the lobby. However, her disapproving scowl immediately evaporated when I introduced myself and she typed in my room number.
“Oh, Miss Stockton, I hope everything is okay this morning,” she said. “The night manager left a message that you were not to be disturbed, but she wanted you to know that the hotel is thoroughly investigating your complaint, and the head of security will be happy to sit down and talk with you whenever you wish.”
I wasn’t entirely sure what “thoroughly investigating my complaint” consisted of, but I appreciated the gesture. And since all’s well that ends well, I said, “I may take you up on that later, but right now I was hoping you could ring a guest’s room for me. She’s lost her dog and I want her to know I’ve found it. Her name is Marcie Wilbanks.”
Once again the desk clerk tapped a rapid series of keys. “I’ll be happy to do that, Miss Stockton, but we’ve already left several messages. We had some complaints about her dog barking during the night. I don’t think she’s in her room.”
Nonetheless, she picked up the receiver, dialed the number, and waited politely while it rang. Eventually, she gave me an apologetic shrug and hung up. “If you’d like to leave a message, I’ll be sure she gets it.”
She gave me a pad and paper, and I wrote my name, room number, and cell phone on it, along with a brief message telling her I was taking Flame with me to the trial site and she could pick her up at our campsite in the livestock barn. I wished it had turned out differently, though. I didn’t like to be responsible for someone else’s dog when I already had my hands full with Cisco, especially considering the way Neil acted yesterday. He was just as likely to accuse me of stealing the dog as to thank me for rescuing her.
When I left the office and didn’t find Ginny and Aggie waiting outside with Flame, I was at first relieved. Marcie must have returned, after all, and the runaway dog was no longer my problem. I should’ve known better, particularly when the first thing Cisco did upon leaving the building was swivel his head toward the left and stop so abruptly I almost tripped over him. When I looked around I saw several people with dogs were gathered at the edge of the parking lot. Aggie and Ginny were among them. Flame was not.
“I was going to put her in the back of our van,” Aggie said with a shake of her head, “while we loaded the cooler and crate, and she slipped her collar. She took off toward the woods like a crazy thing.”
Sarah was there with Brinkley. “At least she’s not running through the brush with a lead on. It’s a wonder she didn’t choke herself the first time.”
“Someone should call Neil,” someone else said. “After all, it’s his dog. Partly, anyway. Does anyone have his number?”
“The trial secretary might,” said Ginny. “She’s already at the site, though, setting up.” She glanced at her mother. “We should get going, too.”
And even as I started to quickly agree that yes, someone should definitely call Neil—that was exactly what someone should do, because Cisco and I were entered in the first event of the morning and we had to leave within the next fifteen minutes if we were to have any chance of warming up before the run—I felt my heart sink to my toes. Brinkley stood less than five feet from Cisco, yet Cisco was completely ignoring him. Cisco sniffed the ground, and then the air, his tail up, his expression intense, his whole body leaning toward the wood line. He was working, and not even Brinkley could tempt him away from his quarry.
Resignedly, I held out my hand for Flame’s leash. “I think Cisco can track her. We can try, anyway. If we find her I’ll bring her with me to the trial.”
Aggie and I exchanged cell phone numbers so that we could keep in touch about Marcie, and she promised to call me if she was able to find out how to reach Neil. I looped the leash around my neck and released the brake on Cisco’s expandable leash. I brushed the ground with my fingers. “Cisco, track.”
The ground was still damp enough to hold a strong scent and Cisco took off eagerly. I had to trot to keep up for the first few dozen yards, which was okay