Mafia Boss Dog Stole Her Baby's Toys. The Camera Showed The Dog Deserved An Award!

Nia stared at the giant silver dog lying near the refrigerator.

Sure enough, tucked securely between Thor’s massive front paws was a brightly colored, slightly crushed yellow rubber duck with a small red pirate hat painted on its head—Leo’s absolute favorite bath toy, affectionately named 'Captain Squeaks.'

"You have got to be kidding me," Nia muttered, kneeling on the kitchen tiles. "Thor. Give me the duck."

Thor let out a low, pathetic whine, curling his giant body around the small plastic toy, placing his massive snout directly over Captain Squeaks as if guarding a sacred crown jewel.

"He considers it a high-value asset," Jyn remarked, leaning against the counter, crossing his arms. "In security training, when an operative canine secures an item during a high-stress deployment, it represents emotional stabilization. You cannot simply pull it from his mouth. He will view it as a breach of trust."

"He’s a dog, Jyn! We have thirty-five minutes before five Maybachs turn us into target practice!" Nia reached out to grab the duck.

SQUEAK!

Thor didn't bite. Instead, with lightning-fast agility that belied his massive size, he flipped his head, scooped Captain Squeaks into his jowls, stood up, and trotted briskly out of the kitchen toward the living room stairs.

"Thor! Stop!" Nia hissed under her breath, trying not to wake Leo upstairs.

She ran into the living room just in time to see the giant dog slide smoothly under the wooden coffee table, squeezing his bulky frame into the narrow space between the sofa and the rug, holding the yellow duck tightly between his front teeth.

"Jyn, handle your dog!" Nia whispered frantically.

Jyn walked into the living room, stepping around the plush armchair. He cleared his throat and spoke in a crisp, low German tone: "Thor. Aus. Platz."

Thor blinked his dark, intelligent eyes. He slowly let out a puff of air through his black nose. Then, deliberate as a toddler throwing a silent tantrum, he rolled onto his side, hid his face under the sofa skirt, and let out another muffled SQUEAK.

Nia looked at Jyn. "Did your twelve-language elite security dog just ignore a direct command in German?"

Jyn rubbed the bridge of his nose, looking profoundly embarrassed. "He... appears to have developed an emotional attachment to the squeaker."

"Unbelievable," Nia muttered. She knelt down beside the sofa, reaching under the skirt. "Thor, listen to me. That duck belongs to Leo. If Leo wakes up and Captain Squeaks isn't in his backpack, there will be a meltdown of catastrophic proportions. Do you understand? A three-year-old tantrum is worse than Mr. Chong’s mercenaries."

Thor peeked out from under the sofa skirt. His silver tail gave two heavy THUMP-THUMP hits against the wooden floorboards.

SQUEAK.

"Wait," Nia paused. She noticed the way Thor’s eyes flicked toward the front bay window, then back to the duck.

"Jyn," Nia whispered, her tone suddenly shifting. "Look at the camera screen from the hall."

Jyn walked quickly to the hallway monitor, which was still running the scrambled feed from the local jammer. However, through the crack in the heavy velvet living room curtains, the physical world was still visible.

Outside, in the driving rain, a tall figure in a dark tactical slicker had detached from the rear Maybach. The man was crouching behind Nia’s hydrangeas, moving silently toward the side gas meter of the house.

He was carrying a long, thin pneumatic tube—a tactical insertion device used to pump odorless, fast-acting sleep gas through a house's central ventilation intake.

Vance was moving early. He wasn't waiting for sunrise.

"They noticed the signal degradation," Jyn whispered, his silver eyes turning into cold flint. "Vance realized the jammer was active. He's neutralizing the house from the exterior."

Nia turned back to Thor.

The giant dog was no longer playing. His entire body was rigid under the sofa. His ears were flat against his broad skull, his upper lip lifted just enough to reveal four gleaming, sharp white teeth. He hadn't just taken Captain Squeaks to play—he had taken the toy because the squeaker was located at the exact acoustic frequency of the pneumatic tube being unclipped outside the window!

The dog had heard the intruder three minutes before the man reached the bushes. He had used the squeaky toy to force Nia and Jyn into the center of the living room, away from the exterior walls and the air vents!

"Good boy," Nia breathed, horror and awe washing over her simultaneously. "He wasn't stealing it. He was pulling us away from the vents."

"Nia, get upstairs," Jyn commanded, his voice dropping into absolute authority. "Get Leo. Put him in his winter suit. Do not turn on the hall lights."

"What about you?"