Cousin Derek would be proud.

*  *  *

Zoe brushes glitter from her shorts inside the elevator and pulls the head cam off so she can smooth her hair. “Do you think we should leave these here?”

I take the camera from her and pull out the memory card. ‘Yes, but we’ll take these. We can download the files to our laptops. Should be some pretty sweet footage!” I take off my camera, retrieve the card, and put it back in the box labeled EXCITING STUFF.

“Okay, Loop, time to get that silly thing off your head.” I look around. “Loop?”

Chapter 24
Where’s Loopy?

The elevator doors opened at the bottom of our brownstone steps. Usually this is when I feel relieved and refreshed, and sometimes a little confused. But this time, I was horrified.

“WHERE’S LOOPY? Is he hiding? ZOE, help me find him!!!”

Zoe and I checked every square inch of the elevator. No Loopy.

“I think we should stay in here, Arcade. Maybe the doors will close and we can go back and get him.”

I put the token between my palms and spoke SPECIFICALLY: “Take us back so we can get Loopy!” But there was no heat. No sparks. No glitter. And then, as if to rub it in my face, the elevator tilted, dumping Zoe and me out at the bottom of our brownstone steps.

“NOOOOOO! Take me back to Loopy! Bring my dog back!” I reached for the token and tried to wrestle it off the chain. Zoe grabbed my hands.

“Arcade, STOP! People are walking by. You need to calm down.”

“I CAN’T CALM DOWN. LOOPY’S GONE!”

“Please, Arcade. Come up here and sit down. I’ll help you figure this out. We’ll find him.”

I covered my face with my hands. Zoe pulled them down. “We’ll FIND him.”

And then, along came Michael Tolley. “Hey, everyone! How’s it going?” Michael took one look at me and ran up the stairs. “Arcade, what’s going on? Are you sick?”

I couldn’t stop my hands from shaking. Sweat squirted out of every pore of my body. I felt sick to my stomach. Tears ran down my cheeks.

“We lost Loopy,” Zoe said, and a few tears ran down her cheeks too.

“Your cute little dog? Oh, no!” Michael grabbed the back of his neck. “When did you last see him?”

“I don’t know.” I threw my hands up in defeat.

Was it at Wiley’s house when he was riding his bike? Or Wiley’s school when he was in third grade? Did Loopy even make it to the school?

“He was here with us on the steps a few minutes ago,” Zoe said. “Then we . . . got a little distracted.”

Michael grinned. “Well, he couldn’t have made it very far then. I’ll help you find him. I bet he took off toward the park. Dogs love the park.”

I wish it were that simple.