Page 44 of Vanish From Sight
She shrugged. “Not sure. We don’t phone unless we need to and she left here of her own accord.”
“Could I have the number?”
“That would be breaking our privacy policy.”
Noah tapped the photo of Katherine on her desk. “She’s dead. Right now, we are doing everything we can to find out who did this. You can either make that easy or we can get it another way. I’d just appreciate you not drawing this out.”
Sandy nodded and took a pad of sticky notes and scribbled on one.
Lena wasapprehensive about meeting the woman in the grocery parking lot, especially after reading all the horror stories of those who had the misfortune of having their dogs stolen.
However, there was a good chance the seller was legit.
Not everyone wanted people coming to their home, especially if something went wrong with the dog after purchase or the buyers decided they no longer wanted it and figured they could request their money back. As someone who had sold and bought items on online marketplaces, she knew most sellers andbuyers would meet at a local coffee store. It was public. It lessened the chances of anything weird happening.
On the phone the woman had told her to look for a blue GMC van that would be parked the furthest from the entrance. As Lena swung into the lot, she scanned the area and saw the van with tinted windows.
Lena pulled up her red Mazda and got out, nerves getting the best of her. The woman was sitting in the driver’s seat, holding two small golden retriever puppies. They couldn’t have been more than twenty weeks old.
The driver brought the window down, revealing a sleeve of tattoos, some bright and colorful, others dark and frightening. From a distance she looked exotic but as Lena got closer, she noticed the woman was a rough looking individual. Her hair was dull, uncombed, with strands of green like she wasn’t sure if she was a teenager or a grown-up. She slouched in the driver’s seat, wearing an old off-white cami undershirt that appeared several sizes too small for her. On top of that she had donned a heavy flannel shirt covered in dogs’ hair that had a tear in the upper breast pocket. Her face was pockmarked, and crow’s feet pulled at the corners of her eyes from years of hard living.
“You here to see the pups?”
“That’s right,” Lena replied, trying to hide her nervousness.
“We have a large selection to choose from. Once we get the clear by our vet, they’re usually good to be picked up at twelve weeks. These are two older ones.”
Lena’s heart melted as the pups wriggled around on the woman’s lap.
“Um, can you tell me a bit more about their living conditions and health?”
The woman’s expression turned guarded. “They’re all healthy and well cared for. We have a big farm with plenty of space for them to run around.”
“And the mother and father — any health issues?”
“None.”
It would have been easy to take her word and be overcome by the balls of fur. How many others had been suckered in with no idea of where they came from? Were they born on the farm or stolen from someone’s home?
“Do you get them chipped?”
“That’s something you’ll have to do. We cover the first vet bill. Are you interested?” And there it was, getting down to business. Lena couldn’t shake the feeling there was something off about the situation.
“So, it’s not possible to see the mother and father?”
“It’s too intrusive. Rest assured; they are in good hands. So?”
Lena handed back the bundle of joy to her. It pained her to think that the dogs might have belonged to someone else — perhaps the mother and father were stolen. Or was the business legit? There was no real way of telling.
“As much as I would like to say yes, I need some time to think about it. You think I can get back to you?”
“Sure. I can’t guarantee we’ll have any left. They move pretty fast. You got our number. Don’t take too long.”
As Lena moved back around the van, she reached into her bag and pulled out an Apple AirTag with a magnet on it. She placed it under the metal bumper and returned to her vehicle. She got in and waited until the van pulled out of the grocery lot. She wanted to make sure the coast was clear before she began to follow.
Using her phone, Lena brought up the Find My app and watched as the AirTag signal moved out of Saranac, heading north of the town.
In the back of her mind, she knew that the woman might just be a legitimate dog seller working a side gig for extra cash. It was becoming all too common. Folks snapping up dogs andtrying to cash in by breeding them from home. It wasn’t her place to discuss the right and wrong of it, as she knew there were many decent folks who were careful not to overbreed dogs and to give them long breaks. It was the other ones that concerned her.
