Recap: Rikki’s mother called and told her that there are threats and that she has to be careful. She didn’t explain what she meant.
“Look, Rikki!”
I pointed to a little dog that was cowering under a bush.
“Here, puppy. Come.” I stepped slowly towards the dog.
The dog whimpered.
“Here, puppy.” I coaxed.
The dog rose and limped towards me.
“He’s hurt,” Rikki said.
I gently reached for the dog. “It’s a goldendoodle puppy. They are my favorite.”
It looked like a teddy bear with gold brown fur.
There was no collar around his neck.
“I think we should take it home and try to locate the owner.” I scooped the puppy into my arms. “I’ll take it to Aunt Ruthie’s house unless you want—”
“We can bring it to my house. It’s closer,” Rikki said.
The puppy was trembling in my arms. As we drew near Rikki’s house, we saw a black car with shaded windows parked in front.
“Must be some new guest,” Rikki said.
We were greeted at the door by Rikki’s father. Two men in suits wearing dark glasses motioned us to come sit down.
“Rikki, these men are from the FBI.”
Rikki shot me a shocked look.
What was going on? “Should I leave?” I asked.
“No, I want Evie to stay,” Rikki said.
I felt good that Rikki considered me a close friend.
This looked serious. The dog wouldn’t let me put it down. “You’re scared, aren’t you?” I whispered in the dog’s ear.
Rikki’s father cleared his throat. Mendy and Mordy dashed into the room chasing each other. Gran followed and shooed the boys out of the room.
“Rikki, you know that Ima had a brother who worked for the Mossad.”
Rikki nodded.
“He was high up in Israel Intelligence and also coordinated with the FBI. Your mother worked with him before I met her. She worked with him until…” Rikki’s father’s voice trailed off.
Rikki’s eyes widened.
One of the FBI men interrupted. “We don’t have a lot of time. Please get to the point.”
Rabbi Bernson nodded. “Ephraim Tolker was targeted by Arab terrorists. He was killed in the middle of a dangerous mission in Iran 15 years ago.”
Rikki gasped.
The agent continued. “There was important information – highly classified information that was needed to complete a mission against an Iranian terrorist. Those terrorists went into hiding and we turned our attention to other matters.” The FBI agent glanced at his partner.
The other man cleared his throat. “Recently, we received intelligence that the perpetrator who killed Mr. Tolker was let out of prison in a prisoner exchange and he resurfaced in the United States. He was looking for your mother. He came with an accomplice. We believe the accomplice may be a relative of the terrorist. They want to get all the classified information your mother knows and use it against our country. It’s highly dangerous. We traced him to be possibly in this area. That is why your mother left the country.”
Rikki moved close to me, and I squeezed her hand. This was really frightening.
“You mean this terrorist is in Utah now?” Rikki’s voice rose. “And Ima can’t come home?”
“We believe it’s possible he’s here, Muhamed Abdullah. He and his accomplice may use any means they can to pressure your mother to reveal the secret plan of Mr. Tolker. That’s why we are here. We are sending undercover agents to guard you from harm.”
I noticed he hadn’t answered her question about her mother coming home. And what did they mean by pressure and Rikki needing guards?
Rikki’s eyes flashed with defiance. “I don’t really think I need anyone following me around. This is such a safe neighborhood.”
“It has nothing to do with the neighborhood. You’re on the radar of these criminals. It won’t be obvious. We will just keep an eye. It’s good that your friend heard this, since you spend a lot of time with her and you both go to the skating rink.”
It was eerie that they knew information about us. Had they already been watching us?
The puppy was still trembling when I gently set her down. She bee-lined under a chair.
“Where did you get that dog from?” The FBI man who identified himself as Herb asked.
“We found it cowering under a bush. It’s hurt,” I said. “I need to take it to a vet.”
“Did it have a collar?” Rabbi Bernson asked. “You need to try to locate the owner.”
“We think the owner might have hurt or abused it,” I said.
The two men headed towards the door. Just be vigilant. Both of you can call this number if you feel you are in danger.” Herb handed me and Rikki a card with a phone number.
Rabbi Bernson closed the door behind the two agents.
“Aba, this is so scary,” Rikki said.
“Hashem will protect us,” Rabbi Bernson said. “Rikki, we can’t keep that dog here. Mendy is allergic.”
“Goldendoodles are hypoallergenic,” I said. I remembered my friend Stephanie had one and she’d told me that.
“It doesn’t matter,” Rabbi Bernson said. “You have to get rid of it.”
“No worries. Aunt Ruthie loves dogs. I’ll take it to my house.”
“Thank you.” Rabbi Bernson headed to his study.
“I want to take it to the vet,” I said.
Rikki followed me to the door. “I’ll walk you. There’s a vet a few blocks from here.”
I scooped the puppy back into my arms and we headed down the block. I glanced around to see if anyone like an FBI agent was nearby. I didn’t see anyone.
Rikki whispered in my ear. “That black car is coming down the street. It was the one parked in front of my house.”
So, the FBI men were following us.
The vet’s office was on the first floor of a tall office building. The puppy had finally stopped trembling in my arms. We walked inside. We were the only customers. A secretary ushered us to the back. A tall man wearing a white coat and black glasses took the puppy from me. She whimpered and I saw she was trembling again. Poor pup.
He asked how old she was. “What’s her name?”
“We found her. We don’t know any information,” I explained.
“Are you working on locating her owner?”
Rikki piped up. “Should we? It looks like they may have abused her.”
The vet lay the puppy on her back and examined her ears. “She has a cut over her eye. She does appear to have been beaten. What’s this?”
He probed around her ear and then pulled out a small white box. He held it towards us.
“What is it?” I asked.
“It’s a recording device. Someone slipped it behind the dog’s ear. You may want to notify the police about this,” the vet said.
Rikki and I exchanged worried glances. Someone had placed this device in the puppy’s ear and then left the puppy in a place where we would find it. My neck muscles tightened.
To be continued…
Susie Garber is the author of Captured (Menucha 2025), an historical fiction novel, Please Be Patient (Menucha 2024), Flight of the Doves (Menucha Publishing 2023), Please Be Polite (Menucha Publishers 2022) , A Bridge in Time (Menucha Publishing 2021), Secrets in Disguise (Menucha Publishers 2020), Denver Dreams, a novel (Jerusalem Publications, 2009), Memorable Characters…Magnificent Stories (Scholastic, 2002), Befriend (Menucha Publishers, 2013), The Road Less Traveled (Feldheim, 2015), fiction serials and features in Binah Magazine and Binyan Magazine and “Moon Song” in Binyan (2021-2022) and Alaskan Gold ( 2023-2024).