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    Unleashed: Case of the Bull Doggish
    Unleashed: Case of the Bull Doggish
    Unleashed: Case of the Bull Doggish
    Ebook177 pages2 hours

    Unleashed: Case of the Bull Doggish

    By Erik Schubach

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    About this ebook

    Finnegan Temperance McLeary-May, dog walker extraordinaire has had an eventful time in Manhattan since she first moved to New York City. Her unique profession and quirky, bubbly personality endear her to everyone who meets her.

    While attending a college football game with her family for Brianne, one of Finnegan's friends gets hurt when the opposing team's mascot, a bulldog, gets taken.

    With a hurricane bearing down on New York, Finnegan and her loyal sidekick, Cir Calvin Cornelius Fluffytoes, track down the dog and then run off into the hurricane with it with no way of contacting her Detective wife, Jane McLeary.

    Meanwhile, Jane, just one step behind Fin, has the case solved as well. But it is a race against time to find Finnegan, Calvin and the missing dog out in the fury of Mother Nature.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherErik Schubach
    Release dateJan 27, 2020
    ISBN9780463918333
    Unleashed: Case of the Bull Doggish
    Author

    Erik Schubach

    I got my start writing romance novels by accident. I have always been drawn to strong female characters in books, like Honor Harrington. And I also believe that there is a lack of LGBT characters in media. So one day I came up with a story idea that combines the two... two days later I completed the manuscript for Music of the Soul.My writing style may not be the most professional nor grammatically correct, but I never profess to be an English major, just a person that wants to share a story. I maintain that my primary language is sarcasm.Each of my books features strong likeable female characters that are flawed. I think that flaws and emotional or physical scars make us human and give us more character than simply conforming to some "social norm".I have also started a SciFi series, The Valkyrie Chronicles which features a Valkyrie, Kara, who was left behind on Earth five thousand years ago to help the Asgard race escape the onslaught of the Ragnarok horde. With the aid of a human, Kate, she holds the line in battle to herald the return of the Asgard!If you like magic, paranormal romance and witches, then my new series Fracture might tickle your fancy. In the first book Fracture: Divergence, Alex King must stop magic from destroying reality. The problem is that Alex must solve the case in parallel universes where in one Alex is male and female in the other.There is even a modern shapeshifter paranormal series, Drakon. Featuring a fiery Irish woman with a sharp wit and sharper temper who finds out she is a dragon of legend.

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      Book preview

      Unleashed - Erik Schubach

      Unleashed: Case of the Bull Doggish

      By Erik Schubach

      Copyright © 2020 by Erik Schubach

      Published by Erik Schubach on Smashwords

      P.O. Box 523

      Nine Mile Falls, WA 99026

      Cover Photo © 2020 Vadymvdrobot & FotoJagodka / Depositphotos licenses

      ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. This book contains material protected under International and Federal Copyright Laws and Treaties. Any unauthorized reprint or use of this material is prohibited. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without express written permission from the author / publisher, except by a reviewer who wishes to quote brief passages in connection with a review written for inclusion in a magazine, newspaper, blog, or broadcast.

      This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

      Manufactured in the United States of America

      FIRST EDITION

      Chapter 1 – Cancer Ward

      Damn, things are getting serious now. I marched down the Oncology Wing of the Mount Sinai Kravis Children’s Hospital here in Manhattan, my white lab coat flaring in my wake. I checked the paperwork again and strode quickly past the nurse's station, my assistants on my heels. I inclined my head to the man sitting behind the computer there and he returned the acknowledgment. Time was of the essence.

      I reached the room, prepared for what was to come, then reached out to push the door open, knowing what lay just beyond the... what? A doctor? Oh, no no no, not me, I get woozy at the sight of blood, and germs kick me into a cleaning frenzy. It's either me or them. I suppose I should introduce myself. The name's Finnegan Temperance McLeary-May, dog walker extraordinaire, at your service. No really, at your service, if you have a dog in need of walking, you can book me on my website at FinneganWalks.com.

      I looked down at my faithful sidekick in his tidy working bib and the little disposable booties we used any time we visited a hospital. Sir Calvin Cornelius Fluffytoes was looking dapper, fresh from the groomers, his white fur looking silky and his black bandit's mask making him look the picture-perfect Border Collie.

      Then I looked to the other side, where Mimi looked up at me. The black Miniature Schnauzer's tail wagged at my attention on her, her blue therapy dog bib looking regal on her sides, her feet in booties too. I winked at her. Ready? Let's do this.

      Then we pushed through into the cancer recovery ward. Children of all ages were all about, either there for their next rounds of chemotherapy, or being discharged after the doctors confirm they are in full remission. It was hard for me not to tear up.

      Children should never suffer as these children had, and as much as it hurt my heart, this ward made me so happy. These children were the lucky ones, the ones who had beat the monster that was cancer and were getting a second chance at being a kid.

      There were at least a dozen therapy dogs running about between the children, and the smiles were everywhere and were contagious. A nurse looked over to me and then down to my companions and smiled. I gave her a tiny wave, feeling awkward. Then I saw Kamila, the woman who worked with the Callahan Foundation who I was here to meet with.

      The tall black Jamaican woman saw me and her smile bloomed on her face as she hustled over from the other two people in Callahan Foundation polo shirts who were helping to shepherd the dogs around to the children.

      I've always supported what charities I could, but the Callahan Foundation was one that was dear to my heart. They focused on two areas of need. First the homeless problem in the United States. They provided funding for shelters as well as education and job placement services for people on the street. Sometimes all someone needs is just a hand to pull themselves back onto their feet.

      They started in Seattle, Washington with the local shelters, but the woman who started it all, Sandra Callahan, has grown it into not only a national but an international phenomenon. I've had the pleasure of actually meeting the woman once when she was in New York to check on the local branch of her charity, and she is possibly the sweetest woman I've ever met.

      She has this unorthodox intelligence that just seems to project from her. I've heard people call her odd, or slow, or naive, but I didn't see that at all. I saw a woman who wanted to help those in need, so instead of just sitting on her hands, she did something about it.

      The other focus of the Callahan Foundation is what had completely enamored me to the charity. They have an army of volunteers who bring therapy dogs to the children's wards in the hospitals across the country. And the areas where dogs cannot go, like the children's burn wards, they send volunteer musicians to sing for the kids.

      The foundation is partnered with Harmony Trax in the USA and London Harmony in England to provide the most popular artists who volunteer to sing.

      Since the foundation prefers to find their therapy dogs in local shelters, the Manhattan chapter often gets young pups from Calvin and my dog shelter, Central Park Tails. Just like Miss Mimi here. They had adopted her from CPT two years ago.

      They were bringing her here today when leashes got tangled in the feet of some tourists who were not paying attention and in the chaotic confusion, Mimi had wandered off unnoticed. When they couldn't find her, they called Animal Control and the CPT hotline.

      I had just finished walking my girls, ending my workday in the early afternoon, and I assured them that we would do all we could to help locate the dog. Then I did the one thing my wife, Detective Jane McLeary, cringes at. I sent out a Broken Leash on the dog walking network text group.

      It was usually a death knell for a walker's contract with a dog owner when they lost a dog. But we dog walkers all had each other's backs, except for the unlicensed freelancers. When a Broken Leash was sent out, it spread like wildfire, and all the dog walkers in the city put aside any differences and kept their eyes peeled for the runaway dog. We all took it as the most serious of all calls since we knew the next Broken Leash could easily be ours.

      In New York City alone, there were close to ten thousand licensed dog walkers. If you counted the Loose Leashes as we called them, the people who illegally freelanced without a license and undercut us professionals, then we have close to half the numbers the police did. And we were invisible, just background noise in a city that was always moving.

      We are... what? Yes, I know I say this too much and I'll say it again... we are legion. Now shut up and listen to the story.

      It took all of three minutes before the first reports of sightings of Mimi came in. I coordinated as Calvin and I headed a couple of blocks from the last sighting, calling out instructions to funnel the silly, tail wagging escapee toward us.

      Inside of ten minutes, Calvin and I waited in an alley, as we monitored the texts on the Broken Leash network. I ignored the one from Jane who warned us all not to interrupt the traffic flow in the city. What? We only did that once... or twice, or... well fine, she had a point, but those were to assist on her cases or to save me from my propensity for attracting trouble. But this was just a loose dog.

      Like a well-orchestrated machine, the walkers boxed in our quarry and a minute later, Mimi came trotting around the corner, dragging her leash. I had to grin when she saw Cal and her tail started wagging a million beats per second.

      I rolled my eyes. The Casanova had all the girls enamored with him. Who could blame them, he was a handsome guy. I dropped his leash and told him, Retrieve. He flounced over to her and they walked around each other, tails wagging as they sniffed each other's posteriors. Eww. Then Cal gently put her leash between his teeth.

      It was something new we'd been training to do. Since my boy was many times faster than me, we figured it would be a good thing if we could train him to grab leashes of runaways. This was the first time we used it in the field. Even though I doubt we needed to in this instance since Mimi saw me and her butt was almost wagging off as she laid down and showed me her belly in her excitement.

      I cocked an eyebrow. This? This is what the other walkers couldn't catch? I rolled my eyes and crouched and picked her up to blow raspberries on her silky belly. Hi, silly girl. Decided on an adventure today? Let's get you back to where you belong shall we?

      She agreed. I could tell because she licked my face. Calvin, being the opportunistic boy he was, took the moment to give my other cheek a big ol' wet slurp. I may or may not have giggled at them.

      I retrieved her leash then I canceled the Broken Leash with my thanks to all who participated. Ha, take that Animal Control. Then I called Kamila to inform her we had her escaped convict. She asked if I could meet them at the hospital, that Mimi had a very important date today.

      After sending my daughter, Luce, a text on her first day in eighth grade this year, letting her know that I couldn't walk her home. I shot another text to my other daughter, Brianne, since she was at home today because her first day at Columbia University wasn't until next week.

      Hey lady, can you pick up your sister after school? I've got an unscheduled visit to the hospital to contend with.

      Her hurried response was, Mum!? Are you ok? What did you do now? Does mumsy know?

      What? Why the little... Grr. I didn't do anything. Why does everyone assume the worst? I'm dropping an escaped pooch off to the people from the Callahan Foundation, brat. I'll be home about an hour and a half to start dinner.

      Ah. No problem, I'll get the little firehead. See you soon. Love you.

      I was all smiles when I texted back, Love you too.

      I still found it almost surreal that I was a mom now. Jane and I had adopted Luce from a girl's home in Northern Ireland and wound up with a two for one special when we fell in love with Luce's best friend at the home. Pinky sisters are what they called each other back then. We couldn't bear to break them apart.

      Now I'm the mother of a freshly minted thirteen-year-old, and a daughter heading into college. People look at us funny since I'm only eleven years older than Bri, but I can't imagine my life without either of my children now.

      I smoothed out my white sundress then we headed to the hospital. Along the way, we passed a medical supply store and I backtracked with the fuzzy kids and snickered to myself when we went in and I bought a white lab coat since we were heading to the hospital.

      What? Yes, it is funny, you just don't have a feel for the nuances of it. Now shush.

      And here we were as I looked around at all the smiling faces the tail-waggers were putting on the children's faces here and the family members present.

      Kamila joined me and I handed her Mimi's leash as she greeted me in that accent that made me weak in the knees. I've always had a weakness for men or women with accents. Finnegan, thank the lord for ya an' yer boy here. You're a miracle worker, love.

      I beamed my best Finne-grin v1.0 at her as I looked around the space again. No, it looks like you and the Callahan Foundation are the miracle workers.

      She gave me an almost mischievous look and prompted, Would ya like ta see what happens when a child finishes their treatment and are announced ta be cancer-free?

      I found myself nodding.

      She cocked her head to look at me and pointed at my recent wardrobe addition. Nice touch, but I've never seen a doc wearin' a sundress under their lab coat.

      Shrugging and channeling my best friend, Jess, I supplied, I'm an international trendsetter.

      She guffawed and I beamed. Then in a show that even those not in a canine industry could appreciate, Kamila stomped a heel on the floor and all the dogs came streaming over to her to sit in front of her as she told them, Good fuzzballs. It's time ta go. The children were all making sounds of distress and disappointment.

      I watched as she and her helpers clipped up their furry accomplices. And curiously, she removed the working bib from Mimi. Then she called out, Tamera Lynn? A girl, around eight, stepped forward. The woman winked at her parents who were flanking her, a black man and Hispanic woman who I could see in the features of the young girl, who unlike many of the other children, proudly displayed her shaved head.

      Kamila crouched beside Mimi and pointed at Tamera Lynn and whispered, Mimi, cuddle. The Mini Schnauzer yipped once then bounded over to the girl, leash dragging. The girl smiled and crouched to give the pup some ear scritches.

      Then the Jamaican woman said firmly, Announce. And then all the dogs, still sitting, raised their muzzles to the ceiling and started the cutest round of howling, just to be joined by the howling of all the children in the ward.

      Someone was giggling at the show. Fine whatever, I was giggling at the show. I just loved the commands they taught their therapy dogs. Then Kamila nudged her

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