But I had to. The dog would be obvious to anyone tracking us, and it would cost too much to care for on the road. I knew there would soon be a report of a stolen car getting to every police station within miles.

I motioned for the Humane Society lady to whisper with me in a corner.
“Tell her it’s a doggy hotel.”
“But Ma’am,”
“Say it!” I walked to Mandy.

“Mandy, Gigi will be fine, honey they will take excellent care of him!”
“Yes we are a five star rated Doggy hotel!” The woman lied better than I gave her credit for.
“We’ll come get him when our vacation is over!”

The woman beckoned to me. I joined her in the corner.
“Are you coming back? Because we are NOT a doggy hotel, we are an adoption….”
“No. We’ll be long gone in days.”

The lady cleared her throat. “Let’s get Gigi settled now, shall we?” She took him from Mandy after one last long squeeze.

“I’m going to fill out some papers on him, then we’ll leave.” I told Mandy. She started to wail.

I buckled her in, still bawling. I didn’t say a word.