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“Just stop,” he told her as he picked up his napkin from the floor. “I can hear your thoughts. Mr. Big Bad Police Officer got scared by a cat.”
    â€œNever,” Kat said, but her brown eyes twinkled. “That’s Crystal. You’re in her spot.”
    â€œSorry cat.” The cat licked its paw as if Jack wasn’t even there.
    â€œShe knows she’s being bad, so just nudge her a bit. She won’t mind.”
    The soft gray feline leaned closer, nose twitching as she investigated the sandwich Jack had placed on Kat’s desk. He moved his lunch into his left hand, and the cat leaned across his lap, all four paws perfectly balanced on the three-inch edge of the chair.
    â€œCrystal!” Kat admonished. The cat straightened, flicked its tail, and jumped down. “I’m so sorry about that. She’s being nosy and rude. She won’t eat people food.”
    â€œI thought all animals did.”
    â€œNo. That’s a myth. Had you torn off a piece of meat or cheese, she would have just sniffed it and then ignored it. The idea is that she made you give it to her. That makes her dominant cat.”
    â€œSo I lost to a cat?”
    Kat started to giggle; the sound amused him. “You did. Sorry.”
    â€œNo, you’re not.”
    She shook her head, laughed. “No, I’m not.”
    â€œSo much for me being an animal genius.” Because her smile lit up her whole face, he couldn’t help but laugh, too, even though the jest was on him. Joking with her created warm, happy feelings, the kind he’d been missing for two years. The letter burned a hole in his pocket; he’d broach the shelter topic again, but later. “Learn something every day. So do you take her back and forth?”
    â€œShe lives here. I have three of them wandering around, and Crystal’s the boss. They have the run of the place but we cage them at night for safety reasons. I’d have more but the city … Do you have pets?”
    A wave of blond hair fell into his face. He brushed it back, the gesture rote. He should cut it, but as he’d hated the buzz cut of the academy, he’d sworn he’d never, ever, go that direction again and never had. “No. No pets.”
    A wrinkle formed between her eyebrows, and he itched to smooth it. “That’s a surprise.”
    He tore off some of the bread. “I love pets. But I’m not around enough to care for them. I deal all day with neglected animals. I can’t sit in judgment over another if I’m irresponsible myself.”
    â€œNot even a cat? Those are pretty self-sufficient, especially if you have two that get along. They entertain each other. You do like cats, don’t you?”
    â€œI do.” He opened his bag of chips, which rustled as he withdrew some. Crystal put up a paw, touched his arm. “You don’t get any,” he told her.
    â€œCrystal,” Kat commanded, but it was clear to Jack that Crystal was dominant where Kat was concerned, too. Now he didn’t feel so bad.
    â€œThere are days I’m gone almost twenty-four hours. Last winter, remember that foot of snow and the subzero temperatures we got? What was it, the polar vortex or something?”
    â€œI remember that.” The windchill had been negative twenty degrees, a huge anomaly for a city whose temps never really went below zero. “I treated far too many animals for frostbite.” Her shelter had also been overflowing with rescues. “The mayor made an announcement that any dogs and cats left outside would be confiscated and the owners cited for animal cruelty.”
    Suddenly it all fell together. That storm had been the catalyst for change, and by June, the mayor had formed the Animal Cruelty Task Force with its one officer—Jack. She watched as he ate another bite; as he popped a morsel in his mouth, hers dried. She struggled for composure. This was just lunch, not a