“So are you in the agricultural business?”

“No, I’m in the fertility business,” said Gran, causing the guy to give her a strange look.

“Okay, so as soon as we’re out of here, I’ll draw up the contracts and we’re in business.”

“That sounds great,” said Gran. “And when do you think you’ll be out of here?”

“There’s a gross miscarriage of justice being perpetrated,” said the man. “Someone planted the gun that was used to murder Prince Abdullah in our mock-up fly, and so the police think that we’re involved somehow. But we’re not.”

A second face now appeared. It belonged to the man’s fiancée, and she seemed curious to see who these clients could be, that were so eager to negotiate a deal they couldn’t wait until they’d been released. “Hi,” she said. “I’m Mindy, and I’m the vice president of Zap, Inc.”

“Shouldn’t that be Zap & Pop, Inc?” asked Dooley.

“Shush, Dooley,” said Brutus. “Let the grown-ups talk.”

“Pleased to meet you,” said Gran, and held up her hand. It was a little awkward to shake hands through the barred window, but somehow they managed, and moments later a deal was made for ten thousand drums of bug spray to be delivered to Gran’s home as soon as the contracts were signed and the money was transferred. If this was a strange way of doing business, none of the business meeting attendants seemed to mind.

Suddenly, from an adjacent window, two more faces appeared. They belonged to an elderly couple, and they didn’t look happy. “What’s with all the racket?” the man grumbled. “Can’t a person sleep peacefully?”

“Keep out of this, buddy,” said Gran. “This is a private meeting, and you’re not invited.”

“You’re accomplices of the killers, aren’t you?” said the guy in response. “I’ll tell the guard that you’re out here, schmoozing with the killers, and they’ll arrest you and throw away the key—just you wait and see!” He retracted his head, and we could hear him yell, “Guard! There’s more killers! Better arrest them before they get away!”

“I think we better get out of here,” Scarlett suggested.

“Yes, better go,” said Carlos Perks. “The police in this place are really dumb, especially the chief of police, who must be just about the dumbest chief of police I’ve ever met in my life.”

Gran had to laugh at this. “Oh, buddy,” she said. “You’ve just made my day! The dumbest chief of police! I love it!”

And with these words, she said goodbye to the couple for now, and we were off. We had just started in the direction of the front of the building when all of a sudden a loud voice behind us exclaimed, “Rogelio Hartshorn! Show your face, Rogelio Hartshorn!” Much to our surprise, a familiar face appeared in a third window. It was the lawyer, and he seemed curious to know who was calling his name. “I’m Rogelio Hartshorn,” he said. “Who are you?”

In response, an automatic gun started spitting out bullets and hammering the wall with hot lead. Rogelio’s head retracted just in time—or so I hoped—and the rest of us all dove for cover!

CHAPTER 20

“Ididn’t even know he was in there!” Brutus cried as we all hid from the volley of bullets aimed at the police station.

“They must have figured it was the only way to keep him safe!” I yelled back over the noise of gunfire.

“Max, I’m scared!” said Dooley.

“No need to be scared,” I assured him. “They’re not gunning for us but for the lawyer.”

“This is not good for my voice!” said Harriet as she clutched her mate’s paw. “It’s a well-known fact that stress is bad for the vocal cords. If they keep this up, I’ll have to press charges.”

“Join the line,” I said.

In the distance, police sirens could be heard, and I had a feeling it wouldn’t be long before the area was swarming with cops. These gangsters had quite the nerve to attack an actual police station! And since I’m a curious kitty, I decided to take a closer look at the criminals responsible for the attack. I snuck from behind the bush we were using for cover and over in the direction of the gunfire. As I approached I saw a white van parked in the field behind the police station, and in front of it, two men were positioned, both wielding automatic weapons and using the police station for target practice. And as I glanced up at them, I saw that they looked very familiar to me. They were none other than Jerry Vale and Johnny Carew!

My friends had followed me and seemed as surprised as I was to see these two.

“But... That’s Jerry and Johnny!” said Brutus. “What are they doing here?”

“Playing gangster,” I said. “Isn’t it obvious?”

“But it’s not really their shtick, is it?”

“Looks like they’ve changed careers again,” said Harriet.

“I don’t like this, Max,” said Dooley. “Guns are dangerous.”

“You can say that again,” I said. The brickwork of the police station certainly had never been designed to take so much violence and destruction being wrought upon it, and we saw how pieces of brick dropped to the ground, and entire chunks of wall tumbled down.

“Do you think we’ve got him, Jer?” asked Johnny as he paused the hail of bullets.

“Not sure,” said his partner in crime.

“Think we should go and take a look-see?”

But the sound of sirens was approaching fast now, and so the two crooks thought better of it. “I’m sure we got him,” said Jerry. “And if we didn’t, we’ll get him next time. Let’s go!”

The two gangsters jumped into the van, and moments later they were off at a fast clip. But since I didn’t think it was a good idea to let them get away like this, I decided in a sort of split-second decision to follow them. And since the back of the van was open, I jumped in.

“Max, where are you going?” my friends asked. I saw they were chasing after me, so I urged them to keep up. It wasn’t long before the three of them all jumped in after me. The van bucked and bumped on the uneven terrain, and the door was slammed shut.

“Are you sure this is a good idea?” asked Harriet.

“Not really,” I said.

“Johnny and Jerry like us,” said Dooley. “Even if they find us, they won’t hurt us, will they?”

It was a question I didn’t know the answer to. But I sincerely hoped he was right. After the van reached the road, Jerry sped up, and we were propelled back against the van door by the sheer force of the acceleration. It looked as if we’d have to sit tight and hope for the best!

“I hope that the lawyer is all right,” said Dooley. “He still has to make sure that all of our humans’ estates are in order before they die.” Then he seemed to realize what he was saying and put a paw to his mouth. “Oh no! They’re all going to die, aren’t they? That’s why they’re making their wills and arranging their estates!”

“Nobody is going to die, Dooley,” I said. “Least of all our humans, who are all young and in the prime of their lives.”

Brutus grinned at me. “Always the optimist, aren’t you, Maxie baby?”

“I try to be,” I said virtuously.

His smile vanished. “Let’s hope this trip from hell won’t prove to be our finest but also our final hour.”

The van was slowing down, and moments later there was some bumping and shaking again as it hit a dirt road. After a while, the van brusquely pulled to a stop, and we heard doors slam.

“Looks like we’ve arrived,” said Harriet. She coughed. “Oh, Shanille isn’t going to like this. I was supposed to sing one of her power ballads tonight, and instead I’m ruining my voice because of all this stress. It’s not good, you guys—and I blame you, Max!”