“I am. Don’t worry about this mess. It will give me something to do. After that, I think I might take myself over to the SPCA and take a look around. Thanks for your help, and you, too, big guy,” he said, addressing Cyrus, who just nuzzled Hershel’s gnarly old hand.

“Guess our work here is done,” Harry said, disappointment ringing in his voice.

Jack grinned. “For the minute, Harry, just for the minute. I’m thinking the best is yet to come. What do you say, Cyrus?”

Two sharp barks were Jack’s answer.

Chapter 15

Chapter 15

Everyone except Avery Snowden was seated at the dining-room table in Annie’s penthouse, with Charles presiding over the meeting. The room was silent, a rarity. Phones and laptops were on the table but not in use. Another rarity. It was Dennis who finally broke the silence. First, he pointed to Zack Meadows’s silver phone, and said, “The Scorpions are waiting for him to get back to them. We need to think about sending them a text. They’ll never know it didn’t come from Meadows.”

Before anyone could respond, the phone next to Charles pinged that a text message was coming through. Charles read the message aloud, word for word. “Change of plans. Am in parking garage. Send private elevator down with guys to help transfer Meadows from ambulance. Will back right up to elevator. Garage very busy right now.”

Jack, Harry, and Ted, along with Cyrus, were headed for the door before Charles could respond to the text.

Fifteen minutes passed before a trussed-up Zack Meadows was unceremoniously dumped in front of the kitchen sink in the penthouse. Jack stooped down and ripped the purple duct tape off his mouth. Meadows cursed long and loud. Too long and too loud for Cyrus’s liking. He waltzed over and bit down on the man’s ear. Meadows howled his outrage. No one cared, least of all Cyrus, who settled himself a foot away and kept his eyes glued to the man tied up in fishing line.

The private elevator sounded its zippy little three-note tune, and Avery stepped into the foyer. “Sorry I’m late, but I had to secure the ambulance. What’s the plan now?”

“This might seem a little droll to you, Mr. Snowden, but when you said there was a change of plans, we thought you had a better plan,” Maggie said, her tone as sour as the words she spoke. “Sorry to say we have no plan.”

“The man is not cooperating,” Ted said.

Snowden waved his hands in the air. “He really doesn’t have to cooperate. We know what his plans are. I’m not sure if he believes we intend to thwart his plans, which we are going to do. Text messages are a wonderful thing. No voice giveaways. That sort of thing.”