“Toby’s never done this before. He must have panicked when he was left alone in the yard for so long.”
“He can’t have gone too far,” Luke said. Or could he? They’d been gone most of the day. Toby could have dug the hole minutes after they’d left and be l
ong gone by now. He glanced at his watch. It was nearly six. “Is he chipped?”
Cameron nodded. “And our home phone number is on his tag.”
They checked the answering machine but no one had called to leave a message about Toby. Luke programmed the phone to forward calls to his cell. “Let’s check with the animal shelter. I bet someone found him and brought him there.”
But Toby wasn’t at the shelter and no one had brought him into the after-hours emergency veterinary office, either. “I’m so sorry.” Melanie Miller, the shelter’s director, put her arm around Cameron to comfort him. “I have a picture of Toby from when he was here with us. We can make copies and you and your uncle can put them up around town. I’ll help, too.”
“Thanks,” Cameron said woodenly.
This was all Luke’s fault. He should have insisted the dog go inside his crate. If something happened to Toby, he’d never forgive himself. Armed with the photos Melanie had made, he and Cameron took off to drive around town.
“Anyplace you can think of that he’d go to?” Luke asked.
“Not really.” Cameron stared out the truck passenger window, in hopes of spotting Toby. The thing was, the dog could be anywhere.
“We need some help,” Luke said. “Let’s call Henry and see if we can expand our manpower.”
But Henry was with his dad at a baseball game in Tampa.
“We could call Grandma and Grandpa. Maybe they could help,” Cameron suggested.
Yeah. He’d love to see the look on his mother’s face when she found out he’d lost the family dog. She’d probably insist on taking Cameron for the rest of the weekend for his own safety.
Luke tried to think of someone else to call, but it had been a long time since he’d lived in town and there wasn’t anyone he felt comfortable enough to ask for help. They dropped by the Whispering Bay police station and talked to Rusty, who was on duty.
“Toby is missing? Gosh, I hope you find him before…you know what happens.” He lowered his voice at this last part, but not low enough that Cameron didn’t hear it.
“Before what happens?” Cameron asked.
Before he gets run over. Before he gets so far away we never find him… The list of “befores” was too long to contemplate.
“Before nothing happens,” Luke said, giving Rusty the eye, “because we’re going to find him. Right?”
“Sure. Right!” Rusty said, finally catching on. “I’ll have the dispatcher phone this in. Every patrol car will be on the lookout for Toby. Yep. Finding the chief’s dog is our number one priority right now. Um, besides fighting crime, that is.”
“Thanks, Rusty,” Luke said wearily.
They got back in the truck, stopping at every local business and convenience store in town to give them a copy of Toby’s picture. Then they passed by The Bistro by the Beach and it occurred to him that he did know someone who might be able to help.
The Bistro was closed, but Sarah’s beat-up Honda was still in the parking lot. Luke pounded on the glass door. A couple of minutes later, she came out from the back and opened the door for them, waving them inside. Her hair was twisted up in a bun and she wore an apron smudged with flour. “Hey! What’re my favorite soccer player and his uncle up to this afternoon?” But before either he or Cameron could answer, she frowned. “What’s wrong?”
“Toby ran away,” Luke said, then he explained the situation as quickly as possible.
“I was about to make some quiches for tomorrow’s breakfast but, of course, they can wait.”
“You’ll help us?” Cameron said, sounding relieved.
“Of course. Don’t worry, kiddo, we’ll find your dog.” She met Luke’s gaze with a more serious look than her carefree words implied, but like his nephew, he instantly felt better. She rubbed her hands down her apron then locked the front door to the café. “Let’s go.”
The three of them climbed into his truck and began driving through town. They drove past Main Street and all the shops that they’d already stopped at, past the soccer fields and the nearby elementary school, but there was no sign of Toby.
“Did you check the area around the house?” Sarah asked.
“Of course,” Luke said. “We knocked on every door within a three-block radius.”