By Lily Sutterfield

My detective partner, Monica, was anything but optimistic. Her dark eyebrows were always arched above calculating eyes, and her lips were always set in a frown. She even refused to wear her hair down at work because she thought it made her look weak. I had heard her whisper those exact words to herself in her bathroom mirror.

She often underestimated me. Most people did. Always talking down at me; always dumbing down their conversations for me. Even though I was an assistant detective at the NYPD. I mean, come on!

“Lucky, we’ve got to go!” Monica called from the doorway of her office. My long furry tail began to wag as I ran after her. She rewarded me for following her orders with a scratch behind my tall, furry brown ears. I had to admit, though sometimes I disliked it, being a detective dog was a lot better than lying around all day with just an occasional walk around the block.

I was bred for adventure, so this was the perfect job for me. Most days, Monica and I would set out on one big case after another. But sometimes she’d shake her head at me and tell me I had to stay at the police department. I hated those days. All I would do was pace in my crate and worry about Monica.

But she’d always come back, and we’d return to being a dynamic duo, better than ever.

As Monica and I walked out of the precinct, we were stopped by Captain Olivia Demont. My heart thudded in my chest. It was rare to be confronted by the captain; it was either something really good or really bad. I sat down and tried to look as commanding as I could.

Monica and Olivia shared a conversation in low voices about a new case. I was disappointed when Captain Demont said I couldn’t go on the case and took me away from Monica. I hated separation.

The captain put me in a small crate and told me not to make any noise. I obeyed, but couldn’t help pacing in my confinement, worried sick about my partner. Eventually, night crept through the window. Captain Demont entered the room with one of the night shift detectives.

“Monica isn’t back yet. We have officers checking the area but there’s no trace of her. You think you could watch her dog for the night?” Captain Demont asked.

“Sure,” the night detective replied, glancing at me in my crate.

“Thanks.” Captain Demont nodded, leaving the room.

The officer slumped into a nearby chair, playing video games on his phone. Now I was really starting to worry. I needed to find Monica. She was likely in danger and I feared that the human detectives didn’t have what it took to find her. I knew my detective partner better than anyone at the precinct.

So, I did the only thing I could do: I whined and scratched at my cage.

“Aww, what’s wrong?” the officer asked in an infuriating baby voice. As much as I hated his tone, my whining worked and he released me from my crate.

The officer immediately went back to his phone, and I spotted my best chance of escape—a slightly ajar window at the back of the room. Unfortunately, it was directly behind the officer’s head, so I waited patiently for him to move. He didn’t, but to my relief, he did slowly drift into a deep sleep.

When his chin had drooped all the way to his chest, I ran to the window and leaped out with great speed, landing hard on all fours. Shaking off the shock from the impact, I started down the darkened street. I tried to focus, but my mind was clouded with fear. I had to find Monica, so I started running toward the coordinates where my partner had said she would be.

A deserted apartment on Main Street. That’s what I was looking for. As soon as I arrived, I raced up the many flights of stairs. Trotting past a closed door, I was suddenly hit by the strong scent of Monica’s Super Hard Stay hair gel. She was in the room.

The sound of male voices could be heard beyond the door, and I quickly pushed inside.

I noticed two tall, buff-looking men with knives in their hands talking to each other in low voices. That’s when I saw Monica tied up in a chair with a gag in her mouth. I had to save her!

Without warning, one of the men raised his knife to my partner’s throat, and I bolted. Thankfully, neither of Monica’s captors had noticed me, giving me the perfect chance to jump on the one who was threatening her. He was on the floor in seconds, yelling with fury as his knife flew out of reach. His partner tried to grab at me, but froze when I snarled at him, flashing my large white teeth.

I ran to Monica’s side, guarding her so she could untie the knots around her wrists. A moment later, Monica had her gun at the ready, pointed at the shorter captor’s head.

“Raise your hands where I can see them!” Monica ordered.

“Come on, Gary, it’s just a dog and a woman. We can take them,” the tall captor yelled at his partner.

“And the head of the NYPD, who never misses a shot.” We all turned to see Captain Demont with her gun trained on one of the captors. “I suggest you surrender.”

Within seconds, both men were in custody, and I finally felt the tension drain from my body.

“Detective Lucky,” commented Captain Demont. “I fear I have underestimated you. I apologize. You are quite the detective… and I have a special case for the two of you.”

My tail wagged furiously. With Monica at my side, no one would ever underestimate me again.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Lily Sutterfield is a Little Rock native who can most likely be found creating art, making music, acting, or of course, writing. She enjoys writing funny mysteries, romantic fantasies, and everything in between! This is her first published work, but she has been writing since she could hold a pen! Lily lives a joyful life with her parents, sister, dog, tortoise, and gecko!

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