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Chapter 15: Love and Justice

Jason was half awake sleepily imagining that he was holding Rosa again. He breathed

her scent. No, it wasn't Rosa; he recognized Ellie's warm rabbit scent. He nuzzled the top of his

pillow. His nose brushed against soft fur. He opened his eyes: he was holding Ellie in his arms,

her back pressed against his chest and her head tucked under his chin. He could feel the rise

and fall of her chest beneath his arms. He moved his head, and one of her long ears brushed

over his face.

He searched his memory in confusion: he had left Ellie on the futon downstairs and

retired to his own room. He had no recollection of her entering his room and definitely none of

them deciding to sleep so intimately. He blushed. Had he said something to her he had now

forgotten? He'd been so conflicted yesterday evening that he couldn't be sure what he might

have told her. His discussion with Rosa had raised doubt in his mind. Did he actually feel more

strongly for Ellie than he was willing to admit? He had tried to push away those doubts by

seeking affection from the dog, and he had both received and reciprocated that affection. It had

certainly seemed to be a good start to a romantic relationship. But then he had gotten Ellie's

voicemail, and those feelings of affection for Rosa had been swamped by heart wrenching

worry. Then he had arrived to find Ellie cold and wet but unharmed, and his surge of relief had

only been surpassed by his soaring affection when they had embraced. He'd felt like he could

have held Ellie in his arms forever at that moment. Knowing that she was safe and holding her

close had been like a lifegiving ray of sun to a sprout pushing out of the earth.

And now he was holding her again, presumably had been most of the night. Had he

confessed his love to her? Did he love her? Perhaps relief had merely enhanced his affection.

Did he still feel the same way now? He watched her chest rising and falling, thinking back on

their years of experiences together: the cases, the struggle when they couldn't get them, the

meals and conversations, the time spent reading silently together in the office, the way she

looked at him when she was teasing him, the joy, and the anxiety. His affection built and built

until it was like hot poker in his chest. He breathed sharply from the pain and the ecstasy and

hugged her close. I do love her. How had he not realized it sooner? He'd been a fool. He'd

thought he couldn't love her because she was the wrong species, because he had no sexual

attraction to rabbits. But he loved her anyway, even without sexual attraction. He had been

confused, but now everything was clear. Did she know? Had he already told her in some dream-

like state that had left no memory? He had to know.

He nuzzled her head again, "Ellie," he whispered. "Ellie, wake up."

She opened her eyes sleepily, "Jason? What is it?" she murmured.

"What's going on? I don't remember how we got like this. Did we talk after I went up to

bed last night?"

Ellie smirked, "It's a bit funny actually. I decided to steal your extra pillow, and then you

made me your pillow. You were at least half asleep through the whole thing."

He hadn't told her. Their current embrace was just an accident. "I'm sorry. Do you want

me to let you go?"

"I'm comfy, and I'm still tired. I want to go back to sleep. If this doesn't bother you, then I

don't want to move."

"I'm comfortable too."

"Then wake me later." Ellie closed her eyes.

She didn't know how he felt. He wanted to tell her. But what if she didn't understand?

What if confessing his feelings meant not only facing her rejection but losing their friendship as

well? Dread turned his stomach to a block of lead. How could he risk revealing something he'd

only just come to understand himself when the stakes were so high? He couldn't. He'd have to

wait for the right time to tell her and think about how he'd explain. It would be difficult holding

back his love, but that would be nothing to losing her altogether. He hugged her to his chest and

tucked his chin back over her head. For now, this was near enough to what he wanted. He

closed his eyes and breathed in her warm scent, allowing it to calm his worries. She was safe

and in his arms. Focusing on the reality of her closeness, he settled back to sleep.

* * *

The next time Ellie awoke, bright morning sunlight was pouring through the bedroom

windows. Jason was still holding her, and she nuzzled his shoulder affectionately. She had

expected a more surprised and embarrassed response from the cat when he had woken her in

the early morning, but instead he had seemed perfectly content to go on holding her snugly.

Ellie was pleased that he seemed to be becoming more comfortable with what she felt was the

most natural expression of their mutual affection.

Ellie now felt well rested, and she kind of needed to pee. She squeezed Jason's left

hand and nudged her head against his chin.

"Jason, are you awake?" she whispered.

He breathed deeply and hugged her tighter.

Ellie squirmed in his grasp. "I'm ready to get up. Let me go!"

"Huh?" he asked sleepily.

"Let me go, or I'm going to pee on you!"

He let her go, and she rolled herself away from him and scrambled off of the bed to head

to the bathroom. After she peed, she came back into the bedroom to see Jason sitting on the

edge of the bed.

"Sorry," he said.

"It's okay. I wasn't about to burst quite yet."

"I mean for the whole thing. You didn't agree to let me hold you."

"You didn't agree to hold me either. Anyway, it was nice. I wouldn't object to doing it

again sometime."

His sea green eyes widened, "Really?" He paused awkwardly. "I, uh, wouldn't object to

that either."

Ellie grinned, "Good. So what's for breakfast?"

Jason looked concerned, "I hope you'll be able to find something. I wasn't planning on

you being here for breakfast."

They proceeded down to the kitchen. Jason opened the refrigerator and indicated the

drawers at the bottom: they were crammed full with everything from leafy greens to blueberries.

"How much do you think I eat?" Ellie asked incredulously.

"There were so many options, and I wasn't sure what you would want," he explained

embarrassedly.

Ellie selected a carton of blueberries, a few leaves of kale, and a potato. She rinsed

them all in the sink and munched one of the blueberries.

"I'd like to slice the potato and pan fry it," she told him.

Jason retrieved a curved butcher knife from a drawer and the vegetable oil from the oak

cabinet above the light gray counter to the left of the stove. He pulled a heavy cast iron skillet

forward to the front burner of the gas stove. Ellie sniffed the well-seasoned pan suspiciously: it

was obviously infused with meat juices.

"Do you have something clean?" she asked.

Jason dug through the cabinet under the counter and pulled out a stainless-steel skillet.

"Thanks," Ellie accepted the skillet and replaced the cast iron one on the burner.

She reached for the cutting board propped at the back of the counter but then noticed it

was also stained with what was most likely meat juices. She carefully sliced the potato on the

counter instead; at least the curved knife was nice and sharp. She munched the blueberries

while she fried the potato. Jason grabbed her a plate from the far cabinet above the counter to

the left of the sink, and she transferred the kale and fried potato slices to it. She went to sit at

the oak dining table to the right of the kitchen area, sitting on one long edge to face the two

windows in the sky blue wall that looked out onto the side yard. Jason sat across from her,

watching her eat.

"Aren't you going to have anything?" she asked.

"I want to wait until you're done eating, so I don't ruin your breakfast with the smell."

Once Ellie was finished eating, Jason started frying pork sausage. He turned on the

exhaust fan, but Ellie still had to go sit out in the living room to escape the smell. After Jason

finished eating, he came out to join her.

"So what did you want to do today," he queried.

Ellie glanced out the window: the sun was shining, and she felt like getting some

exercise. "Why don't we go for a walk? How far are you from the river?"

"It's pretty close, a mile and a half maybe."

"Neat, I bet there is a nice path along it. Let's walk over there and see."

Jason frowned, "I don't know, Ellie. It rained last night, so the river will probably be up,

and the path will probably be muddy."

"If the water is too high, we'll turn around. If we get muddy, we'll take a bath."

"I have to lick the mud off!" Jason complained.

"There's no 'have to' about it," Ellie argued. "You can have a soak in the tub like anyone

else."

Jason sighed resignedly, "If that's what you want to do, then I guess that's fine."

Ellie hopped off of the futon, "Alright, let's go!"

The Gooseberry River ran to the East of downtown Maplesburg. Jason's house was

farther to the East, so they headed West on the sidewalk. The storm had been carried by a cold

front, and outside was relatively cool for the beginning of August though humid. The bright sun

promised that later it would be both hot and humid. Ellie figured it was a good thing they were

taking their walk in the morning instead of the afternoon. At length, they arrived at the river.

"There's a sidewalk down along the bank and everything!" Ellie remarked. She turned to

Jason. "Why were you so worried about mud?"

"I didn't know there was a sidewalk," he muttered embarrassedly.

She looked at him in confusion, "Is it new?"

"I don't know. I've never been over here," he admitted. "I don't like the river."

"What, did you fall in once or something?"

"Yes."

"Oh." Ellie paused awkwardly. "If you're scared, we can walk somewhere else," she

offered sympathetically.

Jason took a deep breath as if to fortify himself. "No, it's silly that I've avoided it so long.

We can walk here."

Ellie offered him her left hand, and he accepted it. They descended the stairs to the

sidewalk, and Ellie led them South down the river so that she would be closer to the water. The

river was indeed up, and in one low place, the water lapped at the edge of the sidewalk. Ellie

glanced at Jason to see him watching the brown churning water nervously. She squeezed his

hand to comfort him and carefully led him past the inundated portion of the sidewalk. He let out

a whoosh of breath he'd apparently been holding once they passed the low point and the path

began climbing away from the river again.

Ellie leaned her head against his shoulder, "You're doing great, Jason. A little farther,

and we'll turn around."

They passed under a bridge and a wave of stench washed over Ellie. She threw her free

hand over her nose, "Ick, we should have turned back a little sooner. What is that? Did

something die?"

Jason pulled his hand away and hurriedly scrambled down the bank, sliding through the

mud.

Ellie watched him disbelievingly, "Where are you going? You were the one afraid of

getting muddy!"

Jason peered into a clump of reeds, "Don't come down here, Ellie. You were right: there

is a body." He scrambled back up the bank, returning with his hands and legs caked in mud.

"We need to contact the police right away. The body is pretty far gone, but I don't think this was

an accident."

They hurried back to Jason's house to phone the police, and before long, they were

back by the river directing the forensic team toward the body.

"Making me work on the weekend, eh, Brown?" Tom quipped. A pair of otters came up

the bank with the bedraggled corpse on an aluminum and blue canvas stretcher, and Tom

shook his head, "Poor bugger."

The body was little more than fur stretched over bones. Ellie couldn't even tell what

species it was, some type of rodent, but the giant hole in the abdomen was obvious enough.

"Do you think that wound is what killed them?" Ellie asked.

Tom briefly studied the body. "It looks too clean a cut to have been torn open while he

was in the water, so unless he was killed before he was disemboweled, I'd say so."

"Another stiff for you to pick over, eh?" a familiar snide voice came from behind them.

Ellie turned to see Lily stalking up the path. Ellie scowled at the uniformed bobcat. Lily

grinned back maliciously and ran her amber eyes over the three of them.

"Were you and your pet about to take a mud bath when you stumbled over the body,

Jason?"

"Do you need something, Schulz?" Tom asked boredly.

"As a matter of fact, I need to take Jason's little bunny back to the station. I have a few

questions for her."

Ellie glared at her, "What about?"

"Do you know a gray squirrel that goes by Jack?"

"No."

"So you're saying you didn't talk to him at the Goat's Blood Pub on Thursday."

Ellie scowled, "I talked to a gray squirrel. Why? What's he saying?"

"He's not saying anything. He's dead."

"Well, I won't say I'm sorry to hear it, but what makes you think I know anything about it?

He was still alive the last time I saw him."

"I'd like to ask you more about that. Will you come with me?"

As much as Ellie despised the bobcat and the victim, she knew it was her duty to aid in

the murder investigation. "Okay."

Jason looked at her in concern, "Do you want me to come with you?"

Ellie looked at the drying mud covering his legs, "You go get cleaned up. I'll get my car

and meet you back at your house when I'm done."

Ellie started back up the path, and Lily stood to the side to let her pass before following

close behind. When they reached the street, Lily led her to a black police cruiser, and opened

the back door for her. She closed Ellie inside and went around to the driver's seat. After sitting

down, she peered at Ellie in the rearview mirror.

"Good, you have your seatbelt on. We wouldn't want you to get thrown around during the

ride, would we?" Her tone dripped with insincerity.

Ellie didn't respond. She wasn't going to let the vile cat bait her again.

It was a short drive to the police station. Lily opened the car door for Ellie and herded her

inside. The obnoxious prairie dog was at the front desk, and he sneered at Ellie. She glared

back. She wondered how many of the officers realized she had been the object of Lily's gloating

the previous week. She hoped the friendly ginger kitty didn't know.

Lily directed her back to the interrogation room where she'd questioned the skunk. Lily

closed her in and came back a couple minutes later with a tape recorder.

"I want to get everything on record, so you won't need to repeat it," she stated. She sat

down across from Ellie and turned the recorder on. "So you met the gray squirrel at the Goat's

Blood Pub on Thursday, right?"

"Yes."

"Had you ever met him before?"

"No."

"Okay, then tell me what happened."

"We were working on a case, trying to figure out whether our client's husband was

cheating on her."

"When you say, 'we' you mean you and Jason Brown, yes?"

"Obviously."

"I want it to be obvious for the tape. Go on."

"Anyway, I followed our client's husband into the pub and was watching to see if he

would be joined by anyone, and a gray squirrel sat across from me. And to be clear for the tape,

I don't know that it was the same one you found because you haven't shown me the body yet."

"We'll take care of that when we're done. What did the squirrel want?"

"He wanted to rape me," Ellie answered bluntly.

Lily's amber eyes went wide, "What makes you think that?"

"He tried to distract me by talking like a pervert and putting his hands on me, and then I

saw him slip something into my drink."

"That must have made you angry."

"No shit, it did."

"Angry enough to kill him?"

Ellie froze a second, "Are you accusing me?" she asked incredulously, "I told you; he

was alive the last time I saw him."

"But you did have an altercation with him, right?"

"I dumped the drink on him if that's what you mean."

"And you threatened to 'break his neck'. Is that right?"

"I said I would have if I weren't too busy," she corrected.

"Is that all?"

"Yes."

"Interesting. Witnesses said you made it sound like you might attack him if you ever saw

him again."

Ellie frowned, "Alright, I said something to that effect too, but I never did see him again.

He ran out of the pub, and I emailed Jason to come join me."

"And then you left with Jason, yes?"

"That's correct."

"Where did you go?"

"We went to a hotel a few blocks away. Jason booked a room; you should be able to

check with them."

Lily grinned, "I see. Then I suppose you have an alibi for the night in question: spent it

underneath a cat, yes?"

Ellie scowled at her, "We collected the evidence we needed and left. We didn't spend

the night."

"Where did you go after that?"

"Back to the office to call our client and then home."

"Alone?"

"Yes."

Lily grinned wickedly, "Then you don't have an alibi for last Thursday night, eh?"

Ellie hesitated. "No, I don't," she admitted.

"Perhaps you decided to go back and find the squirrel."

"I didn't. I ate dinner and went to bed."

"But you had the opportunity to go back out, yes?"

Ellie glared at her. "I think that before you accuse me further, you ought to let me see the

body, so I know we're talking about the same squirrel."

Lily stopped the tape. "Let's go then."

Lily led her out through the station to the connected coroner's office and pushed through

the door to the back. Tom was examining the body from the river on the surgery table.

"Squirrel from Friday morning," she commanded.

The ferret set down his instruments and scurried to pull out the drawer holding the

squirrel's body. Lily led Ellie over to look: the sight of the body filled Ellie with nausea, and she

felt the blood drain out of her face. The squirrel's body was horribly mutilated. His legs had been

amputated at the knees. One arm had been taken off at the elbow and the other at the shoulder.

While the rest of the severed limbs were laid next to the body, none of his fingers and toes were

present. His abdomen was open, and some of the exposed intestines appeared to have been

burned. One of his eyes appeared to have been burned out as well.

"Fucking Tartarus," Ellie breathed.

"We found some of his missing digits in what was left of his stomach," Tom commented.

Ellie's stomach lurched, and she wrenched her eyes away.

"So, is it the same squirrel?" Lily asked nonchalantly.

Ellie nodded.

"We found him hanging from the Goat's Blood Pub sign over a bucket of his own blood.

The sign had been graffitied to say 'Squirrel's Blood Pub'. Now why do you think someone

would go to all that trouble?"

"I, I don't know," Ellie stammered.

"It seems like quite the coincidence, doesn't it? Murdered the night you met him. Hung

up at the place you met him."

Ellie swallowed nervously. "I-It does, but it wasn't me. I, I could never do something like

that. It's worse than what they did to Danny."

"Funny that you bring him up. Dr. Fitzgerald found some very similar stitching on this

body as on Daniel Planter's. Didn't you?"

"Yes, I did." He sounded concerned.

Ellie gawked at her, "Then what are you doing wasting your time with me? It was

obviously the same psycho who killed Danny!"

"Interesting how you were involved with that case too, isn't it? You even found the body.

Maybe you knew where to look."

Ellie stared at her in shock, "You think I killed Danny too!?"

"Do you have an alibi for the night he was killed?"

Ellie shook her head, "I was at home alone."

Lily grinned toothily, "Ellie Bennett, I'm arresting you in connection with the murders of

Daniel Planter and Jack Scutt. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say may be

given in evidence. You also have the right to legal counsel." She took Ellie by the right arm.

"Let's go back to the interrogation room. I think we have more to discuss."

"I want to make a phone call!"

Lily sneered, "Very well, you can do that first."

She pulled Ellie toward the door, and Ellie turned her head to look back at Tom. "This is

all a mistake, Tom! I didn't kill anyone! You have to believe me!"

The ferret hesitated, seeming uncertain, "I hope that's true," he murmured.

Lily pulled Ellie through the door, and Tom disappeared behind it. Lily led Ellie back to

the front of the police station to make her call. She let Ellie go to use the phone but stood

watching her carefully as if ready to pounce if Ellie made the slightest move to escape. Ellie

dialed Jason's number.

After a few rings, he picked it up. Thank Zeus. "This is Jason Brown."

"Jason, it's Ellie! I've been arrested!"

"What?! Why?!"

"Lily thinks I murdered a squirrel from the pub Thursday and Danny Planter."

"But that's absurd!" Jason blurted.

"Of course it is, but I don't know what to do. I was at home alone both nights. How do I

convince her I'm innocent?"

"I'll find some way, Ellie. Just stay safe; I'll get you out of there."

"Thank you, Jason. I know I can rely on you."

"And I can rely on you; that's what partners are for."

"And friends. See you soon, I hope."

"I promise you will."

"Bye, Jason."

"Bye, Ellie. I lo-, I'll get you out of there soon."

Ellie hung up the phone.

"Touching," Lily put in snidely. "Ready to answer more questions, rabbit?"

"I've said all I'm going to until I see a lawyer," Ellie rejoined.

Lily grasped her arm tightly, her claws pressing sharply against Ellie's skin, "Then I'll find

you a nice cell to wait in," she growled.

Lily led her back into the jail, stopping in front of a cell containing a set of bunks, toilet,

sink, and a gray tabby perched on the top bunk. The tabby's long fur was matted, and her bright

yellow eyes narrowed as they stopped outside. Lily unlocked the door, shoved Ellie through,

and slammed it shut to relock it.

The gray tabby leapt down nimbly from the bunk and grinned at Ellie hungrily, "Dinner's

served early today, I see," she growled.

"This is your new cellmate, Jessica," Lily addressed the tabby. "I want you to take good

care of her."

The cat stalked around Ellie, eyeing her dangerously, "I'll take excellent care of her," she

growled softly. She ended her circumambulation to loom over Ellie from behind, standing

roughly a head and a half taller than Ellie, not counting ears. The tabby reached her right arm

around to trace her index finger from Ellie's neck to her belly, her claw partially extended to part

Ellie's fur, and let out a little trill of anticipation.

Ellie's chest tightened with fear and her heart pounded, "You can't leave me with her!"

Lily grinned wickedly, "What's the matter? I thought you liked sleeping with cats."

The tabby purred and circled her finger around Ellie's belly, "Oh my."

Ellie stared at Lily desperately, "Please! Move me to another cell! The one right next to

us is empty, or put me with someone else!"

Lily's amber eyes narrowed, "Like a nice little rodent for you to murder?"

"I didn't kill anyone!" Ellie protested.

The tabby leaned her head down to press her nose to the base of Ellie's ear and sniffed

deeply. She opened her mouth to taste Ellie's scent, and an excess of drool spilled out onto

Ellie's left cheek. "What a bad bunny," she whispered. Her breath was hot against Ellie's ear.

Oh Zeus!

"Would you like to come discuss that? If you do, I'll see what we can do about getting

you a different cell."

Ellie hesitated; it was either talk or be left at the mercy of the salivating tabby. "Okay,

let's talk."

Lily opened the door, and Ellie dashed out. Lily grabbed her by the arm and closed the

door. Ellie could feel the tabby's eyes boring into her back as Lily led her out. In the

interrogation room, Lily sat Ellie on the far side of the table then closed them in. She restarted

the tape recorder.

"Alright, so for the tape, that was the squirrel you met at the Goat's Blood Pub last

Thursday, right?"

"Yes."

"The same one you allege tried to drug and rape you."

"Yes."

"Would you like to explain how his body came to be hanging outside of that pub

Thursday night?"

"I don't know anything about it."

"So you think someone else murdered him and just happened to leave him where you

met him."

"I don't know. You've made it clear there were witnesses to what happened. Maybe one

of them took matters into their own hands."

"So you're saying he could have been killed because of what he tried to do to you but

not by you."

"Or maybe he pissed someone else off there the same night. Maybe he frequented that

pub, and that's why they hung him there."

"All of that's speculation. What we know is that you had an altercation with him, and then

he ended up dead at that location while you have no alibi to say you couldn't have been the one

to kill him and put him there."

"That's all true, but I didn't kill him. And I wasn't there that night. I was at home sleeping."

"How about Daniel Planter, did you ever meet him before Monday last week?"

"I never met him. He was dead before I'd ever heard of him."

"But you did know where he was."

"No, I just thought that was a good place to start looking. I told you to investigate the

area Tuesday evening."

"Of course, you didn't want to be the one to find the body you put there. You thought you

could vaguely insinuate its location and get us to find it."

"No! I wanted to find him as quickly as possible because I hoped he was still alive."

Lily turned off the recorder. "Why don't you stop with this charade?"

"It's not a charade. I didn't kill either of them!"

"It will be a lot easier for you if you just admit it: no prolonged trial, no more lying to your

friends. I'll even help you out."

"I don't want your help!"

Lily shook her head, "But you do. If this goes to trial, you'll get the death penalty, but I

can help keep your head out of the noose. If you admit your guilt, I'll testify that you're unstable,

that you need to be locked up, sure, but that you can't be held completely responsible for your

deranged actions. They'll want to put you in a high security prison, but I know people who can

pull the right strings to let you stay here. Then you'll still be able to visit your friends, and I'll

make sure you're well looked after."

"I'm innocent!"

Lily sneered at her, "We'll see how much longer you decide to keep saying that. Anytime

you want to admit your guilt, let me know."

She stood and walked around the table to take Ellie by the arm and lead her back to the

jail. She hesitated outside of the gray tabby's cell momentarily but then locked Ellie in the empty

cell next to the tabby's and left. Ellie sat on her bottom bunk trying to ignore the burning yellow

gaze of the hungry cat.

Some hours later, the guards served the prisoners dinner. Lily brought Ellie hers

personally: it was hay pellets on a flimsy plastic tray and a paper cup of water. Before opening

the door of the cell to pass the food to Ellie, Lily made eye contact with her and dropped a

mouthful of spit into Ellie's cup. Ellie accepted the dinner silently. After Lily left, she dumped the

water down the drain and refilled the cup from the sink faucet. The hay pellets were dry and

tasteless. Ellie tried not to think about what Lily might have done to them while she tried to

choke them down.

The gray tabby continued to stare intently at Ellie. The cat took one bite out of the

ground meat patty she'd been given and dropped the rest in the toilet.

"That bad?" Ellie asked lightly.

"I'm saving room," she replied.

"You can't get me in here," Ellie stated, more to reassure herself than to point out the

obvious.

The cat grinned wickedly, "You think you'll be staying over there, do you? I don't know

what you did, but you clearly don't have the police chief on your side. As soon as they need that

cell for someone else, you'll be back with me, and then," she let the sentence hang and grinned

wide to show off her jagged teeth.

Ellie felt like the stale pellets had turned to stones in her stomach. Would Lily really put

her back with the murderous cat? It's true that she hates me but. Ellie had a sickening

realization: if Lily was really convinced she had committed the vicious murders, she might view

Ellie's violent demise as little more than summary justice. She took a gulp of water to wet her

suddenly parched mouth and throat. She lay down on the bottom bunk and turned to face away

from the cat. A few minutes later, Ellie heard a scratching and tearing sound and turned to see

the tabby sharpening her claws on one of the bunk mats. The cat noticed her watching and

grinned, holding up her left hand with claws extended to show her: the curved white claws were

long and looked fiendishly sharp. Ellie felt a wave of nausea and turned back over, shutting her

eyes tight. Please hurry, Jason. The scratching continued, and Ellie fought images of the claws

sinking into her flesh. Eventually, exhaustion allowed her to slip into a fitful sleep.

* * *

Jason put down the phone and looked around the room in panic. What was he going to

do? Obviously, Ellie was innocent, but who would be able to prove that? Maybe one of her

neighbors knew something. He would go ask them.

He looked down: his legs were still covered in the pungent river mud. If he didn't want

Ellie's neighbors to turn him away as a nutter, he would need to clean up first, but he didn't have

time to let the mud finish drying so that he could brush the majority off. He would have to take a

shower. He shuddered at the thought of letting the water soak him, but he had to do it for Ellie.

Jason ascended to the bathroom and adjusted the water temperature. He turned on the shower

and the water hissed down into the tub. He hesitated and then, gathering his courage, he

jumped into the streams of water. The shower was just as bad as he remembered: the water

soaked his fur so that it clung to his skin. He stood miserably watching the mud melt away from

him. He thought of Ellie locked behind bars, and he tried to face the shower stoically. This was

no time to be feeling sorry for himself; Ellie was counting on him.

At length the mud disappeared, but Jason could still smell its decaying odor. The

shampoo. He hadn't gotten the shampoo. He turned off the water slopped across the floor to

retrieve the shampoo from under the sink. He returned to the tub and scrubbed himself with the

shampoo thoroughly before allowing the water to soak him again to rinse it away. When he was

finally done with the ordeal, he wiped himself with two towels to get as dry as possible. Then he

groomed himself to remove the rest of the water and straighten out his fur.

He glanced at the clock: over an hour had gone by. He grabbed a maroon tie and rushed

out to the car, grabbing his phone on the way. He sped to Ellie's apartment building, narrowly

avoiding rear-ending another car at a downtown traffic light. Upon arriving, he waited anxiously

outside of the door. A pug walked up to the door, eying Jason suspiciously.

"Do you know Ellie Bennett?" Jason asked.

"Who?"

"White rabbit with brown splotches and a black spot under her nose."

"No."

The pug opened the door and stepped inside.

"Can you let me in?"

In answer, the pug pulled the door shut after him. Jason fidgeted outside the door. A

chinchilla exited the building, glanced at Jason, slammed the door shut, and scurried away

before he could even talk to her. Jason had similar experiences with three other residents, a rat,

a hare, and a fox terrier. Finally, he recognized the mink he'd met there before approaching the

door. She was wearing a short pleated yellow skirt though, because of her short legs, the skirt

still extended to her knees.

"Here to see Ms. Bennett?" she asked. She looked behind her at the parking lot. "I don't

think she's here."

"I know, but I'm still here about her. She's in trouble, and I need to ask if anyone saw her

Thursday night or Monday night the week before."

"I didn't, but I can let you in to ask around."

"Thank you!"

"I'll come with you too so that they won't be suspicious. I know most of the people here.

My name's Lisa by the way."

"Jason."

"Nice to formally make your acquaintance."

Jason bobbed his head, "Same."

The mink led him inside. They started on the fifth floor where Ellie lived: no one had

seen her either day. They returned to the first floor to start systematically from the bottom: a

black squirrel in room 108 had seen her come in on Monday but couldn't remember the time

and couldn't say whether she had left again. At room 129, the door opened to reveal the brown

rat Jason knew as Joe. Upon seeing Jason, the rat immediately slammed the door in their

faces.

Jason knocked on the door again, "Joe! Come back, I need your help!" he called.

"What makes you think I would help you?!" the incredulous reply came back through the

door.

"I need you to help me help Ellie! She's in trouble!"

There was a pause. "What kind of trouble?" Joe asked warily.

"She's been arrested! The police are accusing her of murder!"

Joe flung open the door, "Murder?!"

Lisa spoke next, sounding a bit annoyed, "You didn't tell me that. What makes you think

she's innocent? If the police think she's guilty, maybe she is. She always seemed alright to me,

but you never really know, do you?"

"I know. Ellie would never do that," Jason replied. He turned back to Joe, "I need to know

if you saw her Thursday night or Monday night the week before."

"I think I saw her Monday; no, that was Tuesday."

"What about Thursday?"

Joe hesitated. "I didn't see her, but, uh, I should be able to tell you if she was home."

Jason perked up excitedly, "How?!"

Joe hesitated again. He motioned into his apartment, "This way."

Joe's apartment was a mess with empty fast food bags and wrappers lying everywhere.

Joe led them into his bedroom and opened the closet. There was a laptop inside the closet with

its monitor showing the door to one of the apartments: the picture resolution was poor, but

Jason thought he could make out the number 503.

"Is that Ellie's apartment?!" Jason asked, disturbed.

"I've been keeping an eye on her," Joe explained. He glared at Jason, "In case you

came back."

Jason frowned. It wasn't the time to get into a fight with the wretched rat though he

doubted Ellie would be happy to hear about his surveillance. "Do you have video for Thursday

night?"

Joe nodded, "The timestamped stream is all saved to the computer's hard drive in four

hour chunks." Joe went to the computer and clicked through to the folder containing the movie

files. He scrolled down until he reached the files for Thursday night. He fast forwarded through

the first video, pausing when Ellie appeared on the screen. "There she is entering at 7:13 PM."

He scanned through the next few files before pausing again. "And there she is leaving at 8:30

AM on Friday. She was there the whole night."

"This is perfect!" Jason exclaimed. "It's just what we need to prove her innocence." He

held out his right hand, "Thank you, Joe. I can't tell you what this means to me."

Joe looked at the hand distastefully and didn't shake it. "I don't care what it means to

you, cat. I only care about clearing Ellie of the charges. You can go to Tartarus. I bet you're

responsible for Ellie being in trouble in the first place."

Jason dropped his hand. "Let's just get this over to the police station. I don't want Ellie to

have to spend the night in jail."

Joe grabbed his faux-leather jacket, and they headed out to the parking lot. They loaded

the computer into Jason's car and started toward the police station. Joe sat as far away from

Jason as possible, and Lisa sat in the passenger's seat. They hadn't asked her to come, and

Jason didn't think it was that appropriate since she hardly seemed to know Ellie. However, she

had helped him, and he didn't want to be rude by telling her she couldn't come. When they

arrived at the police station, Joe carried the laptop in, and Jason led the way. A ginger tabby

was sitting at the front desk.

"Hi, folks! What can I help you with?" she asked amiably.

"We're here about Ellie Bennett," Jason answered.

The ginger cat's cheerful expression changed to a scowl, "What about her?"

"We have proof that she's innocent."

"Oh!" Her face lit up with a smile. "I told Officer Schulz she was too nice to have done

those terrible things, but she said she was sure she had." She looked at the computer. "Is it on

there?"

"Yes, we'd like to show it to Lily right away."

The ginger cat frowned, "I'm sorry; she already left for the day."

Jason looked at her in distress, "Then can you look at it? You'll see she's innocent, and

you can let her go!"

"I'm sorry; I can't let her go by myself. But I'll make sure Officer Schulz sees it first thing."

She held out her hands for the laptop.

"I'm not trusting you with it!" Joe squeaked angrily.

The ginger cat frowned again, "If it's evidence, then I need to take it, but you can come

back tomorrow morning if you want to be here when Officer Schulz sees it." She got up and

walked around the desk. "I'll put it away nice and safe and leave Officer Schulz a note. You can

watch me do it."

Jason nudged Joe, "Give it to her. I know we wanted to get Ellie out this evening, but

there's not much we can do about that now. We'll get her out first thing tomorrow."

Joe handed the laptop over.

"Thanks, I'm going to put it in the evidence locker now. You can watch if you want."

They followed her back to Lily's office. She pulled a ring of keys off of the belt she had

looped jauntily around her hips below her blue uniform jacket and opened the door. She took

the laptop to a heavy safe on the left side of the room, unlocked it to put the laptop inside, and

then re-secured the door. Finally, she went to the desk and scrawled a note on Lily's calendar.

Jason noticed she dotted her i's with little hearts.

"There, now she'll look at it first thing in the morning." She herded them out of the office

and relocked the door. "Is there anything else I can do for you?"

"Can we see Ellie before we go? I want to let her know it's going to be okay."

She hesitated. "I suppose that's alright."

She led them back to the jail. A black and white rabbit was on guard. Jason noticed that

he was wearing a belt with a taser cinched around his belly over top of his blue uniform jacket. It

made him look like a bit of a dork.

"Hi, James. Is everything going well?"

"Yes, Katya."

"These folks want to talk to Inspector Bennett."

His brown eyes went wide, "The murderer?!"

"They say they have proof she's innocent. I told you she seemed too nice. She wasn't

even angry after I pounced on her that time."

The rabbit looked skeptical. He turned to Jason, Joe, and Lisa. "Say what you want, but

don't try anything." He patted his taser.

The ginger cat rolled her kelly green eyes, "Don't mind him. He's new."

"You've only been here a few weeks yourself!" he shot back.

"Yeah, well, you'll learn after you really make an ass of yourself once."

She led them back to Ellie's cell; Ellie appeared to be sleeping.

"Ellie!" Jason called. "Wake up; it's me!"

"And me!" squeaked Joe.

Ellie rolled over and opened her eyes. They went wide and she jumped off of the bunk

and ran to the bars. "Jason! You're here! Did you find a way to show I'm innocent?"

"I did. Joe has video showing that you didn't leave your apartment after you got home

around seven on Thursday."

Confused, "What?"

"I've been keeping an eye out just in case you invited someone you shouldn't into your

apartment," Joe told her.

"You've been spying on me?!" Ellie yelled.

Joe shrank back. "I'm just trying to do what's best for you, Ellie."

She glared at him, "Whatever camera you have set up had better be gone when I get

home, or I'm going to find it and shove it down your throat!"

"I'm sorry I didn't get here sooner, Ellie." Jason apologized. "If I'd gotten here before Lily

left, you wouldn't have to spend the night."

"It's okay, Jason. I'll be fine." She smirked. "But you still have to make up for the fact that

you got out of hosting me like we planned. After I get out of here, I'm coming to destress at your

house, and I expect you to make up for leaving me in jail overnight."

Jason's heart fluttered with his love for the rabbit. Anything you want, Ellie.

Joe was affected very differently, "You're staying at the cat's house!?" he yelped

incredulously. "I should have left you in jail. You would have been safer!"

"Shut up, Joe!" Ellie shot back.

"No! Would you offer to sleep in a lion's mouth? What's wrong with you?"

The ginger cat looked at the rat disconcertedly, "I think that's enough. You-all should go.

You can come back in the morning." She herded them out to the station and to the door. "Bye, I

hope Officer Schulz agrees that your evidence is as conclusive as you say."

"I'll be back to view it with her," Jason assured her.

He, Joe, and Lisa left the station.

Jason glared at Joe. "Do you like being an asshole, or can you not help it?"

Joe glared back, "Fuck you, cat! I just don't want my friend getting torn apart because

you had a sudden twinge of hunger."

Jason turned away from him and stalked back to his car. Lisa followed, but Joe didn't.

Jason turned around to look at him, "Are you coming, or is getting in a cat's car too

dangerous too."

"I'll ride the bus home. You and the mink can go find someone to disembowel together."

He turned and stomped away.

"Yikes, I didn't know he was such a jerk," Lisa remarked.

"He particularly dislikes me," Jason explained. "Come on; I'll take you home."

* * *

Ellie watched Katya lead Jason, Joe, and the mink whose name she couldn't remember

out of the jail. Once again, she regretted ever having met Joe. Even if he had cleared her of

suspicion, his behavior was still intolerable. She wasn't sure she could have remained as calm

as Jason had while Joe insulted him like he wasn't even there. She pushed the negatives of the

meeting aside. Jason had come through! She returned to the bunk to lie back down. In the

morning, she would be getting out of here, free with her name cleared; it was only a matter of

hours.

"Do you think you're going to get away from me?" the gray tabby growled.

Ellie turned to look at her, "They aren't going to put me with you now," she stated matter-

of-factly. "And in the morning, I'll be leaving. There's nothing you can do to stop it."

"Isn't there?" she snarled. She ran a claw across her own palm, drawing a line of blood.

Grinning wildly at Ellie, she squeezed the blood out until it oozed around her fingers. Then she

collapsed to the floor, slapped the bloody hand to her side, and gave a wail of agony, "Yaah!

She stabbed me! Help! Oh Zeus! Someone help!"

The black and white rabbit hastened down from the other end of the jail and stared at the

cat writhing on the floor. He turned to glare at Ellie, "What happened?"

"Nothing! It's an act. Leave her."

"The blood looks real enough," he shot back.

"It is, but it's from a small cut she gave herself. Don't trust her!"

He gave Ellie a withering glance, "I'm not an idiot. I'll be careful, but I need to check that

she isn't seriously injured. Officer Schulz will lose it if we lose another prisoner so soon after the

skunk." He took a ring of keys out of his pocket.

"No! Don't go in there!" Ellie pleaded desperately.

He ignored her and made his way into the cell though he did take the precaution of

reaching back through the bars to lock it behind him. He walked up to the cat who was moaning,

curled into a ball with her hand against her side and her eyes and mouth clenched in apparent

agony.

"Can you move your hand?" he asked concernedly. "I want to get a look at how bad your

wound is."

The cat's legs shot out and knocked his out from under him. He collapsed to the cement

floor, and she pounced on top of him. She held him under her, straddling his hips with her hands

grabbing his shoulders.

"Give me the keys!" she growled.

He quickly flung the keys behind him, and they sailed between the bars to land well out

of reach on the floor outside of the cell. The cat glared after them. Then she looked down at the

rabbit underneath her, and her expression shifted into a ravenous grin.

"I guess one rabbit is as good as another," she growled softly.

Oh Zeus! She's going to eat him instead now! Desperately, Ellie shouted as loud as she

could, "HELP! KATYA! ANYONE! HELP!" She stopped and waited a few seconds, but no one

came to help. "HELP! KATYA! PLEASE HURRY!" Nothing. Too far away to hear.

The cat turned to grin savagely at her, "Save your breath. Even if someone comes

through that door, he'll be dead before they can get here."

The rabbit took advantage of the cat's preoccupation with Ellie to grab his taser, but the

tabby's reflexes were lightning fast. She grabbed his arm and shoved it down to the floor before

he could train the weapon on her. Ellie's heart sank: he was truly doomed now.

"Thought you could catch me unaware, did you?" she taunted. She easily pried the taser

out of his hand and slid it across the cell to stop under the bunks.

He watched the taser slide away then looked back at the cat, his eyes betraying his

terror.

The tabby grinned wickedly, "Now you understand. You're not my jailor anymore; you're

my supper." She bent forward to lick his face, and he trembled in fear and whimpered.

"Although," she amended. "I may give you a chance to save yourself, just for a little fun." She

stood and backed away a few paces toward the bunks. "Go ahead. If you can get past me and

get your weapon, you'll be in control again."

Ellie didn't have much hope for his chances: the cat was clearly toying with him, and she

only hoped it didn't get too ugly. The rabbit slowly got to his feet then dashed forward. He dove

past the cat and scrambled under the bunk, but she was on top of him in an instant. She

grabbed his legs and pulled him out from under the bunk. He emerged without his taser.

"Too slow!" the tabby taunted.

As the tabby dragged him back to the middle of the cell, Ellie could see his desperation

darken to hopeless despair in his countenance. The cat sat on his haunches, and he let out a

sob. She leaned forward and pushed her hands underneath him to undo his belt and jacket. She

pulled the jacket off and tossed it away carelessly before using the belt to tie his hands behind

his back. He lay resignedly still during the whole procedure as if sapped of his ability to resist.

Probably for the best. Any attempt he might have made likely would have accomplished little

beyond making the cat angry whereas she seemed quite cheerful as she checked the security

of his bonds. Ellie hoped her good mood meant she would be merciful.

The cat rolled him back over to straddle his hips again. "I'd play with you more, but I'm

really hungry," she explained. "Hold still, and I'll make it quick for you."

The black and white rabbit sobbed, and tears began to stream down the sides of his

face, "P-please let me g-go. I'll bring you any food you want!"

"Will you now? Somehow I doubt that. As soon as you were safely on the other side of

those bars, you'd forget all about your little promise."

"No! I swear to Zeus! I'll bring you anything you want!"

"And none of it would taste half as sweet as your warm flesh is going to."

He squirmed vainly underneath her, "Please! I don't want to die! I don't want to be eaten!

I'll make it worth it to you somehow!"

His pleading twisted Ellie's heart. How can she be so heartless? He's a living creature

same as her! "I'll help him make it up to you!" she added.

The cat ignored her and pulled him up to hug the side of his head to her belly. "Shh,

listen." She paused a few seconds, pressing him against her firmly. "It's ready for you."

He whimpered weakly, "No."

She shoved him back down, following him down to lay on top of him. She twisted her

spine to align her head perpendicular with his neck and opened her mouth. Leaning in slowly,

she reached her sharp fanged jaws around his throat. He let out a final squeak and his brown

eyes bulged as she clamped her jaws shut, cutting off his air and the blood flow to his brain. He

kicked the air a few seconds then fell still. The cat held him a little while longer then let go and

sat up. Even though Ellie had seen horribly mangled bodies, she had never watched someone

die right in front of her eyes; witnessing the cat kill the other rabbit was both appalling and

surreal. She kept half expecting him to move, but he lay dreadfully still. The cat got off of him

and crouched down beside his body. She lifted his leg and sank her teeth in, pulling back her

head to tear away a bloody strip of fur and flesh. The gory sight shook Ellie from her stunned

state, and she turned her head away. She didn't want to watch the cat eat him; she returned to

her bunk and covered her head with the blankets, trying to shut out the sounds of the cat

enjoying her gruesome meal.

Ellie wasn't sure how long it had been or whether she had submitted to exhaustion, but

eventually, she noticed she didn't hear the cat eating anymore. Morbid curiosity compelled her.

She pulled down the blanket and turned to see what was left of the rabbit. The tabby was curled

up next to a scattered pile of bones, her stomach grossly distended. Except for a few stray

scraps, the rabbit's flesh had been completely devoured, fur and all. Ellie even spotted the

shattered skull and empty braincase. If she'd gotten the keys, that would have been me. Ellie

was overcome with a wave of nausea, and she gagged on her own saliva causing her to choke

loudly.

The cat heard her and looked up. "What's the matter, bunny? Eat something you

shouldn't have?" she purred amusedly.

Ellie looked away and didn't respond.

"You should have thanked him for taking your place at least," she taunted.

A bit later, Ellie heard the door to the jail open and shut.

"James? I'm getting ready to leave. Your shift is over too, isn't it?"

Ellie turned to see the ginger cat walking down the passage.

"If you want, we could go grab breakfast before you go home. I-" She froze outside of the

gray tabby's cell, green eyes wide with shock. "I-is th-that?" She looked at Ellie as if willing her

to contradict her fears.

"I'm so sorry, Katya," Ellie murmured sorrowfully.

The gray tabby responded with a burp.

Katya turned to her, still in a state of shock, "How could you?" she choked. With a wail of

grief, she burst into tears, sobbing loudly, "Oh James, I'm sorry! I should have checked in on

you sooner! I should never have left you alone!"

"'How could you?'" the gray tabby mocked. "Zeus, you don't even realize how stupid you

sound. How could I eat a rabbit? What else do you do with them? Let them cuddle you like their

pet, maybe. Or run around tending to their whims like their servant."

"You're sick! No one eats people anymore!" Katya protested.

"No, I'm normal. It's the rest of you prey-enslaved idiots who are sick, constantly bending

over backwards to cater to their sensibilities. You can't even joke about wanting to eat one of

them without everyone flying off the rails."

"That's because it's monstrous! Maybe we had to centuries ago, but we don't now!"

The gray tabby gave her a pitying look, "Do you think Ms. Mustache over there only eats

vegetables from a can? You have no idea what you're missing. That artificial crap is barely

palatable compared to the real thing." She grabbed one of the femurs and got up. Placing one

end against the ground, she snapped it in half with her foot.

Ellie blanched at the sickening sound, and Katya seemed equally horrified.

The gray cat approached the bars and held half of the bone out to Katya, "Here, try

some of the marrow. It's nothing compared to the better parts but still better than what you're

used to eating."

Katya backed away in disgust and horror, "I'm not going to eat him!"

"If you were a real cat, you'd take the opportunity to eat that one," the tabby motioned

with the femur to Ellie.

"Then I'm glad I'm not a 'real cat!'"

The gray tabby shook her head and tossed away the bone, which clattered on the floor.

"Pathetic. I can see your masters brainwashed you well." She sat down and began to gnaw at

the other half of the broken femur.

"You're not going to get away with this!" Katya told her angrily.

"What are you going to do? Throw me in jail?"

"I'm going to kill you!"

The gray tabby grinned, "I'd like to see you try! Come in here and get me if you think you

can. Just because I won't eat you doesn't mean I won't rip out your prey-fellating throat."

Katya glared at her, "I don't have to come in there. I can shoot you through the bars

easily enough," she growled.

The gray tabby laughed. "Then do it! Show yourself for the coward you are! I'm sure your

prey masters will praise you for it. Of course, they'll still lock you up, but they'll pat you on the

back while they lead you to the gallows. I'm sure that will be enough of a consolation for you."

"Don't do it, Katya," Ellie cut in. "She isn't worth it, and it won't bring your friend back."

The ginger cat turned to Ellie, "Then what should I do?"

"Go call Officer Schulz and tell her what's happened. She'll know what to do."

Katya nodded and hurried out of the jail.

The gray tabby turned to Ellie, "You must love predators like that. Her ancestors would

have ripped you apart without a second thought, but instead she defers to you, the perfect little

slave."

Ellie wasn't even really sure how to respond to the cat's absurd accusations, but she felt

that she had to say something. "I don't even know what you're talking about. No one's anyone's

slave. Living in peace is better for everyone!"

"Right," she replied sarcastically. "Is that what they teach you to say in preschool?"

Sometime later, Lily pushed through the door with Katya following close behind.

Lily grimaced at the pile of bones, "Poor sap. I told him to watch out around her." She

shook her head. "Maybe I should have emphasized it more."

"It's my fault," Katya moaned. "I should have been here for him."

Lily turned around and grabbed her by the shoulders, "It's not your fault. Your place was

out front. You couldn't be back here too." She looked at Ellie, "What in Tartarus happened?!"

"She faked an injury. I told him not to go in, but he didn't trust me. I yelled, but nobody

came. There was nothing else I could do." She looked at the floor. "She wanted to eat me, but

he locked himself in with her."

"It should have been you," Lily snarled. "It would have been a more fitting end for a

murderous psycho."

"I don't think she is a murderer," Katya interjected.

Lily rolled her amber eyes, "We've been over this, Katya. Someone being nice to you

once does not mean they are actually a good person."

"But her friends were here yesterday evening. They said they had proof she's innocent.

It's on a laptop; I locked it in your office. The brown tabby said he'd be back this morning to view

it with you."

Lily frowned, "I guess I'll have to look at it, but first I need to call James' parents. Then I'll

collect his remains."

"Don't hurry!" the gray tabby sallied. "I'm still working."

Lily glared at her, "And then you're going into solitary confinement."

"Oh no," she mocked. "Next time you hire a rabbit, why don't you just shove them in with

me and save a few steps?"

Lily growled dangerously, "Katya told me you threatened to rip out her throat. How do

you like your chances trying that with me?"

For the first time the gray tabby looked nervous, "That was just a bit of a joke, Ma'am."

"Good, I'd hate to think what might happen to you if you were to actually threaten her."

The tabby gulped. "I'll be more careful in the future. Thank you for the warning, Ma'am."

Lily put her arm across Katya's shoulders and led her out. Ellie watched them go.

Clearly, the bobcat had certain priorities when it came to her officers though she supposed there

was nothing an arm across the shoulders could do for a pile of bones.

* * *

Jason arrived at the police station at eight in the morning. Lily was already there,

unusually occupying the front desk.

"I've been waiting for you," she stated as he came in.

"Then you know about the evidence that Ellie is innocent?"

"Yes, I already reviewed it."

Jason looked around the station, "Then where is she? You are going to let her go, aren't

you?" he asked anxiously.

"First, tell me this. Where did the footage come from?"

"One of her neighbors, a rat, is a little, er, overprotective. He doesn't like me, and wanted

to know if I came by her apartment again."

"Again?"

"Er, yeah, I was there last weekend."

"I see. You really care about this rabbit, huh, Jason?"

"I do."

She frowned, "Listen, Jason, I don't like you, and I also don't like the rabbit. But I'm sorry

for what I put her through."

Jason blinked. Lily never apologized. "Why are you telling me this?"

"You know why!" she snapped. She got up from the desk. "I'll take you back to get her."

She led him back to the jail. Ellie got up off the bed and stood by the door to the cell

whilst Lily unlocked it. When the door swung open, Ellie dashed out and wrapped Jason in a

hug. He hugged her close, his heart soaring.

"How sweet. Kitty got his beloved back," came the snide meow from beside them.

Jason looked to see the gray tabby he'd noticed in the cell beside Ellie's yesterday. Did

she get fatter? He blushed and reflexively flicked his hot ears.

The gray tabby's bright yellow eyes went wide, and she erupted into uproarious laughter,

"Bwahahahahahaha!" She laughed uncontrollably, rolling on the floor.

Jason's blush deepened, and Ellie turned to look at the gray tabby in disgust.

"What's she yucking it up about?" she grumbled.

"I don't know," Jason lied. "Let's get out of here." They broke apart, and Jason offered

his left hand. Ellie took it, and they walked out of the jail and the police station hand-in-hand.

"I should go get my car," Ellie stated. "I'll meet you back at your house."

"Okay, see you!"

Ellie headed off toward the office, and Jason got in his car out front. I should get

something to surprise her with when she gets there. He made a quick trip to the grocery store

on the way home to check the floral department. The roses caught his eye, and he picked out

one of the fullest red ones. Jason arrived at home before Ellie and waited anxiously on the edge

of the dark blue futon, holding the rose. Finally, he heard her car pulling into the driveway, and

he went to get the door, holding the rose behind his back. He stood in the doorway while Ellie

hopped out of her car and to the door.

"Whew, I'm exhausted!" Ellie commented. "I hardly slept at all last night."

"Me neither. I was too worried about you." He pulled out the rose. "I got you this. I

thought you might want something to celebrate your freedom."

"That was thoughtful!" she piped. She accepted the rose. "It's lovely, Jason." She sniffed

it then plucked a petal off with her teeth and ate it. "Tastes good too." She looked at him

quizzically. "But aren't you supposed to buy yellow roses for your friends?"

"Are you?" Jason asked embarrassedly.

Ellie smirked, "Silly kitty, red roses are supposed to signify love. You weren't planning to

declare your undying love for me, were you?"

Jason laughed nervously, "Heheh, no."

"Good. I expect a dozen roses when you do that," she joked.

Part of Jason wished he did have eleven more roses to give her so that he could confess

his love, but he reminded himself that it was too risky. He hadn't figured out what he would say.

"We need to find something to put this in, and then we should relax. Why don't we watch

a movie? Something exciting but not too scary. I've seen enough horrifying shit the past day."

Jason frowned, concerned, "Do you want to talk about it?"

She shook her head, "Not right now. Now, I want to relax and destress."

Jason didn't have a vase, so they put the flower in a glass of water.

Ellie set it on the kitchen table. "There, that looks nice," she declared.

Jason nodded in agreement. "Do you want to pick out the movie?" he asked.

"You go ahead. I'll put the futon back up."

Jason went to his room and selected Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. He

brought it downstairs, and found Ellie struggling to lift the back of the futon into place. He helped

her fix the couch, and then they sat side-by-side to watch the movie.

The movie began with Indiana Jones, a dapper looking fox terrier, trying to escape a

skulk of unscrupulous foxes with a long-furred white cat and a thirteen-lined ground squirrel.

You could tell it wasn't a Vulpinevan film because the titular hero wasn't a red fox. As they

watched the movie, Ellie leaned her head against Jason's shoulder, and he put his arm around

her waist. Then during the scene wherein a tuxedo cat priest in curved horns was shoving his

razor-sharp claws into a boney gray Dutch rabbit's chest to pull out his still beating heart, Jason

felt something wet on his shoulder and turned to see tears running down Ellie's face.

"Ellie?! What's the matter?" he gasped.

"Oh Jason," she sobbed. "There was a rabbit who was killed by the cat in the cell next to

mine last night. She ate him, Jason, and it was almost me!"

"What?!" he cried. He wrapped his arms around her in a hug. "Ellie! That's horrible! Why

didn't you tell me this right away? You shouldn't try to hold that inside!"

"I didn't want to worry you or for you to blame yourself," she murmured miserably.

"Don't worry about me. I can handle it," he reassured her.

"It was the gray cat next to me like I said. Except at first, Lily put me in with her. I think

she was just trying to scare me so that I would agree to talk, but after that, the cat was

determined that she was going to eat me. I was so relieved when you came to tell me you'd

found a way to prove my innocence, but the cat decided that just meant she needed to take

more active measures. There was a rabbit on guard, and she tricked him into coming into her

cell by faking an injury. I couldn't stop him, Jason. It was only because he managed to throw the

keys away that the cat didn't get out of her cell and into mine, but then she ate him instead. It

was horrible; there were only bones left when she was done. Katya was devastated; they were

friends, I think. Imagine if you'd come back this morning only to find my bones!"

Jason hugged her tighter and pressed his cheek to hers, "I can't imagine that, Ellie. I

don't even want to try!"

"But as deranged as she was, she said some things I didn't know how to respond to.

She kept calling Katya a slave to prey, which is absurd of course, but her reasoning still

disturbed me. She kept claiming that lab meat was disgusting compared to fresh meat, and it

made me wonder if some of the predators in the carnivore cults do it for that simple reason."

"Maybe they do, but murdering someone because you think they might taste good is no

better than murdering them for any other petty reason."

"But in school, they always taught us that lab meat was a perfect solution, that it made

everyone happy. But what if you actually did have to give up a lot? She compared it to only

eating canned vegetables, and that would be terrible."

"If we gave something up, then we gained a lot more, Ellie," he replied fervently. "I

wouldn't even consider giving up our friendship for the most delicious food in the world! It's her

and others like her who are missing out, not people who embrace the good that's come of the

end of predation."

"I know, Jason." She rubbed her cheek against his. "But what if other predators who

aren't like her still resent the system and feel like they do have to cater too much to prey

sensibilities?"

"There are predators like that," he admitted.

"Do you ever feel that way, Jason?"

"No! Being friends with you isn't a burden, Ellie!"

"But do you ever feel like you can't be open about your feelings because I'm a prey?"

He hesitated. This wasn't the time to admit that he loved her and was afraid to tell her

that because of her species.

"There have been, haven't there?!" she demanded.

"Maybe a few things," he admitted.

"Like what?!"

"Well, uh," he paused to think of something before going on. "Remember how you said I

smelled nice last weekend? Well, I think you smell nice too, but I didn't want you to take it the

wrong way."

Ellie stared at him in disbelief, "That's it?! You goofball, I wouldn't take that the wrong

way! You probably shouldn't say it to random prey, but unless you start drooling over me, I'm

not going to be concerned!"

"Well, then I'm glad I got that off my chest," he said lightly. "I think you smell really nice."

She snuggled her head under his chin, "Be careful. If you get addicted, you'll start trying

to steal my dirty laundry," she jested.

They finished watching the movie, and then Ellie yawned.

"I'm exhausted. Did I tell you I hardly slept last night?" she asked.

"Yes, I can understand why."

"Well, I'd like to take a nap now. What about you?"

"That's fine. I could do with a nap."

Ellie paused, looking a bit embarrassed. "Don't take this the wrong way, but could you

hold me again?"

Jason blinked in surprise. "Sure, if you want me to."

"I know it sounds silly, but it made me feel safe. And right now, that's what I need more

than anything."

It makes her feel safe! If she could feel secure in his arms, then maybe she would be

comfortable accepting his love. Jason's mouth spread into a joyful smile.

"Don't laugh!" Ellie protested.

"I'm not! I'm just happy you trust me so much. Especially after what you saw, I'd

understand it if sleeping in a cat's arms made you nervous."

"You're nothing like her!" Ellie rebutted. "Nor is Katya or even Lily really. Meeting one

crazy cat doesn't change my feelings about you or anyone else."

"I'm glad." He scooted back to lean against the back of the futon and pulled his feet up

onto the edge. He patted his thigh. "I'll be happy to hold you."

Ellie crawled into his lap and curled up with her back to his chest and her bottom against

his thighs. She tucked her legs in with her long feet stretching out between his knees. He

wrapped his arms across her chest and nestled her head underneath his jaw. He hugged her

close, and his affection overflowed into a deep purr. Ellie sighed and relaxed against him. He

held her snugly listening to her breathing as she drifted to sleep safe in his arms.

Some hours later Jason awoke, having eventually fallen asleep himself. "Are you awake,

Ellie?" he whispered.

"Umhm, I have been for a little while."

"Did you try to wake me?"

"No, I figured you needed your sleep too. Besides, I wasn't too anxious to get up."

Jason nuzzled her head. His stomach growled, and he remembered that he'd been in

such a rush to get Ellie out this morning that he hadn't even eaten.

Ellie flinched at the sound, tensing up in his arms. "Sorry! It only startled me!" she

apologized immediately.

"Do you want to get up and have lunch?" he asked. "I skipped breakfast, and I'm pretty

hungry."

She nodded, and he let her roll off of his lap and slide off the futon before getting up

himself. They went to the kitchen, and Ellie prepared a salad with kale, radishes, and orange

bell pepper. Jason had some sliced turkey in the fridge, and he prepared himself a sandwich

with tomato and mayonnaise on whole wheat bread. They sat across the table from each other

with Ellie's rose between them while they ate.

"Thanks again for buying all of this stuff for me, Jason. I could spend the whole week

here and not go hungry." She paused. "How's yours?" she asked awkwardly.

"It's good."

"I hope so. I'd feel terrible if I thought you never actually got to enjoy your food."

"I do, so don't worry. I don't know what that other cat was talking about."

"You wouldn't though, would you?"

"Uh, no, I guess not. Obviously, I've never eaten anyone to find out."

"But if someone were already dead, you could try it, just to find out."

Jason gawked at her, "I'm not going to do that!" he yelped.

"I just kind of wish I knew if she was telling the truth," Ellie responded embarrassedly.

"And what would you expect me to tell you if she was?!" Jason inquired incredulously.

"'She was right, Ellie. It sure would taste great to eat you.' That would be awful! I'd have to lie,

and I don't want to do that either!"

Ellie looked down at the table miserably, "You're right, Jason. It's better to not know. I'm

sorry."

Jason felt a wave of guilt, "No, I'm sorry I overreacted. What you went through was

terrible, and I understand why you want an explanation."

Still looking down uncomfortably, "It still wasn't right for me to suggest you do something

horrible like that just because you're also a cat."

Jason reached across the table and placed his hand on hers. "Hey, don't worry about it;

I'm not angry. I could never stay angry with you for long anyway."

She looked up and smiled, "Thanks, Jason. That's sweet. It's good to have such an

understanding friend."

They finished eating, and then Jason spoke again, "So what do you want to do now? We

could play cards. Do you want to play gin again?"

Ellie perked up at his suggestion, "Sure! Let's find out whether I can trounce you again

like the last time!"

"That was beginner's luck," he replied testily.

Ellie smiled slyly, "Do you want to put a wager on it then? I seem to remember

something about cleaning each other's places." She glanced around. "Although, that hardly

seems fair when your place is so much bigger than mine."

"You can pick which floor you want to clean when we're done," Jason rejoined.

"Ha! Then you agree? Let's shake on it." She extended her right hand across the table.

Jason took it, and they shook on the wager.

Ellie grinned and eyed him appraisingly, "It's going to be nice having a servant next

weekend. I'll make sure there's plenty for you to do."

Jason snorted dismissively. "We'll be using my cards this time, so you won't be able to

cheat!"

Despite the cards belonging to Jason, they seemed to favor Ellie. Jason managed to

score a few points by going down early in a couple hands, but he only managed to gin once.

The final score was fifty-five to one hundred and sixty-eight: he'd lost worse than the first time.

Throughout the game Ellie had been wearing an aggravating smirk, and when she took

the final hand she erupted with laughter, "Ahahahaha, that was pathetic, Jason! I wiped the floor

with you, and now you're literally going to be wiping my floor!"

He scowled, "You were lucky. I kept getting terrible hands."

"It makes it easier when you keep giving me the cards I need." She picked up the card

she'd laid face down and showed it to him: it was the 3 of spades. "Recognize this?"

"I needed that half the hand!"

"I know. That's why I held onto it. If you telegraph the cards you need and hand your

opponent the ones they need, you can't expect to win."

Jason frowned.

"Aww, don't be upset, silly kitty. You like doing chores anyway, right? It'll probably be

almost as fun for you doing my chores as it will be for me watching you do them."

"I don't think I want to play cards anymore," he muttered. "Why don't we try checkers?"

"Sure, do you want to make a wager on that too?"

"No."

Jason managed to win their game of checkers. They played a second game, and he

narrowly won that one too. I should have taken her up on the bet. At least he didn't feel like he

was hopelessly doomed to lose at every game they played now.

"Let's try something fun and simple now," Jason suggested cheerfully. He put away the

checkerboard in the closet under the stairs and got out his Hunt board. The black box was worn

and ripped in the corners. He set it on the table between them. "This is my childhood Hunt

board," he explained.

"Oh? So I can imagine itty bitty Jason playing this. I bet you were adorable; I wish I could

go back in time, so I could pick you up and snuggle you!"

Jason blushed. "I assume you know how to play," he stated.

Ellie gave him a funny look, "I've never even heard of it. Why is it really popular or

something?"

Jason blinked. "It's our national board game, I think. I thought everyone knew about it."

Ellie shrugged, "Not me."

"Okay well, it's really simple anyway, just a silly kids' game." Jason unfolded the board

with its blue, green, yellow, red, and magenta zones around the edge and black zone in the

center.

Ellie looked at the depiction of the rabbit's skull in the black zone with an uncomfortable

expression. "This is a kid's game?" she asked.

"Yeah, one player is the fox, and the others are the rabbits. And the rabbits try to get

back to their burrows while the fox tries to catch and, and eat them," his voice trailed off at the

end. He paused. "I see why you never played it," he murmured.

"I can see why it's the national game. It would have to have a fox central to it, wouldn't

it?" she jested though it sounded like she was trying to cover up her discomfort.

"We can do something else," Jason decided. He folded up the board.

"No! If it's something you cared enough about to save from your childhood, then I want

to play it with you!" Ellie rejoined. "It's just a game even if it does seem a bit tasteless."

"You don't have to. I didn't even think about how uncomfortable it would make you feel."

"I want to. I don't want you to be afraid to share things with me because I'm a rabbit! Tell

me how to play."

"Alright." He explained the rules.

"It sounds like the fox has quite a few advantages," Ellie remarked.

"I guess so, but if you play with six people, it becomes almost impossible for the fox to

win."

Ellie picked up the metal statuette of the fox. "Fierce," she commented. She examined

the rabbit pieces, which were just gumdrop-shaped pieces of painted wood. "The people who

made this game certainly had their priorities," she stated dryly.

Jason glanced at the detailed fox figure and well-drawn rabbit's skull and then to the

nondescript rabbit pieces. "I guess so. Do you still want to play?"

She nodded. He reached for the fox piece, but Ellie snatched it.

"I want to be the fox!" she proclaimed.

"Okay, I'll be the red rabbit then." He picked up the piece and put it in the red burrow.

"A fox could hunt a cat, don't you think?"

Jason frowned, "Uh, I guess so."

"Then let's call it the red cat instead."

"Okay, if that will make you more comfortable."

"Does it make you uncomfortable?"

"I guess not."

"Good." Ellie imitated the fox statuette's expression, raising her hands to show her claws

and baring her teeth. "Grr, I'm going to get you, kitty." Her large incisors made the expression

rather comical.

Jason snorted, holding back a laugh. "Sorry!" he gasped. "But your teeth don't really

make for a threatening display."

"Hmph, maybe I'll bite you sometime."

They began playing. Ellie's roll placed her on the opposite side of the board from Jason.

"Phooey, I'm never going to catch you now!"

"If you land on one of the entry points, you can go back to the middle and try again," he

reminded.

They continued to play. "So I assume you liked to play the fox when you were little," Ellie

remarked.

"Everyone wanted to be the fox," he confirmed.

"Even your prey friends?"

Jason hesitated, "I don't think I had many," he admitted.

"Really? I would have thought you would have."

"Well, it's more like Fitzie was my only good friend. We hung out with some other people

sometimes, mostly other cats."

"Wow, you've known Tom a long time then."

"Yeah, almost as long as I can remember."

"It's nice that you still get to keep in touch."

"Do you have any friends you still keep in touch with?"

"No, I lost track of them when I went away to college."

"How about college friends then?"

"I was too busy studying to spend much time socializing." She glanced at Jason's

position on the board. "It looks like you're going to make it back home," she noted.

"The hardest part is landing back on your entry point. I might have to circle the board

several more times if you don't get me first."

"I'd better hurry up and get you then, or we'll be playing this all day."

After a couple more rolls, Ellie finally landed on one of the entry points. "About time!"

Jason missed his entry space, and the next turn Ellie managed to roll a six. "Ha! So I can

put myself right behind you, right?"

"You can enter right on top of me," he corrected.

She put her piece in, and he moved his back to the red zone.

"The fox dropped out of the sky and scared the kitty back home," she joked.

Their proximity to the red zone meant that they were soon frequently jumping over each

other. Inevitably, one had to land on the other, and it happened to be Ellie. "Got you! Now, I get

to take you back to my den and." She paused, and a look of distress briefly flashed across her

face. "And cuddle you," she concluded lightly. "If I get to do what I want to, then I'm going to

hold and cuddle the kitty."

"If I knew that's what you were trying to do, I wouldn't have run away," he replied.

"Even if I were a mean-looking fox?" Ellie asked, holding up the statuette.

"If it were still you, Ellie, I'd let you hold and cuddle me all you wanted."

The insides of her ears pinkened and she smiled shyly, "If you keep saying such sweet

things to me, Jason, I'm going to start thinking this rose you bought me wasn't an accident."

Jason felt his own ears getting hot. It was, but it shouldn't have been. He wanted to let

her know, but nervousness held his tongue. He just flicked his ears reflexively, and changed the

subject, "What do you want to do now?"

"I think I've had enough games. Let's read." She grinned, "And if you want, we can

cuddle at the same time."

They sat together on the couch, Jason with his paperback and Ellie with her tablet. Ellie

snuggled up next to him and slid down to tuck her head under his arm, tucking her feet up on

the futon. They'd been reading a little while when Jason's phone rang.

"Sorry," he murmured, getting up to answer it. "This is Jason Brown."

"Hi Jason, it's Rosa!"

Jason felt a rush of nervousness. How was she going to react when he told her he'd

realized he loved someone else? He glanced at Ellie. How could he tell her with Ellie sitting right

there?!

"Jason? Are you still there?"

"Sorry, Rosa! I'm still here. How are you?"

Ellie's ears perked straight up, "Is that your date? Tell her I want to meet her!" she

whispered.

"I'm doing great! I had such a great time Friday that I wanted to know if you could come

over Saturday at eleven this week to meet my friends."

"Already?" Jason asked in surprise.

"I kind of let slip that I had a date over when I met with them yesterday, and I don't think I

can hold off their questions another week. So what do you say?"

"One second, I have to, uh, check my calendar." He covered the microphone and turned

to Ellie, "She wants me to come over on Saturday to meet her friends. Would it be okay for us to

shift our weekend time together to Sunday?"

"Hmm, I guess if you work really hard, you'll be able to clean my apartment in one day,"

Ellie teased. "Don't forget to tell her I want to meet her."

He uncovered the microphone, "Saturday is fine, Rosa."

"Fantastic! I can't wait to see the looks on their faces!" she barked. "And to see you

again, kitty cat," she added mischievously.

"Yeah, it'll be good to see you again too," he replied, trying to keep the discomfort out of

his voice. "By the way, my friend Ellie would like to meet you too."

"I suppose that's only fair."

"Does sometime on Friday work for you? We could have lunch together or dinner after

work."

"Let's do dinner after work. I don't usually take a long break at lunch."

"Okay, how about six o'clock at Panda's Wok?"

"Works for me. I promise I'll try to be nice."

"Thanks. See you then."

"Bye, Jason."

"Bye." He hung up the call.

"So we're going to meet her at the Chinese restaurant on North Twelfth Avenue?" Ellie

inquired.

"That's right."

Ellie grinned, "I can't wait!"

Jason tried to swallow his panic. How am I going to explain things to either of them?!