“Give it!” she ordered, fearing the worst. She knew from experience that Labs were equal-opportunity diners, and would eat anything ranging from a dead bird’s wing to horse apples to rocks and sticks.

Libby squirmed away just as Lucy grabbed her collar and attached the leash. “Open!” she said, using her most authoritative voice. The dog hunkered down, clamping her teeth on the object.

Lucy put her foot on the leash and placing one hand on top of her snout and the other on the bottom attempted to pry the dog’s mouth open. Libby struggled but eventually gave up and allowed Lucy to extract a soggy black wallet. From all appearances, the dog had been chewing on the wallet for quite a while and all that was left was a couple of strips of leather loosely held together at the narrow end by a few stitches. There was no money or ID. Lucy held the dog firmly and tossed the ragged fragments into the bushes, thinking no more about them as she and Libby headed for home.

Chapter 14

Thursday evening, Lucy ignored Sara and Zoe’s protests that they had too much homework and were too tired besides and left them in charge of cleaning up the supper dishes while she went to the parent meeting. When she approached the high school, however, she couldn’t help noticing that the people filing into the lobby hardly seemed concerned or anxious—they seemed to be in pretty high spirits.

She felt uneasy when she spotted Matt Engelhardt and Justin Crane, recalling her unpleasant experience with them in the weight room, but other people were greeting them like heroes. The two were surrounded by enthusiastic fans who slapped them on their backs and punched their arms. She even overheard Jake telling them to drop by the Donut Shack anytime for a free meal and Stan Beard, who owned a used car lot, promising them a “really good price” on a nearly new automobile.

Disgusted, she headed over to the bake sale table.

“How are sales?” she asked Pam, who was standing behind a table of baked goods along with Rachel.

“Pretty slow. I’m hoping they decide they want to pick up a snack on their way out of the meeting,” said Pam. “Did you see Bonnie?”

“Uh, no,” said Lucy. “Why?”

“Well, she volunteered to help but there’s no sign of her,” said Rachel, sounding worried.

For an awful moment Lucy’s heart squeezed into a tight little ball. Not again. But then they saw her standing by the doorway, with a twin held fast in each hand.

“Over here,” called Pam. Under her breath she added, “How’s she going to work the table with the twins in tow?”

“Something’s wrong,” whispered Rachel. “The twins aren’t matching.”