Beverly Hills Chihuahua 2 Read online

  “So, you met this dog in Mexico and now he found you in Los Angeles? Are you wearing meat cologne, or something?” Mr. Cortez asked his son.

  “I don’t know why he came here,” Sam told his father. “But Detective Ramirez said they’re wrapping up a big case down there, and they can’t pick him up for a few days. I said we’d look after him until they come.” Walking over to the back door, Sam whistled for the dogs. In an instant, they all came running. “Come on guys, back to bed.”

  Papi looked over at Delgado. “We’re glad you’re here, my friend. Let’s get some sleep. It’s been a long day.”

  Papi watched Delgado and Chloe walk off. He sighed heavily.

  “You okay, bro?” Pedro asked, noticing Papi’s expression.

  Papi hung his head. “I think I messed up tonight, Pedro,” he said. “Papi Jr. could have gotten very hurt. I just hope I can be the father that Chloe wants me to be.”

  “Just follow your heart,” Pedro advised. “It will show you the way.”

  Papi nodded. He hoped Pedro was right. Then he went upstairs to join his family.

  The next morning, Sam and his dad arrived at the bank to talk to the manager. Papi came along, too.

  “Gentlemen,” Mr. Kroop, the manager, began, “I’d like to help you out, but my hands are tied. You are too far behind on payments.”

  “What are we going to do?” Sam asked, shaking his head.

  Papi leaped into Sam’s lap. “Why don’t you try begging, Sam,” he suggested. “It works when I want your burrito.”

  Mr. Kroop pushed his chair away from the barking Chihuahua. “I didn’t realize you brought your dog. Fun. I’m more of a cat person myself.” He reached over and held up a framed photograph of a cat. He looked at the picture of the feline lovingly. “Isn’t he a cutie?”

  Papi glanced over at the photograph of the man hugging a bored-looking tabby cat. “Now I know what’s wrong with you!” Papi shouted.

  “Look, sir,” Mr. Cortez said. “This is our home. Our life is there, our memories…” He trailed off sadly.

  “Our squeaky toys,” Papi added.

  Mr. Kroop shook his head. “Well, unfortunately, memories don’t pay the bills,” he replied. “Now, you’ve received your final notice. Once that happens, the bank can only give you until the end of the month.” He leaned forward to look at the calendar on his desk. “That gives you three weeks to get us forty thousand dollars.” He looked up at Mr. Cortez and his son. “If you don’t get the money by then, the house is ours.”

  “Forty thousand dollars? No problem,” Papi said, feigning confidence. Then he turned to Sam. “I’ll start digging in the couch for change.”

  “We can’t come up with all that money in three weeks!” Sam exclaimed.

  “Well, I’m sorry I couldn’t be of more help, gentlemen, but I have another client waiting. Please, take a free pen for your troubles.” He handed them each a pen and then gave Papi a quick pat on the head.

  “You better have nine lives if you want to mess with me!” Papi yelled as they walked away from Mr. Kroop.

  “A pen? They take your house and give you a pen,” Sam said, stunned. Papi looked at Sam and Mr. Cortez. Something had to be done!

  Meanwhile, Chloe and Delgado had set off for a walk. When Chloe realized where Delgado had taken her, she stopped short. “What are we doing at the police station? What’s so secret? Am I some sort of lookout?” she asked curiously.

  Delgado didn’t answer.

  “Oohh, maybe we should have a code word,” Chloe suggested eagerly. It had been so long since she’d been on a great adventure! “How about ‘jelly bean’? Do we need disguises?”

  Delgado turned to his friend. “Chloe, I just need you to be here, okay? Because…” He took a deep breath. “This is a bad idea. Maybe we should go.”

  Just then, two German shepherds looked up from an obstacle course. They surveyed Delgado from the other side of a fence.

  “Those two dogs are coming this way,” Chloe told Delgado. “Do you know them?”

  “What are you doing here?” one of the dogs, named Antonio, growled through the fence.

  “That’s no way to greet someone!” Chloe reprimanded them. “In my circles, a lick on each cheek does the trick.”

  Delgado looked the two police dogs in the eye. “I just wanted to see you, make sure you were doing okay,” he said.

  “Is there something you want?” Antonio asked. “Because we really don’t have time to talk.”

  Delgado raised an eyebrow. “Working on a big case?” he asked.

  “There’s been a string of bank robberies in the area, and we’re trying to catch a scent,” Alberto, the other dog, answered. “We should go,” he told Antonio.

  “Maybe I could see you another time?”

  Delgado asked hopefully.

  “You left us!” Antonio cried angrily. “You didn’t care about us, so why would we suddenly care about you?”

  Just then, an officer whistled. The two dogs took one last look at Delgado and then ran off to their training group.

  Chloe was confused. “Delgado, who were those dogs? They were so angry.”

  “Those are my sons,” Delgado said quietly.

  “Sons?” Chloe asked, stunned. “I didn’t know you had sons! Why didn’t you tell me this earlier?”

  Delgado walked away sadly. Chloe ran to catch up with him.

  “I’m sorry I dragged you into this,” he said. He shook his head.

  “So, there’s no secret police mission you need my help with, is there?” Chloe asked him.

  “I thought with you by my side, I’d have the strength to face my boys and tell them the truth,” he told her.

  “The truth about what?” Chloe asked, even more confused.

  “Forget it. I can’t change the past now,” Delgado said and walked away.

  Chloe stared after her friend in shock. Now she understood why Delgado had come all the way to California. And Delgado was like family to her. She vowed that she’d be there for him—no matter what.

  In the rain forest, Rachel was thinking about Sam when her phone rang suddenly. It was him! She was so relieved to hear his voice. She missed him so much! But as she listened to what Sam’s family was going through, she felt awful.

  “There’s just no way we can come up with the money in three weeks,” Sam told her over the phone.

  “There must be something we can do, Sam,” Rachel said as she walked through the compound where she and her aunt were staying. “I’m going to ask Aunt Viv.”

  “No!” Sam said adamantly. “My father is very proud. Borrowing money is something that he just can’t do.”

  “I feel so helpless. I should come home,” Rachel told him. She looked over at Aunt Viv, who was carefully examining a rainforest plant.

  “This is the one!” Viv cried gleefully.

  “Listen, you have to stay there. You and Aunt Viv are doing important work,” Sam said.

  Rachel nodded. But in her heart, she wanted to be with Sam. “I love you, Sam,” she told him. “I’m here for you if you need me. Forever if you wanted,” she added.

  Sam sat down in a chair in his parents’ backyard. He put his hand on Papi’s head. “Thank you. You know, I should go,” he said to Rachel. “I make for lousy conversation right now. I’ll call you soon.”

  “Okay,” Rachel replied sadly. “Good-bye, Sam.”

  As Sam hung up the phone, his mother came outside, carrying a sweater for him.

  A smile spread across Mrs. Cortez’s face. “Was that Rachel on the phone?” she asked. “When can I start planning a wedding?” She winked at her son. “I already have a dress picked out.”

  “Ma,” Sam said. “I love Rachel, and I don’t want to lose her.” Sam slumped lower into the chair. “But I’m worried if we get married I won’t be able to give her the life she deserves,” he said sadly.

  “Sam, all that matters is that you love each other. The rest will work itself out,” Mrs. Cortez s
aid sincerely. She smiled at her son and headed back inside the house. Deep down, she knew everything would turn out the way it was supposed to.

  Sam reached down to pet Papi. “Oh, man, Papi,” he said. “What do I do? I’m just scared I won’t be enough.”

  “I feel you, man. I feel you,” Papi replied, hoping Sam could understand. He put his head in Sam’s lap and together they sat, wondering if they could be enough for their true loves.

  After a lazy breakfast the next morning, the dogs lounged on the couches in the living room. A loud knock on the front door made them all jump to attention.

  “Coming! Just a minute!” Sam, still in his pajamas, called as he ran down the stairs to the front door. As he looked through the peephole, he sighed heavily and opened the door.

  “Morning!” a very chipper Mr. Kroop bellowed at the front door. “Oops, looks like I woke you. Sorry,” he said. When he saw the disbelief on Sam’s face, he thought perhaps Sam didn’t recognize him. “I’m Mr. Kroop from the bank,” he reminded Sam. “We met the other day.”

  “How could I forget?” Sam said. “You gave me a pen,” he added sarcastically.

  Smiling, Mr. Kroop nodded. “And here’s a notice for you, too. I’m here to inspect the house since the bank will be selling it once you’re out.”

  Mr. Kroop walked into the house and was met by all the dogs staring at him. He took a step back. “Oh, more dogs…lovely,” he mumbled. He looked over his shoulder at the inspectors behind him. “Let’s get started, everyone!” he directed.

  A couple of house inspectors came in and pushed past Sam. They held clipboards and measuring tapes. Just then, Mr. and Mrs. Cortez rushed into the room, wondering what all the noise was about.

  “Samuel, what’s going on?” Mrs. Cortez asked worriedly.

  “They can’t just come in here like this!” Mr. Cortez declared as he realized what was happening.

  Sam read the notice in his hand. “There’s nothing we can do,” he said quietly. “They have the right.”

  Papi wasn’t about to let Mr. Kroop and the inspectors upset his family. “Come on, everyone!” Papi called. “They aren’t taking this house without a fight!”

  The dogs all gathered around Papi. They talked among themselves, agreed to a plan, and quickly spread out around the house.

  Papi Jr. took hold of one of the measuring tapes and played a little game of tug-of-war with it.

  “Let go! Bad dog!” an inspector yelled. “Very bad dog!”

  But Papi Jr. was holding on tight. Ali cheered her brother on. “You let go! Bad lady!” she barked. “Very bad lady!”

  “Give me back my tape!” the woman screamed at Papi Jr. She tried to wrestle it away from him.

  Just then, Papi Jr. let go of the tape. It snapped back and hit the woman in the face!

  “Be careful what you wish for,” Papi Jr. said with a smirk.

  Meanwhile, Delgado stood by the window in one of the upstairs bedrooms. Outside, an inspector was climbing up a ladder to the window. Delgado barked as loud as he could, and Pedro jumped to his side.

  Pedro flashed the inspector one of his trademark smiles.

  The instant the inspector saw Pedro’s toothy, ferocious grin, he screamed and lost his grip on the ladder!

  In the living room, Sam and his parents were talking to Mr. Kroop. He had neatly placed a stack of papers on the coffee table.

  “And I’ll need you to sign these documents,” Mr. Kroop told the Cortezes. Papi had had enough. He jumped up on the table and stood on the stack of papers.

  Mr. Kroop eyed Papi nervously. “Okay, buddy, get down. These are important papers.”

  Papi lifted up his leg, ready to pee.

  “You wouldn’t dare,” Mr. Kroop threatened.

  “Just try me, cat man,” Papi growled. He lifted his leg higher. He watched the veins in Mr. Kroop’s face bulge. And then he peed!

  As Mr. Kroop watched, stunned, Papi snatched the bank manager’s cell phone.

  “My phone!” Mr. Kroop shouted. “You’ll get slobber all over it!” He ran out the door after Papi. Chloe nudged a skateboard Mr. Kroop’s way. He tripped over it and fell right on his back.

  Furious, Mr. Kroop got up and tried unsuccessfully to clean himself off. His suit was ripped, and he had prickly thorns from the tree outside stuck to him. He was fuming as he walked back inside to the Cortez family. “This place is a madhouse!” he roared. “I am officially evicting you from this property!”

  “But we still have three weeks!” Sam cried.

  “Please, sir, you can’t do this to us!” Mrs. Cortez protested.

  “Oh, yes, I can,” Mr. Kroop told them. “Your dogs are ruining this house, and this house is about to belong to the bank. I could have the sheriff here—get you all arrested for destroying bank property. I want you out by tonight.” Mr. Kroop headed toward the front door. Before he exited, he turned sharply around. He reached down and grabbed the bank pen from the table. “And I’ll take this back, thank you very much!” he huffed.

  Before leaving, he looked at his cell phone, which he had managed to retrieve. “Who called Mexico?” he asked, frowning. Then he stormed out.

  “My cousin in Tijuana says hi,” Papi told the other dogs.

  Mrs. Cortez looked at her husband and son. “What are we going to do? Are we supposed to sleep in the streets?” she asked, very upset.

  The dogs all glanced at one another. This mission definitely had not gone as planned.

  Later that day, the Cortez family and all the dogs were back at Aunt Vivian’s mansion in Beverly Hills. The puppies were thrilled to be back home. They went yapping toward their toys, eager to play.

  Mr. and Mrs. Cortez were completely in awe of how enormous the house was. “How many people live here?” Mr. Cortez asked, bewildered.

  “One,” Sam replied.

  “Is she a giant?” his mother asked.

  Sam remained quiet. He picked up his parents’ bags to take to their room.

  After they had all settled in, Sam and his parents sat at the large dining table with a gourmet lunch spread out before them. There was a heavy silence in the room, and no one was eating. Even the dogs sat in front of untouched bowls of food.

  Sam tried to make some conversation with his parents. “This place is something, huh, Ma?” he said, attempting to lighten the mood at the table. “Even the doghouse is bigger than our place.”

  “Our house might be small, Sam, but it’s our home. I mean, was …” Mrs. Cortez said as her eyes filled with tears. This was all too much for her. “Excuse me, please,” she said, and walked out of the room.

  Sam glanced over at his father. “I was just trying to cheer her up,” he explained.

  “I’ll go talk to her,” Mr. Cortez said. He got up and went after her.

  Alone at the table, Sam shook his head. He picked up the newspaper in front of him and started to read.

  A picture in the paper caught Chloe’s attention. “Hey!” she cried.

  Chloe stood in front of Sam to get a better look at the newspaper. There on the cover was Appoline, the snooty show dog from the park. She was posing for the camera with her trophy. Under the photo was the headline: beverly hills dog show in just three weeks! will appoline win the $50,000 prize again?

  Papi was thrilled. If they won the top prize at the dog show, they could help Sam and his family! “My love, you’re a genius,” Papi gushed. “If we win, the money would save the house!”

  As Chloe looked at the photograph, she imagined Appoline’s reaction to seeing her at the show. Chloe imagined what the show dog would say to her. “You sink you could vin zee dog show? Impossible! It is always moi. Do not make me laugh,” Appoline howled. “Chihuahua? More like Chi-ha-ha!”

  “Everything okay?” Papi asked his wife.

  Just thinking of Appoline made Chloe angry. “We’re going to do this! Let’s tell Sam!” Chloe declared.

  Chloe and Papi looked at each other and nodded. It was time to put their plan i
nto action! They both barked loudly at Sam to get his attention.

  “Whoa,” Sam said, confused about the noise. “What’s gotten into you two?” He put his paper down to see what Chloe and Papi were doing. Chloe was in the same pose as Appoline in the paper. She held her nose high and had one paw up in the air. Then she barked loudly again.

  “I want to do the dog show!” she told Sam.

  “Look at you posing,” Sam said, smiling. He thought Chloe was trying to cheer him up. But then Chloe put her paw on the paper, and Sam looked down. “‘Dog show,’” he read. And slowly he understood. “Wait. Oh, my gosh! Great idea, Chloe!”

  Chloe grinned. “Finally,” she said with a sigh of relief. Then she shook her head. “Guys are so slow.”

  The Beverly Hills Dog Show was in full swing. Pedigree pets and their owners were running around frantically, getting ready for the contest. Last-minute grooming checks, trick practice, and costume fixes all made for a busy preshow. The dogs were trying to psych themselves into winning.

  “So this is the big league,” Papi commented.

  Sam was amazed by the whole scene. He leaned over to his father. “Is it me, or is it hard to tell the dogs from their owners?” he asked.

  Papi looked around and noticed that many owners did bear a strong resemblance to their dogs. A sheepdog had the same frizzy white hair as its owner; a thin greyhound stood next to a very tall, wiry man; and a man walking with a basset hound had the same droopy expression on his face.

  “Let’s go sign in,” Sam said to his family.

  “May I help you?” a man sitting at the registration table asked Sam.

  “I hope so,” Sam answered cheerfully. “We’re here for the dog show.”

  Judge McKible looked down his nose to look at the dogs. “With these dogs?” he asked in a snobby tone as he sized up Chloe, Papi, Delgado, and Pedro. “This is a very prestigious dog show. Dogs train for years to be prepared. I’m not sure you or your dogs have got what it takes.”

  “Well, I think we just might surprise you,”

  Sam said with a pleasant smile, trying to stay positive.