by S. L. Menear
What would he do if he knew she was having an affair? She’d thought moving to a dynamic community would put the spark back in their marriage, but it hadn’t. That was why she was meeting Jerry Flynn at the Tower Hotel again after lunch with the girls.
“What are your plans for today, Howard?”
“I thought I’d walk to the library and do more research on my book.”
“You do that every day. Why don’t you do something different?”
“Maybe I’ll try golf after I finish my book.”
“You’re sixty-eight. By the time you finish your book, you’ll be too old to play golf. Wake up! Get a life for Pete’s sake.”
She leaned down for his perfunctory kiss on her cheek, picked up her handbag on the hallway table, and walked out the front door.
Howard smiled, anticipating his research. He would have a delicious home-cooked lunch with the widow, Mary Sloan. Then research.
At five, he was due at the widow Carmen Rivera’s home for a delicious Italian dinner. And more research.
His book title? The Uninhibited Sex Life of Women after Menopause.
Sleuth Hounds
D.M. Littlefield
My name is Spike. I’m a K-9 German shepherd. My squad lives in Rosie’s apartment building with our retired police officer masters. They don’t know we’re still active in police work. Rosie is the widow of Officer Tim O’Grady. She gives us drool-worthy treats from her restaurant on the ground floor. We love Rosie and include her huge Saint Bernard, Dudley, in our covert missions even though he’s never had K-9 training. He’s not too bright, but he’s loyal and obeys my orders.
This morning as I walked to the park with my master and a hyperactive Jack Russell terrier, our leashes became tangled. We had to stop more than once for my master to untangle us. I knew Fritz and Max, my German shepherd team members, wouldn’t put up with the new dog’s annoying antics.
My squad wagged their tails, welcoming me. I waited for my master to remove my leash as he struggled with the annoying terrier’s leash because the fool dog wouldn’t stand still.
“Awwww, why’d you bring that runt?” Fritz whined. “He’ll drive us nuts, he’s so squirrely.”
Dudley’s floppy ears perked up. “Squirrel?” He jerked his big head right and left, flinging drool. “Duh, uh, where’s the squirrel, Fritz? Where’s the squirrel?”
Fritz sighed. “There’s no squirrel, Dudley. It’s just a figure of speech.”
Max nudged Fritz. “Be careful what you say around Dudley, or he’ll trample us looking for a squirrel. He must’ve been dropped on his head when he was a puppy.”
“Listen up, boys,” I barked. “This is JJ. He belongs to Rosie’s niece, Lyn. They’re moving into the vacant apartment on our floor. Rosie said if we aren’t nice to JJ, she won’t give us juicy leftovers from her restaurant.”
My squad gave JJ a disgusted glance and groaned. We jerked our heads from side to side, trying to avoid the jumping terrier.
Fritz slammed his big paw on JJ’s head and snarled, “Sheesh, runt, sit!”
JJ trembled. “Okay, okay, okay, I’m thrilled to meet the famous K-9s. I’ve heard you’ve officially retired along with your human partners, but you secretly bring criminals to justice on your own time now. I want to join your squad.”
“No way!” Max growled. “We don’t want a mini-dog on the Sleuth Hound Squad.”
“What about dimwit Dudley?” JJ barked. “He isn’t a K-9.”
I raised my hackles and glared down at JJ, curling my lips back to show my big fangs. “Don’t ever call him that! He’s Rosie’s dog and our loyal friend.”
JJ cowered. “Okay, okay, okay, I’m sorry. It’ll never happen again. Please, please, please, let me in your famous squad.”
“Humph. What could a runt like you do?” Max snarled.
JJ squirmed out from under Fritz’s paw and trembled in front of me. “I could be your snitch. Lyn’s a detective. She tells me all about her cases.”
Fritz faced the street. “Hey, look who just arrived!”
We fell over one another to watch a stretch limousine pull to the curb and panted in eager anticipation as the chauffeur opened the rear door.
“Hey, turn around and listen,” JJ whined. “I have important information.”
We ignored him and stared with open-mouthed admiration. JJ walked underneath Dudley to see what held our undivided attention.
A beautiful, standard white poodle with polished nails and ribbons on her ears stepped daintily onto the sidewalk. We sniffed the air to capture her alluring scent. I could tell JJ was smitten too because he didn’t notice Dudley drooling on his head.
After the poodle spent a few minutes in privacy behind a bush, she pranced past us salivating dogs. She gave us a dismissive sniff and stuck her nose up. Her jeweled collar sparkled in the Florida sunshine as she jumped into the limousine. The chauffeur smiled and waved at us before driving away. We let out a collective groan as we sank to the ground in a euphoric state.
JJ barked for our attention and then jumped up and down like a bouncing ball.
We bobbed our heads, trying to maintain eye contact.
“Stop jumping or I’ll have Dudley sit on you,” Max growled.
“Okay, okay, okay.” He paced between us. “Listen, listen, listen, a drug pusher Lyn arrested has been set free because of a legal loophole. He used to hang out in this park and sell drugs to kids. Some of the kids died. Maybe he’s in the park now.”
I looked down at JJ. “Can you describe him?”
“If I tell you, can I be a member of your squad? Please, please, please?” He was about to jump up again, but I glared at him. He paced instead, waiting for an answer.
I sighed and looked at my squad. “Should we give him a chance?”
Fritz lifted his hind leg to scratch his ear and smirked.
“Sure, let him make a fool of himself.”
Max looked at JJ in disgust. “How did you get a stupid name like JJ?”
“It’s short for Jumping Jack.” JJ jumped up and performed a back-flip.
“That figures,” Max grumbled.
JJ paced again. “The drug dealer has dark skin, a mustache, and is as tall as Spike’s master.”
I nodded. “I saw a man fitting that description enter the park.”
Fritz nudged me. “Spike, do you have a plan to catch the scumbag?”
“While our masters are busy playing cards, we’ll sneak away and sniff for drugs. Bark once if you find him. JJ, stay close to Dudley. Everyone fan out. When we locate him, we’ll chase him through the woods to the highway.”
“Why the highway?” JJ whined.
“We’ll let the traffic snuff him out,” I barked.
Dudley nodded. “Duh, yeah, sniff him out.”
Fritz gently corrected Dudley. “You mean snuff him out, big buddy.”
“Duh, yeah, snuff him out.”
“Road kill.” Max grunted his approval. “I like it.”
I found the man JJ had described leaning against a tree in a deserted area near the woods. As I wandered nearer and lifted my rear leg to water the bushes, I caught the scent of drugs on him and barked once to alert my squad.
When the man called a young boy over to him, I followed the boy and nonchalantly sniffed the ground while eavesdropping.
“Kid, I’ll give you a really good deal. This blow will make you feel like Superman. I usually sell it for fifty dollars a pop. I’ll let you have it for twenty-five if you get your friends to buy from me. I’ll give you the discount every time you bring me a new customer. You in?”
The kid shifted his weight from side to side. “I’m saving my money for a skateboard.”
“Forget about the skateboard. You’ll be flying high without it. Here, try it.” The man offered him a tiny baggie.
“Well ... okay.”
Before the boy could take the baggie, I growled and moved between them with my fangs bared.
The man backed away. “
Hey, kid, call off your dog!”
“He’s not my dog,” the boy yelled as he ran away.
My squad converged on the drug dealer. We snarled and bared our bone-crunching fangs. The man ran through the woods as if hell hounds were chasing him. Low tree branches scratched his face, and he stumbled over tree roots as he glanced back at us. Fritz and I lunged at his backside and tore his jeans.
“Save a piece for me,” Max snarled.
We fell back to let Max nip at him.
Dudley lumbered along on the perimeter with JJ alternately running alongside, beneath, and in front of him.
The man veered away from my planned route to the highway. “Dudley, chase him to your left ... no, no, your other left ... good boy!” I barked.
JJ darted out from underneath Dudley and locked his jaws on the man’s right pant leg. The man plunged into the drainage ditch beside the highway, and JJ tenaciously hung on as the man waded through deep water. My squad stopped at the edge of the ditch, panted, and snarled. JJ ran out of air and sputtered to the surface. The man grabbed JJ’s neck and held him underwater as he waded toward the highway.
We leaped into the water and swam after him, bent on saving JJ. The man let JJ’s limp body sink and clawed his way up the embankment onto the highway. He dodged a car and turned to look at us. He never saw the eighteen-wheeler that mowed him down.
“He’s flat as a Frisbee!” Max softly woofed.
“Road kill,” Fritz grunted. “He deserved it for killing those kids.”
Dudley stuck his head underwater and grabbed JJ by the scruff of his neck. He swam back to the woods, bounded out of the water, dropped JJ on the ground, and gently pushed his big paw on JJ’s chest. Water squirted out of the little guy’s mouth. Amazed, we circled Dudley and watched.
“I didn’t know Dudley knew CPR,” Max barked as he shook off water.
“Maybe it’s instinctive. You know how soft-hearted he is,” I barked. “He tries to comfort injured creatures he finds in the park. I’ve seen him hold them between his big paws, lick them, and let them go. Not that they go very far on wobbly legs after having been scared to death.”
When JJ opened his eyes, Dudley held him between his front paws and licked him.
JJ coughed and squirmed to get away. “Okay, okay, okay, big boy! You can stop with the licking now. I’m fine.”
Our squad formed a circle, bumped noses, and wagged our tails—our equivalent to human high fives. As we headed back to our masters at the picnic table, JJ ran alongside me.
“I did good, didn’t I? Huh, didn’t I? Am I in the squad now? I proved I’m an asset.”
Max turned to Fritz. “Well, he got the ass part right.”
“Humph. Good one, Max.”
“How about it? Am I in the squad now?” JJ yapped.
“You did okay, except for almost drowning. I hope you figured out you can’t breathe underwater. We’ll give you a chance on one more case before we decide.”
JJ was so pleased he performed back-flips the whole way to the picnic table. We arrived wet and muddy, much to our masters’ displeasure. We rolled in the grass, shook off, and rolled some more before relaxing.
As our daily routine, we gathered beside the park picnic table the next day. Our masters unleashed us so we could catch the Frisbees they threw. They also took turns throwing Dudley’s big rubber bone. Later, they played cards while we romped in the park.
On her way to work, Lyn left JJ with our masters. He rushed over to us, trembling with excitement.
“Listen, listen, listen! Lyn told me a child molester she arrested was released from prison. She’s concerned he might be in this area. He has light skin and hair and is the same height as Max’s master.”
“That description fits the scumbag I tracked five years ago,” Max snarled. “He kidnapped and tortured a little girl. When I found him, he was digging a hole to bury the unconscious child. I savored biting his arm when he tried to hit me with a shovel.”
“We must find him before he hurts another child!” I barked.
“If he’s in the park, he’ll be at the playground looking for another victim,” Max growled.
“If we spot him, let Max take the lead,” I ordered.
I stationed my squad around the playground and stood by the water fountain. Fritz waited by the sandbox, while Max sat by the slide. Dudley and JJ stood by the seesaws. JJ kept close to Dudley ever since he nearly drowned.
A little boy fell off the slide. His mother left her toddler in the stroller and rushed over. Distracted, she didn’t notice her child climb out of the stroller. The little girl walked unsteadily down a curving path to a pond.
A gray-haired man took her hand. Instead of leading her back to her mother, he walked her away from the playground. Max followed close behind them to take in the man’s scent. We ran to catch up as they walked around a bend hidden by bushes.
When the man bent over to pick up the child, Max leaped at him. The man fell and struck his head on a boulder and lost consciousness. His gray wig slid over his forehead and exposed his light hair.
“He’s the same kidnapper I caught a few years ago,” Max growled. “I’ll never forget his scent.”
When the toddler began crying, Dudley licked her face to comfort her.
“Dudley, help me drag this child molester into the pond,” I barked. “Max, you and Fritz take the girl back to her mother. JJ, you go with them. We’ll catch up later.”
Fritz guarded the child’s right with Max on her left. JJ coaxed her to follow him by performing back-flips. She trundled after him as he led her back to her mother.
Dudley and I hauled the unconscious man into the water. When we reached the middle of the pond, we released him and treaded water to watch him sink. Much to my dismay, he floated.
“Dudley, climb on top of him and hold him underwater until no air bubbles come up.”
“Duh, okay, Spike.” Dudley’s huge body covered the man as he stared into the water, watching for bubbles. After a few minutes, he looked up. “Duh, all done. No more bubbles.”
“Good work, Dudley. He can’t hurt more children. Let’s haul him back to shore for the police to find him.”
As we swam back with the body, a cyclist saw us. “Look, those brave dogs are trying to rescue someone,” she shouted, pointing.
People who had gathered on the shore helped us drag out the pedophile and tried to resuscitate him without success. Police units, an ambulance, and television crews arrived on the scene. The television crew filmed us for the evening news. When they finished, we slipped away to our squad at the playground. An alert reporter followed us.
Excited, the toddler’s mother told the reporter my squad had led her lost girl back to her. The reporter’s cameraman filmed the mother, her children, and my squad. The reporter praised our protective instincts. I barked a farewell and led my squad across the park to where our masters were calling us. We settled around the picnic table and relaxed.
It wasn’t until our masters watched the evening news that they learned of our heroic deeds. Rosie was so pleased she gave us big juicy steaks.
The next day at the park, JJ told the squad about Lyn’s new case. “She’s concerned because the thief seems crazy. He robs stores and restaurants at gunpoint in broad daylight. Then he runs out to his car and grabs a stick of dynamite. He lights it and throws it at the front door of the building. Then he speeds away in his car. He has injured and maimed a lot of people. Two have died. We must stop him.”
“JJ, we’re not allowed to cross the street,” I barked. “We’ll stand watch over our block from the park. If we see the thief, we’ll alert our masters and let them handle it. I’ll watch Rosie’s restaurant. Fritz, watch the bank, Max, the drug store, and Dudley and JJ, the flower shop.”
We took our assigned places in the park every morning after we played Frisbee, and Dudley played his fetch game. After two weeks of boring surveillance work, I noticed Dudley had lost patience and was pestering our masters to p
lay fetch. They took turns throwing his rubber bone. After a while, they pretended to throw it and then hid it in the cooler so they could get back to their card games. Dudley sniffed everywhere for it.
A convertible with the top down pulled into the No Parking Zone by the mailbox in front of Rosie’s restaurant. Unusual. My squad looked at me, waiting for a command to alert their masters.
“Let’s wait and see what he does,” I barked.
The male driver entered Rosie’s restaurant. A few minutes later, he ran out holding a paper sack and dropped it on his front seat. Sure enough, he grabbed a stick of dynamite. I barked the command to alert our masters to the impending disaster across the street.
My squad went berserk barking and grabbing our master’s clothing, pulling them to their feet. To my surprise, JJ wasn’t jumping and barking. Instead, he assumed a classic hunting-dog stance with his tail and foreleg raised and his head pointed toward the thief. Our masters looked across the street and gasped when they saw the man light the long fuse on the dynamite and throw it against the glass door of Rosie’s restaurant.
Dudley’s ears finally perked up. Flinging drool in the wind, he galloped across the street. We watched in horror as he zeroed in on the lit dynamite, thinking it was his rubber bone.
The thief was about to drive off when a mail truck stopped at the mailbox and blocked him. He yelled and raised his fist at the mailman before jamming his car into reverse and ramming the car parked behind him. Frantic, he checked for traffic as he jerked his car forward and back, trying to escape before the explosion.
Dudley picked up the dynamite, carried it to the convertible, leaned his big head over the rear door, and dropped it on the back seat. He trotted back to us as the convertible sped off.
Half a block away, the car exploded and rattled the windows of nearby buildings. Thankful he didn’t get hurt, I was amazed by Dudley’s actions. A hero, he saved Rosie’s restaurant and all the people inside.