This is nice, Craig thought, smiling, but I need to skedaddle. I wonder if I can just sneak out behind her without being noticed. Before he could make his move, however, someone said, “Quiet. Make way, please.” Again, he was thrust to one side. The room went silent. He turned to discover what everyone was looking at and saw a large white cat sitting on the floor.

  “Bristol!” the soldier said. “Bristol, baby, come see me.”

  The cat trotted toward her and leaped into her waiting arms, knocking her off balance and onto the sofa. Everyone laughed and many dabbed at their eyes while watching the joyful reunion between the young woman and her beloved cat.

  Craig stood with the others and wiped at one eye as he took in the touching scene. Soon the young soldier stood, the cat draped across one of her shoulders. She looked out at the sea of smiling faces. When she noticed Craig, she asked, “Who are you?”

  He stuttered. “Oh...um...just an innocent bystander...a representative from the community welcoming home a hero.” He approached her and shook her hand. “Welcome back and thank you for your service.” He then slipped out of the house, and walked swiftly to his unmarked cruiser, and called Savannah. “Hi, it’s me reporting in.”

  “Oh?” she said, cautiously. “How’d it go? Did you make an arrest? You got there in time, didn’t you?”

  “Just in the nick of time, actually. Hey, put me on speaker. I want to share this with Adam; he’s the one who found the phone.”

  “Oh, Craig, are you sure it’s something you want him to hear? There was no shooting, was there?”

  “Put me on speaker, will ya?” he snapped.

  “Okay, we can hear you now.”

  Craig cleared his throat and said, “Adam, I want to thank you and Savannah for a really nice evening.”

  A puzzled look on her face, Savannah asked, “What do you mean, Craig?”

  “Well, they were dressed to kill, all right, and they were going to put the victim on ice.”

  “Craig, no graphics, please,” she insisted.

  “It was a party, Savannah—a welcome-home party for a soldier who loves to ice skate. Everyone dressed in their finery and they were going to take the lady soldier to the ice rink to skate as a special surprise—on the ice, get it?”

  Savannah asked skeptically, “But Craig, they were going to give her what she deserves.”

  “Yes, and they did it in a grand manner. There was no crime. It was just a nice gathering of folks welcoming home their hero.”

  Amidst uproarious laughter among her family, Savannah said, “Oh, Craig, how embarrassing. I’m really sorry.”

  “Me too,” Adam said, “I sure thought...”

  “Hey, stop it!” Craig complained. “I called to thank you for sending me over there. I haven’t participated in such a nice event in a long time. It was the highlight of my week...maybe my year.”

  Savannah and Adam smiled at each other and she said, “Oh, well, good. I’m glad it was a happy occasion.”

  “Yeah,” he said, “and there was a cat.”

  “A cat?” Savannah asked.

  “The soldier’s cat gave her quite an enthusiastic welcome home.” More contemplatively, he said, “I don’t think I’ve ever seen such a genuine display of devotion from a cat. It was a pretty remarkable evening. So thank you.” He took a ragged breath. “Well, now you kids have a good trip and stay out of trouble, will you? You’re leaving tomorrow, right?”

  “Yes,” Savannah said.

  “Did I hear that your cat’s going with you?”

  “Yes, he is.”

  “Well, I guess there’s no hope of things going smoothly, then,” Craig teased.

  ****

  “Is everyone ready?” Michael asked, buckling his seat belt the following morning.

  “Yes!” Adam shouted.

  “Yes!” Lily said, kicking her feet excitedly from her car seat.

  “Teddy?” Michael called. “Ready to go bye-bye?”

  Everyone laughed when the baby responded with his brand of happy baby-babble.

  “Got your toothbrushes?” Michael asked. When he saw nodding heads, he continued, “Jackets, bathing suits, thingamajigs, doohickeys, and gizmos?”

  “Daaad,” Adam complained, “what are you talking about?”

  “Just want to make sure you have everything.”

  Savannah put her hand on Michael’s arm. “What we don’t have we can do without or buy when we get there.”

  “They have stores in LA?” he joked as he pulled the SUV out of the driveway. “Wait,” he said in a panic. “What’s that following us?”

  “Dad, it’s the trailer,” Adam said impatiently.

  “Oh, that’s right, with your boogie board...”

  “Yeah, and Teddy’s bed and bouncy chair and diapers and...” Adam thought for a minute. “How can someone so small need so many things?”

  “Good question,” Savannah said.

  After a few moments, Adam asked, “So, what’s the answer?”

  Michael winked at Savannah and said, “That’s just the way it is, Buddy. It takes a lot to keep a baby happy and safe.”

  “Adam,” Savannah said, “have you ever been along Highway One?”

  “Um, no I don’t think so. Where’s that?”

  She explained, “It’s an alternative route to Los Angeles and it’s a very pretty drive. We’ve decided to avoid the freeways and take the scenic route. In fact, we’ll probably stay overnight at Big Sur.”

  “Is there a beach?” Adam asked.

  “Sort of. We’ll be driving along the coast so you’ll see the ocean, but it’s mostly cliffs.”

  “Can I go boogie boarding?”

  Michael shook his head. “Probably not, Buddy. We’ll wait until we get to the beach house to use your boogie board. Get your phone camera ready,” he suggested. “You’ll have lots of opportunities for great photos you can send to your mom, Eric, and your sister.”

  Meanwhile Savannah was remembering something. She closed her eyes and counted slowly from five to zero, then imagined a white light around their car and each of the passengers. She smiled to herself and relaxed in her seat.

  “Raaags,” Adam griped an hour later.

  “What’s he doing?” Savannah asked.

  “He’s scratching me,” Lily whined. “Go, Rags!” she shouted. “Go back there.”

  Savannah pulled a packet of treats from her tote bag and shook it. “Rags, want a treat? Come on up here, Rags,” she said enticingly.

  When the cat made his way over the console and onto Savannah’s lap, she gave him a treat and Adam said, “You’re going to reward him for bad behavior?”

  “What bad behavior?” Savannah asked. “I called him and he came to me.”

  “Yeah, after he climbed all over us and scratched Lily and ate Teddy’s cracker.”

  She looked at Lily. “Are you okay, honey?”

  The child rubbed her arm.

  “He ate Teddy’s cracker?” Savannah asked. “What cracker?”

  “I gave Teddy one of his baby crackers,” Adam said, “and Rags ate it.”

  “Well, Rags is okay now,” she noted as he stood on her lap with his paws on the door peering out the window. “You kids just chill.”

  A little after noon, Michael pulled into a restaurant parking lot in Monterey. “Anyone hungry?” he asked.

  Adam cheered, “Yeah!”

  “Yeah!” Lily said.

  Savannah snapped Rags’s leash to his harness and stepped out of the car with him. She remarked, “He’s anxious to get out; must be ready to stretch his legs.” She stood by as he squatted near a cluster of large shrubs. Adam unbuckled his seat belt, then released Lily from her car seat and helped her out of the car while Michael lifted the baby from his seat.

  Just then they heard a man’s voice. “Boy that’s a packed car. How many more of ya are there?”

  Michael studied the man, who sat in a wheelchair smiling at them. “This is it; three kids and a cat.”

  “Where are ya goin’?” the man asked. “Movin’ out of state? Or are ya movin’ in from the north?”

  “Just vacationing,” Michael said. With Teddy in his arms, he took Lily’s hand and motioned to Adam. “Come on, let’s get washed up for lunch.”

  “I’ll be there in a minute,” Savannah called, continuing to walk around with Rags on his leash.

  “What kinda cat is that?” the man asked, rolling closer to her. “I ain’t never seen one on a tether like that.”

  “He’s part ragdoll,” Savannah said.

  “Doll?” the man asked, frowning. “Are ya funnin’ me or what?”

  “No,” Savannah insisted. “Ragdoll is a type of cat—you know, a cat breed. He’s actually a mutt—half ragdoll and half nobody knows.”

  “A mutt’s a dog,” the man insisted. His tone lightened when he said, “I used ta have a cat named Sparky. He was a tiger-stripe cat. That was when I was servin’ time. The guards never knew we had him, or if they did, they made like they didn’t know.” He looked off into space. “Buzz probably knew. He just didn’t say nothin’. Sure wish I could have took Sparky with me when I was released. Maybe I wouldn’t have ended up in this thing,” he said, referring to the wheelchair. “He was a lucky cat. He brought luck to those of us who took care of him.” When he saw Savannah staring at him, he raised his eyebrows and said, “It’s true. We proved he was lucky. Hey, we should have named him Lucky, ’cept we didn’t know he was lucky at first and Sparky seemed to fit him.”

  “How did you end up in the wheelchair? What happened?” Savannah asked.

  “Got shot.” Suddenly he lurched forward in his chair and pointed. “Hey, look where yer cat’s goin’. Get him outta there, will ya? He shouldn’t be goin’ back there. Git!” he shouted. “Git, cat!” More agitated now, he rolled his chair closer. “Wait, he’s got somethin’. What is that?” Relaxing a little, he said, “Oh, it just looks like a rat—an old dirty, dead rat.” He smiled. “Sparky was a good ratter. Our cell block was the only one with no rats ’cause of Sparky.” He chuckled. “Some of the guys actually made friends with the rats—those was the ones in for the long haul. I think they was kinda warped in their thinkin’. Know what I mean?” He shuddered. “Makin’ pets outta rats? Not me. No, give me a cat any day.” He watched Savannah approach Rags. “So what is it he has? You aren’t goin’ to touch that dead rat, are ya?”

  She studied the item that lay in the dirt in front of Rags. “It’s some sort of pouch. Probably trash that blew out of a rubbish truck. It’s all caked with mud.” She leaned over and picked it up gingerly between two fingers, when suddenly the man shouted, “Wait! Give me that! It’s mine. Give it to me! Did he get that from behind those bushes? Whatever’s back there’s mine—mine, I tell ya!”

  Before Savannah could react, Rags reached up and pawed at the pouch, tearing away a portion of the mud-soaked cloth and releasing a shower of currency. “Wow! You say this is yours? Do you make it a habit of hiding large amounts of cash in shrubs on public property?”

  “Um...well...” he hedged. “Maybe not, but finders keepers, right?” He rolled closer to where the money lay on the ground, leaned over, and started to scoop it up.

  “Just a minute,” Savannah said, blocking him. “I think we’d better call the police.” She quickly picked up the bills.

  The man sat back in his chair and stared at her for a moment.

  “It’s not really yours, is it?” Savannah asked. “But I’ll bet you know where it came from.”

  The man began fidgeting with the hem of his flannel shirt. He avoided eye contact with Savannah, then said, “I ain’t never seen a cat do that before. He went back there and dug up that loot, didn’t he? He had it in his mouth. Did he smell it or somethin’? Is that a money-sniffin’ cat?”

  Before Savannah could respond, Adam opened the door to the restaurant and called out, “Hey, Savannah, what do you want for lunch? We’re ready to order.” When he saw the currency in her hand, he walked up to her. “Wow! Where’d all that money come from?”

  “Yer cat found it,” the man said.

  “Rags?” Adam asked. “Rags found it? Where?”

  “Is that yer cat’s name—Rags?” the man asked. He looked at Adam. “What’s yer name, son? Mine’s John.” He grinned. “They call me Pirate John ’cause I came to the veterans home still wearin’ a patch on my eye.”

  “I’m Adam.” The boy hesitated when John held out his hand, then stepped forward and shook hands with the man.

  “You were injured while you were in the military?” Savannah asked.

  “Yeah,” John said, avoiding eye contact, “you might say that.” He leaned forward and said to Adam, “Yer cat found all that money. Guess it’s his lucky day.”

  Adam moved closer to Savannah and looked at the torn pouch and loose cash in her hands. “It’s all dirty. Where was it?”

  She shook the pouch carefully, trying to loosen more of the dirt. “Yeah, it looks like it’s been in the mud for a while.” Suddenly feeling conspicuous, she dropped the loose cash into her tote bag, then made a quick decision. “Here, Adam, hold onto the rest of this money while I turn the sack inside out. I’ll put the money back into it, and it won’t get the inside of my tote bag all dirty.”

  “Good idea,” Adam said. “Wow!” he exclaimed when Savannah put several bundles of bills in his hands. “That’s a lot of money.” He looked around. “Where’d Rags get it?”

  “Behind that bush,” John said, rolling up closer to them. “Hey, what’re ya doin’?” he asked Savannah. “Are ya keepin’ that money? Is that what yer fixin’ to do? You can’t do that, you know. It’s not yours. I think you should put it back. It belongs to someone. Not you.”

  Savannah glanced at John, then took the money from the boy, placed it back into the sack, and lowered it into her tote bag. She told John, “I’m not keeping it.” When she saw Adam disappear behind the large shrub, she called out, “Oh, Adam, let’s not get dirty and...”

  “Yeah,” John said, rolling quickly toward the boy, “stay outta there. There ain’t nothin’ back there. Just never you mind.”

  But it was too late. Adam had already backed out from between the dense shrubs with another pouch. Rags walked up to him and sniffed it.

  “Now what’s that?” John asked nervously. He then said, “Hey, that looks like somethin’ that belongs to my friend. He keeps his private papers in there. Yeah, that’s right, his private papers.” He held out his hand. “You’d better give that over to me so I can get it back to my friend.”

  Adam slapped the pouch against his leg to loosen the dirt and looked at Savannah wondering what to do. “It was buried,” he explained. “Just this string was sticking out.” He glanced briefly at John, then said quietly, “Savannah, it feels like more money to me.”

  “Check and see,” she suggested.

  “Yep,” he said, peering inside the bag, “more money.” Adam pulled out some of the currency. “Wow!” he shouted. “These are hundred dollar bills. There are a bunch of them in here! Where did all this money come from anyway?” he asked, looking from Savannah to John. “Was it a bank robbery?” He pointed. “Hey, there’s a bank. It probably came from there.”

  “I wonder,” Savannah said. “It might have, or it’s a deposit from a local business that never made it to the bank.” She added, “The police will probably know.”

  Before Savannah could say anything more, they heard a gruff voice behind them. “What’re you doin’ there?”

  John was eager to tell all. “Hey, Ed, listen, they found a treasure hidden behind those bushes.” When the other man rushed toward Adam, John said, “Now Ed, settle down. He don’t have nothin’ of yours.”

  “How do you know that?” Ed demanded. “Could be mine.” He approached Adam and insisted, “Let me see that.” However, when he tried to grab the pouch from Adam’s hand, he suddenly found himself on the claw end of a cat. “Hey!” he shouted, pulling his hand back and shuffling away. “What is that, some kind of attack cat? You’d better keep that beast away from me if you know what’s good for him.”

  “Now, Ed,” John scolded, “yer the one who’d better back away. Where’re yer manners, anyway?”

  Ignoring the reprimand, Ed spat, “John, don’t you know what this means?”

  “What?” John asked.

  Ed scowled, then glanced at Savannah and Adam. He stared at the money sack for a moment and grumbled, “Nothin’. Just nothin’.” He asked Savannah. “So what are ya gonna do with the money?”

  “Give it to the police,” she said.

  John glanced around the area. When he was convinced that no one was within hearing distance, he said, “We’ll split it with ya.”

  Savannah studied the man for a moment, then pulled her phone out of her pocket.

  “Wait,” Ed insisted. “There’s no need to involve the cops. Just give us some of it and you can keep the rest.”

  Savannah looked hard at him. “You act like you know where this money came from. Did you take it? Are you the ones who hid it here? Where’d you get it anyway?”

  “Uh...me?” Ed said. “No...I...um...I don’t know nothing.”

  Savannah studied Ed, then looked at John, who sat staring at the money pouch in Adam’s hands. She said to Adam, “Hey, buddy, let me have that bag and you go in and tell your dad to order me a turkey sandwich. I need to make a call.” She looked at the two men, then said to the boy, “You know, I really should stay here until the police arrive. You go on inside and eat your lunch.”

  After thinking about it for a moment, Adam handed her the pouch and returned to the restaurant.

  When the men heard Savannah place the 911 call, Ed mumbled, “I’m outta here.”

  “I think you should stay,” Savannah said firmly. “Obviously, you know something about this and I think you need to tell it to the police.”