“Let us in!” Gran demanded as she, too, applied her fist to the door.
“Let us handle this, Vesta,” said Chase.
“But they’re mine, too, you know,” said Gran.
We all shared a look, and even Harriet had forgotten about her beef with us. “I wonder if this is connected to the shooting,” she said. “Do you think Ted was involved somehow?”
“I doubt it,” I said. “Why would Ted hire two crooks to shoot up the police station? It doesn’t make sense.”
“I’ve always suspected that man of having hidden depths,” said Brutus. “It’s in his face, you know. He seems too nice. Exactly the kind of person who’s hiding a deep, dark secret.”
“So you think Ted killed Prince Abdullah and is now trying to get rid of the man’s lawyer?” I asked.
“And why not? Maybe the prince is a client of Ted’s accountancy firm and they fell out over some tax issue?”
It was definitely the most ridiculous thing I’d ever heard, but since I didn’t want to insult Brutus’s intelligence by voicing this determination, I simply kept my mouth firmly shut.
The Trappers must finally have understood that there was someone out there who wanted to talk to them, for the light upstairs suddenly flicked on, then the light downstairs, and the door opened a crack and a pair of suspicious eyes peered out through the opening. “What’s this all about?” asked a sleepy Ted.
“Police,” said Chase, flashing his badge. “We need to borrow your dog, Ted.”
“My dog? What do you want to borrow my dog for?”
“The cats have been abducted,” Odelia explained. “Rufus needs to track them down.”
“But… Rufus isn’t a police dog,” said Ted, having opened the door fully and revealing himself to be wearing nice-looking pajamas with blue Smurfs and ditto fluffy slippers. His hair was tousled and his eyes half-lidded, but otherwise he looked his usual self—not the crime lord that Brutus had him pegged as.
“Rufus knows the cats,” said Odelia. “And he’s found them before.”
It was at this moment that we felt we should probably let our presence be known, to avoid further complications and embarrassing situations. And so we stepped to the fore to join the small throng on the Trapper doorstep.
“Odelia,” I said. “We’re fine.”
But Odelia paid me no mind at all. Instead, she addressed Ted in a rather recalcitrant way. “Look, if you don’t want to lend Rufus to us, I’m afraid we’ll have to confiscate him.”
“You can’t do that,” said Ted. “Rufus is my dog and you can’t have him.”
“Odelia,” said Harriet. “We’re right here, honey.”
But Odelia was so caught up in her argument with Ted that she didn’t even notice us. “We are taking that dog,” she said, “whether you like it or not!”
“And I’m telling you that you’re not taking him!” Ted yelled back.
Marcie had also joined her husband in the door opening. She also looked sleepy and had probably just woken up from a pleasant dream. “What’s with all the noise?”
“They want to take Rufus!” Ted cried indignantly. “Just like that!”
“What? You can’t take our dog!” said Marcie, immediately up in arms about Odelia’s request.
“Odelia?” said Dooley. “You don’t have to bother Rufus, you know. We’re perfectly fine.”
“We were abducted,” I said. “But Johnny brought us back.”
“Even though we thought for a moment that he was going to murder us and bury our bodies in the woods,” said Brutus.
Finally, someone in the small entourage must have noticed us, for an officer tapped on Chase’s shoulder. “Sir? Are these the cats that you’re looking for?”
Chase looked down, and when he saw us, did a double take. “But… where did you come from all of a sudden?” He then tapped Odelia on the shoulder.
“Not now, Chase,” said the reporter. “I’m talking to Ted and Marcie.”
“But, babe,” he said.
“I said not now!” she yelled, and I saw that her face was a little red, usually a sign she’s feeling worked up. It certainly was balm to our wounded souls that our human cared for us so much she would be willing to go to bat for us and engage the Trappers in this argument.
“Give me that dog!” she yelled.
“Never!” Ted yelled back.
“It’s our constitutional right not to hand our dog over to the police!” Marcie added for good measure.
“Last time I looked we weren’t living in a police state!” Ted said. “So you can’t have Rufus and that’s my final word!”
And with this, he stepped back and slammed the door in Odelia’s face.
“Babe!” said Chase urgently.
“What!” she yelled and turned to face him and give him a piece of her mind. Which is when she saw me, hoisted up in her husband’s arms, and waving at her from my pleasant vantage point. I always enjoy being picked up by Chase, since he’s so big and strong and he makes us feel safe in his arms.
