Dog-Gone Danger

by Linda Joy Singleton

  “Delainey?” I say uncertainly.

  “Yeah…?” She sounds puzzled, her voice honey sweet with a southern twang.

  “I’m Kelsey, the youngest sister.” I lower my voice as I go down the hall to the guest bedroom. “We haven’t met, but I need to ask you something.”

  “Are your sisters okay?” Delainey interrupts, sounding worried. “Kenya and Kiana seemed really quiet at school, and then they left early.”

  “They’re fine, just some family stuff going on.” I take a deep breath, then rush on before Delainey can ask more questions. “Kenya told me you’re buying a pug. Can you tell me about it?”

  “Luna isn’t mine yet.” Delainey’s tone rises excitedly. “I can’t wait to meet her! She’s so tiny with the sweetest black, squishy nose.”

  “She sounds adorable. How did you find her?”

  “From a breeder online,” she says. “Why? Do you want to buy a pug too?”

  “Who wouldn’t? They’re so adorable. But we already have a dog.” I think fast as I sit on the bed. “I’m asking because a friend of mine wants a purebred pug. It’s her dream to raise a puppy she can enter in dog shows.”

  “Me too!” Her voice warms like we’re suddenly best friends. “Usually champion-sired pups are over four thousand dollars, but I’m getting Luna for half-price. I thought I’d have to wait another year to buy one, but then I found out about Merry Lee Vandameer from an online pug discussion group.”

  “Who’s she?” I lean forward on the edge of the bed.

  “Only one of the most respected breeders of champion pugs in the world. Mrs. Vandameer is the nicest lady ever, and she was born in Tennessee just like me! Isn’t that a cool coincidence?”

  “Yeah.” If it’s true.

  “She cares more about finding a good home for her dogs than making a profit. Luna will do great in dog shows,” Delainey adds in a dreamy tone. “And I’ll use the prize money to pay for college. It’s a win-win.”

  Or a lose-lose if Luna’s pedigree is fake. I want to warn her, but I don’t have any proof…yet.

  “Sounds like a great deal,” I say, trying to sound impressed instead of suspicious. “Especially for a champion-bred pup. She must have an impressive pedigree. Have you seen the certificate?”

  “Yeah, and it’s awesome. The pedigree goes back to Luna’s great-great-great grand-champion parents. Her full name is Legendary Queen Luna of Peltier Palace, and she’s the most perfect puppy in the world.”

  “But are you sure it’s a real pedigree?” I ask. “I read this article online about forged pedigrees. You have to be really careful.”

  “I’m very careful,” Delainey says. “I insisted on knowing all about Luna’s lineage. Mrs. Vandameer told me I was smart to be cautious and sent me photos of Luna’s parents and grandparents with blue ribbons and trophies. She has five grand champions in her lineage.”

  “Wow, that sounds too good to be true! Do you think she’d give my friend a good deal too?”

  “Sure, especially if you say I referred you.”

  “What’s her number?” I glance around the bedroom for a pen and paper but don’t see any. I walk into the connecting bathroom and tear off a square of toilet paper and grab a dark-brown eyebrow pencil from my sisters’ makeup bag.

  I write down the numbers as Delainey recites them, the dark-brown pencil smearing across the tissue like sloppy crayon art. “Thanks,” I say as I toss the eyebrow pencil back in the makeup bag. “My friend is going to be so excited.”

  “Tell her to check out the website, Vandameer’s Premier Pugs. There’s a list of pugs for sale and photos of happy owners holding their pups. And my photo will be added after Merry Lee delivers Luna.”

  “When is the delivery?”

  “Tomorrow!” she sings out happily. “I can’t wait to hold my darling pug baby. I already have a plush doggy bed and chew toys for her and…Oh! The bell rang! I’ve got to get to my next class!”

  After we hang up, I stare at the phone’s dark screen and hope I’m wrong about Luna.

  One way to find out. I do a quick search on my sisters’ phone.

  The Vandameer’s Premier Pugs site pops up with puppy photos. Squishy black faces and big eyes just like Buggy’s stare out from the screen. There are rave reviews from satisfied buyers and a long list of impressive awards. Lots of pug photos, but I can’t find any of Merry Lee Vandameer. And the only contact info is the phone number Delainey gave me. Is the site legitimate?

  I’m scrolling through puppy photos when I hear the faint ring of a phone in another room. A moment later my grandmother steps into the bedroom, holding the phone out to me. “It’s for you,” she says, a puzzled look on her face.

  “Who is it?” I ask, shoving my sisters’ cell into my pocket.

  My grandmother frowns. “The sheriff.”

  - Chapter 17 -

  Puppy Pondering

  “My deputy said you called,” Sheriff Fischer says, sounding tired.

  “Yeah.” I hesitate because my grandmother is watching me curiously. When she turns and leaves the room, I blurt out, “I know where Mom went on Friday!”

  “What have you been up to?” His tone sharpens.

  “Searching for Mom.” I pause. “Someone had to.”

  “Kelsey, we’ve been over this before. There’s no evidence to indicate she’s in danger of anything except losing her job if she doesn’t have a good reason for missing another day of work.”

  “She has a good reason. She’s in trouble.” I pace on the carpet, too tense to sit down. “She went on a call to Vine Road on Wednesday, and I’m sure it’s where she returned Friday morning.”

  “Vine Road? I remember that address from her call sheet—a report of an abandoned dog. But your mother didn’t find any animals.”

  “That’s where my friends and I found Buggy in an old barn.”

  “The little pug Becca is caring for?”

  “Yeah. We think the barn was used for a puppy mill and Buggy escaped. When Mom found out about Buggy, she must have gone back Friday morning to investigate.”

  “But she didn’t go out on any calls,” he says. “And the only puppy mill I know of was shut down last month.”

  “Did you arrest the bad guys?”

  “Unfortunately, laws aren’t tough on animal crimes. The Midgley brothers were fined, and we confiscated about a dozen Pomeranians and poodles. If they’re caught breeding dogs illegally again, they’ll be arrested.”

  “You have to question them!” I cry so sharply that Honey jumps up from where she was sleeping on my bed. “They may know where Mom is. There were marks in the dirt by the barn from cages and footprints—large men’s shoes and a smaller one that looks like Mom’s boots. Also, we found a fake pug pedigree certificate.”

  “Footprints and pedigree at that old barn?” Curiosity rises in his voice. “How do you know the pedigree isn’t real?”

  “Leo researched it and found fake information.”

  “I know Leo’s clever, but Katherine would have notified me if she found evidence of a crime.”

  “Maybe she didn’t get a chance.” My legs suddenly feel weak, and I sink onto a chair.

  “I find it hard to believe the Midgley brothers are responsible for your mother’s absence. Burl and Merle are lazy and dishonest, but not dangerous. Still, I’ll stop by their mother’s house and talk to them. If Katherine is in danger, I won’t rest until she’s safe,” he adds solemnly. “I promise.”

  Mom made a promise once too. And I know she would have kept it if she could.

  I set the phone on my dresser and hear a soft mew. Honey springs onto the bed and curls up beside me, purring. I pet her silky orange fur and rest on a pillow. Suddenly I’m so exhausted I can’t keep my eyes open…

  Ding!

  The sound startles me awake. I blink around an empty room. How long have I been sleeping?

  There’s another ding and a vibration from my pocket. Oh yeah, I still have my sisters’ phone. I glanc
e at a text from some guy named Raymond, shove the phone back into my pocket, and leave the room. The rest of the house is oddly quiet.

  “Oh, you’re awake.” My grandmother’s voice startles me, and I whirl around to find her peering from the kitchen doorway, a dishrag in her hands.

  “Where are my sisters?” I gesture around the room.

  “They went back to their friend’s house. I told them I’d call if I heard anything.”

  She offers to make me a snack. I’m not interested in eating, but my stomach is rumbling so I follow her into the kitchen. I’m staring at a chicken salad sandwich, trying to make myself eat, when the doorbell rings. I’m sure who it is, so I push back my chair and race out of the kitchen.

  “Becca! Leo!” I cry as I open the door. “I’m so glad you’re here.”

  Leo hangs back, but Becca rushes forward with open arms and a hug. “Kelsey, have you heard anything?”

  “Mom sent another text, but it didn’t sound like her.” I shiver. “I think someone made her send it. But everyone else thinks she’s okay.”

  “You have to tell Sheriff Fischer what we’ve found out,” Becca says.

  “I did. I don’t think he believes me, but he promised to investigate.”

  Leo is still standing on the porch, looking down at his feet and not meeting my gaze.

  Shame rushes through me. “I’m sorry, Leo,” I say softly. “I shouldn’t have hung up on you.”

  “I agree, but it’s okay,” he says, shifting his feet awkwardly.

  “Come on inside.” I tug him into the house. His fingers curl around mine. Our eyes meet, and we both drop our hands.

  “What can we do to help?” Becca asks.

  “Being here helps,” I say with a grateful look at them. “We’ll keep looking for Mom. I feel sure now that she was tracking down the puppy mill crooks. The info Leo found about the pedigree proves puppies were being kept at the barn. Sheriff Fischer is going to investigate the Midgley brothers since they have a history of running puppy mills. But I have a different lead to follow.” I glance into the kitchen where Gran Nola is emptying the dishwasher. If she knew what I was planning, she’d only worry. Worse, she might not let me leave the house.

  “I need to get outside for a while. Let’s take the dogs to the dog park,” I say loud enough for my grandmother to hear. I ask her to call me on my sisters’ cell if there’s any news.

  Handsome and Major bark excitedly, wagging their tails when we click on their leashes. Becca and I ride our bikes, while Leo rolls on his gyro-board, holding both dog leashes like a cart being pulled by a team of horses.

  The dog park is a fenced-in area of the Valley Pine Park a few blocks from my grandmother’s house. It doesn’t take long to ride there. It’s a quiet time of the day, between lunch and dinner, and only a few people are around. We sit on a bench in a shady corner away from the other dog walkers and watch our dogs romp across the grass.

  “It’s been hard waiting around for news when I’d rather be looking for Mom,” I admit, a lump in my throat. “I kept thinking about Leo’s suspicion that the barn was used for a puppy mill, so I researched online.”

  Becca leans in close. “What did you find out?”

  “Puppy mills are bad news. Crowded cages, overbreeding, and diseases. Regular puppies usually sell for a few hundred dollars each, but with a fake pedigree claiming the pup is champion bred, the price could be as much as two thousand.”

  “Exactly,” Leo says. “According to my calculations, one hundred pups at two thousand each equal two hundred thousand dollars.”

  “Wow!” Becca’s dark eyes widen. “Buggy would probably have been sold with a fake pedigree if she hadn’t gotten away. Those horrible breeders need to be stopped, or lots of people will be scammed.”

  “Like my sister’s friend Delainey.” I arch my brows dramatically. “She’s buying a pug from someone she met online. The pug is supposed to be purebred with a champion lineage, yet it’s selling for half-price. I called Delainey to find out more details.”

  Becca taps her mauve-painted fingernails on the bench. “What did she say?”

  “Delainey found the breeder—Merry Lee Vandameer—through a pug discussion group. I checked out her website and it was really professional, not what I’d expect from puppy mill crooks. There were quotes from satisfied buyers and lots of photos of people with their puppies. And Mrs. Vandameer is flying all the way here from Tennessee to deliver the puppy.”

  “Any web designer can create an impressive page.” Leo pulls up the Vandameer Premiere Pugs website on his phone. “I’ll admit this looks professional, but appearances can be deceiving.”

  I glance over his shoulder as he scrolls through puppy photos. “That pug could be Buggy,” I say, pointing.

  “Except for the fact it’s a male,” Leo reads off the screen. “He was sired by a grand champion named Tiger Tumbler Chadwick.”

  “Tiger is a cute dog name,” Becca says. “And look at this adorable pug.” The pug’s ears have pink bows, and she’s wearing a tutu like a ballerina.

  “Her trophy is bigger than she is.” I smile. “Twice her size.”

  “Her name is big too…Duchess Delphina of Snowship Songs.”

  Leo squints down at the phone. “Hmm, I’ve seen that photo before with a different caption. The pup’s name was Sandpiper Glowing Icicle.”

  “Are you sure?” Becca asks. “Pug puppies look so much alike.”

  “I have an exceptional memory for details. Notice how the right eyebrow is lifted but the left one isn’t? And the pink tutu is crooked,” he says as his fingers tap on the screen. “Also the pup’s parents are the same, although from a different breeder.”

  “Could a dog have two names and two owners?” I turn to Becca.

  “Not on the official certificate.” Becca scrunches her nose in puzzlement. “One of the breeders is lying.”

  “The one offering a discount.” Leo taps on his tablet, then looks up with a triumphant expression. “Merry Lee Vandameer from Tennessee is a phony. Except for the website—which is probably a complete fabrication—there is no information on her online.”

  “I knew it!” I snap my fingers. “She’s as fake as the pedigree certification I found.”

  “So who’s delivering a pug to your sister’s friend?” Becca asks.

  “The CCSC will find out tomorrow,” I say as an idea forms. “We’ll stake out Delainey’s house and watch as the pug is delivered.”

  Leo nods, but Becca looks uneasy. “Shouldn’t we tell Sheriff Fischer?”

  “We don’t know enough yet,” I say. “We have multiple suspects—Mr. Barton and the Midgley brothers. But the sheriff thinks the puppy mill was shut down and that the Midgley brothers who ran it aren’t dangerous. So we need solid proof.”

  “Like catching the criminals in an illegal transaction,” Leo says excitedly. “We have sufficient time to organize a strategy using my drones for surveillance and GPF trackers. Frankie can help with disguises for the stakeout.”

  “Good idea,” Becca approves. “After the pup is delivered, we’ll track Mrs. Vandameer to the puppy mill.”

  “And to Mom,” I say hopefully.

  While the dogs run around the fenced-in park, we work out our plan. Leo will fly his bird drone over Delainey’s house, and we’ll study the video for a good surveillance location. Frankie will disguise us so we can spy undercover as Merry Lee Vandameer delivers Luna. We’ll find a way to stick one of Leo’s Global Positioning Finder (GPF) balls to her clothing or hair. When Merry Lee returns to the puppy mill, the GPF tracker will transmit her location to Leo’s computer. Sheriff Fischer will shut down the puppy mill and arrest Mrs. Vandameer, and hopefully we’ll find my mom. Case solved.

  Clipping the leashes back on the dogs, we leave the park, eager to get started on our plan.

  We’re a block from my grandmother’s house when my sisters’ phone dings. It could be Gran Nola, so I slow my bike and pull over to the sidewalk. The short mes
sage shocks me like a stun gun.

  “What’s wrong?” Becca rolls up beside me on her bike. “Is it from your mother?”

  “No, from Delainey. She doesn’t know I still have Kenya’s phone. She wants my sister to come over because the puppy delivery date has been changed.”

  “To when?” Leo asks, holding tight to the dogs’ leashes.

  “Today.” I swallow hard. “In twenty minutes.”

  - Chapter 18 -

  Peggy Lane

  “Plan canceled.” Leo holds the dogs’ leashes tightly in one hand and makes a guillotine chop gesture with the other. “It would take fourteen minutes to ride to my house to gather our spy equipment, leaving only six minutes to reach Delainey’s house.”

  “And we don’t know where she lives,” I add, discouraged.

  “I vote we call Sheriff Fischer,” Becca says as she reaches over her handlebars to pet the dogs. “He can be annoying, but he’s good at his job. And he’ll listen to me because he really likes Mom, and wants me to like him too.”

  Leo turns to me with a thoughtful expression. “What do you want to do, Kelsey?”

  “Spy on Delainey’s house, except I don’t know her address.” I snap my fingers. “But my sister does! I’ll call Kenya and find out.”

  Out of habit, I hold out my hand to Becca to borrow her phone. Then I realize the weight in my pocket is a phone…my sisters’ phone. How can I call Kenya when I have her phone?

  Drats. Is there anyone else I can call?

  I search my sisters’ address list, and right at the top is Delainey Bitzkie. I already have her number, and now I have her last name too. When I scroll further down, there’s her address!

  “Delainey lives at 1109 Peggy Lane,” I quickly tell Leo. “I think it’s near the high school.”

  Leo hands the dogs over to Becca and consults his phone. A map of Sun Flower flashes on his screen. “Peggy Lane is 1.8 miles away. Calculating speed and distance, we can be there in eleven minutes—before the transaction time. Let’s go.”

  But Becca frowns and points to the dogs. “What about Handsome and Major? Shouldn’t we take them home first? It’ll be hard to go unnoticed with two large dogs.”