Dogs and Toques

(When we last left Fred, he had teamed up with Jonathan Toque to take down the PEANUT terrorists)

  Jonathan’s car was evidence of his big bucks.  It had all the newest technological upgrades, but more importantly, it was fast.  In no time at all they had caught up to the toque guy’s car, which, while it was nice, was nothing compared to Jonathan’s.
   “What now?” Fred asked as Jonathan slowed down to the toque guy’s pace.
   “I think we should keep following him,” Jonathan said. “He could lead us to the PEANUT HQ.”
   Fred nodded. “Good plan.”
   And it was.  For a little while anyway.  After a few more twists and turns, the toque dude’s car jerked forward and spun around a corner with a squeal of tires.
   “He’s onto us!” Fred yelled. “Don’t let him get away!”
   Jonathan hit the gas and squealed around the corner also.  The other car had a big lead, but Jonathan closed the gap with ease.  The toque guy cut corners, jumped curbs, and even drove into oncoming traffic once, but Jonathan stayed right on his tail. 
   Then, all of the sudden, “Look out for that puppy!” Fred screamed.
   Jonathan slammed the brakes and jerked the wheel.  The car skidded sideways.  A puppy yelped in surprised.  With a sickening thud the car slammed to a halt.  Fred opened his door and stumbled out of the car, tears in his eyes. 
   “We killed a puppy,” he sobbed. “A poor innocent puppy!”
   He looked up to see the toque guy’s car disappear around a corner. 
   He shook his fist in the air. “Are you happy now, you PEANUTs?  You caused this!  Shame on you!”
   Jonathan had also gotten out of the car, and now he came over and patted Fred on the shoulder.
   “What?” Fred asked. “Can’t you see I’m mourning this poor puppy?”
   Jonathan sighed. “What puppy, Fred?  We didn’t hit a puppy.”
   Fred sniffed and brushed away a few tears. “What do mean we didn’t hit a puppy?  I heard it yelp.”
   “We hit a fire hydrant,” Jonathan explained. “The puppy’s fine.  It just yelped because its owner jerked it out of the way so hard.”
   “Oh…” Fred swiped the remaining tears away. “Okay.”
   “Are you good now?”
   Fred took a deep breath. “Yeah.  I’m good.”
   Jonathan nodded. “Okay then.” He got back into the car, gesturing for Fred to do the same. “The car’s fine.  It just has a big dent in it.”
   Fred hopped in and Jonathan started driving again.  After a few seconds, a question occurred to Fred.
   “Where are we going?” he asked.
   “We’re still following the guy.” Jonathan held up his phone. “Remember?  Tracking device?”
   “Ah yes.” Fred smiled. “He can’t get away.”
   “Unless, of course, he takes off his toque,” Jonathan pointed out.
  “What?” Fred laughed. “A PEANUT terrorist take off his toque?  You must be joking.  They never part with their toques.  It’s almost a religion with them.”
   Jonathan shrugged. “Anything can happen.”
   Fred shook his head. “No.  Nu uh.  Anything but that.  A PEANUT terrorist without his toque is no longer a PEANUT terrorist.  Without their toques, they are nothing.”
   Jonathan sighed. “Yes, I know.  But if the situation calls for it, I do think he might take the toque off.”
   “No way.  Their toques aren’t just a symbol, you know.  Their toques are their handy dandy, all-purpose weapons that they use for pretty much everything.  It’s ingenious the way they use those things.  I’ve heard that they even used a toque once to conceal a biologically altered rat in a kitchen to poison thousands of people!”
   Jonathan raised an eyebrow as he pulled the car into an alley.  It was a dead end, but what was sitting waiting for them cause his eyebrow to go up even higher.
   “Whatever you’ve heard, I don’t think it’s quite accurate,” he said.
   Fred followed his gaze and his jaw dropped.  There, sitting on the ground in front of their car, was a toque.
   Which promptly exploded.

To be continued…