Page 71 of Men or Paws

“Not me,” one man said.

Another man said, “I saw a cat.”

I blinked, wondering what that had to do with anything. “Okay . . .”

A fourth man appeared from the back of one of the company vans. “Actually, I did see one. Unless it was a Labrador retriever. I always get those two breeds mixed up.”

“Where did you see him?” I asked.

He pointed up the street past Douglas’ house. “Up over there. I just figured someone let him out for a pee. He was gone when I looked over there a minute later.”

I nodded. “Thank you.” I gave the workers my cell phone number and told them to call me if they saw Houdini.

I ran back up the driveway, my legs and biscuits burning from every step I took on the incline, trying to dial Holly at the same time without falling on my face.

Holly answered on the first ring. “Hey—what did you find out?”

“One of the workers saw a loose dog up the street,” I said. “I’m going to lock up the house and then scour the neighborhood, door-to-door.”

“I can help you. I’ll be right there.” She hung up before I could respond.

It wasn’t a surprise she offered to help without me asking. Holly is a dog lover and such a kind-hearted soul, which made me want her as a sister-in-law even more.

Back on the search and working my way up the street, I was getting frustrated because most of the neighbors didn’t answer when I pressed the call buttons on their security gates. They probably thought I was one of those weirdos that Rocco had to deal with.

As I continued walking up the hill toward the next house, a car honked at me from behind.

I flipped around and saw Holly in her rental car with her dog Sage’s head out the back window, enjoying the ride and the fresh air.

“Hey,” Holly said, pulling up alongside me and leaning out the window. “I was hoping you’d found Houdini by the time I got here.”

I shook my head, taking a step toward her car and petting Sage on the head. “No such luck. Most people around here don’t even answer when I call the house from the security gate. I guess it’s possible they’re not home or they’re ignoring me.”

Holly thought about it. “Itisa work day, you know.”

I shrugged. “I just assumed they were all independently wealthy and didn’t need to work.”

“I’m not so sure about that. These properties are huge and someone needs to pay the mortgage and the taxes. Well, maybe some of them don’t work. Anyway, hop in and I’ll take you to the next house.”

Going up the hill, we stopped at every house along the way, but still had no luck in finding Houdini. At the end of the street, we got out of the car again and walked to the entrance of the nature preserve hiking trail.

“Are there wild animals out here?” Holly asked, scanning the area of rolling hills and trees in front of us.

I shrugged. “The usual . . . coyotes, skunks, and bobcats, but they are rarely seen during the day.”

“Good to know. Hey, is Houdini microchipped?”

“Yes,” I said. “And his dog tag has Rocco’s address on it. The problem is, it also has Rocco’s phone number, but hopefully if a neighbor finds Houdini, they will just bring him to the house instead of calling.”

“What should we do now?”

“Let’s go back to the house, so I can put that posting on Nextdoor,” I said. “I really don’t want to, but I have no other choice. Hopefully, Rocco won’t see it or hear about it until I talk with him. I don’t want him to get stressed out when he is on the other side of the country and can’t do anything to help.”

Back at Rocco’s, I started toward my laptop to go online when my phone dinged with a text.

Rocco: Hi, Beth. I’m ready to connect now. I’ll send you a Zoom link.

“Oh, no,” I said, staring at the text, my heartbeat picking up pace. “Rocco wants to do Zoom now. He wants to see Houdini.”