Double Dog Dare (The Raine Stockton Dog Mystery Series)

by Ball, Donna

  I saw his jaw knot, and I knew, as clearly as if he had spoken it out loud, what he was thinking. Once he made that phone call, it was real. There was no going back from there.

  He said briefly, “Not yet.” Then, “Mother, you wait here in case she comes back, or someone calls the house. I have my phone. Raine, let’s go.”

  The truth was that I probably could have done better by myself, but one glance at Miles’s face and I was not about to object. He needed to be moving, to feel that he was doing something, just as I did. I could only hope that what we were doing was enough.

  We went out the front door and into the brilliantly lit lawn toward the front gate. There was only one police car in the drive beside the crookedly parked Peugeot we had left there a lifetime ago. Why weren’t there dozens of cars with lights blazing and radios crackling? Had they dusted the keypad for fingerprints? Had they taken the cameras to inspect them for tampering?

  I fear your search may be futile.

  I said, “We should probably split up. You take the beach, I’ll take the streets.”

  He said lowly, “I should have prepared her for this. I knew it was a possibility. She should have had self-defense lessons, martial arts, I should have made sure she knew how important it was to keep her phone with her. She should have had a panic button. Why didn’t I make sure she had a panic button?”

  He did not want me to say anything; he just wanted me to listen. But every word he spoke was a tiny dagger in my heart, because he spoke in the past tense.

  “I should have been more careful. I should have known.”

  “Miles.” I placed a hand lightly on his arm. He looked startled for an instant, almost as though he had forgotten I was there. “This is not helping. You need to stay focused.”

  In a moment, he said brusquely, “You’re right.” He looked at his watch. “Give it forty-five minutes, and meet back here. Is your phone on?”

  I nodded. “Check the shadows at the bottom of the beach steps where his leash might be caught. And be sure to stop and wait after you call him to give him time to reach you.”

  They also would have disposed of the family dog.

  The front gate was closed. All the gates were on a sensor system and closed automatically as soon as the person or vehicle cleared the electric eye. Miles punched in the code. The double gates parted slowly.

  “Daddy?”

  I think at first neither one of us believed the sound. Miles did not move, and for the longest time it seemed my muscles were also frozen; I hardly dared even to breathe as I strained to hear above the rumbling of the gate and the sound of the ocean which suddenly seemed more of a roar than a whisper. And then…footsteps? Breathing? Panting?

  “Daddy!”

  I swung my flashlight beam toward the sound and Melanie’s face appeared out of the shadows, running toward us even as Miles was already running toward her. Her face was red and wet with sweat and tears, her hair disheveled, her tee shirt dirty. But alive. Running toward her father with arms open and sobs stuttering with every step. Miles swept her up, saying something, gasping something, holding her tight, kissing her face, and she wrapped her arms around him, crying, “Daddy, they took him! They took Cisco!”

  ~*~

  ELEVEN

  The next few moments were filled with noise and clatter and lights and weeping and laughter and movement. That was all I would ever remember about them. The inspector on his telephone, Melanie on the sofa, her own sofa, while Miles wiped her dirty, tear-smudged face with a damp washcloth and Rita pressed a glass of juice into her hand. I dropped down onto one knee and said gently, because someone had to and this was my job, this was what I did, I found people; because I knew what had to be done, I said, “Melanie, are you okay? Did anyone hurt you, or try to hurt you? You’re safe now, everything is okay. But you need to tell us if they did.”

  I saw the darkness come into Miles’s eyes and saw Rita go still with dread, but the best moment in my whole life was when Melanie shook her head, wiped her still-running nose with the back of her hand and said, “No. He tied up my hands with tape and put tape over my mouth and eyes and when I cried it was hard to breathe, so I tried not to cry. But he didn’t hit me or try to do bad stuff or anything. He just threw me in the back and forgot about me.” But then her eyes filled with tears again and she said, “Raine, they took Cisco. I tried to stop them, I did, but they drove away and I couldn’t get him back!”

  I managed a shaky smile. “It’s okay, Mel, the important thing is that you’re home safe and you can help find him, okay? Why don’t you start by telling us what happened?”

  The inspector came over, listening quietly, but seemed content to let me ask the questions. He rose a notch in my esteem. Sometimes Buck would call me in to ask questions when a female deputy wasn’t available and a child was involved in a crime, either as a witness or a victim. That was how I knew what questions to ask. Of course, I always had Cisco with me at those times. That was the whole point. Because dogs make everything better.

  Melanie took a sip of her juice, and Rita smoothed a tangled curl away from her granddaughter’s face. She couldn’t seem to stop touching Melanie; none of us could. Miles held her in the crook of his arm, Rita held her hand, I closed my fingers around her knee and smiled up at her. Home. Safe. But where was Cisco?

  She said, “We came in from the beach after our walk. I started to take Cisco’s leash off in the kitchen but he pulled away from me and ran toward the front door like there was someone there. I thought maybe you and Dad had come back early, so I came after him, but not very fast you know, because I didn’t think anything was wrong, I just thought you were home. And when I got here there was a man standing over there…” she gestured toward the staircase area, “and he was feeding Cisco something.”

  My heart stopped. Poison. Cleaner and quieter than a gunshot, and the first thing a burglar would do if he was planning a big heist. Dispose of the family dog.

  Somehow I managed an encouraging nod, but she must have seen my lips tremble because she rushed on, “So I yelled at him, I said ‘Hey! What are you doing?’ and I ran to get Cisco. Cisco kind of looked at me, and the man, he turned away from me real fast, like he was afraid I’d see his face, and then I knew for sure he was a bad guy. So I called to Cisco, I called ‘Cisco, come!’ just like you taught me, Raine, and he was going to do it, too, he started toward me, but then the guy stepped on his leash.” A big tear swam in her eye for a moment, then plopped on her cheek. “I should have taken his leash off. If I’d taken his leash off, he could’ve gotten away.”

  I said, in as strong a voice as I could possibly manage, “Melanie, this is not your fault. None of this is your fault. You did everything exactly right, okay? You did exactly what I would have done. This is not your fault.”

  Melanie looked at me with big wet eyes, and I knew she heard me, but she was a smart kid. That was what I loved about her. She was such a smart kid. She nodded, infinitesimally. I felt Miles’s fingers cover mine, briefly, on Melanie’s knee, and I could feel the tenderness in his eyes but I didn’t dare look at him because if I did I wouldn’t be able to go on. I said, “When the bad guy put his foot on Cisco’s leash he must have turned around, right?”

  She nodded. My heart speeded a little.

  “And did you see his face then? Can you tell us what he looked like?”

  She said, “He had something on his face. A stocking, I think. His face was all smushed down. Cisco didn’t like it and he started barking. So I ran up to him and tried to grab Cisco’s leash but that was when the bad guy grabbed me instead and put his hand over my mouth. I screamed and kicked and tried to bite him but I couldn’t. Then he put this tape over my mouth, and tied my hands together with tape too. He was really strong. Then he put tape over my eyes too, and it really hurt later when I pulled it off because it was all tangled up in my hair.” Gently, Rita stroked her hair, and I could see the reflexive pain cross her face. Melanie went on, “It all happened really fast, a
nd Cisco was barking and jumping and I tried to kick but it didn’t make any difference, he dragged me outside and then into this van, and Cisco too.”

  Oh God. Oh God, oh God. She had been kidnapped, she had come this close to being killed, because she had tried to save my dog. But she was Melanie. What else could she have done?

  I had never loved anyone more in my life.

  My own cheeks were wet, but if that was from tears, I ignored them. I said, “How do you know it was a van?”

  She answered without hesitation, “I heard the doors slide. Just like the van that used to take us to after-school swimming and gymnastics back in New York.” She paused and wrinkled her nose. “Only it smelled like garbage. And there weren’t any seats.”

  “And he put Cisco in the van with you?”

  She nodded. “He barked. And after a while when I was rolling around on the floor, you know, because there weren’t any seatbelts, he came and he put his paws across my legs. I could hear him panting.”

  “But he was okay?” I had to ask. I had to. “He seemed okay to you?”

  “He was Cisco,” she said. “He took care of me.”

  I could feel my nose start to drip, and my chest go wet and heavy. I ignored it. I somehow found a smile. I squeezed Melanie’s knee. “You’re doing great, Mel. This is good intel, it’s exactly what we need. Can you remember what happened next? Try to think about details. What you heard and smelled and felt.”

  I could see, from the corner of my eye, the inspector’s surprised and appreciative glance. Miles stroked my arm. But for me, and perhaps for everyone else in the room, there was nothing but Melanie, and what she had to say.

  She frowned thoughtfully. “We drove for a long time. Lots of turns. He put the radio on, but I could hear him talking to somebody. I think he was on the phone and he talked real low so I couldn’t hear all the words, but he sounded mad. Or maybe scared.”

  “Do you think he was talking to somebody in the van? Before you said ‘they’. Do you think someone was waiting for him in the van?”

  Again she was thoughtful. “Maybe. I don’t know. But later, after the van stopped and he got out, I only heard one door slam. And outside I could hear two people talking.”

  I prompted, “Could you hear anything they said?”

  “I heard some bad words,” she admitted. “And somebody said something about a felony, and about being careful. Or maybe not being careful. I don’t know. I should have listened better.”

  “You did great,” I assured her, squeezing her knee. I even managed a bracing smile. “Better than I would have done. Then what happened?”

  “Then I heard the sliding door open again and Cisco…” She started to cry again, her face going wet and blotchy. “Cisco jumped out. I’m sorry, Raine, I would’ve caught him if I could but I couldn’t!”

  I wanted to spring up and hug her hard, but Miles beat me to it, turning his daughter into his arms and kissing her hair fiercely as he assured her, “This is not your fault. None of this is your fault, do you hear me?”

  “Your dad is right,” I added, though my voice was thick. “You are the smartest, bravest girl I’ve ever met and you did all the right things. And you know you don’t have to worry about Cisco, don’t you?” I even managed a smile. “He’s a combination of Lassie, Rin Tin Tin and Super Man, all rolled into one. He’s fine.”

  The sniffling slowed, and her grandmother handed her a tissue. “I could hear him barking when the van drove away,” she said. “And after awhile I couldn’t hear him anymore.”

  I nodded, trying to look encouraging, but all of a sudden I had lost my ability to speak. Miles took over for me.

  “How did you get away, sweetheart?” he asked.

  “I didn’t.” She sounded tired, as I could well imagine she was. “We drove some more, and then the van stopped and he pulled me out and cut off the tape on my hands and then he drove away, just like that, real fast. At first I was so scared, I couldn’t even believe it, and I was crying so hard I could hardly breathe, so I took the tape off my mouth and then I got it off my eyes, and I was all alone on this strange road with no lights or anything. So then I started walking and I came to this one gate and pushed the buzzer but n-no one was home and finally I saw some lights but it took me a really long time to get to them because I kept going the wrong way, and I thought if Cisco had been there he could have found the way home…” She spoke to her lap, where she was shredding the damp tissue into a hundred little pieces. “But after awhile I realized that the lights I saw were from somebody’s pool and then I knew where I was so I just kept walking until I saw our house.”

  I could hear Miles’s breathing, slow and deep, from where I was. I did not have to look at his face to know what he was thinking. How easily it could have turned out differently. How many, many things could have gone wrong along the way. Rita said, “We’re very glad you did, sweetheart. And Raine is right. You are the bravest, smartest little girl I have ever known.”

  Melanie looked at me with tears glittering in her eyes and she said, “But I couldn’t save Cisco.”

  ~*~

  The inspector had a few more questions for Melanie: Would she recognize the street where she was released if she saw it again? Could she remember anything more at all about the van? But Miles put a stop to it before even five minutes had passed. Exhaustion, emotional and physical, was catching up with her, and there was relief in her face when she hugged her dad goodnight and went upstairs with Rita to prepare for bed.

  “I believe, Mr. Young,” said Inspector LeClerk when she was gone, “we are faced with two possibilities. The first is that your daughter interrupted a burglary in progress. As you look around, I take it you find nothing is missing?”

  Miles gave an impatient shake of his head. He was pacing now, his hands shoved into his pockets, using up excess adrenaline now that the crisis was past. “I don’t keep anything valuable here. I rent it out when I’m not using it. I’ll ask my mother, but she doesn’t usually travel with jewelry unless she’s wearing it. Besides, that doesn’t even make sense. Why break into a house while it’s occupied when it sits empty for weeks on end?”

  “And why take Melanie?” I asked. “And Cisco? Why not just run away?”

  “Possibly because he was afraid she had seen him before he put his mask on. Possibly because she was making enough noise to attract attention, as was the dog. He may have only wanted to keep them quiet while he made his escape.” A faint and sympathetic smile. “These behaviors are not always logical.”

  “You said there were two explanations,” Miles said.

  A small, very French shrug. “The second explanation is perhaps the easiest, but I would caution you the simplest explanation is not always the most accurate. It may well have been, as you suspected, an attempt at kidnapping, for ransom or other reasons. The kidnapper lost his nerve, or feared he had been seen, or for whatever reason decided the risk was too great. He fortunately was not prone to violence, and released your daughter unharmed.”

  “And the dog?” Miles said tightly.

  “I suspect our criminal was unprepared to deal with a dog and, rather than allow him to continue to bark and draw attention, he secured him in the van. I will be very interested in where the animal eventually turns up, as it may well give us a clue as to where the child was taken which may, in turn, lead us to the kidnapper.” He closed his notebook and stood. “I would of course like to talk to your daughter tomorrow after she has rested. No doubt we will gain new insights at that time. Should she happen to remember anything else before then, kindly telephone.” He handed Miles a card. “And may I say how very pleased I am that this matter has come to such a happy conclusion. As you are no doubt aware, this is not always the case.”

  A bleakness came into Miles’s eyes as the shadow of what had almost been crossed our path once more. He said simply, “Yes.” He put the card into his pocket but did not offer his hand. “Good night Inspector. I need to be with my daughter now.”
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br />   “Of course. Good night.”

  I walked Inspector LeClerk to the door. “Listen,” I said, keeping my voice as steady as I could, “I know it doesn’t seem important to you, but Cisco—my dog—he is important. He’s not just a pet. I need you to help me find him. Please.”

  The inspector looked at me, and I thought I might have detected a trace of understanding in his eyes. “Mais oui, mademoiselle, I agree—this is no ordinary dog. He is evidence in a kidnapping, and you may be sure my officers will keep his description in mind. The outcome for Miss Young may be good, but this continues to be an open case.”

  I swallowed hard. Cisco was evidence in a kidnapping case. I hadn’t thought of that. But I was pretty sure that, by now, the kidnappers had. And what do criminals do with evidence that could implicate them? Destroy it at the first opportunity.

  I had to find him. I had to.

  At the door the inspector paused, and looked back at me. “You have had experience with the police.”

  Somehow I managed to drag my thoughts away from the desperate path they had taken and back to the present. “Yes.”

  He nodded. “You should not think poorly of our small island for the attitude of the officer who first took your report about the missing child. The fact of the matter is he was correct— the majority of these events resolve themselves without intervention. That is not to say we do not take seriously the safety of every child who visits us here, but shall I tell you what first caused me to think there might be more to this situation than was apparent? It was when I heard your name.”

  I blinked. “What?”

  “Yours and that of Mr. Young, of course,” he went on. “An American actress perpetrates an elaborate hoax upon us all, and you are there. A boat burns at the marina, and you are there. Mere hours later a child is reported missing and you are there. It all seems very much a coincidence to me, Miss Stockton, and in police work...”