Read Online Catch a Shadow by Patricia; Potter - Free Book Online

up Merlin and Spade.
    â€œLate,” crowed Merlin. Then “Cops coming … cops coming.” He imitated the wail of a police siren. It pierced the interior of the duplex. She figured that the drug dealers had taught Merlin that warning. He had excellent hearing and could be shriller than an alarm system.
    African Greys—Merlin’s breed of parrot—were remarkably intelligent. When she’d adopted Merlin, she’d conducted an Internet study of parrots. Known as the best parrot at mimicry, African Greys actually understood and used the human language. They not only parroted words and phrases and sounds, but they also associated them with events. But often Merlin was simply an alarmist.
    â€œNo one’s there,” she assured Merlin.
    He gave her his evil bird look, fastening his little beady eyes on her. “Cops coming,” he insisted.
    She very much hoped not. She did not want to see or hear from Detective Brady again. She took the envelope from her purse and slid it between newspaper pages on the bottom of the cage. “Time to go home. For treats,” she added.
    â€œTreats?” he echoed with approval.
    â€œOnly for good birds.”
    â€œMerlin is a good bird,” Merlin asserted, then repeated the police car siren.
    It was remarkably accurate. She’d had visits from neighbors more than once.
    Then she heard a sound next door. In her supposedly empty home. She stilled.
    Had Merlin been trying to tell her someone was in her duplex?
    Kirke left Merlin and Spade inside Sam’s apartment. She went outside and crossed over to her own door. She tried the doorknob. It was still locked, and it didn’t look tampered with.
    It was the only way in and out. There was no back door. One room led to another to another. Since it shared a side with another unit, the design allowed a minimal number of windows. There were several in the front room facing the street, one in the kitchen, and two in the bedroom in back.
    The noise had probably been no more than her imagination.
    â€œHelp!” Merlin screeched again in a woman’s voice from inside Sam’s apartment.
    Kirke hadn’t heard Merlin repeat that particular word before. She wondered whether he had picked up on the sudden apprehension that had seized her. She hoped he’d learned it from the television set and not some victim of his previous owners.
    She ignored him and listened at her door for a moment. Nothing. Apparently it was just one of Merlin’s spontaneous fancies.
    â€œMa’am?”
    She whirled around. A tall, loose-limbed man rapidly approached her porch. He had an interesting face. Strong features. Dark, piercing eyes. The slight cleft in his chin softened the angular cheekbones. A small scar was visible just above his right eye. His hair was dark, cut short and tinged with gray.
    He reached the porch door and stood there. “I heard a cry for help. I thought it came from here,” he added as he looked around.
    â€œA Good Samaritan?” she asked, amused that Merlin’s cry had brought such good-looking assistance.
    He shrugged with a self-conscious smile. It was stiff, as if the expression didn’t come easily.
    â€œHelp!” screeched Merlin again. He sounded even more human than before.
    â€œThat was Merlin,” she said, enjoying the puzzlement on his face.
    â€œMerlin?” he echoed from his side of the screen door.
    She left the screen door and went into Sam’s apartment, returning with the parrot.
    â€œHelp!” Merlin said in a woman’s voice, “Cops coming” in another voice, then he broke into a perfect rendition of a siren. He was obviously showing off.
    â€œHe’s my guard bird,” she said, not quite containing a grin. “He also bites.”
    He shook his head. “I thought I heard a siren but …”
    â€œEverything is …” She started to say fine , but there was still that nagging feeling that