She took the paper in her hand and quickly skimmed the hastily scrawled words. Her heart sank into her stomach.

She gasped as she quietly read the words to herself:

Pepper is safe—you’ll get her back soon.

“Oh my gosh,” Annie whispered, her voice breaking. “Someone took Pepper!” Her worst fears had come to light.

Max frowned, his sharp eyes scanning the park. “It’s a threat,” he said grimly. “Who would do this? And why?”

Annie’s mind raced. The note confirmed what she had feared all along: Pepper’s disappearance wasn’t an accident. Someone had taken her. But who? And why target Annie?

Before she could respond, Kendra appeared, jogging over with her pug panting at her heels. “What’s going on? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

Annie hesitated but held up the note. Kendra’s eyes widened as she read the note. “Why would someone take your sweet pup?” she asked, her voice barely above a whisper.

“I don’t know,” Annie said, glancing at the crowd. Her mind was running a mile a minute.

Kendra tilted her head. “Do you recognize the handwriting? Did you see anyone hanging out around your truck?”

Annie shook her head impatiently. She knew Kendra was just trying to help, but she needed some time to think.

She clutched the note tighter, her determination hardening. “I have to get Pepper back,” Annie said, her voice firm despite the tremble in her hands. “Whoever left this knows where she is, and I won’t stop until she’s home.”

Her eyes scanned the park’s bustling paths and crowded benches, lingering on the familiar faces she’d seen earlier. Was this personal? A cruel prank? Or could it have something to do with her growing popularity at the park?

She thought of Max’s sharp critiques, Kendra’s lingering looks around her truck, Jeff’s nervous demeanor earlier that morning, and Dottie’s odd behavior when she mentioned Pepper needing a rest. Each of them had acted strangely in their own way, but who would go so far as to take Pepper?

The pieces of the puzzle were slowly coming together, but a nagging thought crept in: What if this wasn’t about Pepper at all? What if someone wanted to send her a message?