Bulldogs & Bullets: A Dog Town USA Cozy Mystery

by Meg Muldoon

  I finally decided to take an hour break.

  I drove over to The Barkery in the drizzling rain, trying not to give into the feeling that I had wasted a morning getting absolutely nowhere.

  And I tried not to think too much about the fact that time was running out for my friend. By tonight, she’d have been missing for a full 72 hours. Most law enforcement officials would agree that this meant one thing, and one thing only.

  That Mindy Monahan was most likely dead.

  I shuddered as I pulled into the parking lot of the crowded bakery.

  We hadn’t been so close in recent years – or ever, really. But there was a bond you had with a person you’d grown up with.

  And if something so terrible could happen to someone as nice and down-to-earth as Mindy, it meant that it could happen to just about anyone.

  I got out of the car and headed for the front door of The Barkery, my Converse shoes slapping puddles as I dodged raindrops. When I got inside the packed dining room and caught Lou’s attention, she looked as though she’d been waiting for me to walk through the front doors all day.

  “Take a seat, Freddie,” she said. “I’ll bring you something in a moment.”

  She looked slightly flustered, though I couldn’t blame her. The Barkery was overflowing with customers, all lingering at tables for much longer than usual on account of it being the weekend. Additionally, there was a slight singed smell in the air.

  I wondered if Pete had been having trouble operating the new oven again.

  By some stroke of luck, I managed to find an open table by the window. I sat down and leaned back in the chair, waiting for Lou, thinking about that surprise trip she’d be going on at the end of the month.

  I couldn’t tell Lou about what Greg had in store for her. It wasn’t my place to interfere and spoil something like that.

  Yet, at the same time, I knew Lou better than anyone. And I knew that the Howl-O-Ween fundraiser was the most important event of the year for her. It was something she would never want to miss.

  Even to go swimming in a bioluminescent bay beneath a blanket of stars.

  An orange and white cupcake with perfectly-piped marbled frosting suddenly appeared on the table in front of me, along with a shadow.

  Lou abruptly took a seat.

  “I’ve got something to say to you,” she said.

  For a second, I didn’t hear her – I was so transfixed by the beautiful artistry of the sweet treat in front of me.

  Lou had really outdone herself with this one.

  My mouth started watering.

  “Oh yeah?” I said, fighting the urge to take a giant bite of the cupcake before saying anything more. “What about?”

  “Before I tell you, taste this cupcake and tell me what you think.”

  I wasn’t going to argue with her.

  I delicately peeled off the paper wrapping, and then brought it to my lips. I took a healthy bite of sugary frosting and moist cake, letting the goodness linger on my taste buds.

  The cake part was pumpkin-flavored, and was moist and flavorful. A gooey salted caramel filling danced on my tongue, playing both sweet and salty notes. The sugary frosting continued with the caramel theme, but it had a smokiness to it that reminded me of piles of autumn leaves burning.

  The whole thing tasted like hayrides and fall festivals and big, full harvest moons on crisp, cool nights.

  I couldn’t help but break into a giddy grin as I suddenly felt like Freddie Wolf at age 10.

  I finished chewing and immediately took another bite.

  Lou was pure magic.

  “I take that as a compliment,” Lou said, almost as if she could hear my thoughts.

  “Sis – this is spectacular,” I said, my mouth full.

  She smiled coyly. She already knew how good they were.

  “Good,” she said. “Then it’s settled. That’s the main desert I’m serving at the Howl-O-Ween Fundraiser. It’s not anything fancy. But I think it’ll be a crowd-pleaser.”

  I cleared my throat at the mention of the fundraiser.

  “So, uh, so what did you want to talk to me about?” I said, changing the subject.

  She lunged across the table and without any sort of provocation, punched me hard in the upper arm.

  “Ow!” I said, taken completely by surprise.

  She leaned back in her chair, crossing her arms. She looked not in the least bit sorry for what she’d just done. In fact, she looked upset.

  Upset with me, I realized. Though she had no right to be.

  “What the hell was that for?” I said, rubbing my arm.

  “I think you know,” she said.

  I furrowed my brow.

  “No,” I said, sternly. “I don’t know. Why don’t you enlighten me?”

  She let out a frustrated sigh as if I was denser than a flourless cake.

  “Dammit, Freddie. You’ve got something really good going with Sam. You know that? He’s a really great guy. And he’s crazy about you. All he ever talks about is you. So I don’t understand why…”

  She shook her head, then leaned forward, lowering her voice.

  “I don’t understand why you would get involved with that no-good bastard again. Not after what he put you through. I don’t get how you could be so thick.”

  I felt my eyebrows lift sky-high.

  “What?!” I said, surprised at the force in my own tone. “What are you talking about?”

  “Don’t lie to me. I heard him last night,” she said between gritted teeth. “Out on the porch. And I saw you talking to him. To Jimmy-loser-Brewer.”

  I gazed at my sister for a long, long moment in complete bewilderment.

  How could she think I’d do something like that?

  How could she think anything was going on between Jimmy and me after what had happened?

  It was as if she didn’t know me at all.

  “Look, I know that Jimmy meant a lot to you, Freddie,” Lou continued. “But he’s no good. No matter what he says. He’s just leading you on again. And I can’t just stand by and let you make a mistake like that. Not when you have Sa—”

  “What mistake?”

  My breath caught in my throat as another shadow passed across the table.

  I glanced up, meeting his eyes.

  Oh no.

  Chapter 39

  Lou cleared her throat and her cheeks flushed, turning the color of a fresh strawberry.

  She seemed at a loss for words at the worst possible moment to be at a loss for words.

  I jumped in.

  “Uh… Lou was just…” I stammered.

  I felt my own cheeks growing red.

  I couldn’t believe Lou had just said what she’d said.

  And I couldn’t believe that of all the times to show up, Sam had happened upon our table at this very moment.

  How much damage had Lou just done with her misguided interpretation of what she’d seen?

  I couldn’t tell. Not from his emotionless expression.

  “I was telling her what a mistake it is for her to keep looking into Mindy’s disappearance,” Lou said, finally stepping up. “I was telling her that it’s dangerous, and that she should leave it to the professionals.”

  Sam looked at me, and then over at Lou.

  He saw through lies for a living. And I was sure he could see through this one.

  “Well, I’ve got to get back to work,” Lou said, shooting up from her seat. “We’re crowded as a watering hole on the Sahara in here today.”

  She straightened out her apron, giving me one last look.

  “See you back at the house later, Freddie?”

  I nodded, not saying anything.

  Inside, I was fuming.

  Fuming that Lou could possibly think I was starting something up with Jimmy again. That she could possibly think I’d hurt Sam like that.

  And that she had almost spilled her ludicrous theory to Sam.

  She walked away quickly, back to the front counter. He to
ok her seat a moment later.

  “Is everything okay?” he asked, studying my face for a long moment.

  He knew something was up.

  I cleared my throat.

  “Lou’s, uh, she’s just upset with me,” I said. “She thinks I put myself at risk for no reason. And that I’m going to end up in another Milo Daniels situation if I’m not careful.”

  He leaned forward and reached across the table for my hand. He weaved his fingers through mine.

  “I can understand where she’s coming from,” he said.

  I smiled nervously.

  Then I changed the subject.

  “So how’s Bogey doing today?” I asked.

  “Pretty well, considering,” he said. “I think he misses Mindy. He hasn’t been eating much of his dog food. So I’ve been trying to get him to eat something – anything. I discovered that we both agree on tuna.”

  “Tuna?”

  Sam nodded.

  “I guess getting shot put him into some sort of shock. He thinks he’s a cat, now.”

  I smiled sadly.

  Poor pooch. He and Mindy had been so close.

  What would happen to him if we never found her?

  “So I take it you’ve been working this morning trying to find Mindy,” Sam said.

  I let out a sigh, nodding.

  “I’ll be working this afternoon, too,” I said. “Though not on trying to find Mindy. I’ve got an interview with Hal Parker – you know that school board member? It’s for this story I’m writing for Tuesday.”

  I looked out the window glumly.

  Something about hearing how sad Bogey was without his owner really sent my spirits sinking.

  Sam squeezed my hand, sensing my sadness.

  “Don’t worry,” he said. “We’ll find her. All right? I know we will.”

  Yeah, but in what condition? I thought.

  “Have you made any progress?” I asked, lifting my eyes hopefully.

  But I already knew the answer to the question. If he had, it would have been the first thing he’d told me.

  “I’m working on it, Freddie. We’re going to have a breakthrough, soon. I can feel it.”

  He cleared his throat.

  “We’re going to have a breakthrough with that car that’s been following you, too,” he said.

  I felt a chill run up and down my spine at the mention of the stalker.

  “I won’t let anything happen to you, Freddie,” Sam continued. “I’ll figure all of this out. I promise.”

  I smiled at him.

  “I know you will, Sam.”

  I gazed into his eyes for a long moment, feeling a feeling that was foreign to me.

  Trust.

  I trusted him, I realized.

  Maybe more than I’d ever trusted any man before.

  “Listen,” he said. “I feel like a jerk. You know that dinner I was supposed to make you tonight? Well, I’m not going to be able to. I’ve got to work.”

  I felt my heart sink.

  But when I realized how selfish that feeling was, I quickly pushed it away.

  I understood why he had to work. He knew the 48-hour statistic as well as I did, and that time was running out when it came to any possibility of finding Mindy alive.

  “I’m sorry about it,” he said.

  “Don’t be,” I said, shaking my head. “I understand.”

  “But, uh, I want to make it up to you,” he said. “I was thinking that maybe… maybe you could come over later this week and I’d make you something special then.”

  He looked deep into my eyes.

  “Something really special. And, uh, I thought that maybe if you wanted, you know – if it’s something that sounds good to you, you could, uh…”

  He looked out the window for a moment. Then back at me.

  “Maybe you could stay over,” he said.

  My heart skipped a beat as I searched his eyes.

  My stomach was a pile of twisted nerves.

  “Uh, it’s only if you want to, Freddie,” he said when I didn’t immediately respond. “No pressure. We could just—”

  “You need to know something, Sam,” I said.

  He stopped talking. A look of concern came across his face.

  “That thing that Lou and I were talking about before you got here?” I said.

  I paused, taking in a deep breath.

  “It wasn’t that she was upset about me looking into Mindy’s disappearance,” I said, feeling my voice quiver slightly. “It was because last night, Jimmy showed up at our house wanting to talk to me.”

  Something flickered in Sam’s eyes when I said his name.

  I swallowed hard.

  It wasn’t easy telling the truth. But I knew that I couldn’t keep any secrets from him.

  Things were getting too serious for that.

  “He apologized about how he’d treated me,” I said. “And that’s all that happened. He was there for only a few minutes. But Lou saw, and she thought, well… she misinterpreted things.”

  Sam made a clicking noise and started shaking his head. He looked out the window.

  I could almost hear the silent expletives running through his mind.

  If Sam didn’t like Jimmy before, now he really hated him.

  “Sam?” I said.

  After a long moment, he looked back at me.

  “I don’t want there to be any secrets between us,” I said. “That’s why I told you this. I can’t keep things from you.”

  I bit my lower lip nervously.

  “Not, uh, not if I’m going to stay over”

  His eyes met mine suddenly.

  “But Freddie – you don’t…”

  He trailed off.

  “Just be straight with me, all right?” he said. “Do you still have feelings for him? Because if you do, I mean – if you have any at all, then I need to kno—”

  “I’ve got feelings,” I said. “But they’re not for Jimmy.”

  I reached for his hand on the table, squeezing it tight.

  I saw the beginnings of a smile start to form at the edges of his mouth. The energy around him seemed to soften and a silence came over the conversation.

  I gave him a gentle smile.

  I didn’t know how he could possibly think Jimmy Brewer had anything on him.

  When enough time had passed, I asked him the big question.

  “So, uh, Lieutenant,” I said. “What kind of special dinner are you making for me?”

  He let that smile of his finally break through the surface.

  “I wouldn’t want to spoil the surprise,” he said.

  “Fine,” I said. “Just so long as it’s not kettle corn.”

  That got a laugh out of him.

  “How’s Thursday sound?” he asked.

  “I’m there,” I said. “I can’t wait.”

  “Good,” he said.

  I leaned across the table, pecking him on the cheek. Then I stood up.

  “I better get going,” I said. “I’ve got an interview. Talk to you later, Lieutenant?”

  I winked at him in a brazen display of flirtation that was unlike me.

  “Whoa,” Sam said, leaning back in his chair.

  I laughed, and tossed my purse over my shoulder. I brushed passed him, placing a hand on his shoulder and squeezing.

  “Freddie?”

  I gazed down at him.

  “Yeah?”

  “I’m glad you told me the truth,” he said.

  “Me too.”

  I kissed him on the top of the head, and then weaved my way through The Barkery crowds, heading out the door.

  Chapter 40

  There was just something wrong about being back at the drafty old school district building on a Saturday.

  But when Hal Parker had called half an hour earlier to change the meeting place for our interview, I could think of nowhere else to go, so I reluctantly agreed.

  I walked down the empty halls that smelled vaguely of mildew, rubbing my hands t
ogether as a cold blast of air wound its way past me. I rounded the corner, and suddenly heard a chilling sound:

  A deep guttural howl.

  I stopped in my tracks, listening to the ghostly wail. Then I went across the hall to the superintendent’s office and rapped on the pane.

  “Hal?” I said. “Are you in there?”

  The door opened. Hal Parker’s aged face broke into a bright smile beneath his bushy grey mustache.

  “Well, hello, Winifred. How are you this fine Saturday?”

  I let out a gasp as something knocked me over, sending me crashing hard onto the building’s scuffed-up floor.

  Chapter 41

  “Oh, tarnation! I am so sorry, Winifred. Dang-it, Arthur! Get off of her.”

  But it was too late for apologies. The giant beast was standing on top of me, licking my face like I was a cut of Kobe beef.

  “Arthur, get off. Now, Arthur!”

  A moment later, the massive Great Dane-hound mix with the mild-mannered name was being yanked back by his leather collar. The great dog whimpered slightly as Hal leveled some more serious scolding at him.

  I sat up, taking in a deep breath.

  The wind had damn near been knocked out of me.

  “Holy moly, Winifred. I am so sorry. This is… this is horribly embarrassing. He’s rarely this aggressive. Are you okay?”

  I got to my feet, dusting off my jeans. I took a moment to assess whether I had suffered any injury after being knocked over by the dog.

  “I think so,” I mumbled.

  My ribs hurt from where the beast had stepped on me with his giant paws, but I knew from experience that it wouldn’t result in anything more than a couple of bruises.

  “Thank the Lord,” Hal said, attaching a leash to Arthur’s collar and holding it tight. “I’m sorry, but whenever Arthur finds somebody he likes, he just can’t seem to control himself.”

  Hal smiled.

  I looked from him to the pooch.

  The dog was a giant. Big and lanky, the canine wouldn’t win any awards in a beauty contest. He had a narrow face and an oversized, wiry body. But I could tell that despite his actions, he wasn’t malicious. And that mauling me had been just a sign of overexcitement.

  It didn’t exactly excuse the dog from nearly breaking my back. But with a little time, I’d get over it.