Free How to Catch a Cat by Rebecca M. Hale Page A

entrance, she stuffed her raincoat into the stroller’s side pocket, a precaution against San Francisco’s unpredictable spring weather.
    As the niece nudged the stroller through the iron-framed doorway, the town car assigned to drive Monty to City Hall stopped in front of his art studio.
    He had offered several times to give the niece and her cats a ride to the office, but she had steadfastly refused. She shuddered to think of the gossip that would ensue if she arrived at City Hall in the same vehicle as her boss. She received enough attention for bringing the cats into work with her, but that had been one of the many conditions she’d negotiated for her short-term employment.
    As she set off down the street, Isabella’s guiding chirp floated up from the stroller. They had walked the route numerous times, but the cat never failed to issue her navigational commands. It was her duty to make sure the stroller didn’t veer off course.
    Rupert, meanwhile, snuggled into the carriage blankets, ready for his morning stroller snooze.
    The town car pulled up beside the niece at the first corner. The rear passenger window rolled down, and Monty stuck out his head.
    “Sure you don’t want a lift?” he asked brightly.
    Before the niece could answer, Isabella called out a negative reply.
    Even the cat was concerned about the damage that might be done to her reputation if she was seen riding in a car with Mayor Monty.
    “Mrao.”

Chapter 19
    FRIED CHICKEN DONUTS
     
    AFTER A TWO-MILE walk, Isabella announced their arrival at City Hall.
    “Wrao.”
    “Yes, I know,” the niece replied as she lifted the stroller up the building’s front steps. “We’re here.”
    Isabella pushed her head against the netting that covered the passenger compartment, trying to see out over the front of the carriage. A constant string of feline chatter warbled up from the stroller. So far, the niece had yet to tip over the contraption while the cats were inside it, but Isabella wasn’t taking any chances.
    A security guard pulled open the door and held it for the niece while she steered the carriage through. The green nylon cat stroller—and its feline occupants—were by now well known to the security staff.
    “Good morning, Rupert and Isabella,” the guard said as he swallowed a bite from his morning donut. He wiped powdered sugar from his lips and nodded to his colleague standing behind the security scanner inside.
    “Hardest-working cats I know.”
    The niece smiled her greeting and guided the stroller up to the security counter. The second guard waved the stroller through with only a quick glance at the interior.
    As the niece reached the opposite side of the scanner’s walk-through portal, the first guard bent toward the zipped netting and held out a small chunk of donut.
    “Hey, there, Rupert. You want to give this a try?”
    Hearing the cat’s lips smack with anticipation, the niece quickly intervened.
    “Sorry,” she said, rolling the stroller sideways to block the transfer. “That’s not on his diet.”
    The guard peered through the mesh cover and gave Rupert a conspiring wink.
    “That’s right, I forgot. I’ll have to get a
fried chicken
donut for you, won’t I, little buddy?”
    “How did you know about . . .” the niece began, but then stopped.
    With a sigh, she moved the stroller toward the main foyer.
    “Monty.”
    —
    MUTTERING ABOUT HER gossipy neighbor and the donut-pushing guard, the niece braked in front of the building’s first-floor elevator bank and pushed the call button for an upward-traveling cart.
    With a
ding
, the closest set of heavy metal doors slid open. The niece rolled the cats over the threshold and turned to wait for the unit to close.
    Before the panels could shut, a second woman strode briskly inside.
    “Morning, Wanda,” the niece said, suppressing a groan.
    Every morning, it seemed, she shared the elevator with the administrative assistant for the president of the board of