04b1ef9c60873c444a27c4afd3197be1

“They probably don’t even want you in Dubai,” said Harriet, who seemed to have tired of the incessant inane jabbering. “Probably you’ll be sold to someone living in some hellhole in the middle of nowhere.”

“Like Chechnya,” said Brutus with a smirk. “Or Moldova.”

“Or maybe some African warlord will buy you so he can roast you over a slow fire and eat you,” said Harriet. “And then he’ll post the picture on Insta.”

The three corgis stared at her, then Sweetie and Molly shook their heads, smiling indulgently.“Don’t talk rubbish, cat,” said Sweetie.

“Yeah, don’t talk rubbish,” Molly said.

“Why would anyone want to eat us?”

“Some people eat dogs,” I said. “The Chinese, for instance. They consider dog meat a real treat.”

Their smiles vanished and their eyes turned to the driver.

“Hey, Mr. Kidnapper!” Sweetie yelled. “You’re not going to sell us to the Chinese, are you? Mr. Kidnapper!”

But the diver ignored them. He probably didn’t speak dog.

Soon the car was slowing down, and then turned off the road, gravel crunching under the wheels until it pulled to a stop.

“I think we’re there,” said Sweetie. “I think this is it.”

“Oh, I do hope it’s Dubai and not China,” said Molly breathlessly.

The window zipped down and a man looked in on us. I couldn’t see his face, but I could tell he wasn’t happy. Partly from the colorful curses he uttered and partly from the way he slammed his fist against the roof of the car, making us all jump up. “You’ve got to be kidding me!” he cried.

“Don’t worry,” said the driver. “I’ll get rid of the cats.”

“You took the wrong dogs!”

“No, I didn’t.”

“You took the Queen’s corgis!”

“So?”

“You idiot! You were supposed to take Tessa’s dog—not the Queen’s!”

“Who cares? You told me to snatch royal dogs so I snatched royal dogs. And I’m throwing the cats in as a bonus. Except for the fat one. That’s mine.”

“Oh, for Christ’s sakes. Take them back.”

“Wait, what?”

“Don’t you realize what you’ve done? The entire country will be looking for those dogs. And I don’t even want to describe what they’ll do to the man who took them. You, sir, are an idiot. A moron!”

“Hey! Sticks and stones, mate!”

The man was walking away.

“What about my money?!”

“Return those dogs!” the man yelled back. “Or you’ll be sorry!”

“We had a deal!”

But the man got into his car and drove off.

“He wanted Fluffy,” said Sweetie. “Can you believe it? He prefers a stupid mongrel over us!”

“Why would anyone want to steal Fluffy?” Harriet asked.

“Probably another Tessa-hater,” I said. “Wanting to get back at her for some perceived slight or offense she caused.”

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.”