The Purrfect Lie (Klepto Cat Mystery Book 12) Read Online Free PDF Page B

like Rags will be a good playmate for him.”
    After a second trip to the car to get the tools, Michael said to Max, “Hey, we’re burning daylight. Shall we get on with the project?”
    “Yup,” Max replied, grabbing his jacket and leading the way out through the kitchen door. When he spotted their tangerine faux Persian curled up in one of several cat beds in the heated sunroom, he said, “There you are, Layla. Your friend Rags is here. Better go see him before Jack gets all his attention.”
    The little cat looked up at Max, let out a prrrt , stretched, and headed at a fairly fast pace toward the kitchen, her long tangerine fur rippling against her sides.
    The men chuckled.
    “Do you think she understood his name?” Michael asked.
    Max shook his head in contemplation. “You never know about these cats, Michael.”
    Once outside, the two men went right to work cutting back the large shrub. They’d trimmed it down to about one-third when Michael asked, “Do you want to save it?”
    Max stood back and surveyed the situation. “Naw, I don’t think it serves much purpose in the scheme of things, do you?”
    “Not unless your tabbies want a good place to hide out again, I guess. It does look like it’s outlived its usefulness.”
    “And its grace,” Max added.
    “Grace?” Michael questioned.
    “Well, yeah; it doesn’t exactly grace the place anymore, do you think?”
    Michael glanced around the yard. “No, not really. Okay, all the way to the ground. I’ll send Antonio over to take the stump out, if you want.”
    Max grimaced. “Yeah, that would be good. No hurry, though.”
    “Timber,” Michael said as he cut the shrub off just above the ground.
    Max took hold of the remains and dragged it around behind the cathouse, piling it up with the other cuttings. When he returned, Michael was sitting on the steps that led down to a door. “Is it locked?”
    “Yup. Hand me that flashlight, will you?” He then asked, “Have you seen any stray keys around here?”
    Max reached for the flashlight and gave it to Michael. “Sure. When I moved in, there were keys all over the place—in drawers, on shelves. Once I figured out what keys went where, I discarded the rest. It was either that or make a wind chime out of them, and I hate wind chimes.”
    “Oh really? I didn’t know that about you, Max.”
    “And here I thought I was an open book. Yeah, Michael, don’t give me any wind chimes for Christmas, okay?”
    “Got it,” Michael said, resuming his examination of the lock on the mysterious hidden door at the bottom of the steps. He glanced up at Max. “Can you pick a lock? Is that one of your talents?”
    Max grinned. “If I could, I probably wouldn’t admit to it.” He suggested, “Hey, go ahead and break it, if you’d like. I don’t mind. I just want to see what’s been living under my feet for all these years without my knowing it.”
    “I don’t think we’ll have to break the door. I can take this piece of moulding off and probably jimmy the lock. It’s a simple lock; nothing sophisticated.”
    “Go for it,” Max urged.
    “Okayyy,” Michael said. After a couple of minutes, he announced, “Got it.”
    “Good, let’s go in.”
    “Wait. The spiders have probably taken over by now—maybe rats. Do you have an old broom we can use to whack down the webs?”
    When Max returned with a broom, the women followed, Savannah carrying the baby, who was wrapped in a blanket.
    “Awww, what did you bring him out here for?” Michael complained, when he saw Margaret holding Rags’s leash. You know he’s gonna get into trouble.”
    Margaret couldn’t help but laugh.
    Savannah chuckled. “Oh Michael, you’re so cute when you’re mad at Rags.”
    “I’m not mad at him. I just…”
    “Well, the truth is,” Margaret said, “the other kitties are having their supper and Rags thought he should be served, too. Vannie said he already ate, sooo, we thought we’d better remove the fox from the hen