Hostage Read Free Page A

have come over here by yourself in the first place,” Dad told him. “The police are equipped to handle burglars.”
    The cop was looking at me. “You said the TV was gone. Are you familiar enough with the house to tell me what else might be missing?”
    I hesitated. “Maybe. Jeff spends more time over here than I do.”
    â€œWould you mind walking through the house with me to see what else is missing? Both of you?”
    So we did. Mom and Dad came along, and we all noticed empty spaces where items had been taken. Three TVs, a computer and a printer, a microwave, silverware.
    â€œIt makes me feel as if I’m the intruder,” Mom said ruefully when she pulled out the drawer where the real silver was kept. “But I’ve been here at parties and seen where theykeep this stuff. And, sure enough, it’s gone. Oh, my, Ruby’s going to be so upset. That was her grandmother’s silver. Do you think there’s any chance of getting it back?”
    â€œWe’ll try,” the cop said, but from the look on his face I didn’t think he had much hope of it.
    By the time we came back downstairs, Jeff was ready to sit down again. “Oh, boy. How am I going to tell them what a lousy job I did of taking care of their house? The fool dogs didn’t even bark, and if it hadn’t been for Kaci noticing there was someone over here, we wouldn’t have a clue anything had been taken. How did the thieves know the place was empty and they could just walk in and help themselves?”
    Dad’s tone was wry. “The fact that they were taking this big trip to Boston was in the newspaper, remember? Advertising, pure and simple.”
    The cop nodded, putting away the notebook in which he’d been taking notes. “Had one couple of weeks ago. Somebody cleaned out the household of a prominent family while they were at a well-publicized funeral for the lady’sfather. Isolated house, and they knew there wouldn’t be anybody there for at least a couple of hours, so they backed up their truck.”
    Mom was appalled. “Did you recover any of their belongings?”
    â€œNo, ma’am. Not so far. You may be asked to come down to the station and answer a few more questions tomorrow, verify that license number. If you can locate the name of the hotel where the Andersons are staying, it would be helpful.”
    â€œI have it written down, I think,” Jeff said. He couldn’t seem to keep from touching the lump on his head.
    â€œI think we’d better go clean up that cut,” Mom said. “Make sure it doesn’t need sutures.” Anybody else would have said “stitches,” but she works in a medical office.
    â€œFirst I want to check on the dogs. See if they’re okay. I don’t understand why they didn’t bark.”
    I went with him to the kennel in the back of the lot, and that’s when we found out the dogs had been drugged.
    I was more indignant about that than aboutthe burglary. The Andersons might get their stuff back, and they carried insurance against thefts, but they’d be devastated if their dogs died.
    â€œThey’re still breathing,” Jeff stated, kneeling beside Mickey, the big collie. “I hope it was just something to put them to sleep, not to kill them. The thieves probably threw them some drugged meat. I wonder if we can get a vet to look at them this time of night?”
    Dad did. He even carried Mickey out to our van while Jeff brought Henry, the little beagle, who was so limp, I began to pray that he wouldn’t die. Mom inspected the bump on Jeff’s head before she decided it wasn’t all that serious and he could go along to the vet’s. When I wanted to go, too, she frowned, but finally agreed that I could. She knew I was scared for the dogs.
    The vet said the dogs had probably been poisoned rather than just drugged to keep them quiet. He told us he’d have to keep