Page 55 of Cats Never Fly

“Good.Everythingis as it should be.”Ogdengrinned as he twisted the door handle.

Hebeckoned everyone inside to a small landing.Tothe right was another door and in front of us was a steep set of stairs going up to the second floor.

“Let’sgo this way,”Ogdensaid, opening the door. “Myoffice is down here.Wecan collect the security footage first.”

Thedoor led to a dark narrow hallway with another couple of doors along its length.Ogdenstopped at the first door.Onceagain, he tapped something into a pin pad and scanned his finger.Assoon as the door opened, though,Ogdengasped.

Vanshoved him aside, right into my arms.HeandDilloncharged into the room, while theAspenBaypolice officers crowded around us in a protective stance.Unableto curb my curiosity, even though it warred with my carefully nurtured need to preserve my nine,Icraned my neck to peer over the officers’ shoulders soIcould see what was going on.Someonehad trashed the place.Furniturewas tipped over, papers were strewn everywhere, and paintings were ripped from the walls.Imay not have knownOgdenlong, butIknew this was not his doing.Hewas too particular to leave his office in a shambles like this.

“Clear,”Vansaid a few seconds later.Theirsearch hadn’t taken long because the office wasn’t much bigger than the galley kitchen in my tiny apartment. “Ogden, can you come in here?”

Ogdenpushed through the others and stepped into the room.Hepressed his hands to his chest as if it pained him.Scalesrolled out over the backs of his hands and up his forearms, betraying how close to the surface his dragon was.

Ifollowed atOgden’sheels, desperately wishingIcould draw him into my arms and haul him out of here.Hadn’the been through enough?ExceptIknew hewouldn’t want that.Notright now.He’dwant to find whoever had made him a target.

“Itake it you didn’t leave the room looking like this?”Vanasked.

“Ofcourse not,”Ogdensnapped.Afew sparks and a curl of smoke exploded from his mouth to punctuate his words.Thenhe muttered something in a languageIdidn’t know and rushed to a painting on the floor.Thecanvas had a bunch of small holes, as if someone had repeatedly stabbed it with a pen.

“Don’ttouch anything,”Vancommanded.

Ogdenstopped and spun around to face the hellhound.Hisscowl was fierce.Scalescovered every bit of his exposed skin now.Hiseyes had transitioned to his beast’s.Helooked angrier thanMamahad whenCliveandWarrenhitchhiked to the coast because they wanted to see if fish straight out of the ocean tasted better.They’donly been fourteen.

Iducked down to make myself a little smaller.Ogdenwouldn’t hurt me.Ijust knew he wouldn’t.ButIdidn’t want to get accidentally caught in the middle of something if my dragon went after the hellhound.ThenIwatched to see what would happen next.

Ogdenwas absolutely gorgeous like this.We’dbeen under the moonlight the last timeI’dseen his scales, soIhad paid little attention to them.Okay, soI’dalso been convinced he was going to take one of my nine, so that’d been a bit distracting too.Butthey were beautiful—hewas beautiful.

Mostof his scales were blue, reminding me of the flowers inMama’sgarden.Shealways called themBachelorButtons.Iremembered the name becauseIcouldn’t imagine anyoneIknew—man or woman—wearing a button that looked like that.Hisscales had a slight ridge that caught the light and appeared to change color, making them switch from the darkest navy to the palest sky blue.Theyhad a soft sheen that made them look like polished leather.Scaleslike that weren’t for decoration;Ibet they’d be nearly impenetrable, which might come in handy if he went for the hellhound.

“We’llsee if we can get some prints off it,” the hellhound said, not intimidated byOdgen’sanger.

“Thatpainting is worth more than your annual salary,”Ogdensaid. “Keepthat in mind when you do whatever you are going to do to it.”

Myeyebrows rose.Whatwas something like that doing in this dingy office?Andwasn’t it destroyed now?Bythe lookOgdenwas leveling atVan, though, he seemed to think it could still be saved.

“Isanything missing?”Vanasked.

Ogdenhuffed as he waved his hand at the mess. “Ihave no idea.”

Vanfrowned but said nothing.

“Theart pieces were the most valuable things in here,” he said as he scanned the jumble on the floor. “Therewas this one and…Oh, there it is.”Hepointed to the corner of another gilt frame peeking out from under a bunch of paper. “Thereis the other.Idon’t know why someone would do all of this and not take the paintings.”

“Unlessthey didn’t know their worth,”Vansaid.

“Thesecurity footage?” one of theAspenBayofficers asked from the hallway. “Yousaid that was in here too?”

Ogdenpointed to the corner of the room.Vanpulled on latex gloves, then started sifting through the mess in the corner to unearth the security system.Itonly took a moment to realize it wasn’t there.

“Sothat’s what they were after,”Dillonsaid.

Vanshook his head. “Idon’t think that was all, though.Itwould have been easy to come in and grab that without causing all this…”Vangestured to the room. “Theywere looking for something.Thequestion is whether or not they found it.”

“Orthey were just angry,”Dillonsuggested quietly.

“Whohas access to this room?”Vanasked.

Ogdensucked in a deep breath. “Onlyme andWesley.”