Patrick’s Territorial Cat

Where do writers get their ideas? If you’ve readSecrets and Lies, you metPatrick’s cat. (Although, as he says, it’s hard to think of something that independent ashis.)

The cat appears in chapter 6. Carol andPatrick are in his living room. It’s her first time there, and she chose to sit in the rocking chair:

As Patrick pulled his cell from his pocket, a slender Siamese cat paraded into the room and positioned itself in front of the rocking chair like a guard. Its stare turned Carol’s admiration...