“I WANT TO THANK ALL of you for coming to the first in a series of lectures on alien abduction,” I said. “Tonight, I’m going to talk to you about the checklist we use to identify individuals who may have—”
“Ahem. Mrs. McGhie?” I turned and saw Chief Dalton standing in the doorway.
“May I interrupt your...” He stroked his chin. “Your performance for a minute?”
I had given up on sanding the boat and had escaped to the air-conditioned lounge at the marina to rehearse. I felt my face grow warm. Rehearsing in front of a cat was one thing, but having the chief overhear me was another.
“Uh, sure. I was just practicing my speech for the FAROUT meeting tonight.”
The burly man raised one of his bushy eyebrows. “FAROUT? Is that the little club you belong to? We had something like that when I was
