Total pages in book: 67
Estimated words: 62923 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 315(@200wpm)___ 252(@250wpm)___ 210(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 62923 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 315(@200wpm)___ 252(@250wpm)___ 210(@300wpm)
Jeremy’s sister bred British Shorthair cats. They had these big giant heads, tiny ears, and were the cutest little devils in the world—cost a fortune, too. He’d thought about buying one from her but worried he wouldn’t be at home enough to give it proper attention. He’d always been a cat person. From the strange look on Remi’s face, Ryder had the feeling the younger man wasn’t a cat person.
Remi stepped closer to Ryder. “I hear it growling. Where is it? Do you see it? That motherfucking cat hates me.”
Ryder barked out a laugh. “The cat is under your bed, Remi.” He pointed in the direction where the cat remained partially hidden. “See it? And it isn’t growling; it’s purring. That’s a good thing.” He laughed again when Remi skillfully put Ryder’s body between his and the cat. “Forget the madman trying to murder people, you need to protect me from that beast. Like I said, it hates me.”
Ryder walked across the room, making cooing sounds to the cat with every step, and was a bit surprised when the cat allowed him to bend over and pick it up. The poor thing really was in bad shape, Ryder thought when he felt tiny bones protruding from beneath its sparse patches of fur. With a frown, he asked, “How long have you had this cat, Remi?” He couldn’t imagine Remi hurting or neglecting anything, but this animal desperately needed some tender love and care…and cat food. And probably a vet.
Remi slowly crossed the room and settled himself at the foot of his bed, as far away from Ryder and the cat as he could place himself and still be on the bed. “I caught her the day before yesterday.” When Ryder sent him a questioning look, he continued, “Gary said something about hoping somebody would take care of the stray cat outside his dorm—something about how much his girlfriend loved it.” Remi shrugged. “Since I hadn’t been able to do a damn thing to help save Gary’s life, I thought I could at least alleviate his worries about the cat. It took me two days before I could catch it.” He held up his arms for Ryder’s inspection, revealing vicious scratches. “To say it didn’t come willingly would be an understatement. The ugly beast clawed me to pieces.”
“I’m surprised they allowed you to leave the police station with your hands and arms in that condition,” Ryder countered. “Surely they questioned you about the scratches?” Jeremy had already told Ryder how the scratches were handled, but Ryder wanted to hear Remi’s side of the story, just to ensure the detectives hadn’t taken advantage of him or tried to trick him into saying something they could hold against him later in the investigation.
“Yep. I told them they were cat scratches. I don’t think they believed me at first and took about a hundred pictures of my horrendous injuries, but then after somebody talked to Jason, they let it drop. I guess he must have said he didn’t scratch whoever abducted him. I don’t know.” He frowned. “Why isn’t it scratching you? Is it just me the thing hates?”
“Well, maybe if you’d stop referring to her as a thing, it might be a step in the right direction. Feeding her something would probably go a long way to extending an olive branch, too.” Ryder still couldn’t believe Remi hadn’t put forth any more effort to care for the cat, especially when it so desperately needed help.
“I have fed it,” Remi snapped. “Well, I guess it’s eaten. I gave the monster some food. Come on; let’s see if Godzilla has eaten…or pooped. I bet I need to clean the litter box.” He turned and looked at Ryder as he walked toward his huge walk-in closet. “I mean…they automatically know to use a litter box, right? That’s what I’ve always heard.”
Ryder didn’t have the heart to tell Remi that cats raised outside probably wouldn’t immediately use the litter box, so he didn’t answer, just followed Remi toward the closet. He’d never been in Remi’s bedroom before, but the layout looked to be about the same as Cassie’s room. If the closet was the same, Ryder knew it would be about the size of a small living room.
“Yeah, she’s been eating,” Remi said when he stepped through the double doors.
Ryder walked in behind him and was shocked at what he saw. Not only was Remi’s closet not cluttered from floor to ceiling with clothing, shoes, and other trust fund kid shit, he’d managed to convert the area into a cat wonderland. There were cat towers, beds, toys…hell, about anything and everything a cat’s heart could desire. True to his word, there was a huge bowl of cat food and an even larger bowl of water sitting in a shallow plastic tub. The litter box was some sort of enclosed box that Ryder had never seen before. He looked at Remi and asked, “Where are your clothes…and shoes?”