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“I can’t let my hubby wubby do all this by himself, Max. I’m going in!”

“But Harriet, your beautiful fur!”

“I’ll be fine, Max!”

And then she was sliding down that chimney, uttering a soft yelp!

I glanced down the tube, and knew that Brutus was right: I would never fit in there.

“Oh, curse those big bones of mine,” I muttered as I tried to hear what was going on.

But since there was nothing I could do up there, I decided to return to terra firma, and first scrabbled down that slate roof, then hopped down onto the stack of firewood, then finally to the ground below, hurrying around the small building back to the front.

I hopped up onto the windowsill that offered a view into the cabin’s main room, and what I saw there was a sight for sore eyes: Brutus, Dooley, Shanille and Harriet were engaged in some combative action with no less than eight nemeses! Now I don’t know if you’ve ever been attacked by a cat, but it’s not a fun experience, I can tell you! We like to use every weapon in our arsenal, including but not limited to: eighteen claws (five on each front foot and four on each rear foot) and no less than thirty teeth and of course our exceptionally limber limbs and bodies we can twist and contort with surprising agility!

In other words: you don’t want to pick a fight with an angry feline! We might be small and cuddly, but we can be pretty vicious when we want to be!

Odelia, who’d joined me at the window, now saw the epic battle unfold, and whispered into her phone, “Now, Uncle Alec. Go, go, go!”

And so from all sides cops came hurrying up, and moments later the inhabitants of that cabin, who were too busy fighting off four cats, were surprised when the cabin door burst open and a small contingent of Uncle Alec’s troops came storming in. And as they were all led out, I watched as Chase slapped the handcuffs on Carmel Kraft. The others were, I assumed, Amy Ollermann, Beatrice Felag, Jody Huix and Bridget Elfman. And if I wasn’t mistaken, one of the three men, who was sporting a nasty bump on his forehead, and plenty of scratches on his arms, was a kid I’d seen behind the counter at McDonald’s. Presumably the boyfriend of one of Angel’s besties.

Though with BFFs like that, who needs enemies?

33

The reunion between Marigold and her daughter was touching, and the fact that we were there to witness it warmed all of our hearts.

And then Marigold said,“I want to introduce you to someone, sweetie.”

“Who?” asked Angel, who was teary-eyed but otherwise looked fine, in spite of her ordeal.

“This is your dad,” said Marigold, and stepped aside to reveal Francis Reilly standing there.

Angel looked confused for a moment, as she looked from her mom to the priest, but then her jaw dropped, and she said,“No way!”

“I’m your dad, Angel,” said Father Reilly unnecessarily. He looked pretty nervous, but also determined to do the right thing. “And I’m really sorry for not telling you sooner.”

“Oh, my God!” said Angel, and then she was hugging her dad, and squeezing him so fiercely the older man actually groaned. “I knew it!” she said finally as she released him from her grip. “I mean, I always had my suspicions, and actually, if I’m totally honest…” She quickly wiped away a tear. “I always kinda hoped you were my dad… Dad.”

“You did?” asked Francis, looking relieved that she hadn’t slapped him across the face or given him a kick in the shin.

“When I was little I actually dreamed that you were my dad—and now my dream has finally come true! Oh, this is the happiest day of my life!” But then she sobered. “Except that I just discovered that my best friends all tried to kill me. Which is kind of a bummer.”

“So who were the guys?” asked Odelia.

“Wesley Trygar and his two brothers,” said Angel. “I thought I recognized Wesley—Carmel only started dating him last month so I’ve only met him once or twice. And I never met his brothers but I heard they both have criminal records. Car theft and burglary.”

“And now they can add abduction to their rap sheet,” Chase grunted.

“Looks like Carmel set the whole thing up,” said Odelia, “along with her boyfriend and…” She gave Angel a sad look. “Your four other friends.”

“I don’t believe this,” said Angel, shaking her head. “Why? I don’t understand.”

“They wanted to teach you a lesson,” Chase explained, who’d briefly interrogated Carmel before having her carted her off to the police station for interrogation and incarceration.

“A lesson? What lesson?”

“Well, it turns out that you dated Carmel’s boyfriend. One Matteo…”

“Drews,” said Angel, nodding. “But Matteo was never Carmel’s boyfriend.”

“No, but she fancied him,” said Odelia. “And when you started dating him she felt as if you’d betrayed the unwritten girlfriend code that you never date a boy one of your friends likes.”

“But I asked her if she was okay with it and she said yes!”

“She felt you shouldn’t have to ask. You should have known he was off-limits.”