Cattitude (38 page)

“He’s not dead,” Max said.

“An ambulance! He needs an ambulance!”

“Already called,” Max said.

“What the hell is going on?” Ted asked,
skidding to a stop next to Belle and Max, coming from the same
direction as Tory. “Why’re you holding a gun at this guy?”

“We don’t know his name,” Max said, “but we
believe he killed Sorcha’s fiancé.”

“You can’t prove it. I have an alibi.”

Belle wiggled the gun barrel. “My trigger
finger’s feeling slippery.”

He glared at her, his mouth clamped shut.

Being a human was easy, Belle thought. All
she needed was the right accessories. On
The Love
Chronicles
, the men gave the women jewelry for a present on
their weddings. She decided to ask Max to buy her a gun.

“Caroline?” Ted’s brow furrowed. “What
happened to you?”

She held up her middle finger.

Even as a cat, Belle had known what that
meant.

Ted’s eyebrows rose. “Whoa, you’re in a bad
mood.”

Caroline sobbed. She was sitting up, holding
her hand over her chest. “This wasn’t supposed to happen. Life
isn’t fair.”

“Jesus.” Ted turned to Max. “Thanks for
leaving me stranded. I had to call a taxi, and the guy drove like
he was practicing for the Indiana 500. He was dropping me off when
I saw Tory run out like a scared rabbit.” He nodded at Tory, who
was bending over Phil. “What’s going on?”

“I’ll tell you later. I need you to run to
the road and flag down the ambulance.”

“Sounds like they’re almost on top of us.”
Ted sprinted toward the road, waving his hand to halt any oncoming
vehicles before he even made it out of the trees. Then he was out
of sight, and a few seconds later the sirens stopped their
high-pitched wail.

In the sudden silence, Belle heard Phil’s
weak voice say, “I don’t really work for the FBI. I’m a personal
trainer and work at my dad’s gym. Bob’s my half brother. He was
going to pay me to kill Sorcha.”

“But you didn’t do it,” Tory said.

“No, when I saw Caroline about to shoot
Sorcha, I shot her instead. Then Bob shot me.”

“You saved Sorcha! You’re a hero.”

“I’m not. I’m a bastard. Literally and
figuratively.”

Tory was crying. “Don’t say that about
yourself. I really like you.”

“I like you too. But after what I did, I
don’t deserve you.”

Voices came from the road along with stomping
feet and cracking branches. Belle watched Ted dodge around a tree.
A few steps behind him strode two uniformed men, one tall and one
short, with guns in their holsters and tense expressions on their
faces.

“That’s my brother,” Ted said, pointing.
“He’s the one who called 911. And that’s Sorcha. She’s the one I
think they were trying to kill.”

The shorter man pushed in front of Ted. “I’m
Deputy Olson and this is Deputy Groves. Now, don’t make any sudden
moves. Very slowly, I want you to put the guns on the ground and
back off.”

“Gladly.” Max set down Caroline’s gun on the
ground and backed off.

Belle didn’t feel as glad, but put her gun
next to Max’s and backed up next to him. Deputy Olson hurried to
collect the guns. Belle knew from watching TV what would happen
next. A lot of questions, a lot of time wasted when all she wanted
to do was kiss Max and decide where they would live now that they
knew it didn’t matter where.

He put his arm around her.

Deputy Groves was hauling the man on the
ground to his feet, putting on handcuffs, the man demanding to talk
to his lawyer. Deputy Olson was on his cell phone, telling someone
it was okay to come in.

“I almost lost you,” Max said, his voice
cracking with emotion.

It looked to Belle as if they had a few
minutes after all. “I know what’s wrong with humans,” she said.

He lifted an eyebrow.

“They should talk less...” Smiling, she held
up her arms. “. . . and kiss more.”

His mouth came down. He kissed her roughly,
as if he wanted to take her to the bedroom.

She purred.

“I love you,” he said, drawing back. “I’ll
worship you forever.”

She pulled his head down for another kiss. He
wasn’t saying anything she didn’t know. She was born to be
worshiped.

To: Max Brannigan

From: Tory Patterson

Subject: BOOK!!!!!

Phil’s agent sold the screenplay! It’s going
to be made into a cable TV movie! I think the producer’s selling it
to Lifetime. And guess what? I’m playing Sorcha! I’m doing the
happy dance right now.

As soon as we get the money, Phil wants to
pay you back for taking care of his parents’ medical expenses. We
won’t let you say no either. You two are the most wonderful people
in the world, and I’m not just saying that because you’re my
brother and you gave us money and Sorcha said it was okay. Can you
imagine what Caroline would’ve said if the week before you got
married you told her you were giving a quarter mil away? I get the
creeps thinking about it. Hope they don’t let her out of that
mental hospital for a long, long time.

Anyway, everything is turning out great.
Phil’s parents are okay and you and Sorcha are having a baby. I’m
so excited about being an auntie! Has she gotten the test to see if
it’s a boy or girl yet? What do you and Sorcha want?

XXXOOO

Tory

To: Tory Patterson

From: Max Brannigan

Subject: baby

Congrats on the movie deal and the role. I
told you not to worry about paying us back. Sorcha doesn’t want the
test. She’s still scared of hospitals, hates seeing the doctor and
is talking about getting a midwife. I don’t care what sex the baby
is.

Max

To: Max Brannigan

From: Tory Patterson

Subject: Re: baby

That’s just like a man. I asked about Sorcha
too. What does she want?

XXXOOO

Tory

To: Tory Patterson

From: Max Brannigan

Subject: Re: baby

>I asked about Sorcha too. What does she
want?

A litter.

-The End-

Dear Reader,

I’m delighted that you’ve read CATTITUDE.
I’ve started a new series,
Miracle Interrupted,
and some of
the books have a cat’s point of view. Some even have a dog’s point
of view. A prophecy of a miracle is made in a Wisconsin village
with a population of 629. In almost every story, someone thinks the
prophecy applies to him or her.

MUST WORSHIP CATS and STARDUST MIRACLE from
the series are available already. MIRACLE LANE will be out soon –
possibly by the time you’re reading this. Two more
Miracle
Interrupted
novels are planned, with more on the way.

Read on for an excerpt from MUST WORSHIP
CATS, along with an excerpt from DEAD PEOPLE, a
Haunted
Hearts
story.

If you enjoyed CATTITUDE, I would appreciate
it if you would help others enjoy it by posting a review at your
favorite places.

I love hearing from readers. You can reach
me at
[email protected]
.

Author updates can be found at
http://edieramer.com
. You can
also sign up for my newsletter and find samples of my other
novels.

Happy Reading!

Edie Ramer

She’s a cat on a mission…

Only two years old, Cat is tired of being
sent to stay with humans who don’t appreciate her. She escapes the
latest mismatch, deciding this time she’ll choose who she stays
with, not the other way round. But finding the perfect home is more
dangerous than she thought, and for Cat, food and shelter are no
longer enough. They must worship her.

Excerpt:

A new sound interrupted Cat’s thoughts. She
turned her head and spotted a cat prancing toward her. A female,
Cat could tell right away. Her face was white and her body striped.
Her eyes, outlined in black, looked funny. They popped out the way
some dogs’ eyes did and they made her look like she wanted to eat
any animal that got in her way.

And her gaze remained on Cat as she
continued to stalk forward.

A sour scent came to Cat, and the fur along
her spine rose. She got to her feet, not taking her gaze off the
other cat with the bad scent. A fighting scent.

The smell twisted Cat’s stomach and gave her
the feeling that in another moment she was going to puke.

The woman’s car started and drove off. Cat
felt someone’s stare on her, coming from another direction. She
flicked her gaze to Pastor Jim. He was watching her with a
smile.

“A cat,” he murmured and his gaze shifted to
the other cat. “Lucy, look what’s here for you. A playmate.” He
laughed, a smooth sound like a snake sliding through the grass.

More fur on Cat’s back bristled. Even with
her injured hip, she could outrun any human. Pastor Jim wasn’t a
danger to her now. But the other cat...

She flicked her gaze back to the cat
advancing on her. Its sides looked wider now than before. The cat
had expanded her frame and fluffed her fur up to make herself look
bigger.

Cat hissed, telling her to watch out. The
other cat growled. Like a dog. It looked part dog with its ugly
whitish face. Not the face of a dog she’d like to curl up against
either.

The dog this cat resembled would eat kittens
for breakfast.

And it kept advancing.

Though the other cat was bigger and weighed
more, Cat was young and she was fast – normally. But not with her
injured hip. And because of her hip, she knew she couldn’t fight
this cat and win.

Cat’s heart thundered inside her chest.
Around her all was silent. Not even a bird chirped or a dog
twitched. The other cat just kept walking toward Cat while Pastor
Jim watched with that same gloating smile.

A tightness twisted Cat’s stomach, then
slithered up her chest and around her throat.

She wanted to puke. She’d been in a couple
fights and had never run from another cat. She wasn’t running from
this one either. Not because she was afraid of looking bad. But if
she turned her back on this cat, she knew the other cat would
pounce on her and hurt her anyway.

The cat reached the bench, and Pastor Jim
leaned down. “Go, Lucy. Go.”

The cat’s whiskers twitched, testing the air
to see which way to move. Her muscles bunched as she prepared to
spring.

Cat’s did the same. Maybe her back legs
weren’t as quick as usual, but her front legs could lash out like
lightning.

The cat leapt at her, but when Cat pushed up
with her back legs, the injured one crumpled. She yowled. As she
shifted her weight onto the good leg, the other cat landed on her
back. Cat tried to rear up but her leg hurt too badly to put weight
on it.

The other cat yowled, claiming victory. Then
its claws lashed at Cat’s ear, ripping it.

Pain flamed through Cat, worse than the pain
in her hip. She cried out and rolled away, knocking the other cat
off her.

Everything hurt. Cat used her pain to push
up to her feet. Used it to jump on the ugly cat. To land on top of
her. The other cat twisted to put Cat beneath her.

Though Cat’s ear and hip throbbed with a
horrible ache, she resisted. There was something wrong with this
other cat. Wrong in its mind. It didn’t want to hurt her a little
and drive her away. It wanted to hurt her badly. So badly Cat would
never be the same again.

Cat’s stomach was twisting again, but she
concentrated on defending herself. She opened her mouth and gave a
war cry. Ready to battle, she pushed up with her back legs.

Her sense that it was either kill or be
killed lent Cat extra power, and she leapt high. Higher than the
older and heavier cat could leap. Instead of trying to jump, the
other cat sat up and raised its paw, ready to swipe at Cat on her
way down. Though Cat’s reach was shorter, she readied her body to
claw the other cat.

“Go, Lucy,” Pastor Jim called, his tone
gleeful, sounding like a crow calling other vultures to a road
kill. “Go.”

Lucy growled again and Cat’s stomach twisted
harder.

And that’s when it happened.

She threw up. The chicken, the fish, the cat
food, the water. Everything she had in her stomach emptied out and
poured onto the ugly cat’s surprised face.

OTHER BOOKS BY EDIE RAMER

Contemporary

MUST WORSHIP CATS (a Miracle Interrupted
novella)

STARDUST MIRACLE (a Miracle Interrupted
novel)

MIRACLE LANE (a Miracle Interrupted
novel)

Miracle Pie (a Miracle Interrupted
novel)

YOU’VE GOT MURDER co-written with Karin
Tabke

Paranormal

CATTITUDE

DEAD PEOPLE

DEAD PEOPLE IN LOVE (short story)

DRAGON BLUES

THE SEVENTH DIMENSION (short story)

Science Fiction Romance

GALAXY GIRLS

MIXING IT UP (a Galaxy Girls novella)

Short Stories and Essays

The Fat Cat
in ENTANGLED, A
PARANORMAL ANTHOLOGY

(all proceeds go to Breast Cancer Research
Foundation)

The Kiss
in EVERY WITCH WAY BUT
WICKED

(all proceeds go to Kids Need to Read)

My heartfelt gratitude to my original
critique partners: Michelle Diener for her wisdom and her belief in
me, Liz Kreger for her advice and inspiration, and Karin Tabke for
always asking “how do they feel?”

Three more wise women gave me support and
precious wisdom. Natasha Fondren and Jody Wallace could easily be
editors. Zoe Winters shared technical advice as well as
editorial.

An extra thank you to Natasha for her
technical help and for being so patient with all my questions. And
to
Laura
Morrigan
for capturing the tone of my book in her
amazing cover.