Yule Be Magical (Familiar Kitten Mysteries Book 8) by Sara Bourgeois (popular novels TXT) 📗

I asked. “A lot of people are getting off right now and going home.”

“He’s got a second job. Kurt is still paying off the lawyer fees from when he got visitation. Plus he racked up a lot of debt a few years ago when he lost his job for six months,” Thorn said.

“You’re really handy to have around,” I said. “But I get the feeling you haven’t exactly stayed out of this case either.”

“Hey,” Thorn said and put his hands up in front of his chest. “I stayed out of anything having to do with your father and clearing his name. That was the most important aspect for me to avoid involvement, and I did.”

“We can’t take your cruiser to break into Kurt’s house,” I said. “I suppose you know where he lives?”

“I do, and we can. We just need to park a couple of blocks away. No one will even give us a second glance. People tend to put their heads down and shuffle off when I’m around.”

“I like this side of you,” I said.

“I like all sides of you,” Thorn said before pulling me in, caveman style, for a long kiss.

Eventually, we did get to the breaking and entering.

As promised, Thorn parked his cruiser a block away from Kurt’s house and around the corner. We used my usual method of sneaking through the back yard and using the back door to get inside.

I didn’t even have to use magic to get the door open. Though it was locked, he hadn’t pushed the door shut all the way. The door and frame were old, warped, and ill-fitting. So, it just took a hard shove and it popped right open.

“He needs to get that fixed,” Thorn groused as we stepped inside.

“Yeah,” I said. “I’ll let you tell him.”

“He’s a grown man. He can figure these things out for himself,” Thorn said.

The back door opened into a small vestibule that wasn’t quite big enough to be considered a mud room. To my left was a small bench with cubbies underneath and then the door to the garage. To my right was the doorway into the kitchen, and directly in front of me was the stairs to the basement.

Thorn and I walked into the kitchen. The house was nicer than the warped, broken door would lead one to believe. The kitchen wasn’t fancy, but it was clean. The white cabinets and blue countertops were old but well-maintained. It looked as though the cabinets were regularly stripped and repainted.

Aside from the door, it looked as though Kurt was handy. “What does he do?” I asked, “for his main job.”

“He works at the garage in the new section of town,” Thorn said. “Kurt was a mechanic, and that’s why he lost his job for a few months. When the law passed that outlawed manufacturing new gas cars, the shop nearly went under. He got some training and is working on electric cars now. He’s lucky because they don’t actually need a lot of repairs or maintenance. Jobs in that field are slim. From what I’ve heard, he’s a hard worker and his boss loves him.”

“What’s his part-time gig, then?” I asked.

“He works at the Burger King over by the charging station,” Thorn said.

“Oh, okay. That can’t pay nearly as well as his regular job,” I said.

“Every little bit must help. I’ve heard he does some work on the side too, but that’s just helping out people with their gas cars. It’s folks who can’t afford a new car and can’t afford the shop’s prices for their repairs.”

“His boss doesn’t mind him poaching business like that?” I asked.

“I don’t think he sees it that way. Most of those people were never going to be customers anyway. When I say that Kurt does the work cheap, I mean cheap. Whatever those folks can pay to preserve their pride. I’m sure if not for that, he’d do it for free. I’ve even heard he takes barters sometimes when the person has no money.”

“Maybe he just misses working on the older cars,” I mused. “He could just love it that much.”

“Probably,” Thorn agreed.

“He doesn’t sound like the murdering type,” I said.

“You just never know with people,” Thorn said and gave me a wink. “Since we’re here, why don’t we take a quick look around anyway? See if he’s got a secret stash of bodies.”

“All right,” I said.

I suggested splitting up to make the task of searching the house faster, but Thorn wouldn’t hear of it. We were sticking together, and that was the end of it.

Meri found a perch to look out the house’s front window. “Does the cat always play lookout for you?” Thorn asked as we looked over the living room and small dining area.

“Yeah, pretty much anymore. Seems he doesn’t want me getting caught and going to the slammer,” I said.

Thorn and I checked the house’s two bedrooms, but there wasn’t anything of interest. One was obviously a room for a little boy, but it didn’t look like it was used often. It was sad and heartwarming at the same time. I thought that perhaps the little boy didn’t want to spend the night away from his adoptive parents, and Kurt didn’t force it.

Again, not the type of guy to commit murder.

Kurt’s computer didn’t have much on it other than a few computer games and some folders full of financial papers. It was his records of trying to pay off his debt, but since he didn’t stand to inherit anything from Pepper’s death, it wasn’t a motive for murder.

I went over to the dining room table and found a small stack of papers sticking out from under a placemat. It was a couple of past due bills and one other invoice.

The date on the paid invoice caught my attention.

“Po-po’s coming,” Meri called out from the window.

Thorn rushed over and looked out the curtain without opening it more than a couple of centimeters. Meri quickly dropped out of the window so he wouldn’t be seen.

“It’s