John Winslow was not the only one jumping into a vehicle and racing to the city.
Edwin and Patricia Conroy were too. Patricia got behind the wheel of their small sedan and Edwin jumped in beside her. As they approached the city, Edwin phoned Harry.
“We’re almost there,” he said. “What can you tell us?”
“I don’t have good news,” Harry said. “I drove around, hoping I’d spot them, but no luck. Now I’m on foot, looking in stores and down alleys.”
“It’s a big city,” Edwin said. “Too big for one man to search.”
“If only there was some way to get a message to them—some way for you to get a message to him, that might bring them out of hiding.”
“Where are you now?” Edwin asked.
Harry told him.
“I think we can be there in fifteen minutes.”
Patricia glanced over at him. “Ten,” she said, leaning harder on the accelerator.
Harry waited on the corner, watching for them. Patricia spotted him, steered the car to the curb, killed the engine and she and Edwin got out. Edwin and Harry shook hands, and Patricia gave their old friend a quick hug.
“Well?” she said. “Where do we start?”
“He’s your boy,” Harry said, “and you programmed that dog. What do you think they would do? They’ve got no money, no phone, no way out of here.”
Edwin gave that some thought. “You said he’s been driving, right?”
Harry nodded.
“They might have stolen a car to get out of town.”
Harry said, “It’s possible, but risky. There are a lot more police around here than on those dirt roads around Flo’s Cabins. They’d spot a kid behind the wheel.”
“Well, I’m pretty sure Chipper won’t be driving,” Edwin said. “We made it possible for him to do a lot of things, but not that.”
“The good news is,” Patricia said, “Chipper will do anything he can to protect Jeff.”
“If Jeff hasn’t gotten hold of a car,” Harry said, shaking his head with a measure of defeat, “he might still be in the area.” Harry pointed across the street. “They went into an alley on that block.”
Edwin said, “If they got access into any of those buildings, found an empty apartment—”
“Enough talk!” Patricia said. “Let’s start searching.” And with that, she looked both ways and crossed the street, heading for an alley.
“Let’s go,” Edwin said to Harry, and the two of them set off after her.
Once they’d caught up with Patricia, Harry suggested that they split up to cover ground more quickly. “You two head down this one,” he said, pointing down the closest alley. “I’ll go up to the next alley, then we’ll meet around the back.”
Edwin gave him a thumbs-up.
The stolen phone in Jeff’s pocket rang. He and Chipper had been nestled between two garbage cans behind a four-storey apartment building, hiding until John Winslow got in touch.
Jeff jumped. “That must be him!” he cried.
The Chipper phone read: Good!
Jeff put the stolen phone to his ear and said, “Hello? Mr. Winslow?”
“Who is this?” a woman said angrily. “Are you the one whose dog stole my phone? Because if I catch you and that mutt of yours, I’m going to—”
“I’m sorry!” Jeff said. “I’m sorry we stole it! We’ll give it back, I promise!”
“I’m going to call the police!”
“We only need it for a little longer! Please, don’t call the police!”
Hang up.
Jeff looked at Chipper.
John Winslow might call at any moment.
“I have to go,” Jeff told the woman. “Really, honestly, we’ll try to figure out how to get your phone back to you. And we’re hardly using any data, so you don’t—”
“I want my phone back right now!”
“Sorry,” Jeff said. “I have to go.” He ended the call and looked at Chipper. “She was super mad.”
Before Chipper could respond, the phone rang a second time. Jeff jumped again. He looked at the screen and saw a different number to the one that had just called.
He put the phone to his ear, more tentatively this time.
“Hello?”
“Jeff?”
“Yes! Mr. Winslow?”
“Yeah. I’m here. I’m in the city. Where are you?”
Jeff said they were hiding behind a building on Richmond Street.
“Okay, I’m on Richmond right now,” John said. “I’m in my truck, the one that says ‘Shady Acres’ on the side.”
That would be easy to spot, Jeff thought. Not just for him, but for Harry Green. Oh well, there was only so much you could do.
“There’s a big movie theatre on Richmond near where we are,” Jeff said. “Why don’t you wait there?”
“Got it.” John ended the call.
Well?
“He’s here. He’s going to wait for us out the front of the movie theatre.” Jeff poked his head out beyond the garbage can. “Looks safe to make our move.” He got to his feet and moved out, Chipper close behind, but had barely taken a step when he stopped. “Get back, get back, get back!” he whispered to Chipper.
They threw themselves back between the tall garbage cans.
What did you see?
“Harry! He just came out of the alley!”
Can we go the other way?
“If we do, he’ll see us. We have to sit tight for a while.”
Jeff could feel his heart pounding in his chest. When he slipped his arm around Chipper, he could feel the dog’s heart thumping quickly, too.
“If we need it, can you do your noise thing?” Jeff asked. Jeff remembered how Daggert and his team had been stunned by the ear-splitting noise Chipper could make.
Yes.
“Okay. If he comes this way, if he spots us, you do your thing.”
Aye aye, Captain.
Jeff did a double-take when he saw Chipper’s response. It was fun to see him developing a sense of humour, even in the middle of all this trouble.
Jeff peeked around the bin. Harry was walking in their direction. He stopped, put his hands around his mouth to make a tiny megaphone and called out: “Jeff? Chipper? Are you here?”
They did not make a sound.
“If you are, you need to come out. I need to explain some things to you. I’m not a bad guy. I’m really not.”
“Yeah, right,” Jeff whispered in Chipper’s ear.
Harry took his hands away from his mouth and resumed walking. He was getting closer with every step.
“Soon as I put my fingers in my ears,” Jeff whispered, “that’s the signal.”
They waited.
Harry got closer.
He was no more than six steps away. With each step, he scanned from side to side. Once he reached those garbage cans, he’d definitely see them.
“Come on, Jeff! You, too, Chipper! Let me explain!”
And then Harry lowered his voice to a grumble, but he was close enough that they could hear him say to himself, “Better try the next block.”
But he had not stopped and turned around. He was still coming closer.
He was one step away.
Jeff put an index finger into each of his ears. Chipper opened his mouth. And what came out was a noise so high-pitched that at least one window two floors up shattered.
They burst out of their hiding place together. Harry already had his palms pressed to the side of his head, and at the sight of Jeff and Chipper his jaw dropped.
He shouted, “Your parents are here! Your mom and dad are in the next alley! They’re alive! Your mom and dad are alive!”
But not a word of what he said could be heard over what was coming out of Chipper’s mouth, and besides, Jeff still had his fingers in his ears.
As they shot past Harry, Chipper caught him just under one knee, toppling him. Harry crashed into one of the garbage cans, spilling trash on to the ground.
As Jeff and the dog vanished into the city, Edwin and Patricia emerged, running, from the next alley. The ear-splitting noise had just stopped as Edwin shouted, “What happened?”
Harry shook his head, unable to hear anything but a loud ringing in his ears. But he could guess what Edwin was asking him.
Harry pointed. “That way! They went that way!”