Jack Beale 00 - Dangerous Shoals

returned Jack’s frantic call immediately. He had arrived only five minutes after Jack and Max, and he could see the relief in their eyes.
    Jack gently placed the swaddled Cat on the table. As he stepped back, the silence in the room was broken only by the snap of the purple nitrile examination gloves as the vet finished wrestling them on. Max wrapped her arm around Jack’s waist, both to show him support and to prop herself up under the strain. Neither dared breathe as the vet began peeling back the blood-soaked towel from the limp form on the table. As he peeled back the last corner, revealing the blood-covered cat, she lifted her head ever so slightly and there was a collective release of held breaths.
    Her fur was matted where the blood had begun to dry, and on her left leg fresh blood still oozed from the ugly wound.
    “Well, little darlin’, let’s see what we have here,” said the vet, as much to Cat as to himself. She responded with an almost silent mrowh. “Before I can do much, I’ll have to sedate her,” he said as he reached for a syringe. Jack watched as her eyes glazed over and her body relaxed.
    The doctor worked quickly and efficiently as he first inserted an I.V., then began to examine the limp form on the table. “Any idea what happened?” he asked.
    “Don’t know exactly. We had just gotten home when we heard a scream coming from my apartment. I rushed up, didn’t see anyone, then found blood on the floor. We finally found Cat hiding under the secretary, bleeding like a pig,” said Jack. “There was no one there, but a window was open and the screen was cut, so I can only assume that whoever did this must have jumped out when I rushed in, but why? Why would anyone do something like this?”
    “No idea,” said the vet, “But there are some real twisted people out there.”
    The room went silent again as the vet began his examination. “I’m going in the other room,” said Max.
    “You okay?” asked Jack.
    “Yeah, I’m okay.”
    He gave her a kiss on the cheek and said, “I’ll be right here if you need me.”
    Silence returned as the vet simultaneously cleaned the blood from her fur and examined her. “Well, well. What do we have here?” he said almost in a whisper.
    “What?” said Jack.
    “She’s missing a front claw. I’d say that whoever did this didn’t get away unscathed.”
    For a moment, Jack almost smiled at the thought that Cat might have wounded her attacker.”
    “Really,” said Jack.
    The vet looked up and continued, “It’s not as bad as all that blood would make it seem. The cut, while deep, is very clean. It’s almost as if she was cut by a razor. Antibiotics, a few stitches, and she’ll be back hunting mice in no time.” With that he began assembling his instruments, so Jack went out to the waiting room to give Max the good news. It was well over an hour before the vet joined them.
    “She’s going to be fine. She’s a lucky cat. The cut on her leg, as bad as it was, could almost be considered superficial considering that it missed all the important parts. She did lose a fair amount of blood and if you hadn’t found her when you did …” he paused, “well the outcome might have been different. As it is, she’ll live to mouse another day.”
    “Can we see her?” asked Jack.
    “Sure. Come on in.”
    Cat was still lying on the table, only now she was on a clean towel, her rear leg was bandaged, and she was wearing a lampshade over her head.
    Seeing the looks on their faces the vet said, “That’s so she can’t disturb the dressings. She’ll probably need to wear it for a couple of weeks.”
    “Poor Cat,” said Max, trying not to laugh.
    “Tell me what you think happened,” said Jack.
    “I can’t say for sure, but like I told you before, the cut on her leg was made by something razor sharp. It was an unbelievably clean cut, almost surgical. The claw she lost, no big deal, happens all the time with cats that have been in fights.”
    “This might sound stupid, but is there any chance you saved any blood samples in case some of that blood wasn’t hers?”
    “You know, I didn’t think of that. It never occurred to me. Sorry.”
    “No, don’t be. You’ve already saved Cat’s life.”

CHAPTER 74
    AFTER TOM CAME UP empty at the harbor, he returned to Jack’s place. Upstairs, he methodically took pictures of the entire apartment, with particular attention to the cut screen, the blood, and especially the smeared partial