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“Yeah, I can see you’re not yourself,” said Odelia. “Do you want us to take you to see my dad?”

“Your dad?” asked Charlene vaguely, her eyes glazing over and swaying like a reed in the breeze.

“We better put you in the car,” said Mom, and supported the Mayor before she toppled over. “Take her other arm, honey. That’s it. Nice and easy. There we go.”

And together both women escorted Charlene into Odelia’s pickup. The moment they had, the woman simply keeled over on the backseat and became unresponsive.

“Oh, dear,” said Mom. “I think she lost consciousness, honey.”

“Let’s take her to see Dad,” said Odelia, then gestured for her cats to jump into the car, and they didn’t hesitate one moment but all eagerly did as she suggested.

“Shouldn’t we lock up Charlene’s house or something?” asked Mom, darting a quick look at the Mayor’s residence.

“She locked it before she set out for our morning walk,” said Max.

“Yeah, she locked it up tight,” said Harriet, sounding distinctly unhappy.

A fly had managed to sneak into the car, and Odelia swatted at it now, before Max said,“Please don’t kill my friend. That’s Norm,” he explained to the stunned women. “Norm has been helping us find Uncle Alec.”

And as Odelia started the engine, she shared a look of concern with her mother. Talking cats was one thing, but a fly? Life was quickly becoming very interesting indeed.

Chapter 22

I was so happy to see my human again I would have jumped into her arms if she hadn’t been trying to steer her car through morning traffic.

“We thought we’d never escape,” I said eagerly.

“Yeah, Charlene is a nice person and all,” said Harriet, “but that house of hers is like a fortress. No way in or out!”

“She does have some nice meat to offer,” said Brutus, stressing one of the Mayor’s many positive points.

“She’s no Odelia, though,” said Dooley, pointing out the main negative aspect of the matter.

Odelia shot us a look of concern through the rearview mirror.“If I’d known Gran was going to give you away I would have stopped her. You know that, right?”

“Problem is that my mother never announces her crazy ideas before she sets them in motion,” Marge explained in an apologetic tone. “So I’m truly sorry you guys had to go through this, and I wish I could promise you it will never happen again, but I’m afraid I can’t.”

“But we are going to have a long talk with Gran and explain to her that our cats are not chattel. You’re part of the family, and you simply don’t give away family members as if they were a mere toy or gadget.”

Odelia sounded upset, and so did Marge, and I shouldn’t wonder. I did have one minor point to add to the conversation, though. “I don’t think she actually meant to give us away for good, though,” I said. “It’s entirely possible this was just a ruse on her part to smuggle us into Charlene’s house, along with the rest of the bugs.”

“Bugs? What bugs?” asked Marge, turning to face me. She was riding shotgun while her daughter gunned the engine and practically flew along the road.

“Gran planted a lot of bugs in Charlene’s house,” Dooley explained. “And she said she was going to plant more bugs in Charlene’s car and in her office, too.” He paused. “I asked if these bugs were dangerous but Gran said they weren’t.”

“But why?” asked Marge. “Why bug Charlene’s home and office?”

“And her car,” said Dooley. “Don’t forget about the car.”

Marge smiled as she patted my friend on the head.“I’m not forgetting, honey.”

“The thing is that Gran thinks that Charlene is somehow blackmailing Uncle Alec into marrying her,” I explained. “Which is why she felt the need to smuggle Dooley and myself into the house, and plant all of those bugs.”

Marge turned to face the front again, a set look on her face.“Can I kill her, Odelia?”

“If you want to risk life in prison,” said Odelia.

“Oh, I’m starting to think it’s worth it.”

For a moment, we rode on in silence, and then Norm said,“I think this is so cool, the way you guys can talk to your humans. I wish I could talk to my human.” He paused, then added, “If I had a human, that is.”

“Don’t flies have an owner?” asked Dooley, interested.

“No, I’m afraid we don’t,” said Norm. “We’re free as the proverbial bird.”

“Who are you talking to, Dooley?” asked Odelia.

“Norm,” said Dooley. “He’s a fly who’s as free as a bird.”

“Crazy,” Odelia muttered. “Absolutely nuts.”

“Oh, that’s right,” I said. “Norm told us about the lottery win, Marge. So how much did you win?”

“Um, fifty thousand,” said Marge, darting a quick look at her daughter, whose face had taken on the same set look her mom had displayed before.

Harriet cleared her throat.“I have a little bit of news to share, too,” she said.

“Go ahead, honey,” said Marge. “What is it?”

“Well, Brutus and I took a witness statement last night from a witness who witnessed the kidnapping of Uncle Alec, and this witness witnessed three men taking Uncle Alec out of Charlene’s house. Our witness also had a very good description to offer.”