to report a missing person. She was told that she couldn’t file a report for forty-eight hours, but they would keep her first declaration to start the clock.
Heather was just deciding to call Rod in Japan to find out if he’d heard from Michelle, when her phone beeped. Mike!
“Hi-ya, Cutie,” Mike said. “I finally finished up at the station and wondered if you’d eaten. We could grab a bite if it isn’t too late.”
Heather’s heart lifted. They’d spent the whole day together, and he wanted to see her again. It meant he liked her, even if she was an amateur surfer and spilled awkwardly on the board all afternoon in front of his expert surfing buddies.
She paused for so long he said, “Sorry, I guess it’s too late.”
“Not at all. I’m just a little worried. I can’t find Michelle and I need to call Rod in Japan. If he hasn’t heard from her, I’m going to have to go see Omar.”
“Don’t do that!” Mike said.
Heather frowned. It sounded like a command and she didn’t like it. “I’ll call you back after I see Omar.” She hung up and speed-dialed Rod. It was morning in Japan and he answered immediately at work.
“Heather! Hi. Hang up and I’ll call you back. Let my company pay.”
They clicked off. The phone rang. Mike. She sent it to voice-mail and Rod’s call came through.
“Hey, Heather. Michelle said you had a new boyfriend. Want me to come over and kill him?”
“Not yet, although I just hung up on him. See, I’m calling because Omar’s out on bail, and a woman fell off his balcony last night, and she died, and now I can’t find Michelle, although she left me a message when she left work cause we were supposed to go shopping tonight, and her car’s in its usual parking place here. I went inside her apartment and no one’s there, but Lucifer’s been screaming non-stop. So I’m getting worried. The police won’t let me make a missing person’s report for forty-eight hours, and with Omar and his nasty scheming mind getting out on bail just yesterday, I’m pretty upset. So I wondered if you’d heard from her today.” Heather stopped, almost out of breath.
“Yeah, I did, I spoke to her this afternoon.”
“Well, I tried all our neighbors, and no one’s seen her tonight. So I’m going up to Omar’s place and see if anything’s suspicious.”
“Take someone with you. And call me back afterward. This actually sounds serious to me. We went on vacation just to let things settle down with Omar and all his tricky ways. I never expected he’d be out on bail so soon.”
“I know,” Heather said mournfully. “I’ll get Mike to go with me.
“Good. And take the cat,” Rod said. “He’ll know if Michelle’s there. Promise to call me back immediately.”
“I will. Promise,” Heather said and hung up.
She only had to wait seconds for Mike’s call.
“Heather, don’t hang up. I’ll go with you to see if your friend is at that guy, Omar’s, apartment. I don’t want you alone with him. I think he’s dangerous.”
“Thanks Mike. Big relief. I’m in Michelle’s apartment right now. How soon can you get here?”
“Ten minutes. I’m in my car, driving over right now.”
“I could hug you.”
“I’ll hold you to that.”
“Threat or promise?” Heather asked.
“Both.”
They clicked off. Heather sighed with relief. She really didn’t want to go see Omar by herself. Now all she had to worry about was if Lucifer would attack Mike when he got here.
Heather decided talking to Lucifer while she waited for Mike wouldn’t be totally stupid. It’s what Michelle would have done. She picked him up again and gave the cat instructions not to hurt Mike when he arrived. Then she promised Lucifer they would take
