Page 26 of Wrong Turn

She pressed against the rough bark of the tree, quieting Keiki as they focused on the activity near the house’s window.

This was their chance to catch the robbers! Determined as Lei was to confront the robbers herself, they needed backup. She fumbled her phone out of her pocket, calling the direct line they had to the police patrols in their area.

Lei whispered the location and address to the dispatcher, and told them that she saw an attempted break-in happening. She asked for the police to come quickly and keep their lights and sirens off. The dispatcher told Lei a unit would be there shortly; she should stay back and observe.

“Of course,” Lei said—but she had no intention of doing that.

Sliding her phone into her pocket, Lei and Keiki headed stealthily toward the disturbance. Lei slid her flashlight—the large, heavy metal type used by police officers as a weapon as well as a light source—out of its belt loop. She raised the light to shoulder level, readying to flash it on the burglars.

She and Keiki moved closer, sliding quietly across the soft grass of the bungalow’s lawn. Lei rested a restraining hand on Keiki’s head as the dog persisted in a low growl; she didn’t want the perps to hear them as they sneaked to the side of the house near the activity.

In the dim moonlight, two dark figures were setting a ladder against the side of the house. Lei waited until one of the figures was on the ladder before she moved in as closely as she dared, hitting the flashlight’s ON button.

The blinding beam illuminated two men dressed all in black and wearing ski masks. The brightness that froze the two men also burned Lei’s retinas. “Stop right where you are! Police are on their way!” Lei yelled at full volume. Keiki lunged forward, snarling and barking, a ferocious and terrifying sound.

The robber on the ladder lost his grip and fell to the ground with a cry. The one steadying the ladder spun around to face them—and he held a weapon in his hand.

Keiki strained at the end of the leash, eager to sink her teeth into someone.But if Lei let her go, the robber would shoot her dog!Lei couldn’t let go of Keiki’s leash. Her only chance was to intimidate the men into surrender.

“Drop your weapon!” Lei shouted. “Drop it now!”

The robber fired the gun.

The loudness of the pistol’s report stole Lei’s breath. She threw herself down over Keiki instinctively, bearing the startled dog to the ground. She ran her hands over the squirming Rottweiler, terrified that the dog had been shot—but Keiki struggled to get to her feet and pursue her quarry. “Down, girl!”

Lei had her hands full, keeping control of Keiki and still terrified of her dog being shot. The robber who’d fallen scrambled to his feet with the help of the one holding the gun, and the two men ran for it, their legs illuminated for a moment in the fallen flashlight’s beam.

House lights came on inside the bungalow, and a screech of tires at the sidewalk alerted Lei to the arrival of the police.

Lei sat up, pulling Keiki in close, rubbing her dog’s chest and calming her. Keiki vibrated with rage and passion to catch the robbers, still growling. Her dog had never even flinched at the terrible sound of the gunshot, but Lei trembled with shock at how close they might’ve come to being killed.

Two officers stormed up onto the lawn. “Identify yourself!”

Lei stood up, still holding Keiki’s leash, but raising her empty free hand. “I’m with the neighborhood watch! I’m the one that called you. The robbers are running, and they went that way!” The officers took off in the direction Lei pointed.

Lei ran her hands down Keiki’s sides, checking her all over for injury—her dog was sweating and trembling, her muscular body vibrating. “It’s okay, girl. You did good. Settle down, now.”

That had been close—too close.

The owners of the house ran out onto their porch in their pajamas: a couple and a teenage boy, all of them holding baseball bats.

Lei hesitantly approached, Keiki tight against her side. “Your house was about to be invaded,” Lei said. “The robbers were getting in up that ladder to the window. I’m with the neighborhood watch. I was able to call the police in time.”

“What was that gunshot?” the father of the house exclaimed.

“They took a shot at us.” Lei’s whole body burst out in sweat and she began to tremble. “I shined my light on them, and they ran away.”

“I’m on the neighborhood patrol, too,” the man said, coming down from the porch. “Are you injured? Did they hit you or your dog?”

“Thanks, we’re okay.”

The man took in her all-black outfit. “Aren’t you supposed to be wearing reflective clothing?”

“I missed the memo on that,” Lei lied.

Soon the police officers came trotting back. “They got away.”

Lei submitted a statement, and was subjected to a lecture and an interview about everything she had seen and done. She and Keiki were thoroughly chastened when they finally walked back to Aunty’s house.

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