Someone is stealing pets in P.I. Billie Bly's Northwest Portland neighborhood and one of her critical neighbors begs her to find her lost dog. 

Billie is a hard-boiled female P.I., who normally wouldn't give the plea a tumble. But she allows herself to be coerced into helping because she thinks it might smooth ruffled feathers with her neighbors after her garage blew up during a recent case. 
A young boy with unruly red hair adopts her and asks to help solve her case. But the boy displays some disturbing behaviors and may be more hindrance than help. If she wasn't so good at her job this could be a case with a happy ending, but when she gets wind of something bigger, a sinister figure plans to put an end to Billie Bly.
Maybe she was better off with her neighbors hating her.
This short story is 11,800 words.