Ariel and I walk back to her car. “So how’d you end up at the police academy?” I ask casually as she hands over her two kittens so she can drive.
A heavy sigh is followed by, “My Uncle Gary dared me. I went to college to become a librarian but halfway through decided I’d rather get married and have kids and read to them. When I announced this plan at my family graduation dinner, nobody approved. But Uncle Gary said if I went to the academy and passed, he would buy me a car and support my choice. I’m horrible with dares. I almost always take them because I convince myself that this is fate trying to communicate something to me.”
“So you have a serious boyfriend?” I don’t know why this news makes me mad. Maybe because he can’t be any good if he’s letting her traipse through graveyards without him.
“What? Oh no, no boyfriend. That was simply me announcing I was planning on finding one and settling down immediately.”
“So you’re not really planning on becoming a cop?” I ask with relief, which she quickly blows out of the water.
“Oh, well, you see… Uncle Gary is pretty smart. Because I’ve really been enjoying the academy. So, I think I might try it out for real when I graduate. I had it in my head that you had to be really big and tough to be a cop, but it turns out you don’t!” She turns to me with a sunny smile as the light turns red.
“It sure as fuck helps,” I mutter.
Ariel’s smile turns to a frown as we take the last turn before Mickey’s. “How are you going to drive a motorcycle with five kittens? Shouldn’t we be taking them somewhere first?”
“It’s fine. I live over the bar. Have done since I was seventeen. They can spend the night with me, and then we’ll get them over to the rescue center in the morning.”
She bites her lip as she turns off the engine. “Do you think maybe I could adopt one or two? I mean, I don’t have an apartment yet, but…”
I shake my head. “Candy Cane, they’ll be fine. You did right by them, and they’ll have good homes once the cops are done. I promise there will be more kittens in need when you’re ready with your own place and a job and all that other stuff.”
She sighs. “Do you need help getting them upstairs?”
“Naw, I’ve got this. But you can do one thing for me, Ariel.”
Her look of surprise at my using her real name is comically cute. “What?”
“Meet me at London Towing out by the highway when you’re done with your classes tomorrow. If you’re going to pursue a life fighting crime, you need to know how to defend yourself.”
She opens her mouth to protest, but I hold up my hand. “Really defend yourself, Candy Cane. Not that pansy-ass crap the police attempt before they just reach for a gun. You need to know you can get dirty and come out alive.”
She pales, swallows hard, and then nods. Her eyes are wide as saucers, so I’m not sure she’ll show.
“I’ll give you a status update on the kittens, too,” I promise to sweeten the pot.
3
The adrenaline from the evening’s excitement starts to leave my body as I drive home. I still haven’t decided if I’m going back to Stella’s apartment or home home, where my mother will frown and ask awkward questions.
At the critical intersection, I keep driving straight. The boys will be under supervision for tonight at least. Tomorrow is another story, so I’ll plan to head home in the morning. Stella gets back in two days, so her birds should be fine. Rocco the parrot is the needy one anyway, and he can come with me if he needs to.
Back in her quaint little apartment, I change out of the wet and dirty pajamas and into my only other choice of nightwear, an extra-long t-shirt. It’s thinner, and I brought it in case the apartment was too hot (it isn’t). Now I’m huddled under the covers trying to get warm and suddenly remembering what Howler first said to me. Something about Cooper and two weeks.What did he mean by that? I decide I will show up tomorrow evening and ask him. It’s time assertive Ariel stepped up once and for all.
I don’t know what I was expecting, but when I arrive at London Towing after the afternoon session at the academy lets out, I’m surprised. It turns out to be a neat and tidy auto repair shop with two tow trucks parked off to the side and a medium-sized fenced lot filled with organized rows of cars. I’m still in my cadet uniform. I’m not sure if it was because I didn’t want to have to change twice or if maybe it helps me feel a little more fierce. It sure as heck isn’t sexy.Which isn’t why you’re here, I remind myself sternly. Howler is way out of my league.
A huge white dog followed by the most adorable puppy trots across the front of the building and into the nearby woods. My heart has that ooey-gooey feeling it gets when I see something impossibly cute. I get out of the car in hopes that the momma dog and puppy will come back.
Instead, Howler steps out, wiping his big hands on a greasy rag. His bare chest is still on display, slightly smudged from the day’s work, which only draws my gaze to the definition of his abs. He eyes me up and down too with a small smirk. “I liked the flannel better, but the uniform is cute too.”
I try to glare at him, but it’s clearly a lost cause. “What did you mean last night when I found you? Something about Cooper and two weeks?”
Howler shakes his head with a closed expression. “Nothing important, Candy Cane. Come on, Marty said we could use the back patio area for this.” He leads the way around the building. There’s a nice mown lawn beneath a leafless apple tree with a small brick patio and a couple of chairs.
“Time you learned to fight dirty, Candy Cane.”
That’s all the warning I get before Howler picks me up and flips me over his shoulder. I squeal in surprise, but he simplyclamps one hand down on my leg and starts walking slowly towards the woods.
“Howler?” I call tentatively but with increasing uncertainty.
