Tracy Hayes, Apprentice PI

Chapter Twenty-two

Cheryl shrieked in delight when we showed up with the dog. "Who is this, then?" Clearly she had a better eye for dogs than Mrs. Allen. I placed her on the desk and put the pink collar she had bought for Pippin/Mac on her.

"Her name is Misty Morning." We had dropped by a vet on our way to the agency and had them check her for a microchip, which there had been to our surprise.

"She's three years old, and a border terrier Yorkie mix. She's in very good condition and all her shots are up to date too. And she belongs to a shelter." We assumed Douglas had stolen her from there when Moreira failed to get Pippin through me, though the idea of him skulking around the shelter, looking for a correct dog was weird.

"So chances are you can adopt her."

I told her the story of how we'd got her while she petted the dog, who seemed to be as good natured and as curious as Pippin had been. When I finished, she immediately picked up the phone.

"I'll call there and ask right now."

The speaker was on and Jackson and I listened in as she made the call. "Yes, of course I remember her," the helpful woman said at the other end. "She was only adopted this morning. Has something happened to her?"

"She appears to have become lost from her new owner," Cheryl said, her shoulders slumping, and I felt for her. I'd been absolutely certain we'd found a dog for her. "But the microchip only listed you."

"The new owner likely hasn't had a chance to update the info yet. Let me look it up for you." There was a clicking of a keyboard in the background. "The new owner is Jonny Moreira. A very nice young man who was in a great hurry to get exactly that dog for his sister who had recently lost her dog. He made a handsome donation to our shelter too."

Jackson and I exchanged amused looks. We wouldn't exactly describe Moreira as nice. Then again, Suzy's mother had used that exact word too, so maybe he appeared different to older women. And the donation made sense, if he'd wanted to speed things up.

"Shall I look for the address?"

"Thank you, but we're private investigators and will find it ourselves." Cheryl hung up and sighed. "I guess I'll look him up."

Jackson smiled. "No need. Moreira works for Craig Douglas. He won't want the dog back. And since she's legally his, the shelter won't be asking for her back either."

"So I can keep her?"

"Absolutely."

She dashed to him and pulled him down to a hearty hug, as if he had given her the best gift of her life. Technically the dog wasn't ours to give, but Jackson was right. Moreira wouldn't want her.

We retired to Jackson's office and Jackson e-mailed the video to Daniel Thorne. He called back a moment later and Jackson put it on speaker.

"That video is excellent. Great work. How much do I owe you?" Jackson named the sum, which made my brows shoot up. It seemed large, considering we'd only spent about an hour on his case, but Thorne accepted it without comment. "Excellent. And I'll be adding two hundred dollars for finding Mac."

"That's generous of you," Jackson said, making a 'got ya' face at me when I feared he would refuse.

"You've earned it."

Jackson smiled at me when he ended the call. "I believe you can keep the finder's fee."

"Minus your cut?"

"Nah. You've earned the whole."

I most assuredly had. I'd been held at gunpoint for it.

"What's next?"