Catnapped (A Klepto Cat Mystery) Read Online Free PDF Page A

something in my foot a couple of days ago while out in the yard. Didn’t seem like a big deal at the time, but x-rays showed a fracture. So my niece, Vannie, drove up from LA to help me get around.”
    “Oh, nice.” She paused and then said, “I mean, Sorry to hear about the accident, but nice to have a visitor because of it. Hey wait,” the waitress stared at Savannah and pointed in her direction with a menu, “aren’t you Gladys’s and Ted’s daughter?”
    “Yes,” Savannah said, obviously surprised.
    “This is Savannah. Savannah, Iris and I went to school together many years ago,” Margaret explained.
    “Hi. You know my family?”
    “Hell yes. Didn’t everyone? I think every teen in town worked for your father’s company and his father’s before that for at least three generations. Those Jordans helped to give many a kid work-ethic training and spending money.” She looked down and shook her head. “It was a shame when your dad sold the company. It never held the same values again.”
    Savannah was touched by the waitress’s genuine display of remorse. Before she could comment, Iris perked up and said, “I remember when you and your sister used to come in here for lunch with your dad now and then.” An inquisitive look on her face, she asked, “Are you the vet or the doc?”
    “I work as a vet tech in a large animal hospital,” Savannah said trying not to sound like she was apologizing for not running her own practice, yet.
    “Order up!” someone shouted from the window behind the counter.
    Iris twisted her body in that direction. “Oh, that’s me.” She quickly laid the menus on the table and asked, “Coffee?”
    “Uh, I think I’ll have a glass of orange juice—and water, too, please,” Savannah said.
    “Coffee for me,” Margaret stated. “With cream.”
    As Iris walked away, Savannah asked—a puzzled look on her face, “Cream?”
    “Sometimes yes and sometimes no.” She leaned in toward her niece and whispered, “The coffee here’s strong. I have to cut it with something and they don’t serve hard liquor.” Margaret sat back, picked up her menu and gave it a quick look. “By the way, I recommend the blueberry waffles.”
    “Fresh blueberries?”
    “Yeowza, picked this morning—or maybe yesterday…”
    “Mmmm, sounds good. That’s what I’ll have, then.”
    “Me, too . ” Margaret placed her menu on the table edge. She then looked across at her niece in a piercing stare and demanded to know, “Now what do you mean I have a reputation? Who says?”
    “Oh, your older sister, your younger sister, Uncle Ray…” Savannah started.
    “Baloney. They’re just a bunch of fuddy-duddies with no sense of adventure.”
    Margaret had always been the most daring of the three sisters. Even her brother, who was four years older, couldn’t match her bravado as a child.
    “Yeah, that’s probably it,” Savannah patronized. “They’re just a bunch of fuddy-duddies.” She then leaned toward her aunt, her demeanor more serious. “So what’s up with the group Max was talking about? What were you going to tell me later?”
    The two women pulled back from their conversation while Iris placed their drinks in front of them. The waitress then took a pencil from her dyed red hair and wrote down their orders.
    When Iris left, Margaret looked over at her niece. Dare I talk to her about this? She already thinks I’m a bit over the edge.
    “Come on, Auntie, I’m going to find out one way or another. What’s going on?” Savannah prodded.
    After stirring a little cream into her coffee and glancing around the room to her left, Margaret took a swig, put the cup down and leaned forward toward her niece. “We have reason to believe that someone is snatching cats.”
    “What cats?” Savannah asked, way too curious to feign disinterest.
    Margaret turned in her seat and looked around the restaurant. After making a mental note of who was there, she settled back down in the booth and