Chapter 3The Midnight Bellhop

“Tell me everything,” the calico said, his tone serious.

The tuxedo paced the counter, frantic. “There’s a bad man in this cat’s house. He’s the human’s mate. He came over once, and now he sneaks in every day while she’s out hunting.” (Hunting, I presumed, meant working.)

“This cat does not like him! He kicks this cat, pulls this cat’s tail. And he puts strange things in the house. In the living room, the bathroom, even where the human sleeps!”

“This morning, after the human left, he came again! He hid a metal block and a long rope next to the pipes in the bathroom. This cat smelled a very bad, very dangerous smell on him today. This cat heard him say he was going to do something tonight.”

“The human will be hurt when she comes home. This cat has to protect the human. But this cat could not win the fight. This cat was defeated.” The tuxedo’s head drooped. “The human always comes home when the moon is high. The moon is almost high now. This cat will give you all of this cat’s cans and toys. You must save the human!”

My jaw dropped. This was serious. The metal block and rope sounded like a weapon.

“I’ll call the police,” I said immediately. “Where do you live?”

The cat gave me a jumbled set of directions. It took me a few minutes to pinpoint the location on a map. It was close to the hotel, but far from the police station.

The calico stood on his hind legs and patted my shoulder. “Human, there is one more thing you must do.”

At this point, I wasn’t questioning any of it. “Name it.”

“You must go to the guest’s building and intercept her before she goes inside. This cat will follow and protect you.” He pointed to the name tag on my uniform. “As long as you wear that, you can understand us.”