Page 8 of Vanish From Sight
“Nor is Carl.”
“But he’s handled more crime stories than you.”
“I can’t believe you just said that.”
“It’s true. You’re good, Lena, but…”
She closed her eyes tight as if someone was raking nails down a chalkboard. “Don’t say it.”
“He’s more experienced.”
She popped her eyes open and stared at her screen. “At least let me get this article out.”
“You write it. He’ll edit and publish.”
“C’mon.”
Maggie placed a hand on her shoulder. “You know I have your best interest at heart.” She walked off, leaving Lena feeling deflated. Across the room, she saw Carl enter the office, fashionably late as he would call it. He sauntered in with an air of self-importance, surveying the room with a sly grin. He had a full head of carefully crafted dark hair, which he was constantly running his fingers through. If that wasn’t bad enough, his thick and well-groomed mustache and designer glasses gave him a touch of old-world sophistication.
His sharp, tailored suit hugged his frame perfectly, and the top button of his shirt revealed a hint of gold peeking out from underneath. His dress shoes clacked against the floor, echoing through the open space and drawing attention from those within earshot. As he made his way over to his desk, he addressed a few colleagues with a causal nod and some random comment before he tossed his sleek leather messenger bag down with a sense of nonchalance.
Lena couldn’t help but notice a few disapproving glances from the more reserved nearby as he settled into his chair, leaned back, put his feet up on the desk and took a bite of a green apple.
He saw her staring, pointed at her and winked as he continued to munch.
“Asshole,” she muttered under her breath.
She shook her head and turned toward her monitor. Despite being taken off the missing woman case, she couldn’t help but be intrigued by the call.
Lena brought up Google and did a quick search on puppy thefts.
Article after article came up reporting dognapping on the rise. It was estimated that over 200 million pets were stolen each year, with many purebreds snatched out of the hands of owners at gunpoint. Investigative reporters had found it to be one of the world’s fastest growing illicit markets, coming in third behind narcotics and weapons.
As her eyes surveyed each article, she could see the bigger story.
It was massive and one that few newspapers covered in depth.
Once glance at the going prices for dogs, and it was clear why. Many of the dogs were being sold off in the high thousands.
While smaller breeds like French bulldogs, Pomeranians, Maltese and Chihuahuas were stolen because they were easy to carry, larger breeds like German shepherds and Golden retrievers were still being taken because they were purebred.
Thieves were skirting past the breeding phase and stealing pets out from under the noses of owners at a time when the animals were most valuable. Others were used for breeding.
It was unthinkable.
Most of the pups taken weren’t loose or tied up in front of a store. No, the brazen thieves were going so far as to break in or use violence against the owners.
As the minutes rolled by, Lena found herself nose-deep inwatching surveillance footage online from cameras in businesses, homes, and streets. One showed a man taking puppies right out of a pet grooming salon. In another, a man broke into a dog kennel, and a third showed someone snatch a dog from a woman at an outside bar in Florida. The worst was of a dog walker being shot.
Lena clicked off the browser and returned to finishing the article. As her fingers were poised over the keyboard, and she considered her next words, she heard the ding of an email notification that she’d been expecting. It was the video Hannah promised, a short grainy shot that she hoped would provide crucial evidence or a lead for the story, as without something to go on, she could see herself coming up empty-handed.
She clicked on the email and without hesitation opened it and watched in horror as the crime unfolded. All of it was captured at night. The act was brazen and fast. Two individuals worked together, one clambering over a fence. The other waited for the dogs on the other side. Fortunately, there was no sound as she could only imagine the dogs’ whelps. They were clearly distressed. Within seconds, the dogs were lifted over and the masked individuals hurried back to a waiting car.
Lena felt anger well up inside.
Being a police officer’s ex-wife, she was all too familiar with how cases like this might have been handled. Theft was theft, whether it was a pet or not. Law enforcement was probably treating it like any other theft. The incident report would be assigned to an officer, but without anything to go on, and now with a woman pulled from the lake, a few missing pets would go to the bottom of the pile.
It was going to take some digging but Lena had a few ideas of where to start. Scooping up her phone, she began to make calls.
