But the corgis weren’t listening. Instead, they were arguing the merits and demerits of Fluffy, whom they didn’t seem to like all that much.
“So now what?” said the guy, glancing back at us.
“Better take us back,” said Molly. “The Queen will be worried.”
“I thought you didn’t care about the Queen?” said Harriet.
“Oh, will you please shut up, cat?” said Sweetie imperiously.
“You know what?” said the kidnapper. “I’ll just dump you here. The guy is probably right. Pretty soon Scotland Yard will be breathing down my neck.”
And so he got out, slammed the door, and started jogging off!
He didn’t get far, though, for a similar Range Rover to ours suddenly materialized, tires screeching as it pulled to a stop, then Chase jumped out! After a short chase, Chase tackled the guy and wrestled him to the ground.
“That’s Chase!” cried Brutus. “That’s my human!”
Odelia then came running in our direction, opened the door and, with tears in her eyes, said,“You guys—are you all right?”
And I have to admit I got a little teary, too, as we all jumped into her arms.
“Drama queens,” said Sweetie.
“I think it’s pretty sweet,” said Fr?ulein.
Chapter 27
“Did you see the man’s face?” asked Odelia.
Max shook his head.“I’m afraid I didn’t.”
The others all shook their heads, too. They hadn’t seen the man either.
“What about the corgis?”
The corgis were being checked out by a doctor, but so far they seemed to be fine. The kidnapper, a low-level career criminal, had been contacted by the unknown man a couple of days ago. The scheme he proposed was simple: dress up like one of the royal drivers, and use any opportunity to kidnap the royal dog. Of course the crook had bungled the thing by kidnapping the corgis instead. He’d figured three royal dogs was better than one. Apparently not.
They were on a stretch of road very light on traffic, parked on the shoulder in the middle of nowhere. All around there was only greenery. No houses. No sign of civilization except for the asphalt, and the gravel of the shoulder.
She watched as Max approached the corgis, then returned a few moments later.“They are so hard to talk to,” he said with a sigh. “Cocky, you know.”
“Cocky corgis?” said Odelia with a grin. “That sounds like a book title.”
“Well, anyway, Fr?ulein is not as cocky as her colleagues, and she claims the man looked familiar, though she doesn’t know who he is, either.”
“But she saw his face?”
“Briefly. They were sitting closer to him when he looked in on us.”
“Did they describe him?”
“Medium height and build. Average features. Sweetie thinks he was blond, Fr?ulein claims he was brown, Molly swears he was black going on gray.”
“You could ask a sketch artist,” said Harriet. “You did that once before, remember?”
Odelia did remember, only she’d been home in Hampton Cove that time, and her uncle had officiated the proceedings. Gran had pretended to be the witness, while being fed information by the actual witness, a cat named Big Mac. This time it would be practically impossible to pull off the same stunt: the corgis would have to talk to Max, who’d have to translate, so she could describe the kidnapper to the sketch artist. And she couldn’t even reasonably claim she’d actually seen the man, as they’d only arrived after he left.
“Sweetie did say he had a babyface, though Molly claims he had a long, thin face. They didn’t notice eye color or any other particular details.”
“An ordinary-looking man trying to abduct Tessa’s dog,” she said musingly.
“Could it be the same person who’s been trying to kill her?” asked Brutus.
“Could be,” she admitted.
“Aren’t there any cameras around here?” asked Max.
She glanced around, and caught sight of Chase, who was still talking to the police. He was the hero of the hour. The man who’d taken down the kidnapper. “I doubt it,” she said. Unless someone had fastened a camera to a tree. The kidnapper wasn’t stupid. He picked this place for a reason.
Chase came jogging up.“It’s in the hands of the police now,” he said. “I’m sure they know what they’re doing. They were surprised when I told them I’m a cop myself.” He waved as the cop car sped by, the kidnapper in the back.
“That guy just became public enemy number one,” said Odelia.
“He claims he doesn’t know who the client was. He was contacted by text, and only met the guy for the first time today.”
“So what did he look like, this mystery man?”
“Medium build, medium height, average face… He was wearing a ball cap to partially obscure his features.”
“Hair color?”
“He figures the man was bald, hence the ball cap.”
Odelia groaned in frustration. Four witnesses and four different descriptions.
“Let’s get back to the cottage,” said Chase. “We don’t want to keep Her Royal Highness waiting.”
The Queen, in a highly unusual initiative, had instructed Odelia and Chase to return her precious corgis. Apparently she didn’t trust anyone at this point, and Chase and Odelia were, after all, highly regarded by Tessa and Dante.
The corgis had been checked out, and were returned to the Queen’s Range Rover. This time Chase took the wheel, while Bart took the wheel of the second Rover, and together they drove back to the cottage, Chase following behind Bart, who knew the way—or had a good command of the royal GPS.
“I’m so glad he didn’t sell us to the highest bidder,” said Harriet from the backseat.
“I’m glad, too,” said Odelia.
“He was going to keep Max,” said Dooley. “He liked him because he’s red and fat.”
Odelia smiled.“Max isn’t fat and he isn’t red. He’s big-boned and blorange. Isn’t that right, Max?” When Max didn’t respond, she looked over. The little guy had tears in his eyes. “Oh, sweetie,” she said, and took him on her lap.
“I love you, Odelia,” Max breathed, choking up.
“And I love you, sweetie,” she said, and gave him a cuddle.
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“Oh, get a room,” said Molly.
“Did she just call my name?” asked Sweetie.
“She said ‘sweetie,’ not ‘Sweetie,’” said Fr?ulein.
“Did you tell your human this kidnapper guy was going to sell us to the ruler of Dubai?” asked Molly. “Which wouldn’t have been all that bad.”
“I think all’s well that ends well,” said Fr?ulein.
“I guess so,” said Molly, a little dejected. Apparently she’d been looking forward to her Dubai adventure.
“You were never going to be sold to anyone,” I said. “The kidnapper wanted to kidnap Fluffy as a way of getting back at Tessa.”
“Such bad taste,” said Sweetie, shaking her head at so much foolishness.
“Someone’s been trying to hurt Tessa for days. And it’s very well possible that they planned to use Fluffy to lure Tessa into a trap.”
“Smart thinking, Max,” said Odelia. “I hadn’t thought of that.”
“Was the Queen worried about us?” asked Molly.
I translated her words for Odelia’s sake.
“The Queen was worried sick,” she said.
“Oh,” said Molly, and thought for a moment. “I like the Queen,” she said finally. “She’s been very good to us over the years.”
“She has,” confirmed Sweetie. “I’m actually glad we weren’t sold to Dubai.”
“How about you, Odelia?” asked Dooley. “Did you miss us?”
She smiled.“Of course. I wouldn’t have known what to do if something had happened to you. I love you guys so, so much.”
The corgis were speechless.“Does she really mean that?” asked Sweetie.
I relayed the message and Odelia responded,“Of course. They’re my babies.”
“Mh,” said Molly, as if she found it hard to believe anyone could care that much for a cat.