Cat Trick Read Online Free PDF

across the street in the community center. He’s even picking at
     who the vendors are for the food tasting.” She took a step closer to me and lowered
     her voice. “Mike and Liam got into a shouting match a little while ago. They were
     standing over there by the wall, so I don’t know what it was about. And then Mike
     started in on Burtis, and for a minute I thought Burtis was going to let him have
     it with a sledgehammer.”
    “I’m sorry,” I said. “I know how much Liam wants this to work.”
    Maggie rubbed her hands on the front of her gray yoga pants. “If this all works out,
     it could bring a lot of money here every fall. Assuming somebody doesn’t lose it with
     Mike. You know what I heard Burtis say when Mike was yelling at Liam?”
    “What?”
    “He said, ‘Someday, somebody’s gonna turn that boy into a license plate.’”
    “That sounds like Burtis,” I said.
    She nodded. “I know. And I’m afraid that before we’re finished, Burtis—or someone
     else—is going to do it. Mike puts so much negative energy out into the world. Eventually
     it’s all going to come back to him and more.” She shook her head. “Okay, I’m done
     complaining. C’mon. I’ll show you what the tents will look like when we’re done.”
    Maggie walked me around, pointing out where the second tent was going to be set up
     and how the booths would be arranged. Marcus came back after a few more minutes with
     a huge turkey sandwich, a take-out container of soup, and tea for her supper. We walked
     across to the community center, where we found Ruby Blackthorne hanging one of her
     oversized abstract paintings.
    Like Maggie, Ruby was an artist. She was also a lot more flamboyant. Her hair was
     currently red on one side of her head and blue on the other, and she was wearing a
     T-shirt that read
Ginger Did It Backward in High Heels
. She smiled at me but only nodded at Marcus. Last winter Marcus had arrested Ruby
     for the murder of Agatha Shepherd. Even though he’d kept working on the case and ultimately
     caught the real killer, Ruby was still a little cool with him.
    “We’re on for the morning?” Ruby asked as she pulled a couple of chairs over to a
     folding table pushed against the end wall of the long room. Maggie had offered to
     share her supper.
    “Absolutely,” I said. “Hercules is looking forward to it.”
    We said good-bye and headed back up the street to Marcus’s SUV.
    “What’s Hercules looking forward to?” Marcus asked. “Is Ruby going to give him art
     lessons?”
    I laughed. “No. He doesn’t do anything that might get him wet or dirty. Although now
     I have a mental picture of him wearing a little beret with a paintbrush in his mouth.”
     And standing next to his brother decked out in a Maggie T-shirt.
    “Don’t laugh,” Marcus said, twisting his watch around his wrist. “I’ve seen video
     on the news of a beagle that paints with watercolors. And I think there was a story
     last winter about a cockatiel that did something artistic as well.”
    “I remember that. It sang opera,” I said. “You have a better chance of getting Hercules
     to sing than you do getting him to paint. He does love Barry Manilow.”
    Marcus grinned down at me. “Barry Manilow? You can’t be serious.”
    I stopped, hands on my hips in mock indignation. “Are you suggesting there’s something
     wrong with loving Barry Manilow music?”
    “No?” he said. “That is the right answer, isn’t it?”
    “Unless you’re talking to Owen, yes,” I said, as we started walking again.
    “He’s not a fan?”
    “The fastest way to get Owen out of a room is to start playing ‘Mandy’ or ‘Copacabana.’”
     I touched his arm. “You might want to remember that in case he ever decides to visit
     you again.”
    “Consider it filed away for future reference.” He looked both ways and we crossed
     at the corner. “So if Hercules isn’t going to take painting lessons from Ruby, what
     is he