Hairy Tail Collection

by Campbell, Jamie

  “Do we tell the police?”

  “They won’t care.”

  Hannah knew he was right. There was no evidence, it wasn’t like it was a life or death situation, and the police force would be busy with other things. The likelihood of them doing anything about it was slim to none.

  “We need some evidence to show them what’s going on,” Hannah decided. “We’re going to have to work it out ourselves.”

  Harry agreed. When all the dogs were bathed and walked for the day and lunchtime loomed, they retreated into the office intent on doing some investigating.

  “Grab the reports,” Hannah directed. Harry reached up and pulled down the arch lever file, full of the missing animal reports they had collected over the last few weeks. It was far fatter than it usually was.

  She flicked through the reports, trying to find a common thread to the dogs. Were they from the same area? Were they the same breed? What age were they? She needed to see a pattern, something that would give her a clue about their disappearance.

  All the animals were from different areas, from one end of town to another. So that couldn’t have been the common thread. They were also different ages, but tended to be on the young side. A large number of the dogs were only puppies, but there were some older ones thrown into the mix.

  What did stand out for Hannah were the breeds of the dogs. They were all different types, but they were all purebreds. None of the dogs were cross breeds or bits of everything. Each and every one was purchased from a registered breeder with the full paperwork. They were expensive pups, not the type they would normally see wandering the streets lost.

  Hannah logged onto the local message boards where people posted items they had for sale. She had a thought that if someone was purposefully taking the dogs, they wouldn’t be keeping them. Not unless they had severe animal hoarding problems, anyway.

  So what would they do with all those animals? The only option would be to sell them. The dogs were purebreds; they would fetch a pretty penny on the market – especially if they were only puppies.

  No matter how many dogs the animal shelter had, people still continued to buy purebred dogs from breeders. Hannah could never figure out why, the ones from the shelter were just as capable of being loved and they would be saving a life. She never understood the attraction of the purebreds.

  And those people would probably jump at a bargain if purchased online. Hannah scoured the classifieds, trying to find dogs for sale. There were plenty. Some were litters of puppies – she could discount those. Others were mixes of breeds – those could be ignored. She focused in on the purebred dogs, the ones they were only too happy to list in the ads.

  “I think I know this dog,” Hannah said as she pointed to one of the ads. She scrambled through the reports, trying to find the one she recalled.

  The ad listed a Chihuahua puppy, only eight weeks old. It was a light tan in colour and male. Hannah found the report she was looking for. Mrs. Mathilde reported her Chihuahua puppy Daisy missing four days ago. He was ten weeks old and went missing from her yard. Most importantly, he was tan in colour.

  “What’s the chance of that being a coincidence?” Harry asked, amazed at what they had found. He pointed to the next ad. “This one’s for a Pug, I’m sure there is a report in the file for a Pug.”

  He flicked through until he found the one he was looking for. Sure enough, the details were a match. But, like the Chihuahua, the ad made the dog younger.

  “It’s probably so people will think they’re still a puppy,” Hannah explained. “People want young dogs so they can train them better.”

  “And because puppies are adorable.”

  Hannah grinned, thinking he was extremely adorable for saying that. She tried to focus; it was about finding the dogs, not about how cute and distracting Harry was.

  “The contact number for all these dogs are the same,” she said, getting back to business. It was bad enough they were sitting so close their arms were touching, she couldn’t have her brain muddled up even more. “I think if we find the owner of that number, we’re going to find the dogs.”

  She reached into her pocket for her phone, getting ready to dial. Harry placed his hand over the screen before she could finish the number. “What are you doing?”

  “I’m calling the number,” Hannah replied simply.

  Chapter 4

  “You can’t just call up someone and accuse them of being a dognapper,” Harry said in a panic. “It could be dangerous.”

  Hannah rolled her eyes; did he really think she was that stupid? “I’m not going to tell him anything. I’m going to call about buying the dog.”

  “Oh, sorry.” Harry removed his hand from her phone sheepishly. He figured it was actually quite a good plan. He waited patiently while Hannah spoke to the person on the phone.

  Judging by the look on her face, the conversation didn’t seem like it was going very well. She eventually hung up. “The Chihuahua and the Pug are already sold.”

  “Already? But the ads were only posted in the last few days.”

  “I told you people liked purebreds, especially cute little ones.”

  Harry sighed. “So we’re back at square one, there’s no way to tell if the dogs he sold were the ones that are missing. It’s not like he’s going to tell us who he sold them to.”

  “We don’t need to know that,” Hannah stated, like it should have been obvious. When it was clear he wasn’t on the same thought process, she grinned. She liked having all the answers for once while he was in the dark.

  “Well? Are you going to tell me or just smile to yourself all afternoon?”

  Hannah couldn’t let him suffer anymore. “He asked me what kind of a dog I was looking for; I told him I wanted a Dachshund. He took down my number and now we just wait.”

  Harry finally caught on. “So if someone reports a Dachshund missing and then he calls, we’ll know he’s kidnapping the dogs.”

  She nodded. The only part of her plan she didn’t like was the fact that the man on the phone could now be stalking the town for a Dachshund puppy that would be taken from its owners. She hoped she was doing the right thing. If things went wrong, she would be making a terrible mistake.

  Suddenly, the office door opened. Cory popped her head in. “Remember the kittens, guys, they need to be cleaned out before the end of your shift.”

  “How could we forget?” Harry replied, already standing. “There’s no time like the present.”

  Hannah put the report folder away and replaced her phone in her pocket. She would be nervous and anxious until she got that call.

  With the amount of kittens they had at the shelter, it was difficult to stay too worried. Even while they attended to cleaning up their cages, the playful little bundles insisted on attention as they moved about. With every step she took, Hannah had to be sure she wasn’t about to step on one of them.

  “These kittens are insane,” she laughed as one of the tabby cats chewed on her shoelace. It was swatting at it, attacking with vigor. Its little mouth was barely able to reach around the side of her shoe.

  “You should fit right in then,” Harry teased. He earned a punch on the arm for his effort. “I’m just telling the truth.”

  “Well, you took me on a date last night so what does that say about you? Are you insane too?”

  Harry shrugged, his cheeky grin spread across his face. “Takes one to know one, I guess.”

  She just rolled her eyes and continued to put down fresh newspaper. To get the paper on the floor, she had to move three kittens and, even then, they wanted to chew on the edges. It was like trying to put an octopus into a string bag, difficult but not impossible.

  “Oh, careful,” Harry called out quickly, grabbing Hannah by the arm to stop her stepping in the water bowl. It was completely shielded by the newspaper.

  She stepped back in surprise, finding herself landing against Harry’s chest. “Sorry.”

  “Don’t be.” Harry looked down at her, sti
ll holding her arm. Suddenly it didn’t seem so important to finish cleaning out the kitten cage.

  Hannah didn’t move, she didn’t know if she was still too stunned to or because it just felt good against him. Either way, she wasn’t going anywhere. Harry was like a magnet, it was impossible to resist his gravitational pull.

  “Guys, the kittens?” Cory said from the doorway. They quickly separated. Hannah could feel her face blushing from being caught together. It wasn’t professional.

  “Sorry,” they both muttered before resuming their cleaning. Cory just laughed; her chuckles could be heard even as she walked down the corridor.

  That night, even as she tried to forget about the incident, Hannah was still embarrassed about it. Or perhaps her cheeks continued to redden at the thought of Harry being so close to her. That was a nice memory.

  “Hannah, focus, what do think of this outfit?” Veronica clicked her fingers to get her friend’s attention before sashaying around in a circle.

  “It’s nice,” Hannah replied, only lying a little. The outfit would have been nice, if there was some more material to it. The skirt was far shorter than she would wear and the top way too low cut for her. Yet somehow Veronica didn’t care. And to make it worse, she could completely pull off the entire look. Hannah was both happy for her, and jealous at the same time. “Where is Lucas taking you this time?”

  “We’re going to the movies and then out for ice cream if we have time. My mother still insists on giving me a ten o’clock curfew so we might have to hurry home.” Veronica started on her hair, holding some strands up to experiment with styles.

  “Ten o’clock is pretty generous, we’re only fifteen.”

  Veronica stopped, frozen still. “Are you kidding? Are you fifteen or fifty? Sometimes it’s like you completely forget you’re young.”

  Hannah shrugged, she was right, sometimes she forgot she was supposed to want to stay out all night. Apparently it wasn’t a teenage thing to do to want to go to bed at a reasonable hour.

  A part of her really wished she was more like Veronica. It would be so nice to be outgoing and fun, even if it was only for one day. Hannah had tried it once. She woke up one morning and told herself she was going to be different. She was going to do whatever she felt like, regardless of the consequences.

  The outcome? She was forced to stay back in Geography class when she tried to leave early. More time with Mr. Shapiro and his dusty world globes was punishment enough. The lesson Hannah learnt was that she couldn’t change who she was and perhaps that was a good thing. At least the normal Hannah didn’t end up in detention. That kind of behavior wouldn’t look good on her college applications.

  “You know what we should do?” Veronica asked excitedly, bringing Hannah crashing back to reality. She shook her head, dreading what she could possibly say. “We should totally double date now.”

  “I don’t know…”

  “You promised. You said once you and Harry had been on an actual date, you’d come out with Lucas and me. You said it yourself.” She stood with her perfectly manicured hands on her hips.

  Hannah couldn’t do anything but cave under the glare. She did say something like that. “Fine. But I’ll have to check with Harry and see if he wants to first.”

  “Of course he will, if he knows what’s good for him.”

  Hannah’s phone rang, interrupting them. She answered, relieved of the reprieve. “Hello?”

  “Are you still looking to buy a Dachshund?” The male voice was straight to the point. Hannah sat up, on full alert. This was one phone call she didn’t want to stuff up.

  “Yes, do you have one?” Veronica gave her a questioning look, she waved her away.

  “Yeah. Meet me in Hanson Park tomorrow at ten o’clock. It will be one hundred and fifty dollars.”

  “How will I know who you are?”

  “I’ll find you.” He hung up without saying anything else. Hannah just stared at her phone.

  “Who was that?” Veronica asked, trying to put all her discarded outfit choices back in her overflowing closet.

  “It was a man about a dog.”

  “You’re getting a dog?”

  “It’s a long story,” Hannah answered. Suddenly a double date didn’t seem nearly as scary as meeting a stranger in the park about a dog. She just hoped her instincts were right.

  Chapter 5

  The nerves and anxiety were only getting worse the next morning as ten o’clock approached. Hannah was trying desperately to keep herself occupied so she couldn’t think of her meeting but it was virtually impossible. Even hosing out the empty cages reminded her of the dog she was going to attempt to buy.

  “You know, if it’s not what we think it is,” Harry started. “You’re going to have a dog.”

  “Don’t say that, my mom would kill me if I brought a dog home. She doesn’t do pets, she’s made that painfully clear throughout my entire childhood,” Hannah insisted. She had lost count of how many times she had asked for a cat or a dog. Even a goldfish would have done. Every time, Coco had shot down her request. She always said the same thing: children were enough of a handful. “Is it wrong to want the dog to be stolen so we can return it to its owner?”

  “And avoid your mom’s wrath? Yeah, it’s probably okay.” Harry grinned that adorable smile he had but it only slightly made her feel better.

  The bell rung from the front reception counter, grabbing both their attention. “I’ll get it,” Harry offered. He dropped his wet sponge, dried his hands on his shorts, and left her there. She continued with the hose, determined to focus on only her tasks.

  Eight minutes later, Harry returned, holding another missing animal report in his hand. “You’re never going to guess what just got reported as missing.”

  Hannah suspected she knew exactly what it was. “Let me guess, a Dachshund?”

  Harry nodded. “I guess you don’t have to worry about taking home a dog today after all.”

  While that was a relief, it wasn’t Hannah’s main concern. “We need to tell Cory what’s going on.”

  “She might stop us meeting with the guy.”

  “He might be dangerous, I’d feel better if someone knew what we were up to,” she confessed. If there was anything drilled into her growing up, it was that adults needed to know what was going on. The last thing Hannah wanted to do was to get herself into something she couldn’t get herself out of. And meeting with a dognapper was right up that alley.

  They found Cory in her office and reeled off everything they had discovered. She listened to the whole story before she said anything, just nodding her head in the interim.

  “And you think this man will sell you the stolen Dachshund today?” She finally asked. They both nodded in response. “Do either of your parents know about this?” This time, they shook their heads. “You could be doing something very stupid.”

  “We know,” Hannah replied. “But we didn’t think the police would believe us so we thought if we found some evidence…”

  “With evidence we could show them exactly what’s happened so they would take us seriously,” Harry finished.

  Cory studied them both, considering everything they had told her. She pouted her lips, deep in concentration. Just when they thought she was going to forbid them, she spoke. “You are going to need to wear a microphone so we can record the conversation.”

  “So you’ll let us do it?” Hannah asked in shock. It wasn’t the response she was really expecting – only hoping for.

  “I’ll come with you so I can supervise but I’m going to deny knowledge of it all if your parents ask. I would rather deal with a dognapper than parents. Okay?”

  “Deal.”

  Cory pulled down a box from the top shelf of her desk and opened it. Inside were a bundle of wires. She pulled at one, teasing it out of the knot until it was free. She handed over the microphone. “We use these for suspected abuse cases. Put this on and make sure it can’t be seen.”

  Hannah accepted the w
ire. On one end was a small microphone on a clip and on the other was a black box, presumably to record the voices. She knew from movies she had seen that the box clipped onto your pants at the back while the wire snaked up and around to be taped to your chest. She picked up some tape and headed out the back.

  She struggled to get it right. It was difficult holding up her top with one hand and getting the wire in the sticky tape with the other. Harry couldn’t watch her any longer.

  “Let me help you,” he offered, grabbing the tape. She let him take the wire and held up her top as much as she was comfortable with.

  She held her breath as he reached around and tucked in the box, taping the wire at intervals as he brought it around to her stomach and started moving upwards. His fingers tickled, sending out tingles of warmth wherever he touched her bare skin.

  She could feel his breath on her skin he was so close. She tried not to notice, desperately trying to keep the blushing out of her cheeks. He was just doing a job, just attaching the microphone so they could gather evidence. Nothing more. Yet she was still acutely aware of how close he was to her.

  “You might want to do this last bit,” Harry said, holding up the microphone. He had reached her ribcage and the edge of her top. Hannah wasn’t entirely sure, but she thought he might be blushing himself just a little.

  “Thanks,” she replied. She slipped the microphone up underneath her top and nestled it into her bra. With one last piece of tape, she secured it in place. “Can you see it?” She asked without thinking, forgetting she was actually asking Harry to look at her chest.

  He glanced quickly. “I think it’s hidden. Does it feel alright?”

  “I think so.”

  “Are you sure you still want to do this?” He looked at her with concern; it only made her smile at his worry for her. It was sweet. “You can still back out, I can take your place.”

  “I’m the one he’s been talking to, I’ll be fine. You and Cory will be watching me. If anything happens, you’ll be there in two seconds.”