He was minding his own business as usual, in his office. So, when a shadow appeared in his door he rightfully jumped. Gus’s hand shot over to pull paperwork over his tablet.

“Hands where I can see ‘em. It’s the Fuzz!” His shoulders relaxed at the voice.

The meow that followed made him question either of their sanity. “Shawna-”

His friend kicked the door shut, snatching his coat off the hook. “They seriously pay you to watch cat videos and play games?” The black cat had both front paws hooked over Shawna’s shoulder. Gus could even hear his purr.

“How do you do that?” Shaking his head, “and I thought the cat was Lucky.”

“I was indecisive, so he has a really long name. Plus he responds to everyone. Right Fuzz?” The purring upped in volume. “Your paperwork shouldn’t be glowing, or purring. I know that isn’t Fuzz. Also, get a keyboard cover. Those arrows are looking to worn out. Oh! Maybe one that is a solid color. Your boss seems like he’d be impressed with blind typing. I know you can do it.”

Gus turned off the tablet before pushing back from the desk. He caught his jacket, giving Shawna a look for tossing it. “Why are you here?”

“‘Cause I need you and a car.” She snatched his keys from the bowl on the corner of the desk. It was then he noticed that the cat was in the hood of Shawna’s leather jacket. He also had goggles resting on the top of his head.

“But you rode your motorcycle here. Shawna-”

“Guster. That paperwork is finished. Let me guess, all they need is a signature? You wouldn’t be watching cat videos if you still had work to do. Maybe playing games.”

“I hate how you can do that.”

She winked, tapping her temple. “Know it all.” She cut a sharp glare somewhere to the left. “Blame it on my father.” Just as quickly she smirked back at him. “Adventure is calling. You said you’d answer.”

He was forced to scramble after her when she pivoted and started walking out. “You will not drive my car!”

That was how he ended up taking directions from Shawna, who hardly glanced up at the road from the papers she had. The cat curled in her lap with a bright orange harness around him.

“Take a right here,” Shawna muttered as she held up two pictures.

“What are we-” Gus nearly felt his eyes pop out of their sockets. “Shawna.” There were several Oakland Police cars with their lights flashing. Several officers were pulling on rolls of yellow crime scene tape.

Shawna’s hazel eyes sparkled wildly. “I got us a job!”

He still sat in shock as she pulled the goggles off the cat. The black mass of fur quickly hopped back into her hood before she got out.

“Almost forgot,” she darted back in. “No leaving without me.” She grinned while pulling the keys from the ignition.

“Shawna- Shawna!”

“C’mon man, this is what we’ve always wanted to do. Every great adventurer needs a sidekick.”

“I will not be your sidekick.” His voice lowered in frustration.

“A great detective needs a partner.” She held out a hand.

“Partner.”

“Sweet! Just stand back. I already got this one handled. You can even take some credit.”

Gus sometimes hated his life. Mostly that involved Shawna somehow getting him to encourage crazy ideas. He was quickly stopped at the yellow tape by a brick of a man.

Shawna smiled at the giant as Gus held his breath. “Huston, my man. This guy’s with me.” Her head swiveled between the two of them. That smile was starting to make Gus feel queasy. “Officer Sheppard this is my partner T.S. Spencer.”

“Gus.” He gritted out. “Call me Gus.”

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

“Alright, heads up, Pace is in a mood.”

Shawna tapped her temple as she moved backward. “I know.”

Gus scurried after her with a glare. “Who?”

“Trust me, buddy, he’s hard to miss. He’s always in a mood. Oh, yeah.” She spun around again, shoving a paper bag at him. “Try not to use this. You puke at a crime scene we might not get hired again.”

“Is that why you shoved anti-acids in my pocket before we got here?” His eyes narrowed.

“Pretty much.” She patted his shoulder while the cat looked over at him.

Gus quickly scanned the area, spotting the form on the ground near the detective and chief. “That’s a… oh my God. Oh my god!” He wheezed. “That - that’s a dead body.”

“This is the second, actually. New idea, how ‘bout you stay here and count the birds?”

“You are so dead.”

“Probably not as bad as that poor guy.”

Before Shawna could wander off, Gus pulled her back. “No. I want to hear this bright idea of yours. How did you solve this?”

“Big sis did it.”

“What? No, I need more than that.”

“Fine. The best friend of state famous playboy millionaire’s son gets killed in a random roadside robbery? No way.” She massaged her right temple. “Clarification, the girlfriend’s older sister. In one of the last photos he’d sent, there was a license plate.”

“Photos, you got a folder?”

“Yeah. The flash created a shadow you can see just enough of the digits. Those digs happen to have a match right over there. I knew I’d seen it somewhere.” She elbowed him hard, directing his attention to the car closest to the two women speaking with another officer. “The bestie had a watch missing. It happens to be the very one sitting on the dash of that car.”

“You remembered all that?”

“Yeah. You think it’s that easy to forget?”

“Normal people do, Shawna.”

“Good thing I’m not normal people then.”

His mind still wasn’t wrapping around anything, so he followed behind his friend as she got closer to the detective and chief.

“Dixi, nice of you to finally show up. You can go home now. We don’t need you.”

The man’s tone gave Gus pause, but Shawna only smiled. “Great to see you too PaceMan.” She tilted her head to look at the cat in her hood. “Hey Smoky, where’s the bandit?”

The detective pulled his gloves off as he moved towards them. Gus took a step behind the crazy woman he came with. “Dixi I have a real crime to solve here. You-”

“Told ya I would solve it. I did. It was easy Pacey.”

“Then who did it?”

“Answer’s in the license plate.” She stuck her thumb over her shoulder. Gus jerked out of the detective’s line of view. “It was in the second to last photo in the first victim’s phone. Owner of that beat-up Cadillac is your girl.”

Pace narrowed his eyes. “The blurry photos?”

“Weren’t blurry enough. Missin watch is on the dash too.”

“We have two missing watches.” The taller man grumbled.

“How short of time between death and this call…” She started ridiculously rubbing her temple again. “Gotta be in the car or still on her. Probably in her pocket.”

“How-”

“Detective Pace.” The chief snapped. “We’ll hear her out. Certainly wouldn’t hurt following this.”

Gus watched speechlessly as the detective and chief went over toward the two women. There was a curt discussion as the woman crying stepped away. He only blinked and they put the taller girl in cuffs.

“Told ya,” Shawna hummed.

“This was it?” Gus tried to hide his awe when the detective pulled the watch out of the woman’s pocket. “This was your adventure?”

“Nope.” She beamed. “This was only the start, Guster. My gut tells me we get another case by the end of the week. What should we name our LLC?”

“I hate you.”

“Terrible name for a PI office.”

“I don’t know you.” He threw his hands into the air, trudging back to his car.

“I’m not feeling that one either.”

“You can find your own way home.” He grumbled, throwing open the driver’s door. There was a dark blur as the cat jumped in, curling in the passenger seat. Gus had the sinking feeling that he wouldn’t get rid of either of them that easy. Did I even want to in the beginning? No, not really.

There was a knock on the window. “You kinda need these to go anywhere.” Shawna rattled the keys. “How about my place? There’s a Star Wars marathon in 20, popcorn and nachos on me.”

He couldn’t say no to that.

Shawna made herself comfortable in the back seat, allowing the cat to keep shotgun. “You can’t be that mad.”

“Shawna, I can too.”

“Really? And you weren’t going crazy that you actually helped solve a case? Probably even impressed a few guys.”

“I just stood there and tried not to puke.”

“So this wasn’t that bad?”

“No, and I don’t see-” Damnit. He turned so he could match a glare to his best friend’s smirk.

“Oh, I should mention that tonight my place is your couch.”

He wanted to kill her.