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Back 3 a.m.
Chapters (67)
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  67. 3:46 a.m.

I blow a sigh of relief.

“Hear that, buddy? Just some bruised ribs.”

Meow.

“He should be back in action in a couple days.”

“Thanks, Doc.” I remember something from a week earlier when I'd been petting Lassie and ask, “Actually, while we're here . . . did you happen to feel that lump on his shoulder?”

He shakes his head and I guide his hand to a little lump behind Lassie's right shoulder.

I wait for the doctor to tell me it is obviously cancer.

“Microchip.”

“What?”

“That's his microchip. Sometimes they put it in behind the shoulder.”

He sees my confusion and asks, “You didn't have the microchip put in?”

“No. I found him on the street about a month ago. No tags.”

“Well, whoever owned the cat had a microchip put in. Costs like fifty bucks, some places do it for free.”

My mind is racing.

“Could you find out who he belongs to?” I ask. “I mean, I should at least try and track them down, right?”

“Sure thing.”

He opens a drawer, unwinds a little scanner, and plugs it into his computer. A moment later, he runs the scanner over Lassie's shoulder, like he is produce at the grocery store. He writes the name, phone number, and address on the back of one of his business cards and hands it to me.

I read the name and try to keep a straight face.

…

It is 3:46 when we get back.

I put two of the tiny little pain pills inside a blueberry and feed it to Lassie. Then I spread ointment on all his cuts and then carry him and my laptop to bed.

I pull out the card the vet gave me.

Jessica Renoix.

A Richmond address.

I Google “Jessica Renoix and Connor Sullivan.”

There are several hits. I click on images.

Bingo.

There is a picture of Jessica Renoix and the then Governor of Virginia, Connor Sullivan.

Jessica Renoix is Callie Freig.

:10

It'd been a double homicide. Twelve nights ago, Callie Freig had been murdered. But so had Jessica Renoix.

It is 3:07 a.m.

Lassie and I are back in my bed. I'd given him another round of pain medicine and he is on his back snoring. The cut on his belly has improved dramatically and he'd told me in face licks that he was feeling a little better.

I've been staring at the picture of Connor Sullivan and Jessica Renoix for the past couple minutes. Under the picture of the two, a caption reads, “Campaign volunteer Jessica Renoix gets an armful of incumbent candidate, Governor Connor Sullivan.”

The photo must have been taken six years earlier during his final reelection campaign as Governor of Virginia.