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“Your brother is the one who should be apologizing.” Unless you helped him escape. Mitch slid a glance her way. Everything had happened so fast that he still didn’t know for sure who had opened her kitchen door.
Big drops of rain splattered the windshield and thumped the cab’s roof. “Let’s get inside before it gets worse. Grab your stuff. I’ll snag the cat.”
He dashed through the raindrops, unlocked the dead bolts on the back door, and disabled the alarm. Cath stood in the empty kitchen, looking like an orphan in her ripped plaid jacket and dirty pants, her hair in a lopsided ponytail. A smudge sketched a shadow across one cheek. He lifted a hand and froze. What the hell did he think he was doing?
She swept a look around the deserted kitchen. “Isn’t anyone home?”
The smell of boiled crawfish lingered in the air, so someone had been here earlier. Mitch poked a head into the front hall and called out. No one answered. “I don’t know where everyone is. You can still get settled. In fact, that would be best.”
She could meet the rest of his family as necessary. Kurt had wanted him to befriend Cath only long enough to get information. He’d never mentioned bringing her home, and the others wouldn’t welcome her either. He’d have to do some fast talking, but he wasn’t backing down. He needed her help to find her brother, and Cath Hurley needed protection.
Mitch glanced at the carrier. “Best for Tiger too.”
She squatted to open the cage and snuggled the kitten against her chest. “Poor baby.”
The gentleness of her voice feathered across his raw nerves. He must be tired to notice something like that. “Tiger’s probably worried she’s going back to the pound.”
Cath had fed her pet some bacon and cheese from the burgers they’d picked up, but he opened the fridge and scanned the shelves. “You think she’s still hungry?”
“If you hadn’t been so obnoxious, I could have run into a grocery and gotten cat food.”
How’d she figure obnoxious? He’d ferried her to the dry cleaners, bought her supper, and brought her home. She’d even thanked him for the first two.
“It’s not as if I hadn’t asked you to stop.” She stood in the center of the kitchen stroking her pet and looking miffed.
He caught a whiff of the smoke still clinging to her hair. “Did it ever occur to you that whoever set fire to your place could have been following us?”
“Not really.” Tiger strained at her hold, but Cath held her fast. “I should have thought of that.”
A motor’s rumble penetrated the noise of the pounding rain and cut off directly outside.
“That’ll be Jack.” Mitch hefted the crate and stepped to the hall doorway. She’d meet Jack eventually, but he had been the least accepting of Mitch joining Big Easy Bounty Hunters. He was bound to have an opinion about this situation. “If you don’t want to meet him now, let’s go on upstairs.”
A door closed, and someone entered the porch.
“I’m going to meet him eventually.” Cath stared at the inside door. A key turned in the lock.
“Let’s go upstairs now.” Mitch switched hands and glanced at the stairs, but Cath didn’t move.
“Look who’s finally home.” Aunt Edi stepped into the kitchen, and her wrinkled face glowed. “Come give me a hug, Mitch. Where have you been the last two days?”
“I was home last night, but you were asleep.” Mitch set the crate down and gave her a gentle hug. “You know better than to worry about me.”
“But I do.” Aunt Edi shook her finger at him. “It’s force of habit. Hal told me about…”
Mitch caught her eye and shook his head. The less said about their abortive capture and Les Hurley in front of Cath, the better. “Hal’s back from the hospital?”
“He’s upstairs.” Jack stepped inside with a burst of cold air and set two grocery bags on the counter. “The painkillers knocked him out cold. Did you catch your skip?”
Mitch squeezed a fist inside his pocket. “I’ll tell you later.”
Jack’s gaze moved to Cath and her kitten. “Who’s this?”
“Be nice. She’s a friend of Mitch’s.” Aunt Edi removed her plastic foldable rain bonnet and shook off the water.
“He hasn’t been back in town long enough to make any.” Jack set a gallon of milk in the fridge.
Cath turned to Mitch and raised her brows. Dammit, Jack made her curious. Mitch jerked his jacket zipper closed. If she found out about his past, that would be one more thing she knew about him. One more way he would feel connected to her. He needed a stronger link to her like he needed an unarmed rifle in a firefight. Just ignoring the electricity sparking between them took too much of the energy he needed to do the job. “This is Cath Hurley, Les Hurley’s sister.”