Cocoa Tales

Episode 18

"Were you aware," Floyd said, seated in the chair across from Harold's desk, "when you took Cocoa Tael in, she was the Redding Bomber?"

Harold shook his head. "It wasn't until this morning when she targeted the high school again. I realized she was the bomber the whole time."

Pacing around the office, Jessica rubbed her chin with one hand, her elbow in her other hand. "Feeling conflicted emotions," she muttered, "on the one hand, he gave succor to the enemy, on the other: he could be the reason we haven't lost a building in six months."

"I prefer to look at it that way too," Harold stated meekly.

"Look at it what way?" Jessica asked.

Floyd leaned forward. "Do you have any idea where she might be right now?"

Tapping the desk nervously, Harold shook his head. He didn't make eye contact with Floyd as he did so.

Glancing at each other, Floyd and Jessica both knew he was holding back, but neither of them needed to give voice to that fact. The both knew it without having to say it out loud.

"He's holding back," Jessica muttered. "Perhaps Sodium Pentothal would–"

"There is one other thing," Harold said quickly.

Grumbling, Jessica muttered, "I'll never get to use my Sodium Pentothal."

Harold turned from Jessica to Floyd with a confused look on his face. Floyd waved it away and said, "What've you got?"

"Before she left," Harold said with a sigh, "she took something I hid from her. It was a collar for another cat, a deceased cat named Nibbles."

"Nibbles?" Floyd said. "Never heard of him."

"He was a Felidus initiate I caught when I was still working for FRAG."

Floyd turned to Jessica who said, "Feline Rehabilitation Agency. They capture rogue cats for reprogramming and reentry into normal society."

Pointing at Jessica, Harold said, "You're half right. They capture and reprogram, but they don't get released into normal society. I left the agency after Nibbles learned something."

Pulling the other chair across the office next to Floyd, Jessica sat next to him.

"FRAG and the Felidus are a singular unit, they are one in the same," Harold said quietly. He was reasonably sure they weren't listening to him, but not completely confident. "I believe in what FRAG claims to do, so I left, snuck Nibbles out and continued working with Nibbles in an effort to expose the connections between FRAG and the Felidus."

"What happened?" Floyd asked.

A crack in Harold's voice betrayed his feelings on the matter: "They got Nibbles. He was dying, he told me to take his collar and run. And now Cocoa Tael has the collar."

"What's so special about a cat collar?" Jessica asked.

"I don't know," Harold said, shaking his head. "It was important to Nibbles, so it was important to me. But what matters right now is why it's important to Cocoa Tael." Harold took a deep breath. "I've heard stories of dark magic within the Feline Underground, and they almost always involve the hair of a dead cat."

Leaning forward, Floyd grabbed the phone on Harold's desk. "Dial nine?" he asked and Harold nodded.

Jessica watched as Floyd punched the numbers quickly. "Who are you calling?"

"Faber," Floyd replied. "Cocoa saw us. If she's after anyone it'll be either Faber or I."

The phone rang once and was quickly picked up. Floyd heard a hoarse voice say, "Who's calling Drunk Faber!?"