Kittens and Killers Read online

  Kittens and Killers – A Norwegian Forest Cat Café Cozy Mystery – Book 12

  by

  Jinty James

  Copyright © 2021 by Jinty James

  All rights reserved

  No part of this publication may be copied, reproduced in any format, by any means, electronic or otherwise, without prior consent from the copyright owner and publisher of this book.

  This is a work of fiction. All characters, names, places and events are the product of the author's imagination or used fictitiously

  Table of Contents

  Copyright Page

  DEDICATION

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  CHAPTER 1

  CHAPTER 2

  CHAPTER 3

  CHAPTER 4

  CHAPTER 5

  CHAPTER 6

  CHAPTER 7

  CHAPTER 8

  CHAPTER 9

  CHAPTER 10

  CHAPTER 11

  CHAPTER 12

  CHAPTER 13

  EPILOGUE

  Sign up for Jinty James's Mailing List

  Also By Jinty James

  DEDICATION

  To my wonderful Mother, Annie, and AJ

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  THANK YOU, DARLA, FOR inspiring me, and for answering my questions.

  Thanks to Gail for answering my questions over numerous books.

  CHAPTER 1

  ED CLEARED HIS THROAT. “What do you think about hosting a cat adoption day?”

  “What an awesome idea!” Zoe beamed.

  Lauren Crenshaw blinked. The three of them – four, including Annie, her silver-gray tabby, stood at the counter of Lauren’s coffee shop, the Norwegian Forest Cat Café.

  Located in the small town of Gold Leaf Valley, Northern California, it was a popular spot for locals to relax while enjoying their lattes and cupcakes – as well as the attentions of Annie, a Norwegian Forest Cat herself.

  “Brrt!” Annie agreed with Zoe.

  Lauren had expected Ed, her amazing pastry chef who made Danishes like a dream, to say he’d made one of his favorites, honeyed walnut, this morning, or he thought he’d whip up a double batch of cherry pinwheels. But hosting a cat adoption day hadn’t even entered her mind.

  Ed looked anxious. A man of few words, with monster rolling pins for arms, he didn’t often ask for a favor.

  “The shelter where I volunteer has had a lot of kittens come in recently. They know that your customers love cats, and thought they might have more success rehoming the little ones if you hosted the event here.”

  “What’s involved?” Lauren snatched a glance at her practical white wristwatch. It was Tuesday morning and five minutes until opening time.

  “The shelter will provide the cages and all you need to do is to give every prospective adopter a questionnaire to fill in. Then you check it against the required answers the shelter will give you. They said they’ll try to get a volunteer to help you run the event, who can organize everything else, and look after the adoption fees.”

  “We’ll definitely do it!” Zoe grinned. After a moment, she added, “Won’t we, Lauren?”

  Lauren loved her cousin, but sometimes she could be impulsive.

  “How long will the event run for?” Lauren wanted to know.

  “A few hours,” Ed replied. “Then we’ll take the kittens that didn’t get adopted back to the shelter.”

  “Ooh, are you going to sell anything here for the prospective parents?” Zoe’s brown eyes lit up. “Like cat food, cat carriers, cat toys, blankets—”

  “That’s a good idea.” Ed nodded. “I’ll check with my supervisor. They sure could use some extra money.”

  “How much is the kitten adoption fee?” Lauren asked, knowing she was going to agree to the proposal.

  “One-hundred-and-twenty dollars per kitten. It covers the cost of their neutering, vaccinations, all that stuff.”

  “And your volunteer is going to look after the cash?” Lauren checked.

  “Yeah – if the shelter can spare anyone. A few people have either been off sick or on vacation, so they’re even more shorthanded than usual. If we can organize the event for the afternoon, I can come in extra early, get all my baking done, and then be on hand with the kittens.”

  “It sounds perfect,” Zoe enthused.

  “Brrt!” Yes!

  “It does,” Lauren admitted. “Okay, let’s do it.” She paused. “When is it?”

  “Thursday?” He sounded hopeful.

  “In two days’ time?” Lauren stared at him.

  “Unfortunately, the other place that agreed to host it pulled out yesterday afternoon. And the shelter is worried if we can’t rehome some of the kittens, there won’t be enough room for the incoming animals who need help.”

  “I understand.” Lauren nodded. The local animal sanctuary was no kill, not for profit, and run by dedicated volunteers, Ed being one of them.

  “Thanks.” Ed gave her a grateful smile. “I’m sure everything will run smoothly.”

  TWO DAYS LATER, THE café teemed with customers – and kittens.

  Zoe had made posters advertising the adoption day, and all their regulars came in to see the kittens.

  They’d decided to hold the occasion after the lunch rush, but a lot of customers lingered, wanting to see the cats.

  “Where’s Ed?” Lauren chewed her lip. She and Zoe were slammed making lattes, cappuccinos, and mochas, as well as serving Lauren’s cupcakes and Ed’s popular Danishes. At this rate, they’d sell out of everything well before closing.

  “Coming right now.” Zoe’s brunette pixie bangs looked a little disheveled as she plated a blueberry crumble cupcake.

  The swinging kitchen doors behind them opened with a creak to reveal Ed.

  “I’ve made an extra batch of honeyed walnut,” he said gruffly. “Is Rebecca from the shelter here?”

  “No.” Lauren finished off a latte with a swan design. The advanced latte art course and she and Zoe had taken a while ago had really paid off.

  “But everyone else seems to be.” Zoe nodded to the crowd. Annie continued to seat each person who came through the door, a particular draw of the café, but soon she would have to group strangers together.

  “She’s usually punctual.” He looked worried.

  “Why not give her a call?” Lauren suggested, steaming the milk for the next order.

  “Yeah.” He dug his phone out of his jeans’ pocket.

  He took a few steps away as he spoke into the device.

  “She’s on her way.” He looked relieved as he put away his phone.

  “Good.” Lauren smiled.

  “Let me bus the tables for you.” He strode over to a large table where four women seemed to have finished their beverages and chatted to each other.

  “Brrt?” Annie trotted up to the counter.

  “I’m sorry it’s so busy,” Lauren told her fur baby. “You know you can go home if it gets too much for you, or take a break in your cat bed.” She nodded to the pink basket on a low shelf, out of the way.

  “Brrp.” Annie dipped her head in a little nod.

  Lauren glanced around the café. The sight of the pale yellow walls, and pine tables and chairs usually filled her with pleasure. She hoped everything would run smoothly. If they continued to be as busy as they were now, Ed might have to handle the whole adoption process.

  “Have we got enough coffee beans?” Zoe muttered to Lauren, picking up a tray loaded with three cappuccinos and three cinnamon swirl cupcakes.

  Lauren eyed the hopper, the level dangerously low.

  “We’ve got more out back.”

  The scent of the spiced hazelnut and chocolate notes from the beans lifted her senses.

  “Good.” Zoe departed to a t
able at the rear.

  A woman who appeared to be in her early forties entered the café, looking flustered. Her brown hair was cut in a simple chin length style, and she wore a practical outfit of dark slacks and a blue sweater. Lauren gave her a welcoming smile as she finished off a tulip design on a latte.

  “Can I help you?” she called over the buzz of conversation.

  “Is Ed here?” The woman came over. “I was told to meet him here for the adoption afternoon. I’ve got the kittens in the car.” She gestured to a station wagon parked right outside, the windows down.

  “He’s over there.” Lauren nodded toward the rear, where they’d set up a separate area for the cats. She hoped the bustle of the customers wouldn’t prove too overwhelming for them.

  The woman waved to Ed, who hurried over to greet her.

  “Lauren, this is Rebecca,” Ed told her, his short auburn hair sticking up as usual. “She’s a volunteer at the shelter.”

  “Nice to meet you.” Lauren smiled. “If it’s too noisy in here for the kittens, maybe you could host the event outside?” She gestured toward the swinging kitchen doors. Out the back was her little herb garden and a small backyard. “The customers could enter from the street.”

  “Great idea.” Ed nodded.

  “Perhaps your customers will be too busy looking at the kittens to make much conversation,” Rebecca said hopefully.

  “We can see,” Ed said.

  “Can you help me bring the kittens in?” Rebecca asked.

  “Of course.” Ed followed her out of the café.

  “Annie!” A little girl with blonde curls entered the café with her mother. Annie trotted up to them.

  “Hi, Molly. Hi, Claire,” Lauren greeted the duo.

  “Molly insisted on coming to see the cats,” Claire, tall and athletic, informed her. “And of course, I couldn’t resist either.”

  “The more the merrier.” Zoe suddenly appeared, her tray empty.

  “No stroller?” Lauren realized what had been missing when Molly and Claire had arrived.

  “I’m a big girl today,” Molly said proudly.

  “I hope she won’t get too tired walking home,” Claire said. “Otherwise I might have to carry her part of the way.”

  “Brrt.” Follow me. Annie led them to a tiny table for two in a corner.

  “Cino, cino,” Lauren heard Molly chant as she followed the silver-gray tabby.

  “I might as well start making their order.” Lauren ground some beans, inhaling the heady scent.

  “Yeah, Molly always gets a babycino, and Claire always has a latte,” Zoe agreed. “Any more cupcake or pastry orders I can fill?”

  “Not right now.” Lauren glanced at the tickets. Maybe the post lunch or kitten rush, was slowing down. For once, she wouldn’t be sorry. She hoped she would have a chance to peek at the kittens, along with everyone else.

  “Is AJ here?” Rebecca asked Ed as they brought in the first carrier containing three kittens. “Everyone at the shelter enjoys seeing her.”

  “Not today.” Ed sounded regretful. “I haven’t had had time to go and fetch her – and with the crowd here—” he glanced around the room “—it might be too busy for her. Annie’s more used to the bustle, and seating the customers.”

  Annie had found AJ in the backyard as a tiny, abandoned, Maine Coon kitten. She was a brown tabby, with a darker brown M on her forehead. Ed and AJ had bonded instantly, turning him into a proud cat papa.

  Lauren looked over to Molly and Claire’s table. Annie and Molly shared one of the chairs, sitting side by side. The little girl gently stroked Annie, using “fairy pats.”

  “Ed might need some help. Are you okay here?” Zoe asked.

  “Go.” Lauren shooed her away. For the last two days, Zoe hadn’t talked about much else apart from this event.

  “I’ll spell you later, so you can look at the kitties as well,” her cousin promised.

  “You’d better.” Lauren smiled after her.

  Zoe darted over to Ed and Rebecca, then she and Ed went back out to the car, while Rebecca presided over the long adoption table, looking worried.

  The hum of conversation had dropped a little with the entrance of the first three kittens, people trying to sneak a peek at them.

  Zoe and Ed returned, each carrying a carrier.

  “They are so cute,” Zoe told her, stopping for a second at the counter.

  “Are you going to adopt one?” Lauren teased, then grew serious as Zoe hesitated.

  “No.” Zoe shook her head. “I’ve thought about it, but I don’t think it’s the right time for me. Besides, there’s Annie.”

  “She mightn’t mind,” Lauren said cautiously. She and Zoe were roomies. Although Annie was Lauren’s fur baby, Zoe often described herself as Annie’s fun aunt.

  Annie enjoyed in-person and cyber playdates with AJ, and online play sessions with Toby, a Siberian Forest cat. She’d also tried to train AJ as her café assistant, with amusing but disastrous results.

  “She probably wouldn’t,” Zoe replied. “Oh, look.” Her tone softened. Annie ambled over to the adoption table, peering up at the kitten cages.

  “Brrt?” Lauren could hear her faintly.

  Ed grabbed an empty chair and set it in front of the Norwegian Forest Cat. Annie hopped up and peered at the cages, as if saying hello to each little one.

  “Ohh.” Lauren’s heart melted. “I’m going over to take a look.”

  “Me too.”

  Lauren delivered Molly and Claire’s order on the way.

  “We haven’t ordered yet.” Claire sounded pleased. “Thank you.”

  “We’re desperate to take a good look at the kittens,” Zoe explained.

  “Me too, me too!” Molly bounced in the chair.

  “Drink your babycino first.” Claire gestured to the small cup filled with milk foam, and pink and white mini marshmallows, liberally dusted with chocolate powder.

  “Ooh.” Molly’s attention was taken up with spooning the marshmallows into her mouth, her lips smeared with chocolate powder.

  Claire winked at Lauren and Zoe, before turning her attention to her coffee, decorated with a peacock design.

  Lauren drew in a breath when she saw the kittens. There were three black and white, three calicos, two red tabbies, and one gray and white tabby with a sweet face.

  “Meep,” the little gray tabby spoke softly.

  “Brrt,” Annie replied, peering at her through the black metal bars of the cage.

  “I want to take them all home.” Zoe sighed softly. “But I can’t – we can’t.”

  “No,” Lauren agreed. She could just imagine Annie mothering all nine babies. But it was impractical. “If you want to adopt one, you could discuss it with Annie.”

  “Brrp?” Annie tilted her head to look at Zoe.

  Zoe’s gaze switched from the gray baby, to the red ones, then focused on the cute black and white tuxedo kitties, as well as the calicos.

  “Maybe one day.” Zoe smiled at the adorable cats. “But I don’t think now is the right time. I’m spending half my time here and half at Chris’s house.”

  “You could take him or her with you,” Lauren suggested, wondering if that would really work. But she didn’t want to discourage her cousin if she thought adopting a kitten was right for her.

  “I don’t think Chris would mind,” Zoe replied thoughtfully. She’d been dating her paramedic boyfriend for a while now. “But I think I’d prefer to wait a little.”

  “I understand.” Lauren nodded. She thought Zoe and Chris were a great couple – his laidback, easygoing nature was a perfect foil to Zoe’s impulsive behavior.

  “What about Mitch?” Zoe asked. “Do you think he’d like to adopt one of these cuties?”

  Lauren’s heart beat a little faster at the mention of her boyfriend’s name. They’d been dating for around two years, and things were serious. When she’d met him, Mitch hadn’t had much experience with cats, but now he and Annie got on well.


  “I don’t know,” Lauren replied slowly. “If he’s not at work, he’s usually with me at the cottage, or—”

  “Hanging out with Chris,” Zoe finished for her. “Yeah, he wouldn’t have much time to look after a kitten in his apartment, unless he carried her – or him – around with him everywhere.” Zoe giggled. “Maybe in a baby sling.”

  Lauren allowed a laugh to bubble up at the mental picture of tall, muscular Mitch carrying a tiny kitten with him – before her heart melted at the thought.

  “Is he coming today?” Zoe asked. “To check them out?”

  “He said he’d try to be here,” Lauren replied, “But he’s swamped with paperwork right now, after wrapping up a bank robbery investigation.”

  “Here?” Zoe’s dark eyebrows shot up to meet her pixie bangs. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

  “No, not here,” Lauren assured her. “In Zeke’s Ridge. And he only told me at dinner last night. He didn’t want me to worry.”

  Zoe rolled her eyes. “So I bet you’ve worried since he told you about it.”

  “Yes,” Lauren admitted.

  “Meep?” the little gray cat said.

  “Brrp,” Annie replied.

  “I wonder what they’re saying,” Zoe mused, as more customers joined them to ooh and ahh over the little felines.

  “Maybe she – if it is a she – is asking Annie to find her a good home.”

  “Yeah, I bet that’s it.” Zoe grinned.

  “Kitties, kitties!” Molly rushed up to the cages, her mother following.

  “Slowly, darling,” Claire cautioned. “Don’t scare them.”

  “Sowwy, pussies.” Molly looked penitent. “Ohhh.” Her mouth fell open as she stared at the gray kitten. “Like Annie but not like Annie.” She gazed at Annie, then the kitten, then back again.

  “She’s very pretty,” Claire agreed.

  “Molly have?” She turned her hopeful and expectant face to her mother.

  Claire blinked. “I thought you wanted a cat just like Annie,” she said. “When you’re a bit older, we were going to contact Annie’s Norwegian Forest breeder and see if we could get a kitten from her. She might be Annie’s younger sister, or her cousin.”