He looked out the window again to confirm his fears. But in the time he’d talked with Chipper, the doors of the van had opened, and he couldn’t see anyone left inside. Daggert and his helpers, Bailey and Crawford, probably had the train station surrounded, getting ready to break in at any moment.
Chipper sniffed the air, confirming to himself that they had visitors. He was picking up three distinct scents. One of them was wearing a flowery perfume.
“We’re trapped!” Jeff said. “There’s no way out except to go down the stairs!”
Chipper took a nervous step to the right, a step to the left, then back again. He was worried about whether his plan would work.
We will be okay.
Chipper was not accustomed to giving false hope. He wasn’t sure that he had ever been wired to do such a thing, but was that what he was doing now? Was that his canine nature kicking in? Did a dog have the capacity to hope for the best? Were dogs by nature optimistic?
It had been so long since he’d been a simple mutt that he did not know for sure.
And Chipper knew that there was more than one reason he was feeling nervous. It wasn’t just the bad people from The Institute closing in on them that was making him anxious. It was the information he had been waiting to share with Jeff.
There are things you should know. Things I have been waiting to tell you.
“Like what?”
Wanted to tell you when we were safe.
“Yeah, well, like my dad used to say, that ship has sailed.”
Chipper glanced about nervously, moved to the top of the stairs so that he could see the entrance.
Years ago, at the beginning of the program when they were turning me from an ordinary dog into
Someone was kicking at the door.
into what I am now, there were many people involved in the process. White Coats. Some were very mean but some were
The door burst open. Jeff looked down the stairwell and his eyes met Daggert’s. Coming in behind him were the other two.
Daggert smiled.
Jeff took one last look at his phone.
nice. More later. Jeff, when I look sleepy, plug your ears. Now put your phone away.
“What?” Jeff said.
Chipper had nothing else to say.
Jeff stuffed the phone into the front pocket of his jeans as Daggert and Co. climbed the stairs. They were careful about it, stepping gingerly on the steps that looked weak.
“Well, look who’s here,” Daggert said as he reached the top. He fixed his eyes on Chipper. “You’ve had us running all over the place. I’m starting to think maybe terminating you is a mistake. You might be one of our smartest pooches. You’ve been outsmarting us for some time now.”
His grin grew bigger. “But not anymore.”
His eyes returned to Jeff. “Thanks for leading us here, kid. Smart move, stealing our car. You might as well have fired off a flare, it was so easy to find you. I’m surprised your legs were long enough to reach the pedals. By the way, I’d like my keys back.”
Jeff dug into his other pocket for them and tossed them at Daggert, who snatched them out of the air as easily as a bat grabbing a bug in mid-flight. The smug look on his face was fueling the rage Jeff felt growing within him.
And suddenly, Jeff felt himself explode into action, launching himself at the man.
“You killed my aunt!” Jeff shrieked, hammering his fists into Daggert’s chest.
The other two grabbed him instantly and hauled him off their boss. Daggert casually brushed off his jacket. Jeff was still carrying some of the dust bunnies from under his aunt’s bed.
“Relax, kid,” Daggert said. “She’s not dead. She’s out cold, and probably will be for another half an hour or so. We don’t kill people unless it’s absolutely necessary.” He shook his head in mock sadness. “Which I believe it will be, in your case. Your aunt won’t remember much when she wakes up, and she didn’t know that much to begin with. But you, I think, you may know quite a bit.”
Daggert reached into his jacket and took out the device he’d used on Aunt Flo. It had a small dial on the side. He waved it around the room, then focused it on Chipper.
“What I’d really like to do is blow your head off,” he said to the dog. “Which I’ve been given the okay to do, if that’s what it takes to keep the world from finding out about you. But you’ve got a lot of valuable equipment in you, and bringing you back intact may just score me some points. So when I zap you with this thing, you’ll go to sleep and we’ll tie you up tight and get you back to The Institute. But you,” and he turned to look at Jeff, “are a different matter altogether.” He pointed to the dial on the weapon in his hand. “When I change the setting on this and shoot you, you’ll be dead.”
Jeff said, “Why was the dog looking for me?”
Chipper shot him a look and wished Jeff was looking at his phone. He would have shouted: SHUT UP.
Daggert blinked. “What?”
The boy pointed to Chipper. “He didn’t just find me at random. He was looking for me. Why would he do that?”
Daggert looked genuinely puzzled. “That’s a very good question. Why would he be looking for you?” He said to Chipper. “Maybe, when we get you back, we can hook you up to the computer and ask you a few questions.”
Jeff wasn’t going to let on that the phone in his pocket had been set up so he could do just that. But then Daggert looked back at him and said, “How would you even know the dog was looking for you? Did he tell you?”
“Uh... ”
Daggert took a step closer. “Did you figure out a way to communicate with this animal?”
Jeff shook his head furiously. “No! That’s crazy! No one can talk to a dog!” He laughed. “That’s the craziest thing I’ve ever heard.”
Chipper yawned.
“What are you not telling me?” Daggert asked. “You’re holding something back. What’s your name?”
“Jeff. I told you.”
“What is your last name? Who exactly are you?”
Chipper yawned a second time, and wished he could say to Jeff: Remember what I said? He hoped he would remember.
“Conroy,” he said. “Jeff Conroy.”
“Conroy,” Daggert said. “Conroy? Did you say Conroy?” Chipper yawned again, even made a small yelping noise as he did it.
The woman said, “I think we’re boring the dog.”
“What?” Daggert said. He looked at Chipper opening his jaw wide for a fourth time.
Jeff looked at Chipper and he did remember. He stuck his index fingers into his ears.
Daggert glanced back at him. “What are you doing? Why are you—”
And then a sound came out of Chipper’s mouth that Jeff could not believe. Even with his ears blocked, it was the loudest thing he’d ever heard in his life. A high-pitched squealing noise, like a fire alarm and an air raid siren and a chainsaw all going off at once.
It was so high-pitched that the tiny window he’d peeked out earlier shattered.
Chipper had given Jeff a warning, but Daggert and the other two had none, and before they could even think of covering their ears, their knees went weak and they dropped to the floor.
Daggert let go of the device in his hand as he put his palms over his ears. Once he landed on his knees, he keeled over to one side. So did the other two. They were all screaming, but Chipper was making so much noise it was hard to tell.
Chipper gave Jeff a look, tipped his head towards the stairs, then, like lightning, bolted straight down them.