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She hated seeing him like this. And as she lay down next to her husband, she considered moving along before their time in Hampton Cove was up. Clearly this town was having a detrimental influence, and the sooner they left it in their rearview mirror, the better.

Chapter 21

Charlene had slept but fitfully. She was, of course, used to dealing with stress and the pressures that came with being mayor of a small town, but she’d never been the victim of a home invasion before, and she didn’t really think she was handling things very well.

And as she opened her eyes, she became aware of four cats’ eyes staring at her intently from the foot of the bed, and groaned.

Just what she needed right now: the added responsibility of four pets.

At least two of them she could hand back to their owners, but the others? How had she ever allowed herself to be convinced it was a good idea to suddenly adopt two cats?

And as she rubbed the sleep from her eyes, the plaintive meows of the biggest cat of the bunch made itself heard. It was a sound that cut through her like a knife, and was not to be ignored.

So maybe this was a good thing? At least now she’d have to get out of bed and deal with her newly acquired pets’ bathroom needs.

The second cat added its voice to the choir, and soon all four cats were meowing and creating quite the spectacle. A private concert, in her own bedroom!

“All right, all right,” she said, and threw off the comforter and got up. “Let’s get you outside first, before you do your business all over my carpets.”

The cats looked at her as if she’d just personally insulted them, and she now wished she was just like Odelia Poole and her mom and grandma: they could talk to these strange creatures, and probably understand everything they said.

She slipped her feet into her slippers and tied the sash of her dressing gown around her and then slouched out of the room, her hair a mess, and her eyes puffy.

She didn’t care. If her neighbors wanted to snap pictures of her and post them on their Instagram or Facebook, they could go right ahead and do it.

She noticed how two of the cats didn’t have collars, so she took a couple of dog collars from her closet, part of a shipment destined for the animal shelter, and tied them to the cats’ necks. If they weren’t totally at ease with the procedure, she decided to ignore them. She couldn’t risk them running off. The Pooles would kill her if they did.

And so it was that ten minutes later Charlene Butterwick, Mayor of Hampton Cove, could be seen wandering around the neighborhood, walking four cats, who were plaintively meowing all the while, looking like something the cats dragged in—or out.

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“Look,” said Mom, pointing in the direction of a pink-clad figure on the sidewalk. “It’s Charlene. Oh, and she’s walking our cats!”

Odelia stared at the lonely figure.“She looks terrible,” she said, and that was an understatement. Charlene’s hair was a mess, and she was wearing a pink housecoat that had seen better days, her feet stuck in a pair of old slippers, her eyes half closed.

The cats, meanwhile, looked distinctly unhappy and were tugging at their leashes.

“I don’t think she’s a cat person,” said Mom with a shake of the head.

“No, definitely not,” Odelia agreed.

She quickly parked the car and both women got out. They’d waited until now to go and fetch their cats, even though Odelia had wanted to drop by Charlene’s house the moment she’d learned Gran had ‘given away’ their cats to the Mayor. But Mom had convinced her that showing up on the woman’s doorstep in the middle of the night was a bad idea, so she’d decided to wait until morning.

At the crack of dawn she’d gotten up, met her mom in front of the house, and they’d set off on their cat rescue mission.

“I can’t believe Gran would give away our cats,” said Odelia for the umpteenth time.

“Yeah, of all the stunts she’s ever pulled this one takes the cake,” said Mom. “Charlene! Hi!” she said, waving at the Mayor.

“Oh, hiya, Marge,” said Charlene. “Odelia. Any news?” she asked eagerly.

“Nothing yet,” said Odelia. “But we’re working on it.” Or rather Chase was working on it. “Um, so I see you’ve got our cats there?”

Charlene glanced down, as if seeing the cats for the first time.“Oh, that’s right. Vesta dropped them off yesterday. She said they were a wedding gift, and the other two I found wandering in the street last night so I took them in.”

“The thing is, Charlene,” said Mom, “that my mother has an eccentric streak.”

“What she means is that Gran didn’t ask our permission to give away the cats,” Odelia specified.

“Oh,” said Charlene, and frowned as she processed this.

“Are you all right, honey?” asked Mom, her voice laced with concern. “You don’t look so hot.”

“Yeah, I don’t know what’s wrong with me,” said Charlene, shaking her head as if trying to clear it. “I’ve been feeling really weird ever since Alec was taken. Not myself, if you know what I mean. Foggy in my mind.”