Waiting for Armando (Kate Lawrence Mysteries) by Judith K. Ivie Page A

the table, daring anyone to demur.
    A glimmer of hope dawned in Ingrid’s eyes as she glanced from me to Margo to Strutter . Margo reached across the table and patted my cheek.
    Strutter signaled a passing waiter. “Next round’s on me,” she announced, “but then we head home and try to get organized for Sunday’s memorial service. We’ve got to be prepared to dodge the press and still work the crowd for information. It will be a good chance to see who turns up looking nervous.” Our fresh drinks arrived, and we clinked glasses. “One for all, and all for one,” she pronounced.
    I smiled wryly at her. “Dean’s list at Trinity, huh? Just my luck.”
    She grinned back at me.
    “I just knew you were a good one, Lawrence,” Margo said happily. “This is going to be some fun, y’all.”
    We finished our drinks and exchanged cell phone numbers all around. Strutter and I left a little earlier than the others, she to tend to her son and I to tend to my three feline charges who would be impatient for their dinner.
    After feeding Jasmine and Oliver in the kitchen and Moses in the guest room, I allowed the kitten to follow me out of the room. The two geriatrics had mellowed some in the past couple of days, and with full stomachs, they were likely to be less aggressive. I sat down on the top stair and awaited developments. Moses sat beside me, considering the twelve cliffs before him, each higher than his head. How to tackle these obstacles? Not being a mother cat, I had no idea how to teach him. I needn’t have worried.
    First Jasmine, then Oliver, appeared at the foot of the stairs. Jas assumed her usual affronted pose, tail wrapped tightly around her front feet, but Ollie, always a gentler creature, allowed his curiosity to overcome his hostility. Cautiously, he padded up the stairs until he was nose to nose with Moses. I was ready to intervene at the first hiss, but Ollie merely sniffed the alarmed kitten from head to tail, then looked at me in disgust. He began licking Moses none too gently. Instead of being frightened, the kitten started to purr loudly. This, he understood.
    After grooming Moses to his satisfaction, Ollie turned around and started back down the stairs. On the third step, he looked back and made a chirping noise I had never heard before. Moses dithered and waggled his little backside for a few seconds, then dropped his front paws over the edge and tumbled down two full steps.
    “Okay, guys,” I said, scooping him up and carrying him past Jasmine to the first floor. “I think that’s enough progress for one day.” I deposited him in the living room, where Ollie sprawled comfortably on the floor, and went into the kitchen to make a cup of tea. Jas picked out a spot in the middle of the front hall and hunkered down to watch thoughtfully. No hissing, fat tail or raised ruff, though.
    I poured boiling water over my teabag and stepped around Jas to get into the living room. Moses capered happily around Ollie, occasionally batting at the older cat bravely with a tiny foot, then scampering away.
    “So how’s it going, Dad?” I said, raising my mug to Ollie. His eyes were half-closed. Jas remained motionless and watchful in the hall.
    I sipped my tea and considered the events of the past week, which had been numerous and momentous. Despite all of the drama at work, uppermost in my mind was the fact that six days ago, Armando had taken off for South America, and he had sounded dismayingly happy about it. Our telephone conversations had been spotty and unsatisfactory, consisting primarily of yelling, “What did you say?” to each other over a bad connection, when he could get through at all. Colombian phone service wasn’t the most reliable, and I still had no clear idea of how he was spending his time and with whom. It was unsettling to think of him so far away from me with people I had never met, speaking a language I didn’t understand, at home in a culture about which I knew nothing.
    Will our