Page 64 of Stalked By Shadows

He turned up the volume and restarted his Justin playlist. At least there was a little Maroon5 mixed in. I hid my grin and went back to cleaning up shelves and organizing stock in between helping customers, while watching him sway sexily to the music.

Sky took a handful more Tarot customers, and I danced with Micah around the shop. The scent of incense was becoming familiar and I really was starting to know where things were. Watching Micah’s cute little ass wiggle around the store turned me on and made me smile all at once. He wasn’t focusing on the one terrible event of the day, which I thought was a step in the right direction.

A text noisily interrupted the music and was persistent enough that Micah finally had to check it. He stared at the phone for a minute, then glared.

“What?”

He held up his phone and in a text from Tim was a little video of the front of Micah’s house. A giant orange tabby cat wove through the garden décor of cats like he owned the place.

“Huh… No wonder Jet was hissing and spitting. That tom is encroaching on his territory.” I took the phone and zoomed in and out to watch the cat.

“A cat did not rattle the doorknob,” Micah said, indignant, his cheeks pink.

“Maybe not, but this guy may have knocked the gnomes over. I wonder if he belongs to one of your neighbors.” I thought back to the first night and the horrible noises coming from outside. A cat? Maybe. Somehow, I didn’t think what Micah had been hearing for the past two years was a cat, following him from place to place. Though having a more benign answer certainly eased some of the stress of worry over him being home alone at night. “Maybe Jet wants a friend.”

Micah folded his arms across his chest and frowned. “Tim probably thinks I’m some total moron.”

“Does it matter?” I asked. “Is he going to stop showing up when you call?”

“No,” Micah admitted. “Probably not.”

“Then he’s a friend and that’s all that matters.” I turned off the video and handed the phone back to Micah. “We’ll have to plant some catnip in your garden to keep your visiting friend stoned. All is well.”

“Jerk,” Micah grumbled. “I haven’t simply been hearing a cat in my garden.”

“No,” I agreed. “Maybe not only him, but he might be part of the problem. The yowling could have been him the other night. Or another cat in heat.”

He crossed his arms over his chest and looked away from me. The mask was back and impenetrable.

“Don’t be mad at me,” I said. “I’m not doubting you. Hell, I heard stuff too. Was it all this tom? Maybe? Does it matter? That thing outside, whatever it is, you said it’s deterred by Jet, right?” At his nod I continued. “So maybe having this big orange brat wandering about will help keep it away too.”

Micah dry washed his face with his hands. He looked tired.

“Don’t be like that. Don’t dwell on this. Whatever it is. Good, bad, or nothing.” I snatched the phone back from him, plugged it in to the speaker, and hit his playlist again. “Dance with me.”

“You’re an awful dancer,” Micah said.

“I know but didn’t you say something about training?”

He let out a dramatic put-upon sigh. “Try not to step on my feet,” he said and proceeded to try to teach a soldier with two left feet how to dance.

We closed the shop at nine without any fanfare. Micah put the cash in a safe in the back, we armed the alarm, and locked the door. Sky had left a half an hour earlier, eager to be somewhere more exciting on a Saturday night I was sure. I carried Micah’s bags from earlier in the day as we headed toward his house.

“Shop is closed tomorrow.”

“Yeah? For church reasons?”

“Nah, ‘cause even I need a day off. I find people are less offended by the store being closed on a Sunday because they think it’s church related, not an ‘I’m staying in bed’ thing.”

“Smart,” I nodded. He let us in through the gate and down the path. Nothing was out of place, but now that I knew there was a resident yard cat of the real variety, I was a little less intimidated by the shadows.

“So listen…” Micah began.

My gut clenched. “Is this the ‘it’s-not-you-it’s-me’ speech?”

Micah laughed and shook his head. “Wow, you’re quick with the snark. No. I’m thinking that maybe we can take a break tonight? I could use some time in my own head. There’s been so much going on, and I need to sort it all out.”

“Oh, of course.” I held out the bags of stuff for him. “You’re not going to do anything crazy like go examine graves in exclusive graveyards or dig through a newly dead lady’s trash for clues of what she stole from said graveyard?”