Free 2 CATastrophe by Chloe Kendrick Page B

throw dissension on the table. She walked out the door and drove away without another word.
    Instead I opted to call the cat rescue organization again. I hadn’t heard from them since I’d gone off to meet Dana Cavanaugh. I also hadn’t heard from the third person who had spoken to Adam Nelson about Dr. Vires’ death.
    The call went to voicemail again. I sat staring at the wall for some time, then I decided to mow the grass. That didn’t sound like a major ordeal, but it was to me. I had been hiding behind the things that kept attention from me. No one would look at Griff if they were obsessed about his tall grass instead. No one would look at my face if my thrift store clothes were the focus of attention. I liked it that way, but as I dealt with more people, I found myself being called out on these behaviors by those who bought into the norms of society. Sheila was apparently one of those, because she continued to challenge me to drop the facades I’d put over me to keep myself invisible. I wasn’t sure of what the endgame would be with her requests. Did she want me normal, so that we could date? Or perhaps she was just making me dateable for someone else. I wasn’t sure, but so far I had not made any changes to my appearance or to that of the house that could not be set right with the passage of a few weeks. So I wasn’t out much in trying something new.
    As I pushed the mower across the lawn, I reflected on all that I’d done recently which was new. Part of me was changing. I was still Griff, the guy who made a living speaking to animals and who lived in fear of being stolen away by unknown persons. However, some of the rough edges that I’d allowed to grow up over the years, mainly to my introverted personality, were beginning to smooth down. I wasn’t ready to go to a salon for my hair or shop at Dolce and Gabbana, but I was more willing to go into groups of people without wanting to shut down and hide in the bathroom. I was able to talk to strangers in the name of business or in the name of investigating a crime.
    I still wasn’t sure how I felt about this as I finished the lawn and put the mower back in the garage. One of the neighbors waved at me, which was a first. Perhaps they were engaging in behavior modification, rewarding me with smiles if I gave them a freshly cut lawn. It might work better one someone who hadn’t trained dogs and cats.
    I still didn’t have a message from the rescue center when I entered the house. I opted to take a shower and remove the grime from me. There was still no message when I returned to the living room. I decided to check their website to see if anything was going on that I should know about. They were having an adoption event the following day. I decided I would go to that event if I hadn’t heard from them by that point.
    I felt totally at loose ends. Miller had been my only client of the week. He’d paid in advance, which meant that I had the money I needed to meet my budget this week. I hadn’t scheduled anyone else, since Miller was expecting me to follow him all day, every day. Given the circumstances and his wealth, he’d paid very well for my time, so I had no need to scrounge up another client this week.
    I was forbidden from working on the current investigation. I had no desire to go to jail for obstruction of justice, especially when I had no formal position that would allow me access to any information. I’d done pretty much all that I could on this particular case – except for finding out the source of the double cat entry in the microchip database. However, I was still waiting for the rescue organization to call me back.
    I looked at the police file on my sister again. I had resisted the urge to read the file up to this point, mainly because I’d been angry and busy. Now I was neither. Green had apologized for her indiscretion, and I was unsure what to do. Boredom and I were not good roommates.
    I debated a little more, but made a cup of tea as I