“Ky checked in, too.” Rojas’s cadence remained concise, friendly. Someone only partially listening in wouldn’t be alerted to the more serious topic by a change in tone or volume. He just carried on like they were still chatting about cat fingers and dog training. “The current person of interest appears to be clean on the surface, but Ky’s gut says there’s something shady. He wants to dig, but it’d help if our lady friend can remember exactly which files she worked with in the last few days.”
They weren’t mentioning Sophie’s name specifically. Someone monitoring the conversation directly would be able to figure out what they were talking about, but they were avoiding key words like names to circumvent software monitoring any number of conversations at a time “fishing” to find theirs.
“I’ll ask and send a follow-up.” Forte could access a virtual private network and send a secure update once he’d prompted Sophie to see what she could remember. Most likely, she’d be able to recall the exact names.
“Copy.” Rojas paused. “The cat have a name yet?”
“No.” Forte watched as the feline in question finally finished her grooming for the time being and hopped down off the laundry machine. “But we’re going to need to come up with one soon.”
The cat approached Haydn slowly, wary but not electrified for the moment. Her steps were fluid as opposed to the stiff-legged way she’d walked past him on their first meeting. Inch by inch, she approached until she was almost nose to nose with the dog.
Haydn, for his part, had stood his ground and allowed the feline to approach. Presented with the current challenge, he lowered his nose for a sniff.
“It looks like there’s an understanding between the feline and canine elements.” Forte chuckled. He’d have worked with them until there’d at least been a truce in which Haydn would leave the cat alone, but it would be better if they could get along. Sophie would enjoy the stay more if there was goodwill among furry things.
Rojas grunted. “Oh boy. We’ll have to see if the new cat can make friends with Souze and Atlas, too. It might be a regular visitor.”
Having fully sniffed Haydn over, the cat wandered out of the laundry room to explore the rest of the cabin. Haydn looked up at Forte once, then followed after the feline.
“Cat certainly handles big dogs well.” Forte turned to watch the pair methodically explore their new domain. “It’s got a healthy fear of them in the beginning, but then it figures out which ones will or won’t present a threat.”
“Is it fully clawed?” Rojas asked.
“Yeah.” Forte had checked back at the cat café when Sophie had made the decision to adopt it. “Spayed, but all claws are intact.”
Rojas grunted. “It can give out its own warning if it has to, then. We’ll just have to make sure it isn’t enough of a brawler to take out a dog’s eye.”
Atlas and Souze were each well-trained and exceptionally good at their work. They, like Haydn, would leave something alone no matter how tempting it was if commanded to leave it. So then it was on the handlers to make sure the cat didn’t take advantage of the situation and permanently harm one of the dogs.
“I’ll keep watch on things here.” Forte acknowledged the caution. It was worth keeping in mind.
“Sounds good.” Rojas sighed. “I can think of a certain child who will most definitely want to go to the same place and adopt a cat, too, if this works out.”
Ah. “Sorry, man.”
Rojas currently rented the house on Hope’s Crossing Kennels land, but as part of the agreement, the rental payments were tracked and would be applied toward the cost if Rojas ever exercised the option to buy the house and the small plot of land it was standing on permanently.
“No use making a decision until I’m faced with the request.” Rojas’s tone had turned wry.
“I’ll follow up with the info for you.” Forte wanted to wrap up. Haydn was standing at one of the front windows in the sitting area, and the cat was on the windowsill. Both of them were staring at something outside. “I’m guessing we’ve got a late breakfast being delivered.”
And if it was something else, he’d need his full attention to handle it.
*
Sophie took a quick shower, promising herself a long bath later when she saw the cute tray of teakwood holding a selection of carefully labeled bath salts. The bathroom had a separate shower and large soaking tub, big enough for two. Another thoughtful addition to the bathroom was a semi-permanent partition, making the toilet a bit more separate from the rest of the bathroom. It wasn’t common, not even in modern hotels, but she did go on the occasional long weekend, and she loved hotels that included this in their floor plans.
Maybe it was a weird thing to notice, but any particular features that enhanced comfort were the things she remembered about staying at a particular place.
There were apple-scented candles in the bathroom, too, and she thought they’d be nice to light so she could turn the artificial lighting off when she took her bath.