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Hank pulled a ring box from his coat pocket and turned to Dee. “You heard her. Go forth and be together. I can’t imagine my life without you in it. I don’t want to imagine my life without you. Will you marry me?”
My eyes popped wide open. I had not seen this coming. My vision suddenly blurred. Damned allergies. I used my napkin to dab at the corners of my eyes and sniffed.
Dee’s mouth fell open and tears began rolling down her cheeks as she said, “Yes, yes, oh, yes.” She threw her arms around his neck. “Of course, I’ll marry you.”
As he was slipping a ring with a diamond the size of Lake Ray Hubbard on her finger, I thought that he must really be doing well selling real estate since he came from a middle-class family and had no family money to pull from, or at least not to my knowledge. My phone began to ring and I thought seriously about not answering, except it might be Zack. I glanced at the caller ID and my heart skipped a few beats. The caller was my assistant, who never called while I was out of the office unless a situation had arisen that was so serious, she couldn’t handle it. I knew it this was something major
“Excuse me,” I said to the beaming and crying couple. “I have to take this. Hello? What’s wrong, Robin?”
“It’s Baxter. He’s been stolen.”
Eleven
“What? When? How?” My heart was racing. Blood pounded in my ears so loudly I could barely hear Robin.
“Heather took him down for his potty time and a man pulled a gun on her, demanding she hand over the dog. She was terrified. He grabbed Baxter and ran.”
“You’ve called the police, right?”
My question, although asked quietly, still drew the attention of Dee and Hank.
“Yes, of course, but I don’t know how serious 9-1-1 takes a dognapping.”
I slid from the booth. “I’m on my way back. I’ll call Zack on the way.” I rushed toward the exit, only to find Dee rushing alongside me.
“I’m coming,” Dee said. “And don’t argue. We don’t have time. That dog is worth a lot of money.”
While we waited for the valet to bring my car, I phoned Zack.
“Hey, babe. Bad timing. Can I call you back?”
“No. Baxter’s been stolen,” I blurted into the phone and gasped against my tears.
“What? Did you call 9-1-1?”
“Of course, but you know where a dognapping will fall in importance on the crime scale.”
My car pulled up. I handed the valet a twenty and slid behind the wheel. Dee jumped into the passenger seat. Both of us clicked our seat belts, and I tore out of the parking lot. I could afford any speeding ticket I got.
“I’ll send a patrol car over to your office right now,” Zack was saying over my car speakers as my phone linked. “Let me see if I can shake loose and get over there.”
“Please hurry,” I said as I took a sharp corner, almost hitting a parked car. “I need you.”
“I’ll be there,” he promised and clicked off.
The ten-minute drive to my office felt like an hour. The palms of my hands were wet from sweat while perspiration rolled down my head and neck. My heart raced violently. My breaths were pants of fear. What was I going to tell Lillian? How would I find Baxter? This was horrible.
Dee hung on to the car’s grab bar, not saying a word through the wild, highspeed race through downtown Dallas streets.
I flew into the circle drive of our office building and threw the car into park. I jumped from the car and ran for the elevator. As I anxiously waited, a patrol car turned into the drive, its lights flashing and siren sounding, followed by a nondescript sedan with flashing lights in its grill.
To my surprise, Zack exited the driver’s seat of the undercover police car and rushed for the doors. The elevator doors slid open and I held doors open to allow Zack and the patrol officer to join me and Dee.
“What do you know?” I asked Zack.
“Nothing more than you told me.”
Tears welled in my eyes. He put his arm around me and pulled me tight against him. “Don’t cry, honey. We’ll find him. I promise.”
