The Cat Sitter's Whiskers by Blaize Clement Page A

always seemed like a nice enough kid, even if, as Judy had said, he did have a bit of a wild streak in him … but in the era before cell phones and computer games, every teenager with half a pulse went through a wild stage. There wasn’t much else to do in a sleepy beach town like Siesta Key.
    Of course, there was drinking, and a lot of kids smoked pot, especially the older ones, but if there were harder drugs than that being passed around, I never saw them. Levi and his friends would stay out partying and carousing in the streets until all hours of the night, giving their parents heart palpitations and early-onset baldness, and sometimes they’d congregate in the parking lot at the old Ringling Shopping Center, but basically all they did was drink beer and make a lot of noise until the cops would roll through and order them all home. I remember hearing that Levi had been hauled in for public intoxication shortly after graduation, he’d even spent a night in jail, but other than that, there was no indication he’d ever wind up in more serious trouble.
    But now, I wondered. As for Levi’s money situation, he was clearly living hand-to-mouth. I don’t know how much a paper delivery boy makes these days, but newspapers everywhere are struggling to make ends meet, so I doubt it’s much more than minimum wage. Was it possible Levi had been forced to turn to more desperate means … drugs or petty burglary or something worse? It was a terrible thought, but why else would anyone want to kill him?
    I suddenly realized I was sitting in the carport at my place with the engine idling, staring straight ahead like a zombie. I switched off the ignition and reached for my backpack, and just then I heard a car coming up the driveway. Right away I could tell by the sound of the wheels on the crushed shell who it was: Paco and my brother, Michael, in their four-wheel-drive pickup truck. Michael is a firefighter, just like our father before him. He’s big and blond and broad, with pure blue eyes that can melt the hearts of either sex in a matter of seconds.
    Paco, on the other hand, is slim and tall, with long muscles and deep olive skin, the kind of good looks that make your toes flutter and your eyelashes curl, plus he rides a motorcycle, which in my book only adds to his overall hotness factor. Women all over the island have fantasized about turning Michael and Paco straight, but there’s little chance of that—they’ve been together almost fifteen years now. Paco is my brother-in-love.
    Michael flashed me a toothy grin as they backed up to the edge of the deck. The fact that they weren’t pulling in next to me meant only one thing: groceries.
    â€œHey, sexy,” Paco said as he stepped out and shut the door with a hip bump. “You’re just in time to help unload.”
    Normally, the vision of the two of them pulling in with a truckload of goodies is enough to make me forget all the troubles in the world, especially since they both happen to be really good cooks, but it wasn’t working this time. I just stood there with my arms dangling helplessly at my sides.
    I said, “Somebody killed Levi Radcliff.”
    Just like that. I hadn’t meant to blurt it out so fast, but I couldn’t help myself. Michael had hopped out of the truck on the other side and was halfway around the front fender when he stopped dead in his tracks.
    â€œWhat?”
    I felt my eyes start to sting with tears. I said, “Somebody killed him. This morning. I was afraid something was wrong so I went over to his place at Grand Pelican. The door was open and he was on the floor in a pool of blood…”
    I had to stop and screw the heels of my palms into my eye sockets to stave off the waterworks, but then the next thing I knew Michael’s big arms were folding around my shoulders. Instinctively, I tried to draw away, but he held on.
    I said, “What are you