Free Woof at the Door by Laura Morrigan Page B

passageway, released the ropes on the other side, and lowered
     the second door into place.
    Kai watched me thoughtfully. “The double doors are obviously a security precaution.
     Were both of these doors open when you came in?” he asked.
    “Yes.”
    “So, chances are, the person who opened them was familiar with both the cat and how
     to operate the doors.”
    I nodded. “It would be stupid to open the enclosure and free a jaguar you had no control
     over.”
    Kai picked up a stainless case I assumed contained a bunch of crime-solving paraphernalia,
     and we started through the house. As we moved past the loitering police officers who
     were standing around the living room, I tried to catch snippets of conversation. Hearing
     a familiar gruff curse, I caught sight of Jake standing near the foyer. He was talking
     on the phone, and he was not a happy Yankee.
    In fact, I’m sure he was muttering a curse in Italian, or a North Americanized version,
     at least.
    He saw us approach and said, “Look,
sir
, I know you want this case closed and I’m doing—” Jake pressed his lips together
     tightly. He started turning an unhealthy shade of red. “How about next time there’s
     a warrant to search someone’s house with a
lion
in it, I’ll let you do the honors?” He slapped the phone closed so hard I wondered
     if it was still in one piece. “Chief wants to hand this thing to the governor wrapped
     up in a pretty little bow.”
    “We can’t just wave a magic wand and make evidence appear,” Kai said.
    Jake’s gaze settled on me. “We’ve still got one more place to look before we have
     to cut Walker loose. Grace, can you come back tomorrow and make sure no one gets mauled?”
    I nodded, and Jake’s phone rang. Guess it wasn’t broken after all.
    Jake moved back into the house. Before he was out of range, I heard him say, “Yeah,
     but I’m still going to nail Walker’s ass for reckless endangerment.”
    Kai and I walked through the foyer and stopped at the front door to let two uniformed
     officers past. Through the open doorway, I saw half a dozen or more news vans crowding
     the street.
    I was glad Kai had parked his truck inside the perimeter. The last thing I wanted
     to do was fight my way through a crowd of reporters.
    “How’d the media know to come here?” I asked.
    “Scanners. I’m sure someone overheard what was going on with Charm. A wild jaguar
     on the loose. A famous football player suspected in the murder of the governor’s son.
     It’s a reporter’s dream.”
    I folded my arms and glared at the crowd. This was not good. LaBryce would be put
     on trial by the media before he was even charged. I had to think of a way to explain
     that he was innocent. But how? I’d thought myself around in this circle all night
     and was starting to feel like a hamster. Running, running, running on the wheel . . .
     never getting anywhere.
    I was so caught up in the merry-go-round in my mind that I barely noticed Kai pulling
     on a new pair of latex gloves. Then I felt something brush my backside.
    “What the—” I spun to face him. “What are you doing?”
    “Collecting evidence.”
    I stared at him doubtfully. “From my . . .”
    He held up the hairs he’d pulled from my dress. “We collected hairs very similar to
     these from Mark’s body. Hold still.”
    Kai placed his case on the ground, opened it, and grabbed a bag. He knelt down beside
     me and carefully began brushing more hairs off into the bag. I felt myself tense in
     response to the way his hand seemed to linger longer than it needed to. Normally this
     sort of liberty would infuriate me. I waited for the glacial calm to descend, for
     the biting comment to come to my lips, but instead, I felt a stir of heat where he
     had touched me.
    “Sorry. I just need enough to do a comparison.” He was still kneeling at my hip, and
     when he grinned up at me, his eyes held just enough glimmer to tell me he’d gotten
     more than