“Okay, buddy, how about we go upstairs to see if he trashed that too?”

Bonnie was pulling into the driveway by the time we made it to the upper level. My cabin is small, less than eight hundred square feet, with one bedroom, a bathroom with a shower, but no tub, and a living room slash kitchen. The layout made it possible to see the road and driveway from almost any angle. My front door was wide open, but intact. Everything else looked to be as I had left it. I assumed the intruder must not have had time to search upstairs before Fred started barking, but like most assumptions, I was wrong.

I didn’t bother to close the door on my way to inspect the bedroom. Bonnie would let herself in, and I really needed to check my shotgun. I had to smile when I saw my fierce guard dog wagging his tail when he saw Bonnie. Fifteen minutes ago, the scent of the intruder had his hair up and tail between his legs; now that the danger was over, he acted like nothing had happened.

The gun was gone, and so was the box where I kept Julie’s wedding ring. I had kept them in a cedar chest at the foot of my bed with the gun on top where I could get to it in a hurry if any bears came knocking. Sleeveless had to search for the coins, for they were hidden at the bottom of the chest under a pile of family pictures and blankets.

“Anything missing?” Bonnie asked when she came in with my grocery bags.

“My shotgun and a cigar box where I kept Julie’s ring and some silver quarters,” I answered. Her lipstick was no longer smeared, but she must have fixed it quickly to get here so quickly, and it showed. I was in no mood to laugh this time. “Could you put those bags in the kitchen for me, Bon? I’ll go out and get the pizza.”

“Don’t bother, Jake. It looks like some critter beat you to it. What little’s left is covered in dirt.”

Hoping I’d heard wrong, I looked outside toward my Jeep and saw the open pizza box and a few slices spread across my drive. “Damn, and it was your favorite.”

Bonnie acted shocked at my outburst; I guess she wasn’t used to me swearing. “I’ll clean it up for you when I leave so Fred doesn’t eat it. I know how much he loves pizza, but he might eat a rock, too,” she said from the kitchen where she was already putting my groceries away.

I shut the door so Fred couldn’t get to the pizza before Bonnie left, then went to help her before she decided to do my dishes, too. “Thanks, Bon, but I’ll finish putting those away after I call in the burglary. We were going to surprise you. I even bought some honey for you to put on the crust.”

I looked over in time to see her wipe a tear from her eyes. “You’re such a sweet boy. I wish Diane had lived long enough to meet you. I’m sure you two would have fallen for each other, and I’d have the best grand-babies ever.”

It was my turn to be uncomfortable, so I quickly changed the subject and looked away. “Did you get a look at the guy driving that truck? I think it was that tough-looking guy from the book signing.”

She went back to unpacking my groceries.“The one ready to fight Shelia’s boyfriend?”

I turned to Fred, who had been watching Bonnie, I suppose on the chance she’d drop something good to eat.“I think so. What do you think, Freddie?”

Bonnie answered for him. “Then he must have been looking for your copy of Tom Sawyer when he took your cigar box and gun.”

“My, Fred, what a strange voice you have,” I said.

Bonnie raised the corner of her lip, giving me a scowl I hadn’t seen since Elvis made movies. “Funny, Jake,” she said and went back to rearranging my refrigerator.

Realizing she wasn’t going to quit until everything was put away, I walked over to the table where I had left my phone and keys. “Sorry, but it sure looked like him. How many bald guys do you know running around in shirts without sleeves?”

She smiled while making a display of counting on her fingers. “Well, there’s Kojak, and then that Star Trek captain, what’s his name? But I don’t remember any of them wearing tank-tops.”

“Jean-Luc Picard,” I answered. “But who the heck is Kojak?”

“Before your time, sonny,” she said and laughed. “Okay, so it’s the bald guy from the bookstore.”

“And he wasn’t wearing a tank-top. It was a denim shirt with the sleeves cut off,” I replied, mimicking her turned-up lip. “At least now he can go out and buy a decent shirt with the money he stole.”

“How much did he get, Jake?”

“Oh, it wasn’t much. Only twenty-five bucks in face value; I don’t know what they’d be worth in silver. I can live without the coins, it’s the ring and book I’ll miss. Well, the shotgun too. My father died shortly after giving me the gun, and I never had a chance to tell him how much he meant to me. I’ve got to find that SOB, Bonnie. He took the three things that mean the most to me.”

As if he understood, Fred squeezed by Bonnie and sat at my feet. “Except for you, old boy,” I said, patting him on the head with one hand, and picking up my cell with the other. “I better call the sheriff from my deck, Bon. My cell doesn’t work so well in the house.”

Bonnie stayed inside waiting for the coffee while I made my call. My back deck is right off the kitchen area and sits ten feet off the ground with a view of snowcapped Mount Evans. Fred stayed with Bonnie, I assume because she was closer to the refrigerator than me. I didn’t close the door when I went out. Except for the occasional fly, mosquitoes and other flying bugs weren’t a problem this high up, so Fred could join me when he was ready. I also knew it would save time rehashing my conversation with the sheriff because Bonnie would be able to hear everything I said.

***

“This is an emergency. Someone broke into my house,” I told the operator just as Fred decided to join me. “Okay, give me the number, please.”

I let the operator rattle off the telephone number for the sheriff’s business line, knowing full well I wouldn’t remember it because I had nothing at hand to write it down. “Yes, ma’am, I’ll call it first thing Monday. Yes, thank you, too.”

Bonnie appeared with coffee and some old donuts I had forgotten about as I finished my call. “They’re not coming, are they?” she asked, handing me my cup.

“Not today. Maybe I’ll go run a red light or something. Bet I get their attention then.” I answered, trying to remember when I bought those donuts.

She dunked one of the donuts in her coffee. “Surely they don’t expect you to leave everything until they get around to coming out here?” She took one bite, made a sour face, and threw the rest to Fred. He gulped it down and sat waiting for more. Then I remembered Julie had bought them last year.

“I don’t know what they think, Bon, but I can’t leave my house wide open while I wait for them. That door is an invitation for all the critters up here. Now that they’ve had a taste of Beau Jo’s pizza, I’m sure they’ll be back,” I said while reaching for the donut bag so I could put it on the deck rail before Fred helped himself to more.

Bonnie swirled the coffee in her mouth before swallowing it. “Hold everything, Jake. I need something stronger to get this taste out of my mouth. I’ll be right back.”

She no sooner left us when a squirrel she called Chatter jumped out of the big spruce next to my deck, heading toward the donuts. Fred was after him in an instant. Fred was quick, but Chatter was quicker and jumped to the safety of the tree where he let Fred know he wasn’t going anywhere. “Where was that squirrel when Sleeveless was here?” I asked Fred, between laughs. “He makes enough racket to scare off Satan himself.”

“Sleeveless?” Bonnie had come back during all the commotion. “Oh, I get it, the burglar.” She was all smiles now that she had her Jack Daniels.

I made a mental note to tell her it was illegal to carry an open bottle of booze in her car. “Yeah, and speaking of the devil, Bon, I’ve seen that guy somewhere. I wish I could remember where.”