“You’re holding up the line.”
“Get out of the way. You think I have all day to do this?”
“Pervert!”
“Somebody shoot him.”
“You should come nice and peaceful with us,” Sasquatch said. “We’ll take you to the hospital. They got a special room set aside for leprechauns.”
Sasquatch reached for Snuggy, and Snuggy yelped and jumped away. The men ran after Snuggy, and Snuggy took off in blind panic, running around the cars that were waiting in line. Two more uniformed car wash attendants joined the chase, and the sheer number of people running after Snuggy added to his confusion. The seniors kept honking their horns and everyone was yelling.
“Catch him!”
“Cut him off on the other side.”
“Go left.”
“Go right.”
It probably only took a couple minutes, but it seemed like it went on for hours, with Snuggy shrieking like a girl, waving his arms in the air as he ran. He dodged two guys, sprinted straight into the car wash tunnel, and disappeared from view behind a curtain of water.
“Eeeeeeeeyiiii!” Snuggy squealed inside the tunnel.
The car wash guys ran in after Snuggy, but Snuggy was the only one who ran out. He was soaking wet and clumped with soapsuds, and he was moving at light speed. Sasquatch crawled out on his hands and knees, and two more men windmilled out and fell on their asses in the soapy water.
Diesel came from out of nowhere, grabbed the back of my sweatshirt, and yanked me toward the car. “Get in!” Diesel yelled at me.
I jumped in next to Diesel, and he rocketed away from the curb. Snuggy was running down the street in front of us, knees high, arms pumping, not looking back. Diesel honked the horn at him and pulled alongside. Snuggy ripped the back door open and threw himself in.
“Damn Doberman,” Snuggy said. “I should have known better than to trust a Doberman. They’re all practical jokers.”
I was facing forward, not wanting to look at Snuggy naked in my backseat. Snuggy naked wasn’t an inspiring sight.
“You’ve had this happen before with a Doberman?” I asked him.
“I never learn,” Snuggy said. “I’m too trusting. Are these my clothes?”
“Yeah. I picked them up off the ground and put them in the car. I figured sooner or later you’d get cold.”
“Thanks,” Snuggy said. “That was real nice of you.”
I looked down at my feet and realized that I was sharing space with the duffel bag. “How’d this get here?”
“No one was paying attention to the office,” Diesel said. “Everyone was chasing Snuggy. So I scrambled the security system, walked in, opened the safe, and took the money.”
I opened the bag and counted the money. It was all there. “Woohoo! Did anyone see you?”
“No. I went in and out through a back door. The office was empty.”
Snuggy was dressed by the time we got back to my apartment. He still had some suds in his hair, but aside from that, he looked okay. I opened the door to my apartment, and Doug was stomping around in my kitchen.
“Doug has to go,” Snuggy said.
“Go where?”
“Out! Hold the elevator.”
I ran to the elevator and punched the button. The doors opened, Snuggy and Doug trotted down the hall, and we got into the elevator. Doug was dancing around, looking frantic. He lifted his tail, there was the sound of air escaping from a balloon, and the elevator filled with horse fart.