Dog-Gone Danger

by Linda Joy Singleton

  “I’m texting the sheriff again,” Becca says, tapping on her phone. “I told him to hurry!”

  We huddle together in the shadows by the small shed, staring across the driveway as the large, gray truck backs up by the garage. I wrap my arms around Handsome and tell him to stay quiet. Major whines softly and sniffs the air as if he’s poised for action.

  I try not to panic and to focus on details to tell the sheriff. The truck is gray with no distinctive writing on the sides, and it has a California license plate. The truck’s cab is black with tinted windows, but the driver’s window is rolled down and I glimpse a black-haired woman wearing a sports cap and denim overalls.

  Burl and Merle Midgley step out of the garage. “Over here!” Burl waves to the driver.

  Mrs. Midgley joins them. She gestures for her sons to go into the garage and talks to the driver as the rear of the truck is lowered. Mrs. Midgley is giving orders, clearly in charge. Her bearded sons ping-pong back and forth, lugging cages of puppies from the garage to the truck. They carry a few closed crates too. One crate is so large that both men carry it together.

  I stare at that crate. It’s big enough to hold a person.

  OMG! Could Mom be imprisoned inside?

  Beside me, Handsome whines. “Shush,” I whisper as he shifts anxiously beside me.

  “They’re closing the back of the truck,” Becca cries softly.

  “What if Mom is in the large crate?” I bite my lip. “We have to stop them from leaving!”

  “I’ll puncture the tires.” Leo holds out his key spider. “This is the 4.5 improved key spider. I brought it along in case we had a situation like this. I’ve added a screwdriver that is sharp enough to flatten a tire.”

  When he starts to rise, I tug him down. “Don’t be crazy!” I say. “They’ll catch you, and you don’t want to mess with those bearded dudes.”

  “If only Sheriff Fischer would get here!” Becca spreads her arms in frustration, then turns to look back at the road.

  “Why doesn’t he hurry?” I ask, feeling scared. I hug Handsome so tightly that he squirms away from me.

  “Nothing we can do except wait.” Leo sighs. “I’ve memorized the license plate and snapped photo evidence for the sheriff.”

  The truck driver flips the latches shut on the back of the truck. She walks around to the cab and climbs in. I watch in horror as the door closes behind her. The engine revs up, diesel smoke puffing from the exhaust. The truck slowly rolls away from the garage.

  I’m so desperate that I don’t realize I’m no longer holding Handsome’s leash until I hear Leo shout, “Not another rabbit!” at the same time Becca cries, “No, Handsome! Come back here!”

  Handsome lunges across the weeds after the rabbit. I jump up to chase after him.

  “Hey!” Burl Midgley hollers. “There’s a dog and some kids!”

  “What are you kids doing there?” Merle Midgley shouts.

  His mother points at me. “I’ve seen that girl before!”

  Burl Midgley starts to come after us, but his mother calls him back.

  “Forget the kids, and get in the car!” she yells, gesturing to the SUV.

  While Handsome disappears into high weeds after the rabbit, the Midgleys hop into the SUV. Doors slam. Dust flies as the SUV roars after the moving van.

  I run after it, choking on dust. “No! Come back!”

  But the Midgleys, the moving truck, and my hope of finding Mom are gone.

  - Chapter 22 -

  A Major Miracle

  “Mom,” I cry as I sink onto the ground.

  Leo comes up beside me and takes my hand. “If your mother is in that truck, the sheriff will find her. But she may not be there. She could be locked in a room in the house.”

  Hope rushes through me. I only checked downstairs, not any of the upstairs rooms. Maybe Mom is there.

  I run across the lawn, and Leo catches up with me. “Becca has Major and is looking for Handsome. I’ll help you look for your mother,” he says, jogging beside me.

  We burst through the open gate, then dodge around the overgrown garden. We cut across a large square of pavement that must have been a basketball court once, though all that’s left is a rusty metal pole. I hear a shrill noise and pause to listen. A siren wails, coming closer.

  “The sheriff is here,” Leo says, running up the steps of the porch. He turns back to the road and points at the official truck rolling up to the gate.

  “Too late,” I say with a sigh.

  “He won’t allow us to search the house,” Leo says hurriedly. “But he’s not here to stop us. Come on!”

  I give Leo a grateful look as he takes my hand, and we enter the B and B house together.

  The foyer floor squeaks as we step inside. Instead of going down to the office, we race upstairs. There isn’t much time, so we split up. I search the second floor while Leo continues to the third. I yank open doors and look inside while calling out “Mom” until my throat hurts. There are three suites on this floor, each complete with kitchenettes and private bathrooms. I check closets, beneath dusty beds, and even bathtubs. But the only living things are spiders.

  And when I meet Leo back on the second-floor landing, he shakes his head sadly. “Sorry,” he says.

  We head outside. Becca is holding Major’s leash while she talks to the sheriff. I glance over at the garage just as Deputy Phil enters it. What if Mom is still in there? But when the deputy comes out empty-handed a few minutes later, my shoulders sag. Mom is still missing.

  And apparently Handsome is too, I find out when I talk to Becca.

  “I started to look for him,” Becca says apologetically as Major tugs on the leash. “But Sheriff Fischer wanted to talk to me, and I had to fill him in on everything.”

  The sheriff comes up and pats my shoulders sympathetically. “Becca says you overheard Mrs. Midgley say your mother is here.”

  I nod. “Yeah. Her son Burl asked if he could let Mom out, but his mother said Mom should stay where she was.”

  “Where?” the sheriff asks.

  “I wish I knew,” I say, my throat tightening. “I thought maybe the house or the garage, but we couldn’t find her. And the brothers carried a large crate to the moving truck. I’m afraid Mom might have been inside.”

  “I memorized the license plate,” Leo pipes up, then rattles it off.

  Sheriff Fischer jots it down. “We’ll find your mom soon. I’ll admit, I didn’t want you kids to get involved, but you’ve done a good job. You need to go home now. I’ll contact you when there’s news.”

  The sheriff goes over to his truck, and I turn to my friends. “I’m not going anywhere until we find Mom.”

  “We need to find Handsome anyway,” Leo points out.

  “I think I hear him barking behind the B and B.” Becca touches her animal-print bandanna and tilts her head. “Let’s go!”

  “Wait,” Leo says, an odd look on his face. He turns to point at the shed. “We haven’t looked there.”

  I follow his gaze to the rusty metal shed. We’ve been hiding behind it, but I never really looked at it. But if Mom was inside, wouldn’t she have made some noise? The shed isn’t very big and leans to one side. It’s rusted like it’s decades old, but there’s a newish metal lock on the door.

  Leo takes his key spider from his pocket. He tries different keys until there’s a ping and the lock falls off. I hold my breath as Leo grabs the sliding door and it creaks open…

  Bulky shadows take shape in dark shed. A lawn mower, a ladder, coiled hoses, a broom, a rake, and a weed-eater.

  But no Mom.

  “It was worth a try,” Leo says sadly.

  “The sheriff will find her,” Becca says, forcing a cheerful tone. “Let’s find Handsome and get out of here.”

  We split up, looking for Handsome. We call his name over and over, but he doesn’t come. We meet up at the back of the house where it borders the river.

  “He has to be here somewhere,” I say, wiping swe
at from my face.

  “Could he be down there?” Becca points down the embankment where wild berry bushes tangle in a sharp drop down to the river.

  “He could have chased a rabbit down a trail.” I frown. “It won’t be easy to find him.”

  “We have a tracking canine, so I suggest we use his skills,” Leo says.

  Becca and I share a “why didn’t we think of that?” look. She unclips Major’s leash and Leo commands, “Such.”

  Although Major isn’t wearing his working vest, the command works. He goes taut, sniffs the air, and presses his nose close to the ground.

  And he’s off like a sprung arrow!

  Instead of going toward the berry bushes, he races through high grass to the front of the house, pounding through the weedy garden and up to the porch. After sniffing around the porch steps, he spins around and returns to the weedy garden. Sniffing, he continues to the paved basketball court, stops abruptly, and barks.

  “Handsome isn’t here,” Becca tells the German shepherd. “Keep looking.”

  Major barks and paws at the cement.

  “It’s just an old court,” I tell the dog.

  Leo rubs his chin thoughtfully. “I don’t think so.”

  “What do you mean?” I ask, surprised. “What else could it be?”

  Leo paces the cement slab, stopping at a corner where weeds rise higher than Major. Leo bends over and grabs something metal. “Look at this!”

  “What?” Becca and I peer down.

  Beneath the weeds, metal glints. Leo drops to his knees and yanks weeds aside to reveal a heavy steel circle, like a manhole cover. And it’s bolted shut with a heavy padlock. Leo taps on the metal cover…and someone taps back!

  “Listen!” Leo shouts.

  “Someone is under there!” Becca kneels, pushing back her hair as it swishes across her eyes.

  “Mom!” I drop to the ground. I hear three short taps and three long taps.

  “Morse code!” I cry, my hands flying to my face as I think back to my code books. I count the taps. “SOS!”

  Leo pulls out his key spider and tries putting different keys into the lock. He groans and shakes his head. “This is a tough lock,” he murmurs. “None of my keys are working.”

  “Clever gadget,” the sheriff says as he comes up behind us. “But this may work better.” He holds a heavy-duty bolt cutter.

  Stepping back, I hold my breath as he wields the cutter and snaps off the lock.

  The sheriff tugs on the metal hatch. It doesn’t budge, so he grabs with both hands and yanks. There’s a sharp creak.

  The latch flips back, revealing a dark hole.

  And my mother.

  - Chapter 23 -

  Truth, Lies, and Spies

  Everything’s crazy after that. Hugs, tears, and explanations.

  Sheriff Fischer offers Mom water and leads her over to his truck. After she’s sitting on a cushioned seat with a blanket draped over her shoulders, she apologizes. “I should have called for backup.”

  “Yes, you should have,” he says in a stern tone but with a gentle expression. “Can you tell us what happened?”

  “It was all so fast,” she says with an exhausted sigh. “When Kelsey told me where she found Buggy—the pug pup—I recognized the barn. I went there after I left the animal shelter. I was just going to look around, but as I was turning on the road, I saw a car driving away from the barn, which made me suspicious. I followed it to the B and B and hid my truck. I was about to call for backup, but I heard barking from the garage. When I went to check it out, someone came up behind me and threw a bag over my head. I was lifted up and shoved down into a dark prison.” Her voice croaks, and she gulps water. “He left me there.”

  She goes on to explain how she screamed and pounded against the hatch for hours. But no one came, so she felt around until she found a lamp. She was surprised to find that her “prison” was a bomb shelter with shelves and sealed containers of bottled water and packages of survival food. Luckily, the previous owners of the B and B kept it well stocked.

  “No one knew where I was, and my purse and phone were in my truck,” she continues wearily. “All I could do was wait to be rescued. At least my prison was comfortable. It has a living room, kitchenette, bunk beds, a port-a-potty, a lantern, and a bookcase full of books. Finally, I had some time for reading,” she teases, but her voice is raspy as if she’s spent days shouting for help.

  She holds me close while she answers questions from the sheriff. Mom sounds calm and brave, but when we’re tucked safely in the sheriff’s car heading for home, she admits that she was scared no one would ever find her. “And I felt terrible for not picking you up at school,” she adds. “You must have thought I’d forgotten you. But I’d never do that.”

  “I know,” I say softly.

  Mom smiles weakly. “I owe you a girls’ day out.”

  “I’m just glad you’re safe,” I say and hug her again.

  Mom’s return becomes a family party at Gran Nola’s house. Kyle brings pizza, and my grandmother dishes out strawberry ice cream. Lots of laughter and hugs, and all night long Dad holds tight to Mom’s hand and looks at her like she’s a miracle. No worries about divorce with my parents!

  As I’m cleaning up dishes with my sisters, I take Kenya aside.

  “I have something to give you.” I wipe my damp hands on a towel, then withdraw a thick folded envelope from my pocket.

  “For me?” She wipes soap from her chin.

  “Actually, it belongs to your friend Delainey.” I hand her the envelope. “It’s the money she paid for Luna. Tell her the pedigree certificate is a fake, so she deserves her money back.”

  “Will she have to give up Luna?” my sister asks uneasily.

  “I don’t think so. There’ll be so many pugs needing homes that no one will bother with a pup that already has one. At least I hope not,” I say.

  Gran Nola’s phone rings.

  It’s the sheriff with great news: the Midgleys are in custody! They may have avoided jail before for running a puppy mill, but they won’t be able to escape kidnapping charges.

  Things are crazy for a few days. Of course, that doesn’t mean I can stay home from school. Now that Mom’s back, she’s strict about not missing school unless I’m dying.

  Between catching up on homework and answering all kinds of questions from classmates, the CCSC doesn’t have time for a meeting or to look for lost pets. And when we talk at school, our topic is the Spring Fling dance.

  Guess who decided to go?

  I’m still not sure about the whole Leo-and-me thing, but Mom insisted on buying me the most beautiful shimmering lavender dress ever and matching strappy shoes with heels that make me three inches taller. How could I resist?

  By Friday evening, only hours before the dance, I’m a nervous wreck. Becca is supposed to be here to help fix my hair and makeup. Leo and Trevor, Becca’s date, will meet us later. Dad offered to be our chauffeur to the dance. I can hardly believe I’m going to a dance, but it’s not like I’m going on a real date. Leo and I are just friends.

  While I stand helplessly in front of the mirror, trying different hairstyles, my grandmother comes to stand beside me. “Need any help?” she offers.

  “Becca will be here soon to fix my makeup,” I say, then notice her sad expression. “But you can help with my hair.”

  Gran smiles—a first since Greta picked up Major yesterday. I know she’s glad Greta is well enough to take her dog home, but we all miss Major.

  “Your hair would look nice up like this,” my grandmother says. She takes the brush and strokes my hair, twists it, and clips it up.

  I stare into the mirror. “Wow, I look so much older…like I’m in high school.”

  “Maybe you should wear it down,” she says with a chuckle. “I’m not ready for you to be that old yet.”

  I like the mature look, though, and keep my hair up. Minutes later, the doorbell rings. Finally, Becca is here to help with my makeup!


  Becca looks beautiful in an ivory chiffon dress with a sequined olive jacket—and she’s not alone.

  “You brought Buggy.” I reach out for the pug, and she licks my fingers. “But dogs can’t go to dances.”

  “Why not? She can dance on her back legs,” Becca jokes. “But seriously, I didn’t bring her for us.” Becca walks past me and over to my grandmother. She holds out the puppy. “Buggy needs a home, and your home needs a puppy.”

  My grandmother’s eyes widen, and for a moment I’m afraid she’s going to refuse. But then she grins. “You’re right. Major is gone, and Handsome probably won’t be here much longer. My home does need a puppy…and so do I. Thank you, Becca.”

  Gran Nola takes Buggy into her arms, crooning, “What a sweet little girl. And your eyes really do bug out.”

  She’s cradling Buggy like a baby as I tug on Becca’s hand. We go down the hall and into the bathroom where makeup bottles and tubes scatter across the countertop.

  “Becca, that was brilliant!” I sit on the toilet lid and lift my face so Becca can work some makeup magic.

  “They’re perfect together.” Becca picks up a tube of concealer. “But I was afraid she’d say no.”

  “Who could say no to Buggy?”

  “I got the idea when you told me Major was gone and that your grandmother seemed depressed.” Becca smooths cream on my cheek. “I remembered how much she liked Buggy. I talked it over with Mom and the sheriff, and got the okay. A lot of the other pugs are finding homes too since the TV news reports. People from all over have called about adopting them.”

  Becca orders me to close my eyes, and I feel the brush of mascara and eye shadow. When she says I can open my eyes, I watch her apply dusky-brown eyebrow pencil and a smear of cinnamon pumpkin lip gloss.

  With my hair and makeup done, I’m ready for the dance.

  When the doorbell rings, I peek out to see Leo. I suck in a nervous breath. Will he like my hairstyle? Will he think my makeup is too much?

  I open the door. He stares, his mouth dropping slightly.