I grab Zoe’s sleeve. “Come on, we’ll go around!” We run back to 50th, and this time we cut south on—you guessed it—Broadway.

“Ugh! I’m NOT a fan of Broadway!” Zoe yells as we weave around the tourists who are gawking up at all the theater signs.

Then I spot something. “HEY! There’s Dad’s show!”

We stop for a moment to look. It’s hard to tell if it’s a large or small theater by the front of it. The marquee is cool. Old-fashioned style, with lights all around the elevator-door shaped sign. And in the middle, in rounded letters, it says:

Manhattan Doors—A Musical

I smile. “I’m proud of you, Dad.” A lump forms in my chest. No, wait . . . something lumpy has fallen on my chest!

Uh-oh.

*  *  *

Glitter rains down. I try to wave it away. “NOOOOOO! I haven’t found Loopy yet!” Golden elevator doors appear on the sidewalk, right there in the middle of bustling New York tourists, who walk right through them on their way to their many destinations.

A golden coin slot juts out from the center of the doors. Zoe stands close to me. “I don’t see Loopy anywhere.” She stares at the doors. “I don’t suppose we can stall, can we?”

I shake my head. “The one time I tried to stall, I almost didn’t make it back.” I look down and pull the token off my chain. “The lady said that I’m supposed to trust the tester. But with each disappointment, it’s getting harder and harder to do that.” The token snaps and sparks. And now, so does the coin slot.

Zoe pats me on the shoulder. “Go ahead, throw it in.” She tilts her head toward the coin slot. “We’ll find him. Maybe not this time, but soon.”

I look around one last time, just in case the little furball is somewhere close by. Nope. I flip the coin up and watch it tumble into the slot. The doors open, and I stifle a sob as we enter.

Not fair, Times Square. You have my dog.

Chapter 35
Golden Plans

After we returned, Zoe and I sat quietly on the front steps of our brownstone, trying to figure out our next move.

“So let’s review,” Zoe said. “You can control the token, but not till it heats up, right?”

I inhale and exhale deeply. “Seems like it.”

“And you’ve been specific each time with your requests.”

“I have, but Loopy’s still lost. Do you think the token is punishing me for something?”

“Punishing you? That’s ridiculous! What do you need to be punished for? You haven’t done anything wrong. You’re one of the most caring and helpful people I know.”

I glanced over at my sister. “Would you mind recording that so I can play it back whenever you need to be reminded of it?”