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    Unleashed: Case of the Dalmatian Salvation
    Unleashed: Case of the Dalmatian Salvation
    Unleashed: Case of the Dalmatian Salvation
    Ebook184 pages3 hours

    Unleashed: Case of the Dalmatian Salvation

    By Erik Schubach

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    About this ebook

    Finnegan Temperance McLeary-May, dog walker extraordinaire has had an eventful time in Manhattan since she first moved to New York City. Her unique profession and quirky, bubbly personality endear her to everyone who meets her.

    Finnegan and her detective wife, Jane, are asked by the owner of the mega dog walking conglomerate, Rafiel's Canine Walkers, for a favor.

    Dogs are vanishing from their homes after dog walkers from RCW drop them off after their walks. There is no signs of forced entry and nothing in the homes are missing. So the dogs are written off by the NYPD as runaways.

    Fin, Calvin, Jane, and even Fin's daughter, Luce, get embroiled in a case that is much more than it seems. It will take all their resources combined to bring the dog-nappers to justice.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherErik Schubach
    Release dateApr 26, 2020
    ISBN9780463875889
    Unleashed: Case of the Dalmatian Salvation
    Author

    Erik Schubach

    I got my start writing romance novels by accident. I have always been drawn to strong female characters in books, like Honor Harrington. And I also believe that there is a lack of LGBT characters in media. So one day I came up with a story idea that combines the two... two days later I completed the manuscript for Music of the Soul.My writing style may not be the most professional nor grammatically correct, but I never profess to be an English major, just a person that wants to share a story. I maintain that my primary language is sarcasm.Each of my books features strong likeable female characters that are flawed. I think that flaws and emotional or physical scars make us human and give us more character than simply conforming to some "social norm".I have also started a SciFi series, The Valkyrie Chronicles which features a Valkyrie, Kara, who was left behind on Earth five thousand years ago to help the Asgard race escape the onslaught of the Ragnarok horde. With the aid of a human, Kate, she holds the line in battle to herald the return of the Asgard!If you like magic, paranormal romance and witches, then my new series Fracture might tickle your fancy. In the first book Fracture: Divergence, Alex King must stop magic from destroying reality. The problem is that Alex must solve the case in parallel universes where in one Alex is male and female in the other.There is even a modern shapeshifter paranormal series, Drakon. Featuring a fiery Irish woman with a sharp wit and sharper temper who finds out she is a dragon of legend.

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      Book preview

      Unleashed - Erik Schubach

      Unleashed: Case of the Dalmatian Salvation

      By Erik Schubach

      Copyright © 2020 by Erik Schubach

      Published by Erik Schubach on Smashwords

      P.O. Box 523

      Nine Mile Falls, WA 99026

      Cover Photo © 2020 Vadymvdrobot & FotoJagodka / Depositphotos licenses

      ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. This book contains material protected under International and Federal Copyright Laws and Treaties. Any unauthorized reprint or use of this material is prohibited. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without express written permission from the author / publisher, except by a reviewer who wishes to quote brief passages in connection with a review written for inclusion in a magazine, newspaper, blog, or broadcast.

      This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

      Manufactured in the United States of America

      FIRST EDITION

      For Super Beta-y Person. Thanks Lena, you're the best!

      Chapter 1 – Science Project

      Damn this was tricky work. As the primary researcher called out for the materials, I handed them to her. She was so focused on our work that she was tuning out all distractions as she called out with her Irish lilt, Cathode.

      I repeated as I handed the cathode, keeping clear of the exposed reactionary plane. Cathode.

      She installed it in the fuel cell and held her hand out again as she studied the assembly, Anode.

      Anode.

      She studied the leads that ran from the hand-built, wet solar cell to the fuel cell, and when she was satisfied, she nodded once, and we took off our latex gloves while she went over her notes then used the voltage meter to take a reading off of the solar cell. Holding at 1,780 milliwatts.

      I double-checked her design notes and nodded. 1,780 milliwatts. Then... huh, what? A laboratory assistant? Oh, no, no, no. Let me introduce myself. The name's Finnegan Temperance McLeary-May, dog walker extraordinaire, at your service. No really, at your service, if you have a dog in need of walking, you can book me on my website at FinneganWalks.com.

      I'd strike a silly pose for you if I weren't trying to be a competent assistant for my daughter here at her Junior High School's science fair. I looked down at my faithful Border Collie, Sir Calvin Cornelius Fluffytoes and showed him the design notes for confirmation. He agreed that Luce was right on track, I could tell because his tongue was hanging out the side of his mouth.

      Luce's own emotional support dog wasn't impressed. Instead, Buttons was curled up at the base of the table that displayed Luce's alternative energy experiment. The huge Irish Wolfhound, with her working dog bib on display, looked like a shaggy dinosaur or one of the legendary giant rats from the Manhattan sewers with her wiry fur.

      My daughter pulled herself up to her full height, which I was a little embarrassed was just an inch shorter than my five foot one... ish... oh shut up. She's only thirteen, so I'm destined to be the shortest of our family once she hits her final growth spurt in a couple years.

      We both adjusted our white lab coats and she looked up at her science teacher, Mrs. Kwon, and Doctor Letner from the National Science Institute was patiently awaiting her presentation as judges of the science fair.

      Mrs. Kwon, used to Luce's OCD, which was a little more pronounced than mine, asked patiently, Are you ready now, dear? We have seven other experiments to observe after yours. Then to Doctor Letner, she said, I'm sorry about the delay, Luce is... well she's quite fastidious when it comes to the scientific process.

      The tall, fit, and handsome man, who looked nothing like I imagined a scientist should, just nodded absently as he looked around the other tables adorned with various baking soda volcanoes, potato batteries, and bean sprouts. Not at all. Attention to detail is almost a prerequisite for researchers. Then he waved a hand around and asked, Young lady, you do realize that your parents aren't supposed to help you with the construction of your experiments? And this is a little too advanced for your grade level.

      Mrs. Kwon and I stiffened, putting Buttons on alert as she looked up, her ears twitching, and before I could warn Luce to be civil she reeled in her verbal explosion that looked like it was aching to bury the man in an avalanche of Irish curses, as evidenced by her speaking through clenched teeth, her Irish accent thickening. Doctor Letner, I assure you that neither of my mums assisted in any way other than procurin' the materials for me. Though my mum here did assist in laminatin' the presentation materials on the backboard, simply because I'd have ta, what was it?

      She looked at me and prompted, Pry the laminator from her cold dead hands?

      Being a good assistant, I supplied helpfully, Yes, my cold dead hands. I was nodding maybe a little too much. Tone it down Fin.

      He cocked an eyebrow as Mrs. Kwon inclined her head toward the man indicating she had nothing to add to Luce's proclamation. He looked back at the other tables again then stepped closer to examine the sleek machine on the table. Can you tell me the premise of the experiment? Ooo a challenge to my girl's assertion.

      He watched her intently as if to see if she had to refer to the presentation panels or her own notes, but she just shrugged and said, With the world's reliance on dirty carbon-based energy such as fossil fuels, future generations have to take the responsibility for our planet, climate, and future, since the current generation has squandered it all like a bunch of gobshites.

      I snapped, Luce! as Mrs. Kwon chastised, Language Miss O'Conner.

      She pulled her head down to her shoulders and leaned in toward me and whispered loudly, Sorry. Then she corrected herself, The current generation has deferred the responsibility to the up and coming generations. So I wanted ta demonstrate ways in which we can harvest photonic energy from solar cells ta perform electrolysis, storin' that potential in chemical form for later use instead of utilizin' resource greedy batteries. Then by reversin' the process with the harvested hydrogen, exciting electron flow across a graphene membrane in the reversible fuel cell ta produce an electrical current that can then be used electro-mechanically on demand.

      He blinked at how concisely she had put it. He smiled slightly. So in layman's terms you...

      She nodded and interrupted. Yes, I built a model of a solar and fuel cell-powered car. Her smile was genuine as she patted the sleek, two-foot-long device on wheels.

      The man nodded and started to ask, Why a graphene sheet instead of PRISM or...

      She started rubbing the back of her hand roughly on her chin as she whispered to the air, The questions are supposed ta come later.

      Mrs. Kwon interjected quickly, Doctor, perhaps you can ask after her presentation. She's been working on speaking to strangers, and has made good progress.

      He nodded and stepped back, clasping his hands behind his back, his attention split between Luce and her experimental car.

      My girl stood taller, smoothed out her white lab coat and then checked to be sure her eye protection was still in place and pushed her mass of wild red curls over her shoulder. Then she went into her presentation, sounding like a teacher lecturing a class. She had awkward hand motions worked into it to bring your attention to the various phases of her experiment, which she had practiced for hours in front of a mirror all week at home.

      And when she was done she said as she looked at the clear hydrogen storage canister in the clear plexiglass body of the vehicle which was filled with a saltwater solution. Seeing that it was full of the excess hydrogen bubbling out of the water and out a vent.

      She said, As you can see, the water has broken down into its composite hydrogen and oxygen molecules by the current introduced by the dielectric solar cell I built. Now... She disconnected the wire leads from the solar cell and connected them to the reversible fuel cell which she had built by herself except for the graphene membrane. And the captured hydrogen excites electrons as it passes through the membrane. And... She flipped a switch and the little vehicle started a painfully slow crawl across the table.

      We were all silent, watching her until the vehicle bumped the barrier at the end of the table and she switched it off, saying, The only byproducts of the process are hydrogen, oxygen, and water vapor. A zero-emission system.

      Then she pulled the cathode and anode from the vehicle handing each to me and I placed them on the waiting paper towels. She held her hands up and said, Safe.

      I repeated with pride, Safe.

      She took her safety glasses off then stood looking straight ahead, wringing her fingers as she prompted, That concludes the presentation portion and the floor is open ta questions.

      Doctor Letner... had questions. And for the first time, I saw someone other than members of our odd ramshackle family, looking at Luce in pride. Mrs. Kwon looked like she was about to burst with that pride as Luce answered all of the man's questions.

      They were in an in-depth discussion about her choice of membranes, her explaining that a thirteen-year-old can only source limited materials that aren't already part of a prebuilt fuel cell kit, and that she insisted on building as much as she could from scratch.

      The middle school teacher had to clear her throat, and tell the man, Doctor, there are still seven more experiments we haven't seen yet, and time is running short.

      He straightened. Of course. Then to Luce, he said, Thank you for your time, Miss O'Conner, your presentation was... eye-opening.

      She glanced at her notes for the first time and then stood awkwardly tall as she said, Thank you for takin' the time ta learn about alternative fuel sources for the next generation. Then in her nervous habit, I think she got from me, she did an awkward little mini curtsy. Then she whispered from the side of her mouth to me, What am I supposed to do with my hands?

      I shrugged as I wrung my own then smoothed down my lab coat. I've always found hands a conundrum. I mean, what do other people do with their hands? They're always just there, dangling at the ends of your arms. Dunno baby girl, but if I ever figure it out, you'll be the first I share it with. Then I reached out an arm, questioning with my eyes. She looked at the other retreating adults then back to me and sighed and let me hug her to me. She was reticent about people touching her, but I was slowly breaking her of it as I whispered, You did great Luce.

      She swallowed then fisted her hand in Calvin's fur since Buttons was actually snoring at her feet now. You think so? They didn't laugh at the wave and particle joke about photons. I put it in there to lighten the gravity of the presentation.

      I thought her photons are very particular about their waveform was cute. Letner did quirk a grin at it. Scientists be geeks like my girl.

      My private sexy detective had made her way over to us with mom, Brianne, Jess, and Kerry, from where they were trying hard to give us space and not crowd Luce while the judges listened to her presentation. Luce fist-bumped her older sister when Bri held up her fist. Then they all started talking at once, inquiring about how it went.

      By the end of the hour, we were all gathered at the little stage at the end of the gymnasium, Mrs. Kwon introduced Doctor Letner again as the guest judge and handed him the microphone. He started, First, I would like to thank the Manhattan school district and your very own Mrs. Kwon for having me here tonight. It was an honor to see so many bright minds and get insight into the future generations of scientists that are our legacy.

      Then after some pomp and circumstance, he started with the three third-place ribbons, one for each grade. Luce was wringing her hands until Buttons bumped her and she lowered her hands absently to grab onto handfuls of fur, calming instantly.

      The three second-place ribbons were given out and then I found myself bouncing on my toes as they started announcing the first place ribbons. The last one was handed out to Larry Ostner, and we were all just blinking in confusion.

      Jessie whispered to us all, But Luce's is head and shoulders over the others.

      Luce shook her head. Larry's is inspired. He grew bean sprouts in varying light conditions while keeping all other environmental conditions consistent, illustrating the importance of light in the germination and development of plants.

      Ker looked at her and put her hands out, face up, and said with emphasis, Beans?!

      I for one, and Jane too by the look on her face, was proud of how Luce was taking this. I had thought for sure she'd get first place. Experiments like hers were advanced, even for high school level experiments, but she took the loss graciously as we all started clapping for the winners.

      Once they had all the winners stand up on stage for everyone to applaud again, then Doctor Letner announced, Every year, the National Science Institute hosts a summer Science Camp, right here in Manhattan, for the brightest young minds to encourage the scientific process and to inspire the upcoming generations to pursue the sciences.

      He turned toward us in the audience. The Institute would like to extend an invitation for one of the coveted seats, all expenses paid, to one lucky participant of the Harrison Jackson Junior High School science fair, to the student who demonstrated the most inspired... and might I say, impressive experiment tonight.

      Then he cocked his head, studying Luce who was shushing Jessie and Kerry, and explained, This presentation was disqualified from the awards tonight because it was not in the list of pre-approved experiments, and was far above the technical level for this age group.

      He pulled a certificate out of a leather

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