Cats on the Prowl (A Cat Detective cozy mystery series Book 1) Read Online Free PDF

for the interview,” he told her.
“We’re going to be there, and we need to get out and stir up more information
before that happens.”

    “Get out—you mean, into the field?” Willow’s
heart beat faster.

    “That’s what I mean,” Nat replied.

    Willow couldn’t hold herself back a
second longer. She sprang off the desk and danced circles around Nat. She kept
her composure just enough to avoid tackling him. “Oh, Nat! I can’t wait. Just
tell me what I have to do. Should I do anything to prepare? Should I groom
myself first? Do I look okay the way I am now?”

    “You look fine,” he replied. “You don’t
have to do anything. You look a little too clean to go into the field as it is,
but that’s neither here nor there. You’ll get dirty enough where we’re going.”

    “Where are we going?” Willow asked.

    Nat started toward the door. “You’ll
see.” He slithered through the cat door and vanished into the night.

    Willow raced after him, but when she
got through the cat door, she couldn’t see him anywhere. She paused and glanced
around. Then she spotted Nat crossing the park across the street and dashed
after him. She caught up with him next to the fountain and slowed to a walk at
his side.

    “I really appreciate you bringing me
along,” she panted. “I know I’m just learning detective work.”

    Nat shrugged, but he didn’t look in her
direction. He trained every sense into the wakening night. Willow watched him
in awe. Every sound and smell brought him news of the wide world. He didn’t get
overwhelmed by the excitement of it all.

    Nat was a real police cat. He’d seen it
all before. He knew how to pace himself so every tin can with a piece of tuna
fish sticking to it didn’t send his heart fluttering. If only Willow could be
like him.

    She kept quiet until they crossed the
railroad tracks. Then she just had to ask again. “Where are we going?”

    “I have a couple of friends out here
who can help us,” Nat replied.

    Willow almost stopped walking.
“Friends? Who?”

    Nat didn’t answer. He scrambled over a
chain link fence and dropped down on the other side. He walked up an alley, and
Willow lost sight of him around a dumpster. She looked right and left. Should
she follow him?

    She didn’t like where he was going, and
she didn’t want to go there after him. Her previous owner always told her to
stay on the grass. Even Willow’s own mother told her to stay clean and stay out
of the dirt.

    Willow looked up at the fence. Could
she even climb it? Maybe she should head back to the station and leave the
detective work to Nat. He was the expert. She was good at looking pretty and
snuggling up to people.

    All at once, Nat stuck his head out
from behind the dumpster. “Are you coming or not?”

    Willow wrinkled her nose up at the
fence. “I don’t think I can climb this.”

    Nat shrugged and turned away. “I guess
you’ll be left behind, then.” He vanished.

    Willow’s heart sank. She couldn’t let
herself be left behind, not when she got all her hopes up of becoming a police
cat like him. She took a few steps back and, with a deep breath, she took a run
at the fence.

    She never jumped over any fence before
in her life. She had no idea how to go about it. When she judged she was close
enough, she jumped blindly and put out her paws in a desperate hope of catching
something.

    One paw went through a hole between the
wires, and she banged her nose on one of the links. She grunted in pain, but
when her body hit the fence, instinct took over. Without thinking, she started
clawing her way up. Her foot wound up in mid-air at every other step, but she
couldn’t do anything other than keep climbing.

    At long last, she struggled over the
top of the fence and the alley on the other side spread out before her. She
caught her breath, but then she faced the greater challenge of getting down.

    This time, she didn’t give herself a
chance to hesitate. If Nat could jump from