ground.
“Did you jump up there?” I said.
She stepped on a low wall that formed a planter, swung a leg onto the roof, and pulled herself up. She smiled down at me, then jumped down again. She made it look easy.
“What did you do in Colorado anyway?”
“Rock climbing instructor.” She smiled sweetly.
I noticed the lean musculature of her arms and legs for the first time.
“What are you going to do here?”
“Take care of her,” she said, nodding her head inside. “I visited Abner yesterday. He said to tell you the vet where he took Sally has an industrial ventilation system with wide vents, whatever that means.”Dru Delacroix set up another phone call so I sat in his conference room and talked to Noye.
“I’m gonna plead. Dru got me a deal for two years. I’ll be out in little over a year with time served.”
“You sure you want to do that?”
“It’ll be easier that way.”
“Is your sister going to take care of your place?”
“You found out.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I don’t know.”

“Don’t worry, I won’t bother her. But what about the cat? She says she’s allergic.” I had a sinking feeling about what he would say.
“Can you watch her for me?”
“I don’t even know its name.”
“I hadn’t named her yet, but let’s call her Stacy.”
“Your cat names are scary. I don’t know if they’re cats or girlfriends,” I said. “I’ll take her to my place so your sister can get into your side of the building to clean it or whatever.”
“I gave Abigail my bank account information so she could pay the bills.”
“You got enough to last you?” I said, hoping for a yes.
“I’m good,” he said. “Thanks for asking. I told her not to rent the place out or do much to it. I’ve got some models I don’t want disturbed.”
“I’ll check on her and the kid every once in a while. Strictly business.”
“That’ll be good,” Noye said. “Talk to you later.” Like it would be tomorrow.

I got a job at a muffler shop to have some cash coming in and for appearances, in case the burglary squad was watching me. Truth was I couldn’t do much without Noye. Stacy the cat was pretty good company, but I wasn’t fond of the litter box. I’d be glad to hand her over in a year