“Robby Harper, computer programmer and wannabe stud. We’ve been married less than a year, and he’s already looking for a little something extra on the side.” I paused and gave a bitter laugh. “Well, as of last night, I guess he’s not just looking anymore.”

“And you know this because…?”

I glanced up sharply, letting a little bite seep into my tone.

“Because he didn’t even bother to shower before he came home. I could smell the bitch on him.” Oops. “Her perfume,” I added quickly, as it occurred to me that humans probably couldn’t smell one another’s personal scents the way cats could. “I think he met her here, and I want to know who she is.” I made a show of glancing around the room, eyeing the dancer strutting around onstage in a Princess Leia bikini before turning back to Jeff.

He nodded in understanding. “I don’t know many of the regulars by name, so you’ll have to tell me what he looks like. But I can tell you right now that he probably wasn’t with one of our girls. My brother runs this place by the book, and girls who break the rules don’t last long.”

I dismissed his opinion with a careless wave of my hand. I already knew I wasn’t looking for a stripper. But Julie Harper didn’t. “He’s about five ten, with short brown hair and dark eyes. They’re nearly black, actually.”

Jeff frowned and shook his head. “I don’t usually get close enough to the customers to notice their eye color, and other than that, you’ve just described a good third of our regulars. Anything else about him I might remember?”

I chewed on my bottom lip as I thought. “Yeah.” I shifted on the bar stool, where my bare thighs were stuck to the vinyl again, and turned to face the booth where Marc and Kevin stil sat with Corinne. “See those guys sitting with Little Red Riding Hood?” I turned around to see Jeff squinting into the dimly lit main room.

“Yeah.”

“The one on the left is a friend of Robby’s. They usually come in here together. Until last night, I thought they were going to the gun range.”

Jeff nodded and popped another peanut into his mouth. He chewed, then swallowed while I waited, growing more nervous with each passing second. Then he nodded again. “Yeah, I remember your husband. He comes in a couple of times a month. Usually gets a lap dance from Ginger, the redhead in the coconut bra and grass miniskirt.” I glanced around the room, trying to locate “Ginger,” as Jeff continued. “But Ginger doesn’t work the day shift, and yesterday your hubby was here for lunch. First one through the door. I remember because he left with the only female customer we’ve had al week. We get a few who come in on Friday and Saturday nights with their husbands and boyfriends, but we hardly ever get women in for lunch. And they almost never come alone.”

My heart pounded. He’d seen the tabby. And he remembered her.

“Robby left with this woman?”

“Yeah. Maybe…an hour after we opened? Something like that.”

I leaned over the bar, fighting not to appear too eager. “Do you know her name?”

“Nah. I’d never seen her before yesterday. She drank a club soda, though. Ordered it with this really thick, sexy accent. Spanish, maybe.”

“Do you remember what she looked like?”

Jeff frowned, as if I’d just asked him if sugar was sweet.

“I’l never forget what she looked like. She was hot.”

I rolled my eyes, prepared for a bit of exaggeration in his response.

After al , he’d offered me a job as a stripper. How high could his standards be? “Got anything more specific than ‘hot’?”

“Yeah, sorry.” And he actually looked sorry. Or at least sheepish. “She was about your height, maybe a little shorter. Dark, exotic skin. Long, curly hair, not quite as black as yours, but still pretty dark. Pale gray eyes.

Weird-pale, but beautiful. Her eyes I noticed. I remember when she left because I’d been about to offer her a drink on the house, then I looked up to see her heading out the door with…well, with your husband.” Jeff shrugged apologetically. “Did that help?”

“Yeah. Thanks.” I stood, already turning to go.

“Hey, what are you gonna do when you find her?”

I answered him beneath my breath. “I’m gonna use up a few of her nine lives.”

Chapter Fourteen

I thanked Jeff for his help and caught Marc’s eye from across the room. He raised one brow at me in question, and I tossed my head toward the entrance to tell him I was ready to go. He gave me a single, brief nod and tapped Kevin on the shoulder. Together, they stood, and Corinne slid out of the booth behind Marc. He offered her his hand, but she hugged him instead, standing on her toes to whisper something in his ear. Her lips actually moved that time, but I didn’t want to know what she was saying, so I turned and wound my way through a jumble of tables, heading toward the door.

We had lunch at the Cajun Bar and Grill, where Marc and I exchanged information over spicy jambalaya, doing our best to ignore Kevin’s interruptions. He was working overtime to get on our collective good side, but he might as well have saved his breath. We’d be reporting him to my father even if he’d been able to hand over the murdering tabby bound and gagged.

After lunch, Kevin drove us across the Mississippi border into Picayune, where we found Robert Harper’s apartment with little trouble.

He lived on the second floor, next door to Mrs. Grady, a friendly—and obviously bored —senior citizen who would have been more than happy to help Robby’s best friends and his little sister, Julie, make up the guest list for his surprise birthday party. Unfortunately, she didn’t know the names of any of his numerous lady friends.