Free Catching the Cat Burglar by Cassie Wright Page A

Anita's bear claws. I have a moment where I imagine having awakened with him, showered together, debated where to get coffee, and walked through town hand in hand like a normal couple. "Quite the night last night."
    I smile. "Don't get too cocky. I'll admit the wine was delicious, but the company was only so-so."
    He snorts and points at the fallen fire escape. "I was referring to that."
    "Oh!" I turn as if I'm seeing the wreckage for the first time. "Right!" I fight the blush. It's far too early in the morning to be starting in on that already. "So you're saying you didn't enjoy dinner?"
    Chase smiles at me over the top of his coffee as he lifts it for a sip. "Oh, no. I'm not saying that at all."
    His smile sends goose bumps all over my skin. It's an intimate smile, complicit, as if last night we did far more than just talk and dine.
    "Bark," says a voice by my knee. Groofy is staring insistently at me.
    "Not now," I say, forcing a smile as I push him away with my leg. "Busy."
    "Arf. Bark bark woof!" He sounds very determined.
    "Your dog?" Chase gazes down at him bemusedly.
    "No. Though he seems to think he is. Hold on, let me get him, um, some water. I'll be right back."
    "Sure," says Chase, smiling.
    I follow Groofy back to the alley, where he hops around like a bunny rabbit for a little bit, and then finally settles down and sits. "It's him!"
    "Who is? What?"
    "The werejaguar! It's him! The guy you were talking to!"
    "Chase?" I look back at where he stands, one hand in a pocket, sipping demurely from his coffee. "No."
    "Yes!" Groofy rolls onto his back, wiggling and kicking his legs. "Steak!"
    My mind isn't working. I'm downshifting so hard I can almost hear the gears grinding. "Wait. You're saying that Chase, the guy I was talking to just now, is the thief we're hunting?"
    "Steak! So much steak! A mountain of meat! And me standing at the top, steak as far as the eye can see!"
    I feel a moment of vertigo. I blink rapidly and press my palm to my forehead. Chase is the werejaguar? No. But then again... yes. That could be the mystery I see in his eyes. That layer of reserve he refused to break through last night. That secret I've sensed from the beginning. Chase is the cat burglar.
    Groofy is still celebrating. "Filet mignon! T-Bone! Skirt -"
    "Groofy. Stop."
    He flips onto his feet adroitly and stares up at me. "What? We've done it."
    "Does he look arrested to you? Hmm? To me, it looks like he's enjoying a coffee, completely free to go where he wants."
    Groofy frowns and stares at Chase. "Well. Go arrest him."
    "On what grounds? That my little dog claims his scent marks him as the thief?"
    "Well, yeah," says Groofy, as if I'm revealing myself to be a particularly slow person.
    "It doesn't work that way," I say. "That wouldn't stand in a court of law."
    "Well," says Groofy with sophisticated disdain, "that means your courts of law are stupid."
    "That may be true. But regardless. I need proof."
    "Well, break into his house. You'll see the stolen things in there."
    I sigh. "I have to gain access to them lawfully. Breaking in and seizing them illegally would make them inadmissible in a court of law."
    Groofy frowns up at me. "Hold on. Maybe we're having a communication problem here. After all, I am only a very little dog of limited intelligence. What are your courts of law for ? Protecting thieves?"
    I snort. "I'll give you the history of our legal system another time." I bite my thumbnail. "For now I need to figure out what to do."
    "Well, I'd keep giving you advice, but apparently everything that makes sense is offensive to your courts."
    "Yeah, yeah." I stare at Chase. He catches my eye across the crowd and lifts his coffee in a mock salute, smiling his devilish smile. "Yeah, smile you handsome bastard. I'll get you yet." But inside, I'm feeling a storm of emotion. Shock. Confusion. And... anger. It's so easy to imagine Chase climbing across rooftops, his athletic body handling the jumps and drops with ease. So easy to