KC Frantzen - May the K9 Spy 02 - May Finds a Way: Peril in Paris (2 page)

D
oor after door stands at attention in the gleaming white corridor, little tags – no names, just letters and numbers – and keypads by each one. From the looks of it, this is a highly classified part of the building and I shouldn’t be here. What happens if I’m caught?

Maybe I’ll be booted out and never get Rukan. Best move quickly so I don’t find out.
Sniff
. Okay, elevators that way. As good a direction as any.

As I approach a “T” in the hallway, I hear two sets of footsteps and voices. Must act like I’m supposed to be here. I take a deep breath and continue.

Odd… The mirror near the ceiling isn’t flat.

Ingenious. From around the corner, I spy two humans approaching. It’s General Jim and another human in uniform having an intense conversation.

I walk more slowly and watch from under my eyebrows. I can almost hear our tactics instructor bark, “Do not make eye contact when attempting to remain anonymous.”

Just before the corner, General Jim stops, his back blocking my mirror view. Sounds like he’s activating a keypad. After it beeps, I hear an electronic latch unhook. He and his companion enter and shut the door.

Wshew
. They didn’t seem to notice me. All according to plan… if I had one.

I raise my nails so they don’t click, click, click. When I pass the closed door, I overhear General Jim’s voice.

“We should be certain. Maintain surveillance on Team Dog’s Nose Two.”

“Straightaway, sir.”

That is Miss Sandy’s and Sassy’s team!

I’d love to hear more, but it’s not polite to listen if someone doesn’t know you’re there, unless you’re on a mission.

How will I ever be ready for a real mission? I’m lost on this simple exercise…

There’s one of those E-X-I-T signs and another with a zig zag symbol. Sassy taught us that indicates stairs.

Uh oh, it sounds like a lady’s shoes on some steps. When she opens the door, I’ll zoom past. Perhaps she won’t notice. Even if she does, if I can evade and escape, I still might get credit for my time. It’d be nice to win a challenge instead of coming in second or third.

A cell phone rings near the door. There’s a shuffle of paper then the footsteps stop.

Now what? Is she coming through or not? I’m vulnerable here. Guess there’s just one thing to do.

I raise a paw to scratch, but the door opens. A lady juggles files and papers as I scurry past and zip down the steps. The first sign I see says “Floor 5.” As I descend, the numbers get smaller. The last floor is plain concrete with two doors.

One sign says “Lobby” except they misspelled it. Oh Lobbie, my all-time favorite toy ever in the whole wide world…
Sigh.
I miss you.

The second door has two signs and smells of fresh-mown grass. Perfect!

From the looks of it, I’ve got to push that bar enough so it unlatches. But I can’t possibly reach it on my own. Maybe there’s something… Okay, what about this mop? I could maybe nudge the handle up to the bar.

I try but nothing happens. Needs some umph behind it. Yeah, I’ll walk up the handle ‘til I feel it open and jump down. Let’s go, time’s a-wastin’.

I balance like we did on the ropes course and
click
… I’m out.

CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!

Quick. Must make the finish line before I’m caught.

Sniff, snuffle.
I follow my nose towards the mess hall. Why do they call it a mess hall anyway? It’s spotless when we finish cleaning our bowls.

As I dash into the courtyard and race to the finish, I notice Mr. Munns and Ms. Dutcher. They seem surprised to see me. No sign of their K9s, Houdini and Rascal.

Though I’m panting, I give a crisp salute as the lead instructor, Captain Davis, walks up.

“Where did you come from, May? And what happened to your fur?”

Blush.

“Ms. Schwind left to locate you when the monitors lost visual. That’s a first. Kudos. You’ve completed this exercise in the lead.” He activates his comm unit. “Schwind. She’s here. Return to base.”

“HUA.”

Heard-Understood-Acknowledged. Miss Sandy taught that when she recruited me. At least I knew something when I arrived here.

Captain Davis makes notes on a tablet computer. “You’ve excelled at memorization and agility. Overall, this win puts you solidly into third place for Top Dog, quite close to J.R. in second.”

I’m so excited, I wiggle my entire self! After we catch Rukan they’ll call me on occasion and I’ll travel the world, and use all the equipment and codes and–

“Remember first assignments are coming up, but all recruit placements are decided by Ms. Schwind.”

I hope she doesn’t put me on something like airport duty. Filling out forms, watching events from a monitor – don’t think so. I want to be in the action!

“May?”

My attention returns to Captain Davis. “Yes, sir?” I woof.

“There is, however, the matter of tripping that alarm.”

I’
m glad we’re meeting privately in Ms. Schwind’s office.

She continues, looking at me sharply. “All decisions have consequences. Though you completed the previous exercise first and showed ingenuity in doing so, you destroyed property and tripped an alarm. Operatives work in shadow, undetected. In this you failed badly. Missteps can get you and others injured or killed.”

I hang my head and whimper, “Yes ma’am.”

When she does not respond, I look up to make eye contact. Do I detect a flicker of amusement?

She continues. “I offer a choice: Take the demerits due, or accept an undemanding assignment for your first practice outing.”

Neither choice sounds good. I cock my head slightly. “So I understand, ma’am, what exactly does this mean?”

“Good girl, May. You’re thinking. It means you either lose your third place class ranking, with demerits on your permanent record–”

Drat.

“–or take an assignment which awards fewer points for your first practice. This option offers the possibility of an exceptional performance with no mention of demerits. You might maintain your status.”

“Flight CR8040, now boarding Gate A9.”

“… Please return to security for a lost article.”

Airport duty. Yuk.

At least I’ve been to my first field briefing – and received my security dog vest! – though my handler isn’t here yet. We’ll be supervised by Ms. Schwind and Edgrr. They’re well-suited partners. Tough but fair, not grouchy like April.

Edgrr woofs, “You’re assigned to baggage claim. But search for any POI. You remember what that is?”

“Yes sir. POI. Person of Interest.”

“Correct. So keep a nose out. Another item. Occasionally, there’s unclaimed luggage.”

“Really? Who wouldn’t retrieve their stuff?”

Edgrr says, “If a POI thinks he’s tailed, someone else retrieves the bag.”

“Oh.”

“Depending upon our resources, we take action.”

Ms. Schwind continues. “May, your task, along with the handler – he’ll be along shortly – will start with flight DF374. You will re-inspect luggage for contraband of any kind, explosives, anything you have been trained to intercept. And remember, you need to ace this assignment to maintain your position.”

I yip, “Yes ma’am. And I am still on the lookout for a mole.”

She smiles. “Excellent. Headquarters would take note in final class ranking, should a recruit be in on the discovery.”

I guard my expression like I understand, but I don’t. How could a mole survive in the city or around here? There’s hardly any dirt. Only carpet and tile and concrete.

“Ready?” barks Edgrr, wagging his tail.

I nod.

We three set off for the Observation Gallery to wait.

How could my handler be late for our first practice assignment?

Oh no, not Mr. Mac… He’s at the bottom of his class.

Mr. Mackenzie checks his watch, then takes my retractable lead from Ms. Schwind. “Sorry to be late. Our first flight to
inspect will be arriving soon. I suppose we should move down a floor.”

I woof, “We should already be walking.”

He glances at me, then over to Ms. Schwind and Edgrr. She jerks her head in unspoken command while Edgrr gives me a sympathetic look.

I tug on my lead.
Come on, Mr. Mac, we have to go.

He yanks me back. “Heel.”

It’s going to be a rough day.

A recorded lady’s voice says, “The local time is eleven a.m.”

Sigh.
And it’s not even time for lunch.

How could Ms. Schwind partner me with him? I should have taken the demerits. At least I’ve got a chance to keep my ranking so I could still win Top Dog, if I do well. Then I’ll have my pick of posts.

And I’ll request Team Dog’s Nose Two, Miss Sandy’s and Sassy’s team. We almost had Rukan in Washington, DC. I want to be there when we catch him for good. At least I stopped the bomb he planted.

We stop at a small business – “Shoe Shine” – that smells so interesting but I mustn’t get distracted. We take another break at a larger business and nose around the magazines and peanuts and tee shirts.

Mr. Mac’s not paying attention to our task! I stamp my paw and woof, “We’re supposed to be in baggage claim.”

He ignores me and chats with the clerk while I stand.

A voice over the speaker says, “Flight DF374, arriving.”

I tug my lead. “C’mon Mr. Mac. Let’s go.” He looks down, like he just remembered I’m at the other end. Sheesh.

We step into the flow of people. Edgrr said to watch for a large sign that reads: B-A-G-G-A-G-E C-L-A-I-M. Oh, I see it. There’s an arrow pointing to an escalator so off we go.

I’m glad to know escalators don’t all go into the dark. This one is bright with all kinds of humans traveling up and down. So many stories!

I start scanning. I don’t see a POI yet, but you never know. With so much going on, I’m glad we’re not the only ones watching. There’s one of those dark bubble gizmos overhead. Headquarters – HQ – says they’re monitors, so others are watching. Some use birdie drones inside too.

Hey, there’s a likely suspect by a window. I wonder if it is… No, not a drone. It’s scared and just pooped indoors. How embarrassing.

When we reach the bottom, we look to see where the flight is listed. Mr. Mac points to Carousel 16. Oh I see. The flight number shows on that monitor. Nice as a backup. Everyone knows bags have different scents but humans don’t seem to detect this.

A buzzer sounds. Mr. Mac removes my lead and directs me to start while he searches for POI’s. I’m excited to be busy. It’s kinda fun trotting along the belt like we practiced. It makes some racket but nothing I can’t handle.

I sniff and snort over 100 items but soon, everything is retrieved. Piffle. Nothing is amiss which, I guess, is as it should be. Crews on the other end did their jobs.

The belt stops, so I trot over to Mr. Mac near the information desk and he connects my retractable lead. At least he gave me more slack. Guess I’ll stand dutifully by his feet, watching for interesting persons and persons of interest while he chats.

I want to do well, even if he doesn’t.

A cute boy about seven or eight, with dark hair and dots on his face, shouts, “Daddy, look at the Schnauzer! I wanna tell it hi.”

The man says, “Come on, son. The dog is working. You shouldn’t try to pet it.” He looks at me closely, then turns to a lady walking with them. “That dog on the news, that helped stop the Metro bomb near Grandpa’s. Sure looks like this one, doesn’t it?”

Someone recognized me! I start to wag my nub but… I don’t want to appear proud. Plus he’s right. I’m on duty.

As they walk past, the lady says, “Did they ever catch the people who planted the bomb?”

I want to bark, “They caught one, ma’am, but not the leader. Don’t worry, we’re on it.” But Mr. Mac drags me over so he can chat with a skycap near Carousel 12.

I wait patiently. Again.

This seems counterproductive.
Yawn
.

Another flight arrives, so at the buzzer, I’m ready to spring into action. But Mr. Mac isn’t.

When the belt starts up, I watch for the bags to appear. The first one through looks familiar… It’s an odd green color that makes me shudder. Here it comes.

Wait. Rabba, I mean Rukan, had one like that when I lived there. If you call that living.
Shudder.

I tug on my lead and try to make eye contact with my hopefully temporary handler.
Let’s get closer so we can check it out
.

Drat. We’re not communicating.

I yip, “Mr. Mackenzie. We need to check before it goes through the big doggie door. Really.”

He ignores me.

Well, when I went on my own at the Metro it worked out… I jerk my retractable lead out of his hand, race over and jump onto the belt.

Mr. Mackenzie yells, “MAY!”

Ear flick.

“You stop right there.”

What should I do? I can’t really stop on this belt – it’s moving – so I pause and watch the green bag disappear through the flap. Then I glance his way.

We need to check that bag and you won’t listen. Besides, I have to go out anyway. Don’t want to be like that poor bird. Bye!

I grab the lead handle so it doesn’t hang on anything and take off, weaving between a garment bag, a box and some suitcases. When I burst through the door, I’m relieved to find it’s not dark. But no grass and – It’s. So. Loud.

Vehicles and carts whizz by, loaded with luggage and people. They all seem to know what they’re doing, like those bees. I will soon!

Must focus, like Sassy said.

Green bag. Right!

Uh oh. There’s a woman in uniform supervising this belt. She might be angry to see me without my handler. But she isn’t.

She smiles and I smile back.

I notice a little carrier at her feet. Wonder who’s in there? Odd. I don’t remember seeing it on the belt. She seems to be waiting for someone.

There’s the green bag, around the curve. As I race past, the woman’s hand twists.

I’m netted!

Quick as a sniff, she stuffs me – lead, net and all – into the tiny carrier. I’m tangled but the net provides some traction.

Sniff
. No one’s been inside before.

Uh oh. This was a test… and I failed.
Sigh
.

Failed, failed, failed. I should have obeyed. I’ll be busted out of boot camp for sure.

“May! May?”

Mr. Mac!

I see him rushing in our direction, as the woman stuffs my carrier between some bags on a cart and we take off.

I’m dognapped!