"My mother stared at the ceiling. "Did you hear that?" "Hear what?" I asked, my eyes wide. I would kill Jim. He could sit completely motionless for hours when on stakeouts. I'd seen him do it. He had to be dropping things on purpose. Thud! "That!" My mother turned predatory like a raptor. "What was that?" Lie, think of something quick, lie, lie . . . "I've got a cat." "What kind of a cat?" My mother's eyes narrowed. "A big one." "I"