Chimera and the Cat Burglar (FUC Academy #46)

Chapter 10

Chapter

Ten

“The same shit from Boo!” Willy barked under his breath as he stalked the hall toward Alyce’s office. He’d been mumbling how used he felt after waking up alone and discovering the missing statue all the way from Boo’s apartment in Willow Wisp to the FUC Academy.

The urgent phone call from Alyce hadn’t only jarred him from his post-coital, cloud-nine dreamscape. Boo’s absence had ripped his heart from his chest, and that pain hadn’t eased by the time he reached Alyce’s office without Boo.

He glanced up and down the hallway. Where the hell was that grimalkin? Where was the artifact? Who could he trust? Should he wait for Boo before meeting with Alyce?

Damn it. He clenched his fists.

Even though Boo had given him the slip, he couldn’t help but wonder if she was okay, and worry twisted his insides.

Alyce sat at her desk, intermittently snacking on a carrot chip, combing through a stack of filed COC forms that the Conflict Resolution and Situation De-escalation counselors submitted for her review.

It wasn’t so long ago that he’d had a complaint filed against him when he was a newbie EJAC—an Experimental Juvenile Active Cadet.

Occasionally, Alyce scrolled her signature on the page.

Impatience drove him to make himself known. “You wanted to see me, Alyce?”

She glanced up, spotting him hovering on the threshold. “Oh, you made good time.”

He’d sped like an antelope chased by a cheetah.

His graduation depended on him passing Forensics 101, and he hadn’t forgotten he owed Alyce his loyalties for meeting his personal goals.

“Take a seat. This is important.” Alyce motioned to one of two chairs facing her desk.

He did as she asked, chastising himself for nearly throwing away those goals for dreaming about staying in Willow Wisp and playing house with Boo.

He’d been stupid. He’d allowed Boo to play him like a monkey in a tree.

“Alyce, did you reach Boo?”

“She’s on her way and should arrive shortly.” The director pulled an envelope before her.

As if on cue, Boo entered, shooting Willy a soft look as she handed the artifact over to Alyce as well as the ring she’d borrowed.

Willy’s heart clenched.

“The statue is dangerous,” Boo said. “Make sure anyone who touches it uses lead gloves… or is a feline shifter.”

Alyce nodded, sliding the ring onto her finger before donning a thick pair of gloves. She picked up the artifact and walked it over to an office closet, where she placed it in the safe inside. After securing the object, the director retook her seat.

Willy felt no less deceived as Boo sat beside him.

“I understand you two bet on who’d deliver the statue.” Alyce split her gaze between the two guilty parties before letting it land on Willy.

Fuck’n A. Had Alyce overheard Boo asking him to wager his van? If so, what else did she know about what had transpired between him and Boo? The mind-blowing sex? Boo telling him she loved him? Him not saying it back? Who was the bigger-looking idiot?

No wonder Boo left their love nest.

“Willy, pay Boo, so we can discuss your failed assignment,” Alyce said.

Failed? They’d delivered the statue.

Boo did.

Willy’s skin twitched from head to toe. Ginny had handed the artifact to Boo, so technically Boo was the one who’d recovered it.

But the way she’d stolen it out from under him, while he slept, no less, rankled him.

Screw her. Willy wasn’t letting Boo off so easily. Boo was in this game for her own reasons, and she’d never be a team player.

He dug his keys out of his pocket, the plastic Academy charm having a torn corner. It seemed appropriate since his heart had ripped.

“We never shook on it, so the wager is moot.” Boo waved away the key. “Besides, you’re angry, but I can explain.”

“Save it.” He gave her his profile. She’d played him last night. Betrayed him as much as DIC had manipulated him into the van and then broken his body and spirit.

That shit hurt, and Willy was done. Done, done, even if he also loved her.

He turned the conversation back to Alyce. “So, Director Cooper, what’s the emergency?”

“You missed your pickup.” Alyce pulled a white letter-sized envelope off her desk and extracted two tickets, the gold embossed lettering reflecting the fluorescent ceiling light. “Now, I’m pleased you managed to obtain the artifact, but as far as conducting yourself like actual agents, you dropped the ball. Agents need to check in with their superiors and advise them of changes, keep them apprised of the mission status, receive approval before going in a different direction.”

Alyce accused them of avoiding the delivery of the tickets? No, they’d followed her instructions. Mostly .

“Wait a minute.” Willy held up his hands as if saying whoa. “We met with the delivery person and attended the auction. That’s how we tracked down the stolen statue.”

He explained the gist of their sting last night. Alyce didn’t need to know everything. Although she most likely already did. Llama shifters were intelligent and observant, attributes Alyce had honed.

“That’s not possible. I have the tickets right here.” Alyce held them up.

Willy expected Boo to take over the convo, but she sat with her hands folded in her lap.

She was impossible to read.

He crossed his arms and ankles, stewing.

“The last time we talked,” Boo said, “you told us you had our GPS, which will confirm?—”

“Nothing.” Alyce punched into her standing position. She turned her computer monitor their way, presenting a map of town. “This is where you were when we spoke, at the Bluetique. The map details your GPS location for the evening. Notice your location versus the location of the auction I intended you to attend.”

“I don’t understand,” Boo said. “Who handed us the tickets for the auction we did attend?”

“You better believe I intend to figure that out,” Alyce replied. “In the meantime, the two of you need to take these tickets and attend the event, as originally planned.”

“Why attend an event when we have the prize?” Willy asked.

Alyce spun her computer back around. “According to Zeb, when he found the artifact, he determined a stone was missing from the piece. He believes someone local possesses the gem, which legend says would make the statue more powerful.”

Boo sank her nails into his leg.

“Ouch.” Willy jumped.

“Sorry.” Boo removed her hand. “It’s just that wasn’t expected. So, Zeb thinks that someone from Willow Wisp possesses this stone, but whom? There are over a thousand people living in the cozy town.”

“I’m guessing that’s correct, which is why I want the two of you to go to a reception at the Willow Wisp Museum. Record the participants. Catalog their jewelry. Look for a heart-shaped gem of unknown color. I assume your feline DNA will pick up any oddities, similar to your innate reaction to the statue.”

Willy took the tickets and shoved them into his pocket. The task was impossible.

He and Boo were barely talking. Now, they had to hunt for jewelry-wearing guests—like looking for a bee in a colony of beehives.

He still didn’t trust Boo, or her role in this power grab. Willy huffed. “Listen, Alyce, there’s something you need to know.”

“Willy, don’t,” Boo warned.

He’d had it with secrets. Secrets could get people killed.

“When we followed a clue to the Willow Wisp Cemetery, we ran into an old friend of Boo’s. She revealed that Boo’s mom was the one who turned her in. With that much bad blood between them, maybe it’s not so wise for Boo to continue working on this investigation.”

There. He’d said what he had to say.

Alyce leaned forward, her elbows on her desk, tightening the distance between them. Her eyes landed on Boo as she asked, “And that’s where you were this morning, confronting her?”

“Yes, ma’am,” Boo admitted, ducking her head, and her cheeks flushed with color.

Willy felt compassion toward Boo, realizing that the meeting must not have gone well.

“Well, whether or not you continue is up to you. Do you want to be let off the case?”

Boo’s head snapped up, her eyes blinking in shock. “You mean, I have a choice?”

“Of course you do. If you feel up to it, then I trust you to be able to focus on finding the stone Zeb is looking for.”

“You trust me…” Boo murmured as she stood. “Thank you, Director Cooper. You won’t regret this.”

“We’ll report our findings after the auction Friday night,” Willy added, standing alongside Boo.

“Good. Now, if I’m not mistaken, the two of you already used your outfits at the first auction, so you’ll need attire to present yourself at the upcoming function. Best you make your way back to the Bluetique.” Alyce continued to hum.

Boo followed Willy into the hallway, letting Alyce’s office door close behind her.

From Boo’s twisted expression, he understood her frustration. Perhaps not as much as his when it came to personal problems, but they were synced about the mission.

“Don’t be mad at me.” Boo blinked up at him.

It was already Thursday, and the solstice was hours away. How would they pull off such a feat?

“Why shouldn’t I be? I specifically asked you yesterday to trust me. To not run off without me again.” His hair flopped about his eyes. “What the hell were you thinking leaving this morning without so much as a goodbye or a note?”

“It’s not what you think,” Boo defended. “I just wanted some closure. I was foolish enough to think maybe I could fix things with my mother. I mean, if I can’t trust my own mother, how can I trust you?”

Willy dragged her down the hall away from passersby. “Don’t you see how it’s the same thing all over again with you running off and doing your own thing?”

“I did it for us.” Boo kicked at a seam in the tile. “I mean it’s why I thought I was doing it. Turns out, speaking to my mother didn’t help one iota.”

He lifted her chin. “We’re supposed to be partners, Boo. You didn’t think leaving would bother me? That I wouldn’t think the worst of you or maybe believe that something bad happened to you?”

“Listen…” She pressed her face into his palm. “We need a truce to work together. And I need to accept that I’ll never have my mother’s forgiveness. She doesn’t have that capability.”

Trust in faith.

He fucking hated his thoughts.

Things were shaky now. Would there be anything left to hang on to when this was over?