Previously On Cat Fight:
Olga experiences a surreal dream involving a masked, orange-haired dance partner, witnessing a horrifically mutilated Kendra. Meanwhile, Joe hides from the police near Henderson's, wrestling with his mysterious cat-like transformation. Infected by Damien, he's desperate to find answers and kill the cat, all while experiencing increasingly disturbing physical changes.
Chapter 33
Freda kept looking into the alley across from Hendersons. The dark alley stood like an ominous abyss, and she couldn’t take her eyes off it.
The hair on her arms stood erect and she couldn’t help the sensation. The feeling that she was being watched was uncanny. Freda could feel it in her bones. Someone or something was watching her from the alley.
She wondered if it was Joe. Considering he was the only Henderson’s employee who was not accounted for, she would not have been surprised.
The ME confirmed Freda’s suspicion that the heart in the cremation chamber is human, and since Bobby’s death was all over the evening news and Mary hasn’t been seen all day and was missing under suspicious circumstances, Joe would be the only remaining employee who could help shed some light on what the hell was going on. Plus, Joe was on the news himself, so there’s no way that the heart in the chamber could belong to him.
But what the hell was going on here, anyway? Did Bobby kill that little girl and burn Mary to ash? That would mean he woke up this morning and decided murder was on his list of to-dos. That and losing his frigin mind, but could Joe really be a part of Bobby’s tip into insanity? The possibility just didn’t add up in Freda’s mind. She’s known Joe for years and knew everyone associated with today’s carnage and none of it sat right with her. People don’t just wake up one day and decide to go on a murdering rampage across the city.
There would be precursors to the behavior. Strange and maladapted behavior that’s typically caused by some sort of psychological trauma. Freda had seen none of that. In fact, when she left work on Friday, everything seemed perfectly normal. Or, as normal as normal can be. The only other explanation she could find was drugs.
Perhaps Bobby took something, and his mind cracked. That was the simplest explanation and the most probable too, considering there’s a human heart in the crematorium and the man just ate a girl’s face. Freda cringed just thinking about it.
The additional problem Freda was having was where was Joe. If he’s as innocent as Freda believes he is, then why is he running? Running only makes you look guilty, according to Tanya.
The police seem to think Joe has something to do with it, as if he’s some sort of accomplice to murder. The officers didn’t say that directly to Freda, but she could sense that was their thinking. Plus, she overheard Officer Duprey talking with the ME about an hour ago, discussing the overall circumstance, and Joe’s name was mentioned several times as a person of interest. Freda wished Joe would show up and put the story straight for all parties involved.
Tears pricked in her eyes, thinking about Mary and the method with which she lost her life. Burned to death. What a horrible way to go.
The police gunned Bobby down after eating a girl’s face in the streets of New York.
What the hell happened at Hendersons?
“Ms. Costello?”
Freda looked up to see Officer Duprey approaching. She blinked the tears from her eyes. “Yes,” she said, then cleared the frog from her throat.
“You can go home now, but the detective assigned to the case would like for you to come in tomorrow to answer a few questions. Are you okay with that?”
Freda nodded. “That would be fine.” She looked up at Hendersons. “What’s going to happen here?”
Officer Duprey looked over his shoulder. “Well, you won’t have to come to work tomorrow. Henderson’s is now an official crime scene.” He handed Freda a business card. “That’s the detective’s name and number. Please call him the moment you wake up tomorrow.”
Freda studied the card. Detective Cecil O’Reilly was stamped into the card along with his phone number and email address. She looked back at Officer Duprey, feeling her tears cascade down her cheeks. “Is it Mary?” she asked. “Is that definitely Mary’s heart?”
“We won’t know until the ME compares the DNA. That’ll take a few days.” He paused, looking her over. “And if you hear from Joe Henderson, we expect a phone call immediately.”
Freda blurted. “Joe didn’t do this. He would never hurt his sister.”
The look across the officer’s face convinced Freda he did not agree, but isn’t that what police officers are supposed to do? Treat everyone like a potential suspect?
“Everything will fall in line. We’re hoping he can shed some light on what happened today.”
Freda nodded. It was all she could do, telling herself that she’d said enough already.
“Do you want an officer to drive you home?”
“No, thank you.” She shook her head. “I have my bike.”
The officer nodded. “Try to get some sleep. We’ll talk to you in the morning.”
He was called over to the crime scene by another officer. Freda watched him as he went. She looked at Henderson’s and her blood curdled when her phone rang in her pocket with a startle that jolted through her bones. She took out the phone.
Of course, it was Tanya. She was hoping it would be Joe.
Chapter 34
She washed her face, scrubbing the cat saliva off her eyeball with a washcloth. Her heart thundered in her chest, boiling blood to her brain. Tears in her eyes, the emotion was overwhelming.
He did it. He fucking did it. Went out and got a frigin cat after she told him repeatedly not to. Leave it to Sasha to pony up and buy his daughter’s affection. Olga was so angry she could barely breathe. Her eyeball itched with a mad fever, and her eyelid was raw and irritated. She looked in the mirror and almost died. The hives were already forming. Tiny raised hives, three of them, one on the eyelid itself and the others around the socket. Two were red and one was pink, and the area was swollen. She looked like she just got punched by Mike Tyson. She could still see, but that ability may only last another day or two before the swelling overtakes her eye with more hives to boot.
She’ll need to go to the doctor in the morning for an allergy injection. Her only reprieve was that she was already working from home and could isolate to the house until the infection runs its course. But that was only part of the problem, and, as unfortunate as it is, the minuscule part of the problem. Olga had a cat in her house. Now how is she going to play this off?
After she woke up to that cat licking her eyeball, Olga just about jumped off the couch, watching the feline scurry away while Sasha and Kendra both laughed. Her own daughter laughed at her. Sure, Kendra was following Sasha’s reaction, but the scene drove a stake through Olga’s heart and made her head spin. She immediately rushed into the bathroom to wash off the cat spit from her eye. Now she’s assessing her next move.
She wants that fucker out of her house. Obviously, there will be no trip to New Jersey. No family vacation to reconnect and no precious memory that they can hold on to forever. Nope. Instead, she received ten stitches and an infected eyeball that made her look like a leper, diseased and unnatural. The man needs to go. He’s made his bed, now it’s high time he lied in it like a proverbial coffin.
Olga spit into the mirror. Fuck you!
She wanted to scream at the top of her lungs. Wanted to claw Sasha’s eyes out for what he’s done to her family.
Everyone knows.
She played the part of the fool.
Olga decided right then and there. Once Kendra is asleep, she’ll have it out with Sasha. She couldn’t care less any longer.
He needed to go.