roommate step out into the gathering dusk.
NICOLE USED HER one phone call to let her father know she was okay.
“I’ll get you out as soon as possible,” Vincent promised her. “I’m sorry, Nicole. This is more about me than you.”
“What do you mean?” Nicole felt a sudden rush of dread. Her father had just been released from prison. His health was not good. Was something else going on?
“I mean that you’ve been tarred with the brush of thief because of me,” he said slowly. “You’re accused because of me.”
“That’s not true! This isn’t about anyone except Angela Myers. She planted that earring in my trailer. I just don’t know why. What does she gain by getting me off the set? They’ll have to slow filming until they find a new double.”
There was a long silence on the other end. “We need to talk as soon as you get out,” Vincent said. “I’ll see if I can get Carlos on the phone. You’re going to need a lawyer and he’s one of the best.”
“We can’t afford Carlos,” Nicole said tersely. The last thing she needed to do was put her father under financial pressure. “This is a mistake. They’ll straighten it out.”
She heard the silence on her father’s end. She was echoing the words he’d said twenty years before when he’d been charged—and wrongly convicted—of the theft of the Dream of Isis. Back then, they’d both been certain that the authorities would rectify their tragic mistake. But they hadn’t, and Vincent had gone to prison for a long, long time.
“We can’t count on that,” Vincent said in a voice low and worried. “Talk to Carlos. He’ll help you say the right things. And don’t talk to the police. That was one of the biggest mistakes I made. Every single thing I said was twisted and turned against me.”
“I remember,” Nicole said. She’d been twelve, and it had been impossible to forget. Her beloved father, her only parent after her mother’s death when she was nine, had been painted as a thief all over town. The only thing that had saved her was that she’d gone to live with an aunt in Nebraska. She’d been able to leave the crime behind, sort of. Her father had never had that luxury.
“Promise me, Nicole,” Vincent said.
“I promise.” She hung up the phone and let the guard take her back to the cell she shared with three other women.
As soon as the door shut, one of the women nodded toward the top bunk. “My name is Connie, and you’ve got a visitor.”
Nicole looked up to see the green eyes of the cat staring at her. “What are you doing here?” she asked the cat.
“We don’t know,” Connie said. “He slipped in here, checked things out and then hopped into that bunk. He’s been watching, like he was expecting you. What kind of cat is he?”
Nicole couldn’t help but smile. She was in jail and what she’d done wrong wasn’t the question anyone was interested in.
“If I remember correctly, he was a stray that a veterinarian and his wife saved from animal experimentation. Then it turned out he’s smarter than your average person. He’s solved mysteries all over the world, and right now he’s working as a stunt double for a cat on a movie set.”
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Connie said, reaching up to stroke the cat. “What’s he doing here?”
“He works with me,” Nicole said, and for some reason she couldn’t explain, just having Familiar around made her feel a whole lot better.
“The guards won’t let you keep him,” Connie said. She leaned closer to Nicole. “Neither will Lizzie.” She nodded in the direction of a tall, muscular girl. “She doesn’t like cats or dogs or people.”
“I won’t be here that long,” Nicole said. “I’m innocent.”
The laughter from Lizzie and the as-yet-unidentified woman was loud and raucous. “Yeah, we’re all innocent, sweetheart.”
Nicole didn’t argue. She knew better. She’d been stupid to shoot her mouth off, as if these women really cared whether she was a thief or not.
“What are you charged with?” she asked Connie.
“Grand theft auto.” She looked down at the floor. “The car was mine. My boyfriend gave it to me for my birthday.”
“She didn’t get the paperwork, just the key. The car was never registered in her name,” Lizzie said, laughing. “Sucker.”
“I’m sure you’ll be able to explain it.” Nicole had enough on her plate.
“Kevin says he’s going to let me rot in here because I wanted to break up with him. He has the car and I’m stuck here. He says he has the best of both worlds.”
Nicole didn’t know what to say. “Did you get a lawyer?”
“Public defender, but he seems okay.” She finally looked up, pushing her hair out of her eyes. “Awful young to be a lawyer.”
“How old are you?” Nicole found herself asking, though she didn’t really want to know. She didn’t want to be involved at even the most basic level.
“Eighteen.”
“What about your parents?” she asked.
“What about them?” Connie’s bravado faded as quickly as it had come. “They’re in Arkansas. I haven’t talked to them since I left three years ago.”
“And you came out to L.A. to be an actress, right?” Nicole asked, feeling as if she’d dropped into the middle of a really awful B movie. Women in Prison or something like that.
“I know it sounds stupid, but I really can act.”
“And pigs can fly,” Lizzie said, creating another round of laughter.
The guard came for Nicole. “You’ve been bonded out,” he said.
“Just a minute,” Nicole said. She gave one desperate look around the cell, then leaned over to Connie and whispered something.
WHO WOULD HAVE THOUGHT I’d end up in a cell with four prisoners. But it could be worse. Nicole is drop-dead gorgeous and I get the feeling that Connie wouldn’t look half-bad if she had a little meat on her bones and some decent clothes. Now, that Lizzie is another matter. She’d scare the paint off a fence.
Nicole is getting out of here and I’m curious to see who made her bond. There’s another little matter to consider. I’m AWOL from the movie set and by now my humanoids have missed me. Maybe I should get on the phone to Eleanor and Peter and let them know where I am.
While I’m here, it might be a good idea for me to take a look at the report filed by the detective investigating the case. And I wonder who that might be? I guess I came off a little half-cocked, but I wanted Nicole to know she wasn’t alone. I don’t know why, but I thought that was important.
Here we go. She’s scooping me into her arms. Looks like we’re out of here. But she’s giving Connie a phone number to call. She’s going to help Connie, too. Now, that’s the ticket.
I hear the chow cart. I’d say let’s stay for a meal, but somehow I know better than to get my hopes up. I am a cat with discriminating taste, and prison food just doesn’t have the appeal that a steak does.
I have to say the checkout process is fast here. But look who’s come to take Nicole home. It sure isn’t her daddy. My, oh, my, I think there’s going to be some serious trouble.
Chapter Two
Jax saw Nicole balk as soon as she saw him. He hooked his boot heel on the chair rail and cocked a hip, playing it cool. What in the hell was he doing here? He’d acted on impulse, thinking that he’d sashay up to the jailhouse and get