Cat:Haveyou left your room?
I dreaded that question.
Me:Yes.
I didn’t want to give her the satisfaction of more Sybil-improving info. Cat seemed to sense this and gave my message a thumbs up without further reply.
I tucked my phone back into my pocket, taking my coffee to bed with me. Crawling in, I hauled the heavy blankets up. I imagined myself looking like a sardine in a can, curling the lid back on. It was time to marinate.
Reaching for the remote, I turned on the TV and sank into a Monday morning episode of Golden Girls. I needed to disassociate and put this morning’sevent on the back burner.
CHAPTER 25
Nash
Bee entered my home office late Monday afternoon. I’d been fielding phone call after phone call from home; the PERL auction ticket garnering a growing amount of interest. The news of the theft had gone global by now, and the panic for collectors to get their piece of PERL had multiplied tenfold.
I’d barely left my office all day and was eager to know if Sybil was alright, but I also wanted to respect her solitude. She undoubtedly needed to digest our moment together this morning. I wanted her to feel comfortable, not pressured.
Bee let out an exasperated puff of air, slumping into the leather chair opposite my desk. “I have found absolutely nothing to suggest any of our suspects are PERL.” She grumbled.
“Nothing?” I asked.
Her forehead fell into her hands. “I’ve been hunting downevery one of the PERL patrons on the list, and none of them are giving off any red flags.” She let out a long, frustrated breath. “Most of them are shit artists, and they don’t seem to have color issues—style issues,yes.Color?No.”
I chuckled.
“Do you know how hard it is to fake interest in bad art?” She glowered. “That’s what I’ve reduced myself to, Nash.”
Her hair was a complete disaster. She still wore the pajamas from last night; little tufts of cat fur covered her chest. She put her feet up on my desk. It looked like she was wearing cat socks with little calico cats all over them.
I pointed at her feet. “What are those?”
She looked where I pointed. “Socks.”
“With Mr. Beans on them?”
She chuffed. “Yeah, so?”
“It’s only been a day, literally.”
“So what? Prime overnight shipping. Mr. Beans is my new boyfriend, and I love him.”
I smiled. “Has Sybil emerged?”
She shook her head. “What happened? Why is she all tucked away in there? I brought her some food at one point, but she didn’t answer, so I left it. I took Bill out when he was scratching once, but didn’t see her then, either.”
I couldn’t help my sly smirk.
“What did you do?” She pulled her feet down, leaning forward and shooting daggers with her gaze. “You weren’t inappropriate with her, were you? You know how I feel about men overstepping.”
“Me? Of course not.” I was a little hurt she’d think that. “But her?Well…”
Her eyebrows shot through the roof. “She made a move onyou?No. Not Sybil. How?” I could see her wheels whir to life.
I cut my hand through the air, trying to stop her racing thoughts. “Nothing like I’m sure you’re thinking. She just fell asleep and latched onto me like her life depended on it. It was harmless. Cute, but harmless. I think she was just searching for a comfortable place to sleep, and I was it.”
“Right, and I’m sure you let her, of course you did. You know, the gentlemanly thing would have been to set her back where she was and tuck her in.”
