Soul Meaning (A Seventeen Series Novel: An Action Adventure Thriller Book 1) Read Online Free PDF Page B

him.’
    I glanced at the shelves and sideboards in the front room. They were crowded with picture frames depicting dozens of smiling children in uniform standing and sitting in orderly rows. The color in most of them had faded.
    ‘Would you like something to drink?’ said the retired teacher. I shook my head. She crossed the floor to a writing desk and removed something from a drawer. ‘This is a recent photograph of him.’ She took the seat opposite mine and leaned across the narrow coffee table. Hands covered in paper-thin skin and fine, spidery veins touched the glossy print.
    The shot had been taken in the courtyard below. The cat was sitting in the shade of a tree and appeared half-asleep. It looked like it was grinning.
    ‘We’ll do our best to find him. Can I have this?’ I indicated the picture. She smiled and nodded.
    I took my leave. Predictably, a search of the buildings and the courtyard yielded no results. I questioned the neighbors and explored the adjacent streets before coming full circle. I paused on the sidewalk outside the retirement complex and studied the park across the road. Miss Kaplinsky had already visited it on several occasions and found no signs of the missing cat. I called Reid.
    ‘How’re you doing?’
    ‘Not bad,’ he replied. ‘Price suspects one of his employees has been playing with the numbers. He wants to hire us.’ His voice was almost drowned out by the city traffic in the background.
    ‘I’m going to the park to look for the cat.’
    ‘Uh-huh,’ said Reid.
    I frowned. ‘Are you laughing?’
    ‘No,’ came the strangled reply.
    I sighed. ‘Come get me when you’re done.’ I ended the call, crossed the street, and entered the shadows beneath the trees.
    The park was divided in four sections. There was a play area for kids, an artificial lake with ducks and other waterfowl, an extensive expanse of lawn, and several wooded areas. I explored the open spaces first before heading for the woods.
    I personally did not mind cats. They used to be worshipped as gods, were fastidiously clean and territorial, preferred their own company, and could generally take or leave humans. They were said to be a lot smarter than dogs, although probably not as loyal.
    I pulled a packet of catnip out of my pocket; I was hoping this particular feline had the intelligence of the average Labrador.
    Half an hour later, I had completed my search of the park. Several squirrels and strays had shown interest in the bag in my hands. Of the silver tabby, however, there was no sign. I was about to call it a day when a range of tower blocks to the north caught my eye. A series of dark alleys ran between the derelict looking structures. I studied them thoughtfully before crossing the road to the closest passage.
    The alley gave birth to a network of backstreets crowded with fire escapes, heating vents, industrial-sized dumpsters, and the occasional tent of cardboard boxes lined with dirty cloths and a sleeping bag.
    The first inquisitive meow sounded moments later.
    A ginger tom peered at me from under a metal skip. By the time I reached the next intersection, other cats had emerged from the gloom. I stopped and looked over my shoulder. The cats froze in their tracks and watched me with large, solemn eyes. There was not a single silver tabby among them.
    I sighed. It was too much to hope that I would find the missing cat on the first day.
    I turned to retrace my steps and reached for my cell phone. There was a flash of black and white at the edge of my vision. I stopped and looked up.
    Some twenty feet above the ground to my left, a silver cat perched on a ledge next to a fire escape. I removed the picture the retired teacher had given me from my jacket and stared at it. There was no mistaking the pattern of stripes; it was the missing feline.
    I moved carefully toward the metal staircase. Behind me, the strays followed the scent of catnip. I stopped beneath the ladder and gazed at the cat. It observed