Eyes of the Cat: Truth or Dare (Part 3 of a 4 Part Serial)

By Mimi Riser

Part 3 of a 4-part serialized novel...
Once upon a time, in a far, strange land (1883 Texas, to be precise), there arrived from back East a beautiful and headstrong young princess...um, I mean a scientist...named Tabitha Jeffries. Hardly more than a girl really, but she had the courage of an Amazon and a heart as big as her intellect. To save another girl, named Gabrina, from an arranged marriage to this presumably wicked prince (well, a laird, anyway) called Alan MacAllister, Tabitha switches places with her. Expecting, naturally enough, that the awful Alan’s Highland Scots family (who just happen to live in a full-scale medieval castle) will release her the moment she confesses she’s not Gabrina. Only—and this is the annoying part—Alan’s family is actually more interested in a bride, period, than they are in a specific bride... “Gabby or Tabby, ’tis such a wee dif’rence”... In other words, they keep her—fussing and fuming, kicking, clawing, biting, punching and screaming, notwithstanding.

And Alan himself, who turns out to have wanted Gabrina even less than Gabrina wanted him, decides that he does want Gabrina’s replacement. He decides this on first sight, in fact. And one can scarcely blame him, because that first sight was a lulu. It was the sight of said replacement—who had just escaped a tower by way of a tree that snagged off most of her clothes on the climb down—leaping wildly out of that tree in her unmentionables. Very interesting. Something to make a man stop and think. Catching her in his arms, Alan thinks he may be in love.

Numerous battles and embraces, some bloodcurdling adventures, and an emotional triathlon later, Tabitha is beginning to think the same thing. Now all she has to do is solve a ten year old murder, prevent a new one, and save herself and Alan from a horrifying family legacy. There’s always something, isn’t there?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Mimi Riser
• Release date: Sep 7, 2014
• ISBN: 9781311843975

Mimi Riser

Mimi Riser is a longtime author of fiction and nonfiction, including several series and spanning a variety of genres (with flavors ranging from sweet to spicy hot). Her books celebrate the upbeat, the offbeat, and “beating the odds.” She began life in the urban northeast, but now resides in the rural southwest with her best friend & husband Rob.

Book preview

EYES OF THE CAT

Part 3:

Truth or Dare

MIMI RISER

www.mimiriser.com

Eyes of the Cat is now released as a serial, which means it has been divided into separate parts that are offered individually. This is the third of four parts.

Serial Copyright © 2014 by Mimi Riser

All rights reserved.

Smashwords Edition, Smashwords License Statement: This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

[Note: Eyes of the Cat was originally published by a NY house, in mass-market paperback, under a different title. It has since been revised and re-edited. This is the new, expanded edition and contains material not found in the paperback.]

Disclaimer: This novel is a work of fiction. All names, characters, locations, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination, or have been used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, locales, or events is entirely coincidental.

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Chapter 9

The return trip proved uneventful, except for one moment of surprise at the end—the surprise being that the end arrived so soon. Guided only by two silent and curiously light-eyed Comanche, because Alan had stayed to supervise the mop-up at the Garcias’, Tabitha found herself back behind the adobe battlements before the sun was scarcely past its infancy.

The Garcias had merely been leasing, it had turned out; their spread was on MacAllister land. Although she and Kathy had ridden a long, winding trail to get there, the ranch actually lay just beyond sight of the castle. What a brilliant hiding place it would have been if it had worked. Whoever would have considered looking for them so close?

It was no wonder Simon appeared a tad out of sorts when she met him on the ride back. It must have been less than amusing for him following endless tracks that ultimately led to almost where he’d started from. That, coupled with all the rest of it, of course. He was on a fresh mount, but nothing else about him was very fresh. He looked and sounded like he’d been through a small war. Probably because he had.

"Well, well, if it isn’t young Pedro. I was just riding out to check on you, muchacho, but since you’re obviously intact, I can continue on to Abilene with a clear conscience. If you’ll forgive my hasty departure earlier, I’ll return the favor by forgiving you for helping to steal my mare," he drawled, reining in along side her.

"And while we’re on the subject of crimes, mí amigo, you might care to inform Laird Alan that I’ll be back with help by tomorrow. Warn him that, as impressive as his display was this morning, he’s to do nothing else beyond keeping those vermin confined until we get here. Any signs of Claymore Justice, and he could find himself confined—or worse. The MacAllisters are under enough suspicion as it is."

Spare me the lectures, Tabitha said tersely, her head too stuffed and throbbing with her own concerns to have registered a word he’d said. Just tell me how she is.

She? Are you referring to the desperado in black? The one with the hearing problem? Simon deadpanned. "That little lunatic is in better shape than I am right now. All she got is a slight flesh wound where a bullet grazed her shoulder—hardly more than a scratch. But it nearly gave me a coronary. She was so still and cold, I thought I’d lost her. I didn’t realize she’d simply fainted at the sight of her own blood! Thank God you had the sense to stay clear. Where were you hiding, anyway?"

You’re the wizard, you tell me, Tabitha deadpanned in return. I’ll give you a hint, however. She nodded toward Rosa in front of her in the saddle. Where do you think she came from?

Simon stared at the toddler, as though he had only just noticed her and was trying to figure out what she was. Then realization struck home, and he went pale green under his coating of grime. Good God… You’re a lunatic, too.

* * *

He was probably right about that, Tabitha thought, seated in the burgundy armchair and staring morbidly over Rosa’s damp curls at the big four-poster bed across the room. Her own short curls were damp as well, and blond once more, after the long bath she and the babe had shared. She hadn’t been sure the ink would wash out, but it had, along with the boot stain.

As for Rosa…the tiny girl had been almost too accepting, offering surprisingly little fuss since they’d left the ranch. It had made it easier to wash, dress, and feed her, of course, but it was heartrending. The cries for Mama, which Tabitha kept expecting, never materialized, and she was afraid she knew why. Rosa had seen enough to realize that Mama couldn’t come.

The thought sent sickening chills coursing through her, but there was nothing she could do about it except hold the toddler, rock her, and tell her in broken Spanish that everything would be all right. Those assurances were the most difficult part, naturally. She wondered, even while murmuring the words, whom she was trying to convince. Rosa, or herself?

How’s the wee lassie?

Tabitha glanced up with a start, then relaxed at the sight of the slight figure in the open doorway. She’s almost asleep, I think. How is your patient?

Wide awake and madder’n a wet hen. Angus has been tae see her. Molly grinned.

"Oh, dear. He’s not going to