Strange Outfit: An Avery Barks Dog Mystery (Avery Barks Dog Mysteries Book 2) (8 page)

The box was locked and I had no way to open it.  I wiped off the dirt with my already filthy hands and noticed a name, address and a code word scratched into the metal. 

I got out my roadmap, took a long look, and hit the gas.

Five hours later, I pulled in to the parking lot of a small law firm in Tennessee, still covered in dirt and smelling like the contents of a trash can.  I hoped the lawyer’s office would still be open after all these years. 

Even though I had made sure no one had followed me these three hundred miles, I still felt jumpy.  I lifted the metal treasure box in my arms and held onto all three dog leashes in my hands. We walked as a group to Suite 101.

I stepped through the front doors and said hello to the elderly receptionist.  Her demeanor switched from startled to elated when Chevy put his paw on her arm to say hello. I apologized for my appearance and said, “I need an emergency meeting with the lawyer, my code word is: Twenty-six maples.”

Her eyes opened wide and she let out a high pitched squeal.  She picked up the desk phone and dialed three numbers.  She waited a second, then sputtered, “code, code, code” and hung up.  I almost bolted from the office, fearing I’d walked into a trap, but then she burst out in tears and yelled “CONGRATULATIONS!!!”

A man in his fifties dressed in a brown suit burst through the inner office door. He bent over and looked closely at the box held tightly in my arms.

“That’s it! Congratulations!”  He shook my dirty hand and offered me a bottle of water.  The grey haired lady was already pouring water into makeshift bowls for the dogs.

As I sat down, I felt truly comfortable for the first time in days. The man showed me some documents drafted over twenty years ago.   The last will and testament of a man named Joe. His last name was to remain a secret forever.  He loved reading about lost treasure since he was a young boy and decided he would bury some of his own.  It was his wish that whoever found it would be rewarded.

The lawyer took a key out of a large safe in his office, and with a little work, opened the box. It just looked like a bunch of old coins to me. Through the open office door, I could see the old lady in the reception area, hugging Chevy and crying.

“That’s Joe’s widow, Miss Ellie.  She’s volunteered here since he died, hoping to see his dream come true.  Those are tears of joy.”

“Does she need this money?” I asked.

He laughed.  “Joe left her more money than she could spend in two lifetimes.”

It felt like I was on a cloud as I walked out to the lobby and gave her a big hug. 

“Joe worked all over the south selling and planting trees.  He built a very profitable business and was a wonderful husband.    He never told me where he hid it, but I always prayed the right person would find it.”

The lawyer brought out one more folder of documents. “This shows the current valuation of the coins as $225,000.  I would like to offer to buy it for $200,000 with full approval of Miss Ellie.”

I just stared at him with my mouth open.

He opened his checkbook, picked up a pen and said, “Who should I make the check out to?”

Big T. and Misty were sitting in Ben’s hospital room when I walked in.  Actually, Big T. sat in the chair and Misty was on his lap. They finally broke through the iron shield of the nurse’s station and made their way into his room for a visit.  Ben was in great spirits as he opened a gift from the couple.

I thanked Big T. again for his help rescuing Princess, then sat on the corner of Ben’s hospital bed.  I wish I had words how happy it made me when I pulled the slip of paper out of my pocket and handed him the check. 

“I turned in the treasure,” I said after he just sat there staring at the amount.

He looked up at me in wide eyed wonder. “I can’t believe it. You could have kept the money for yourself,” Ben said as he wiped away happy tears.

“No I couldn’t.  It’s your money.  Besides, Princess dug out the box!”

Ben beamed, “I knew I could trust you the minute I met Chevy.”

I had an idea. “It might be more manageable for you to get involved in a foster program for dogs than try and build a full blown sanctuary.”

“You’ll stick around and help, won’t you?” Ben asked.

Before I could even think about it or answer, the hospital door swung open and Don stuck his head around the door with a huge grin on his face.  He walked in with a local deputy following after him.

“Thought you might want to see this,” he said, as he walked over to the window in Ben’s room.

As we gathered around the window and looked to the parking area below, we saw two guys with awfully swollen faces being led out in handcuffs. 

“I heard the tall one had thirty-four wasp stings,” Don said, wincing at the thought.

The deputy joined us at the window and said, “Don’t know how long they’ll keep them, since they actually were only able to steal a treasure bag full of dog food.” He laughed. “They ratted out their whole group in world record time.”

I started to tell Ben the entire story when the door burst open again, this time it was Rocky and the Mayor.  They looked shocked to see a uniformed deputy and turned to bolt from the room.  The deputy pulled his gun and shouted, “Stop right there.”  The Mayor pushed Rocky out of his way and then skidded to a stop as Don blocked his path.  Both men raised their hands in the air before they were pushed against a wall and cuffed. The deputy placed the Mayor under arrest for the murder of Ivan Monitor and read him his Miranda rights. 

According to the bee sting victims’ confession, they had been hired by the Mayor, and Ivan was a rival treasure hunter.  The whole group had come to believe that Ben knew where the treasure was located.  Ivan had been watching Ben’s movements from the tree stand for several days.  The guys had reported the activities of the Ivan, their competition, to the Mayor in the hours before Ivan was found dead.

The Mayor yelled, “I did not kill anybody!” as he struggled with the deputy.

Rocky just stood there with an empty look on his face.

Big T. had jumped in front of Misty and held his arms wide as a wall of protection. 

Don jumped in to help the deputy wrestle with the Mayor while Ben hid his check under his blanket and stayed in the hospital bed.

As I backed out of the way as the intense scene unfolded around me, adrenaline energizing my whole body.  AS the scene became controlled and the two men were about to be led away, my eyes landed on the plastic bag of homemade beef jerky sitting on Ben’s hospital bed tray.  It looked so familiar, where had I seen it before?  Then, sorrow filled my heart. 

I looked up at the deputy and told him.  “You can arrest the Mayor for breaking and entering into Ben’s home last night, but I’m afraid he’s not the one who killed Ivan.”

Everyone in the room looked at me in a moment of stunned silence.

My eyes crossed the room and met with Big T.  His arms fell to his sides and he hung his head, his eyes lowering to the floor.

“I’m so sorry to have to ask this because I really like you two.”  Tears filled my eyes.  “Big T, is that your survival cache that Chevy dug up near the tree stand?  I found Ivan’s wallet stuffed in there along with your things you cleared out of the tree stand. “

I looked at the deputy. “Ivan was a vegetarian, and the food cache had enough beef jerky for a couple meals.  It was wrapped in the same packaging and has hand written dates labeled in the same way as the beef jerky that Big T. just gave to Ben.”

I asked Big T., “Did Ivan break the foot stool over your head as you climbed into the tree stand?”

The deputy ordered Big T. to take off his ball cap.  As he slowly complied, a big knot came into view on the top of his forehead. 

Don told Big T., “Now is the time to stand up as a man and tell the truth.  Do the honorable thing for your woman’s sake.”

Big T. stood up straight and said, “I caught him up there watching Misty with binoculars while she was out sunning herself in the back yard.  He was in my tree stand, eating my trail mix and using my good binoculars to gawk at my woman.   I had to protect her. That’s what a man is supposed to do.” 

He hugged Misty tight as she buried her face into his chest. 

The deputy asked, “What happened?”

“I climbed up and confronted him. We got into a scuffle and he went over the edge.” Big T. said.

Misty started to cry and held her arms around Big T.

“I panicked, grabbed what I could and stuffed it in the cache.” Big T. finished.

Back-up law enforcement teams arrived and after getting all the information, helped arrest almost half the people in the room.  The Mayor for breaking and entering, Rocky for selling the stolen jeweled dog collar, and Big T. for Ivan’s death.

Once all the commotion died down and everyone else rumbled out, just Ben and I were left in his now eerily quiet hospital room.  Ben slowly pulled his hands out from beneath the covers and lifted the treasure check in the air, waving his arms. 

We both laughed.

A few days later, the dogs and I welcomed Ben back home from the hospital.  I bought some bright yellow poster board and watercolor paints and made a big ‘Daddy’s Home!’ sign for the front door.  Ben loved it, and the dogs surrounded him with affection - like only dogs can.

As Ben handed out dog treats,there was a knock on the door.  Misty stopped by and said Big T. wanted to tell everyone he was sorry for what happened.  He hoped we would forgive him and still be friendly with Misty until he got back home.

I hugged Misty and so did Ben.  Ben reassured her, “We’re still neighbors Misty, and I hope that will never change.”

The first Avery Barks Dog Mystery

BUTTERFLY BOY

By Mary Hiker

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Mary has been a dog lover all her life.  She lives in western North Carolina, surrounded by animals and nature. 

Thank you for reading this book.  I really hope you enjoyed it. 

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