Page 38 of Full Contact

A phone call woke me in the middle of the night. It was Anna. The time read one forty-seven a.m.

“I’m here,” I said.

“I’m sorry to wake you.”

I turned on the lamp and sat up. “Tell me.”

“I got up for water, and her dinner was still sitting there. She never went back for what she left at seven. She’s in the window bed, where she settled after dinner. She hasn’t moved. I offered her a treat just now.” A short pause. “She wouldn’t take it.”

“When did she last eat?”

“Breakfast, properly. A few bites at dinner. I thought she was sleeping off the courtyard, but she never goes back to bed hungry, Trier. She waits me out.”

“Has she moved at all since this afternoon?”

“She repositioned once. Around ten.”

“What happens when you go to her?”

“She lets me. She’s not trying to hide. She just—she’s not going anywhere. She looked at the treat and put her head back down.”

I pulled the hotel notepad toward me and uncapped the pen, writing down the information Anna gave me.

“Water?”

“I haven’t seen her drink. The bowl looks the same as when I filled it.”

“Litter box?”

“Used this morning. Nothing since I’ve been up.”

I wrote it down: breakfast, a few bites at dinner, no water observed, repositioned at ten. Anna answered every question in order, no guessing and no padding.

“Did you try Dr. Feld?”

“Just before I called you. The service paged her. I haven’t heard back.”

“Call the emergency hospital. The number’s in the folder.”

“I’ve got it open.”

“Call them. Tell them what you told me. I’ll find you another pair of hands,” I said.

“I’ll get the carrier out.” I heard her take a breath. “She wouldn’t even eat the salmon.”

My bag stood beside the dresser, packed for the morning flight. I put my feet on the floor. My cat was in Chicago, and I was in Boston.

Chapter six

Mark

The phone woke me, vibrating against the pillow. I had it in my hand before my eyes were all the way open. Trier’s name was on the screen, and under it the time: 12:54.

“I’m here,” I said.

“Peaches stopped eating. She won’t take a treat, and she isn’t drinking. Anna’s on the other line with the emergency hospital. They’re going to want her brought in.” He laid it out in order. “I need someone to drive them.”

“Where’s the hospital?”