Cattitude Read Online Free PDF

on the
knotty branch. Then she waited.
    The woman with her cat body had to be nearby.
She knew it. And she wasn’t going away until she found her.

CHAPTER 4

    “That wind’s wicked.” Ted hunched his
shoulders. “She wants to stay, let her.”
    Max smacked his fist into his palm. If he was
cold in his leather jacket, how cold must the woman be in her cloth
one? He tossed the keys to Ted.
    “Take the car. I’ll get home when I get
home.”
    Ted shook his head. “I knew you’d say that.
You can’t resist a stray.”
    “Go. Get out of here.” Max gave Ted a
dismissive nod.
    “You really think I’ll leave? We could have
an escaped serial killer on our land.”
    “Or an injured woman.”
    “You don’t know her or why she’s afraid of
going to the hospital.”
    “A lot of people have hospital phobias.”
    “A lot of people have criminal records.”
    Max tried to entertain the idea, but his mind
shut down, rejecting it. He’d held her small-boned body in his
arms, felt her trembling alarm. Something had traumatized her. She
needed help. His help.
    “She was in an accident,” Ted said, “yet
she’s running away. What does that tell you?”
    “No other car was involved. When did you find
the stick that’s up your ass?”
    “About the same time you pulled it out of
yours.” Ted held his palms out and stepped back, laughing. “Amazing
how fast everything can change. Just this morning I was thinking
how boring my life was becoming.”
    Max glanced behind them at the silent woods.
She was in there somewhere. Alone and scared and cold. “When I find
her, you can thank her for her entertainment value.”
    “ If you find her.” The smile in Ted’s
eyes disappeared before his mouth pressed together, a sternness
that didn’t suit his fun-loving character.
    “Not if. When.” Max strode to the side of the
road and grabbed the black purse Ted had dropped.
    “What’re you doing?”
    Max ignored the question. He rummaged inside
the bag and fished out a navy wallet. He opened it. No photos,
three grocery store cards, a debit card and a driver’s license. He
slid out the license.
    Ted breathed over his shoulder. “Sorcha
Anders. A nice Scottish name. And thirty-one, just the right
age.”
    “Too old for you,” Max snapped.
    “Maybe I was talking about you.”
    Max gave his grinning brother a look that
should have made him burst into flames.
    “Or maybe I was talking about me,” Ted
continued. “What’s seven years?”
    “You ever shut up?”
    Ted laughed, slapping his thigh. “You’re
jealous. I don’t blame you. What woman would want an old worn-out
man like you when she could have a young stud like me?”
    “You’re talking like an ass.” Max rifled
through her money. A ten, a five, three singles. A coupon for fifty
cents off a brand of cheese. No insurance cards, no photos. A
private woman. He should feel guilty for invading her privacy, but
he didn’t. In those few moments when she’d clung to him, they’d
bonded. She’d trusted him to help her. Even though she ran from
him, he wasn’t turning his back on that trust.
    It was illogical, but he saved his logic for
business, not people.
    “Didn’t I say you needed a damsel in
distress?” Ted cuffed him on his bicep again. “Man, was I
right.”
    Shoving the wallet into his back pocket, Max
said, “Either you help look for her, or get back to the house and
stay the hell out of my way.”
    “Your mind’s made up?”
    Max thrust past Ted, slipping into the woods.
The time for talking was over. The time was action was now.
    ***
    I’m a cat! Sorcha looked at her
trembling fur-covered legs. This was insane. It had to be a
reaction from the accident. Things like this didn’t happen.
    But the two men stomping through the woods
toward her sounded all too real, like ten men to her new
super-powered hearing. She dived into a pile of dead leaves. Her
quivering body shook leaves off the top of the pile and she peeked
out at the men.
    She’d