Support Your Local Pug
Page 21
Shelby shrugged her shoulders. She didn’t know who it was either.
“Is it something you can handle?”
She looked around to be sure there were no pet parents in the lobby and answered. Then she put the call on speaker. “This is Shelby Ryan. Can I….”
There was a roar over the line. “I AM CHIEF JOHN TURNER OF THE LEWES POLICE DEPARTMENT!” The man took a breath and I could hear dogs barking in the background. I had a visceral reaction to the distress I heard. “Your van was found abandoned in a line of cars leading to the Cape May-Lewes Ferry terminal parking lot. I am two seconds away from having the door forcibly removed.”
“No!”
“No!”
“No!”
“No!”
Math’s never been my strong suit, but there were three of us and four no’s. I glanced up at Dana and Shelby. Their mouths were in O’s and they were fixated on something over my right shoulder. Slowly I turned.
“Lady Anthea?” I reached my hand out to shake hers.
This was our first in-person meeting. I knew from her bio that she was about my age. And, like the picture in my head, she wore a knee-length skirt with a blazer. These were blue, accessorized by the Hermès scarf tied around her neck along with sensible pumps. Her eyes swept over the three of us dressed in khaki Bermuda shorts and green tops with Buckingham’s logo. We were wearing our polo shirts, our summer uniform. In the fall we’d switch to button-down oxford shirts. I wasn’t prepared for the raised eyebrow, nor the mouth in a hard, straight line.
Whatever. I ran to my office for my handbag—which is really a beach bag—and grabbed the keys on the plastic peg shaped like a dog’s tail. I yelled at the phone, “I’m on my way. I’ll be there in five.” It would take me ten minutes. I motioned for Shelby to disconnect the call. “Shelby, call the DRBA police desk in the ferry terminal. Ask for Wayne. Tell him I’ll buy him a drink if he stops this. Dana, keep trying Henry’s cell.”
As I ran by Anthea, it occurred to me that she might be able to help. What’s the use of having a local celebrity if they can’t get you and your dogs out of a jam? Without slowing down, I grabbed her arm. “Come with me.”