The Mystery of the little black book

The Mystery of the little black book

It was raining, again. Another long dark cold night. I didn’t want to go out in this kind of weather, but it seemed I had no choice. The message was clear, be on the north corner of 5th and Main at 18:00 if you ever want to see your dog again.

My little baby was missing for what seemed like days, but it had only been an hour since I arrived home to find her missing. The note didn’t ask for money, just for me to be there, alone.

My baby, a 3 year old Papillon named Gidget, was my life. I loved her more than anything or anyone in my life. She came to me during a dark time and gave my life meaning. She was a gift from a client that I had helped years before. I had gone to her house once to deliver a painting she had commissioned from me and I fell in love with her dog. She told me that she would be breeding her in another year and if I wanted, I could have one from the litter.

Gidget was the rut of the litter, but I was so called to her and her to me that it was meant to be. I named her Gidget after one of my favorite shows as a kid. Gidget was to mean girl midget, because she was short. It fit my new fur baby very much, as she too was tiny and would get into trouble.

I'm not sure how they got her or why they took her, but I needed to do whatever I could to get her back. I put on my rain boots and got my umbrella out of the closet. It was so cold out, so I got Gidget’s blanket and put it in a plastic bag so it would stay dry. As I left the house, I was scared. I didn’t know what to expect. It was only a few blocks away and I had time, so I decided to walk. Mostly because I was afraid if I drove I may get in an accident. I felt sick to my stomach. With every step a tear would fall. Was she OK? I wondered. Would they have her with them? Who was “them” and why, WHY!! Would they take my baby from me?

As I approached the corner, I saw a man sitting in a parked car looking at me. Watching me. I tried not to stare, but I couldn’t take my eyes off the car. I was looking to see if I could see Gidget, but nothing. I stood at the corner, wet, scared and cold. In my haste to leave, I forgot my hat and gloves. As I stood looking around for a sign, an old woman approached me. Excuse me, she said, is your name Kaleela? I said yes, in my very shaky voice. She handed me an envelope and walked away before I could even process what had happened.

In the envelope was a little black book. I went home with a very heavy heart.

I examined the book, trying to make sense of the day's events. The book was mostly blank pages with single words only on a few pages. As I was copying the words, to see if there was a message, I noticed that the binding had been resealed. I opened it and there I found another note. Your dog is safe. I am taking good care of her for you. You are needed for a secret mission. Tomorrow morning at 8:00, a car will come for you. Be packed for warm weather, bring your passport. You will meet your contact at the airport. I couldn’t sleep all night. I packed for a couple of days, not having an idea of how long I would be gone for. I packed my dad's hunting knife that I have had since his passing 2 years ago. Just having it made me feel safer. I also had a small can of hairspray, as it is just as good as mace and easy to get.

It’s 7:45 and I can’t seem to calm myself. I didn’t tell anyone what was going on, just in case they were listening to my phone. I did write a note, just in case someone came looking for me. I am a bit of a loner, so not likely anyone will notice my absence. Maybe that was why I was chosen for this secret mission. My mind was racing so much, I didn’t hear the knock on my door. When I finally did and answered, I saw a kindly looking older man from the taxi company there. May I help you with your bag? He asked. Thank you, I said as I handed him my bag and locked the door.

I was in another world as we drove to the airport. I didn’t say a word the entire time. When we arrived, he opened my door and helped me out. I went to pay him, but he said it was all taken care of. Then he handed me an envelope. I am really starting to not like envelopes. But this one had my ticket and some travelers checks, with my name on them. A total of $20,000. I was shocked. Who would have that kind of money to hand out, and why? What was I to do with it. So many questions.

I got checked in at the airport and made my way to my seat. I kept my eyes open for a contact, but didn’t see anyone looking at me. I tried to relax as I was on my way to Australia. It could be fun, if I wasn’t so worried about my dog, and not knowing what I was needed for. Just before take off a man sat next to me. “I believe I have this seat” he said, as he put his carry on in the overhead compartment. Was he my contact? I didn’t say anything.

He was very kind and we talked for hours about dogs, life, paintings, traveling and lots of other things. He was easy to talk to, as if I had known him my whole life. At no point did he seem to have any idea about why I was there. I didn’t say anything to him about the circumstances around my trip. I told him it was a personal business trip. That a family member needed my help. I couldn’t say that the family member was my dog. Before we arrived in Australia one of the flight attendants handed me another envelope. This one had the name of a hotel and a key in it. The gentlemen next to me said “Park Hyatt Sidney, that's where I'm staying, maybe we can share a cab.” He was tall and yes, dark and very handsome, but I couldn’t hold that against him. He was very kind and we had a lot in common. He was wearing a nice tan suite and a white linen shirt. No tie, but I could tell he was the kind who did wear one. I found that I was enjoying myself for the first time in a long time. I even forgot about my dog for a minute.

When we got to the hotel, George, that was his name, walked me to my room. Before saying goodbye, we made plans to meet for dinner. He gave me his number and I gave him mine. How could I be falling in love with someone I just met and under such circumstances? I was so confused. I went in my room and unpacked. I found another note in the nightstand. This one said to call room service and order 2 Mai Tai cocktails and 2 shrimp cocktails. This was somewhat eerie for me, as that was my dad's favorite appetizer and drink when we would go out. What was going on. Now more than ever I was feeling like something stranger then I had first imagined was going on.

I got a knock at the door. It was from room service with my order, but before I could close the door I saw George. “I thought we were going to wait until dinner,” I said as he was walking over. Looks like you ordered for 2, expecting someone? I smiled and said, looks like he just got here, come on in. I finally opened up about what was going on to him, after 2 more drinks anyway. Then, George pulled out his own stack of notes and a little black book. I got mine out and we put all the written pages on the table. With tears in my eyes we read the message from my father. A message that was planned years before.

The message read, Follow your dreams, no matter where they take you. That was the order they were in alternating from his book to mine.

I have no idea how many were involved in pulling off this matchmaking trip, but I was grateful to all of them. So, my dog was safe. My dad knew how much I loved Sherlock Holmes and mysteries. This was the best gift ever. He knew George from work and he had tried to get us together for years. Neither of us was up for a blind date and I had moved out of town and wasn’t looking for a long distance relationship. Looks like my dad was right after all, we were right for each other. Good thing George likes dogs.

Thank you dad