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Saturday’s were my favorite days.  Sleeping in, followed by a long run and a hot shower before having breakfast with my favorite man and best friend, Andy.  Today was no different.  On my way down the stairs of my apartment building, I had waved to Ms. Winter as she pulled her little terrier short on his leash so he couldn’t nip at my ankle.  He and I knew the game, but Ms. Winter really didn’t know she had a tiger living on her roof.

Now, sweaty and panting from the heat, I trotted back up the stairs.  I was halfway up the last flight when the scent washed over me.  Stumbling to a halt, I breathed it in even though my enhanced senses didn’t need any clarification.  Blood.  So sweet and fresh that the deep breath caused the metallic taste of it to coat my tongue.

There was only one apartment above Ms. Winter’s landing.  Mine.  It had been empty when I’d locked it on my way out.  Obviously, it wasn’t now.  With shaking hands, I picked up my phone and hit the speed dial.

“Yo ho, Tigger.  I’m not late and unless you skipped your run, you’re not ready.  Please don’t tell me I’ve driven in from the boonies just so you can cancel on me.”

Andy’s accent was thick as honey, but his tone held cheer like always.  When Andy lost his cheerful good fellow tone, things were bad.  I wondered if I was about to see how fast that could happen.

“Andy…”  I hesitated and had to clear my throat.  God, the rich smell of blood was almost too much.  “Andy, there’s blood in my apartment.”

“Where are you, Tig?”  Just like that, my laughing friend was gone and the investigator was in his place.

“Halfway up the landing.  I stopped as soon as I smelled…”

“Okay, stay put.  I’m going to put you on hold and call Beau to call the police.  I won’t be but a second.”

Leaning against the wall, I braced myself against the temptation.  Slowly, I began mentally counting the seconds.  It was less than a minute, but felt like an eternity when Andy’s voice came back on the line.

“I’m turning into your complex right now.  The guard waved me right through.  Stay put and I’ll be right there.  Whatever you do, don’t go in that room without the authorities.”

“And why would I go in that room?  Hello, I wasn’t born yesterday….”

Then it hit me.  Trouble.  Trouble was my cat.  I know, it seemed ironic to have a cat when I was one, but I had found her curled up on my rooftop patio when I’d moved in.  She was too cold, hungry, and desperate to have any self-preservation left so had moved right on in.

I had gone up two more steps before I’d consciously taken a step.

“Tig, I mean it.”

Andy’s tone hardened and the good fellow mask he wore faded away.

“Trouble’s in there, Andy.  I can’t…I’ve got to make sure she’s okay.”

“Tig, I’m parking outside.  Give me three minutes and I’ll be right there.   I’m…”

I flipped the phone shut and slipped it back onto the plastic holster clipped to the belly band holding my keys.  I had the keys into the lock without realizing I’d reached the landing.  The scent of blood was breaking my concentration and giving the tiger more power than she usually had.  Pushing the door open, I heard the doors crash open three floors below.

“Tig!”

Ignoring the thundering of Andy’s feet on the stairs, I stepped into chaos.  My foyer was exactly as I’d left it except there was a pair of keys in the crystal bowl that hadn’t been there before.  Add that to the large pair of men’s dress shoes sitting politely by the shoe rack under the foyer table and I knew whoever had done this wasn’t an amateur.  Someone had gone though a lot of trouble to make it look like I’d lost control of my beast and done the unthinkable.

“Trouble?”

For the first time in three years, the little gray tabby didn’t rush to meet me at the door.  While I prayed she was hiding under the bed or above the refrigerator, the apartment was too still for it to be true.  The first tear slid down my cheek as a panting Andy practically fell on the landing.  Turning to face him, I was careful not to touch anything that might hold a fingerprint.

“Did you touch anything?”

He was panting from running up the stairs and his dark hair looked like he’d found a tornado on the way.  His tone was hard and demanding as his gaze swept the foyer and great room beyond.

Mutely, I shook my head and tried not to breathe in the smell of carnage.  Andy’s grey eyes were flinty as his gaze latched onto the keys and froze.

“Did you have a visitor?”

“You know I don’t bring humans home, Andy.”

A ghost of a smile tipped his lips as he slid his arm around me urging me back out onto the landing as the first strains of a police siren reached my ears.

“Yeah, right.  You’re just trying to make me feel better because it isn’t me lying in there all mauled and happy.”

It was such an outrageous comment that I had to stare at him a moment before realizing he was trying to make me feel better.  Trust Andy to find a way to make a joke before they hauled me off in a collar and leg irons.

Instead of laughter, I choked back a sob and closed the distance between us.  Without having to say anything, his arms wrapped around me and he pulled me close.  I barely felt his kiss on my temple as he promised it would all go away.

I’d never wanted to believe anything so much.  I also knew a lie when I heard one.