Free Minerva Clark Goes to the Dogs by Karen Karbo Page A

had set the ring with the missing center stone, but it was gone. The yellow daisies, still in their jelly jar, were beginning to wilt; no one had added water since I’d been there. The pile of unopened mail I’d spied the day before was untouched.
    Just as I was about to turn to go, a man’s voice said, “Is there something I can help you with?”
    I jumped so high I can’t believe I didn’t hit my head on the ceiling. Until that moment I hadn’t realized how truly scared I’d been snooping around this strange girl’s apartment. I spun around. “Who are you?” I sputtered. The words just popped out. The man was wearing auniform—light blue shirt, dark pants, dark tie, thick utility belt with one of those big black sticks—but he wasn’t a cop, he was a security guard. On one arm there was a big patch that said AMES SECURITY. Over his pocket was an oval name patch that said SHARK.
    â€œYou work for Ames?” I said. “My brother used to work there.” This was a complete lie, but I had to say something, to show he hadn’t practically given me a heart attack.
    Shark chuckled. “Sorry, didn’t mean to startle you.”
    I pegged him at about the same age as my brother, which meant old but not so old that you couldn’t imagine being that age one day. He was tall and thin, with terrible posture. He had long pale eyes and a mustache. He smiled at me, but I could tell it was a mask beneath which he was sizing me up.
    He’d come from the bedroom. He had a cheap flowered cosmetics bag in his hand, turned halfway inside out.
    â€œIs Tonio around?” I asked.
    He chuckled some more. What was so funny? His sleeves were rolled up to his elbow. His forearms were as big as that cartoon sailor named Popeye. “You one of Tonio’s lady friends?”
    â€œKind of,” I said.
    â€œHe’s not here. Name’s Shark by the way.” He stuck out his hand for me to shake.
    â€œI figured.” I nodded toward his name patch.
    I shook his hand, but it was as if I was with Reggie, and he’d dared me to touch some dead thing he’d found in the backyard. Suddenly, I missed Reggie. Why wasn’t he here having this strange encounter with me? Oh, I know, because it was more important for him to hang out with that twit Amanda the Panda. I felt myself starting to lose my grip on the situation.
    â€œAnd what’s your name?” he asked.
    â€œSuzanne,” I said. Suzanne is my middle name, so I wasn’t totally lying.
    â€œHow long have you been seeing Tonio? I didn’t think he had a girlfriend. Or not a serious one, anyway.” Again, the fake smile. Didn’t he just ask whether I was one of Tonio’s girlfriends, plural, which means one of many? I seriously did not like the way this was going. Why hadn’t I left the door wide open behind me? Outside, I could hear the sound of skateboard wheels coasting down the plywood ramp. Suddenly, it seemed like the most fun in the world.
    â€œI don’t know. A while. Where’s Sylvia? Maybe she knows where he is.”
    â€œShe must be out,” he said.
    The question was, of course, what in the heck was he doing here? “Are you the house sitter? Tonio said they might be going out of town on vacation.”
    This time Shark really laughed. Just as I was about towrite him off as a harmless dork he said, “You got it, Suzanne, Sylvia’s gone away on a Hawaiian cruise and I’m the house sitter.” He grinned at me again, pleased with his sarcasm. I was always a little unnerved when any grown-up besides my brothers was sarcastic with me.
    There was nothing else for me to do but be on my way. I moved toward the door, and half expected him to block my escape. He stepped aside, and as he did, I could see through the tiny hallway into the bedroom. It was obviously Sylvia’s room, with a comforter splashed with big pink and orange