2 Lady Luck Runs Out (3 page)

"Thanks." I smiled. We made our way through the knot of excited people and out onto the sidewalk. Mallory plugged the address into the map on her phone and we set off to find Lady Luck's owner.

We'd been walking in silence for about twenty minutes, being extra careful at each street crossing after we had witnessed a minor accident between two cars, both of which thought they had the right of way.

 "Holy Moly, this girl is getting heavy," Mallory breathed, readjusting the mass of fur on her shoulder. "Maybe we should fetch a cab."

I checked the display on her phone. "We only have two blocks to go." I had already tried to take Lady Luck off my sister's hands, but she was having none of it. She just dug her claws in deeper.

"So, what did you see anyway?" Mallory huffed beside me.

The vision came back to me and my stomach clenched. "A snake."

"A snake? What kind of snake?"

"I don't know. A big one."

"Huh," Mallory responded. "So this cat had a run in with a snake? No wonder she's so freaked."

"Yeah, but that's not the worst part. I think her owner might be in danger. The run-in wasn't outdoors. Over there." I motioned across the street to the back lawn of a small golf course. "The condos are behind there, let's cut across."

We trekked over the soft terrain and rolling hills toward the row of lights indicating the back yards of Golf Gate Estates. Once there, we followed the GPS directions down one the paved streets. Each gray stucco building held four condos with white trim and perfectly manicured bushes.  "Look for number 457. It should be here on the right somewhere."

"There." Mallory pointed with her chin.

It was an end unit. We approached the door and mashed the door bell. No answer. I knocked. We waited. I stared down at the cat. Her round glowing eyes stared back at me. She looked hopeful but I had a sinking feeling this wasn't going to be her lucky night. I knocked again, harder.

"Not home?"

I glanced at Mallory, my stomach tightening.
Not home or not able to answer the door?
"Come on, let's check around back. Stay behind me." I picked my way carefully through the thick, damp grass, watching for any sign of slithery movement. Alligator calls from the golf course lakes echoed through the night air. A few bat silhouettes fluttered in the sky above. Florida at nighttime seemed to be just as active as Florida in the daytime.

We reached the backyard without any reptile run-ins. The back of the condo units had attached screened lanais and this one had the porch light burning bright. I tugged at the door. Locked from the inside.

"Ow, ow, ow," Mallory whispered. I looked behind me to see the cat clawing its way back onto Mallory's shoulder to hide under her mass of red hair.

"That's not good," I whispered. "She can probably smell the snake if it's still here."

"The snake can probably smell her, too," Mallory shot back. "It was probably looking for a meal."

I walked the parameter of the lanai. A plant stand had been knocked over. A broken pot lay on the tile, its contents of dark dirt and pale plant strewn across the floor. I brought back the images from the vision.
How exactly did the snake get in and Lady Luck get out?
I crouched down and activated Malloy's phone, shining the light across the bottom of the screen.
There!
Crab walking to my right, I stuck my hand beneath the part of the screen at the bottom that was fluttering slightly in the breeze and lifted it. "Big enough for a cat to run out."

"So, she spotted the snake and tore through the screen?" Mallory asked.

I shook my head. "I think it was already torn open."

"By the snake?"  

I ignored her sarcasm. "Something like that."
Maybe a snake of the human variety.

 This just didn't seem right. Lady Luck witnessed a man-sized shadow in front of the screen before the snake slithered in. Did that person cut the screen and let the snake in? Why would someone do that? I snapped a picture of the ripped screen. It was time to call Will. Using Mallory's cell phone, I dialed his number.

CHAPTER FOUR

The breeze held a chill. I was glad I had worn a sweater as we sat, huddled on the curb. Lucky seemed content in Mallory's lap but her whiskers and ears kept flicking nervously. I couldn't even imagine what the poor thing was thinking right now. So close to her home, yet she couldn't go in. Someone was grilling. The smell of charred beef wafted through the night air.

Will's sedan rolled around the circle, its headlights raking us before he pulled up and shut them off. I suddenly remembered I hadn't told Mallory about Will. Oops. Too late now.

We stood up as he approached. "Hey." He slipped his hand easily behind my neck and gave me a quick hello kiss. "What's going on?"

"Yeah, sis, what's going on?" Mallory's eyes narrowed as she adjusted Lucky in her arms and gave Will the once over.

Here we go. "Will." I held out my hand. "Meet my sister, Mallory. Mallory...Will."

They shook hands over the cat. Mallory shoved her tongue in her cheek. "And you are Darwin's—"

"Friend." I cut her off. Our relationship was awkward enough without my sister trying to define it. I had fallen for Will hard but had to slow things down or let him in on our family secrets. I wasn't ready to do that. He was way too skeptical of all things supernatural. Why risk losing him? Things were good the way they were. "We found this lost cat tonight and this is the address on her collar." I pointed to the end condo. "But, no one is answering the door."

"Well, I'm not sure there's anything I can do here." Will stroked the cat, his clear blue eyes full of unasked questions. "You'll probably just have to wait until they come home."

"But, the cat was traumatized by the sn—"

"Scenario." I jumped in, cutting Mallory off again. "Yeah, some scenario that happened inside has her really freaked out. You should check it out. I think there's something really wrong in there." I snuck a glance at Mallory. She was shaking her head at me. I pleaded with her silently to keep quiet about my snake vision.

Will glanced from me to Mallory and then, sighing, marched up and knocked on the door. No answer. We followed him around back and I showed him the rip in the screen and the knocked over plant.

"All right. Let me talk to the neighbors, see if they've seen the residents around lately."

I knew he was just indulging me, but at this point, I'd take it. We stood behind him as he knocked next door. A large woman answered, her body draped in a flowered nightgown and rollers in her silver hair. Two small Yorkshire terriers circled her feet and yapped at us. She gave Will an appreciate smile as she looked him over and then spotted the black cat in my sister's arms.

"Oh!" She stepped outside, shooing the dogs back in and closing the door on the barking. "Is that Lucky?" she motioned at the black cat, confusion pulling at her gray eyes.

Will glanced at us.

Lucky?
I shrugged and nodded.

He turned back to the woman. "Yes, ma'am, seems so." Will held up his badge. "I'm sorry to bother you at this hour, but I'm Detective Blake. We were wondering if you've seen your neighbor lately. These ladies tried to return this lost cat but there's no answer."

"Huh. That's odd." She turned to look at the silent residence. "Well, there's only one woman who lives there, Rose Faraday. I haven't seen her since Sunday. Which is kind of strange." She stared at the cat thoughtfully. "She wouldn't have let Lucky outside the lanai. She must have escaped somehow and Rose would'a been tearing up this town lookin' for her." She folded fleshy arms over her chest. "I'll tell you what I do know, though. I've been complaining to my husband about a foul odor today. It seems to be coming from her side of the wall. She must be doing some kind of weird mumbo jumbo over there."

I noticed Will stiffen. "Okay, thank you, ma'am. We'll check it out."

We had to hustle to keep up with Will as he strode back to his car and radioed dispatch for backup.

"That's bad, right?" I asked. "The foul odor?"

He stepped back out of the car and stared at Rose Faraday's front door. "Can be, yeah." He turned his attention back on us. I saw the concern now fully manifested in the crinkles around his eyes. "Why don't you go on home. I'll give you a call when we know something."

Oh my stars. Now what?
I couldn't let Will and the other officers go in there without knowing there may be a poisonous snake on the loose. I couldn't say, "Hey, watch out for the poisonous snake
either". I had really gotten myself in a pickle this time.

"All right," I said, buying time. "We'll leave when the other officers get here." I glanced at Mallory. She tilted her head and grinned at me. Obviously enjoying the little predicament my refusal to let Will in on my secret had gotten me into. I fought the urge to stick my tongue out at her. I couldn't let Will see me acting like a five year old. Why does my family bring out the child in me?

It only took two units a few minutes to arrive. I watched them roll up and groaned. I hadn't had time to come up with a plan yet. They parked behind Will's sedan and four officers joined Will in the small square of front yard. As Will filled them in, Mallory leaned over and whispered to me.

"You're not going to let your boyfriend go in there with a poisonous snake possibly on the loose, are you?"

"He's not my boyfriend, Mal and... I'm thinking."
Was he my boyfriend?
My stomach flopped. No, I couldn't call him my boyfriend with the big secret I was hiding from him. We were just dating. Enjoying each other's company. My guilt receded slightly. I shook those thoughts off. I had to focus on the snake issue.

Will gave me a thumbs up as they headed in. I waved back, panic starting to tickle my insides. I had to think fast. "Give me Lucky." I hefted the cat into my arms, holding her tight so her protesting squirming didn't make me drop her. I crept up the driveway as they worked on opening the door.

Crack!
The officers popped the door opened.

 "Whoa!" They all took a step back, covering their noses and drawing their guns. Will stepped through the front door behind them. One of them called out, identifying the group as police officers.

This was it. I had to do something. I ran up and sat Lucky in the doorway. Then I screamed as only a southern gal can and scooped her back up into my arms. Her large round eyes stared at my face, ears back. I was pretty sure if cats could talk, this one would ask me if I had lost my mind.

The officers wheeled around, startled. "She tried to run in!' I pointed into the living room. "Snake! I just saw a big snake!" Then I took a few steps backwards, off the porch and out onto the lawn. Thankfully they all followed me.

"Darwin, are you sure? It's pretty dark in there," Will said, his voice full of skepticism.

"Yes! I know a snake when I see one." I was stroking the cat nervously, hoping to heavens if the snake had escaped again, and wasn't still in the house, this wouldn't be another notch on the crazy belt for me in Will's eyes.

"What kind of snake?" One of the officers asked with a touch of panic in his voice.

I closed my eyes and recalled the vision from Lucky. "Dark colored with white patterns on it. Big. Very big." I opened my eyes, hoping that was enough information for them to know it was the dangerous kind.

They had re-holstered their weapons and were staring at Will, waiting for a verdict.

 Finally, Will nodded. "All right. Something has definitely gone wrong in there. Let's not take any chances. We'll get a trapper out here to go in first." He walked over and pulled the door closed. I breathed a huge sigh of relief.

As we waited for the trapper, Will and I chatted by his car. "We still on for dinner Saturday night?"

I looked over at Mallory, who was having her own little chat with a young officer. Oh boy, I wasn't sure I could handle Mallory loose in St. Pete. I wasn't sure St. Pete could handle it either.  "Sure. I guess I'll have to bring my little sister if she's still here." And just hope that she'd behave herself.

"I don't mind. I enjoy the alone time with you but it'd be nice to get to know someone from your family. Since you never talk about them."

I saw the teasing glint in his eye. There's a reason I don't talk about them. Will has made it clear he doesn't believe in psychics or paranormal stuff of any kind. I'm not ready to possibly lose him over the things about my family I can't control. I made a tactical move and changed the subject. "You don't talk about your family, either."

Before he could answer, a white pick-up truck rambled up and parked in the driveway. A man hopped out wearing cowboy boots, his gray hair pulled back into a ponytail and holding a long, metal stick in his hand. He strode over and held out the other hand to Will.

"Name's Duncan. Someone call about a snake?"

Will shook his hand. "Detective Blake."  Then he pointed to Rose's condo. "We're not positive, but don't want to take any chances. Miss Winters here thinks she saw a large, dark snake with a white pattern in the living room. We're not sure if the owner of the condo is home. There's been a report of a foul odor from her residence and no one has seen her for a few days. So..." Will's mouth pinched into a worried line.

"Gotcha." The man said, nodding. "All righty. I'll check it out." The other officers gathered around as we all watched him open the door.

"Pfffweeey!" His reaction easily carried through the night air. He pulled the bandana around his neck up over his nose and then disappeared inside.

 Some of the other neighbors had started coming out to see what all the fuss was about. Will questioned them about the last time they saw Rose Faraday. The same answers. Not for a few days.

Suddenly the gathered crowd took a collective breath inward as Duncan stepped back through the door holding up his pole. On the end of it hung a large, fat snake at least seven foot long. Its tail writhed around, rattling angrily.

I glanced at Will. His mouth dropped open. Everyone seemed frozen as Duncan carried the thing over to his truck and pulled a large sack from the back bed. "She's a beaut, eh? Eastern Diamondback," he called. "By the way..." he slipped the bag over the snake and tied it with a yank, then put it in the back of his truck. He walked over to Will and leaned in to him. "I'm sorry to tell ya you got a victim in there. I'm no expert on people, but I know a snake bite when I see one."