Chapter 7 - where Scout really came from
Scout had been adopted eight months earlier from a rescue event.
Sophie chose him because one ear folded sideways when he was excited.
Erin remembered Judith’s reaction.
She had gone strangely quiet when she saw the puppy.
Then asked:
“Where did you get that dog?”
Erin thought she simply disliked animals.
Now the question sounded different.
Mara obtained Scout’s adoption records.
The rescue organization was legitimate.
But Scout had arrived there through an emergency seizure involving an unlicensed breeder two states away.
Original intake number:
K-417.
Mara searched the trafficking ledger fragments already recovered.
K-417 appeared.
Twice.
First as “transported.”
Later as “missing.”
Scout had been part of the network.
Then seized accidentally during a local enforcement action.
The traffickers apparently lost track of him.
Until Sophie adopted him.
Judith recognized him.
How?
A distinctive white patch on Scout’s chest shaped like a crescent.
Perhaps she had seen photographs.
Or participated directly.
Mara questioned Judith.
For hours she denied everything.
Then investigators showed the microchip number.
Her expression changed.
“I told Walter that dog was trouble.”
Mara asked:
“How did you know?”
“He showed me a list.”
“When?”
“Months ago.”
“Why?”
“Because one of the animals from Raymond’s transport had been seized.”
“So you knew about the transports.”
Judith stopped talking.
Her attorney ended the interview.
But the admission was recorded.
Erin sat outside holding Sophie’s hand.
“Grandma knew Scout before me?”
“She knew about him.”
“Why didn’t she say?”
“I don’t know.”
Sophie looked confused and wounded.
“Did she ever like him?”
Erin answered carefully.
“No, honey.”
Not every truth needed decoration.
Michael joined them.
His face was exhausted.
“They found Dad’s offshore account.”
Erin looked up.
Payments tied to Raymond.
David.
Several shell companies.
And one familiar name:
Noah Grant.
Erin frowned.
“Who is that?”
Michael shook his head.
Mara knew.
“Federal veterinary compliance officer.”
A regulator.
Corruption inside the system.
That explained why the network survived inspections.
Noah Grant had certified facilities that should have been shut down.
He was already under internal review.
Now the investigation widened.
But Erin cared about Scout.
“Where is David?”
“Moving.”
“Can you trace him?”
“He’s using burner phones.”
Then Sophie spoke.
“Scout gets carsick.”
Everyone looked at her.
“What?”
“He throws up if he rides too long.”
Erin understood first.
“If David keeps moving him, Scout might vomit up the chip.”
Mara’s expression sharpened.
“And if he does, David no longer has a reason to keep him close.”
They needed Scout quickly.
Michael texted David:
SCOUT GETS CARSICK. CHECK THE BACK SEAT.
No response.
Ten minutes.
Twenty.
Then David called.
“He threw it up.”
Michael stood.
“Is he okay?”
“Yes.”
“The drive?”
“Looks intact.”
“Bring both.”
David’s breathing was heavy.
“I can’t.”
“Why?”
“Raymond found me.”
A car horn blared on David’s side.
Then tires.
“David!”
The call cut.
Agents traced it to an industrial park.
They found David’s SUV abandoned.
Blood on the driver’s door.
Not enough to indicate what happened.
Scout’s paw prints on the pavement.
Then a second set of tire tracks.
Someone transferred David and Scout.
A small black object lay beneath the passenger seat.
The memory component.
Mara bagged it.
Raymond had taken Scout.
But apparently missed the evidence he wanted.
Unless he wanted something else.
The recovered memory was sent for forensic extraction.
Hours later, a technician opened the first intact file.
A spreadsheet.
Hundreds of animal identifiers.
Routes.
Payments.
But one column caught Mara’s attention.
OWNER / TARGET.
Most entries listed numbers.
Scout’s row listed a name.
SOPHIE COLE.
Erin stopped breathing.
The traffickers had not merely rediscovered Scout after adoption.
May you like
They had recorded the identity of the eleven-year-old child who owned him.
👉 The trafficking ledger identified Sophie by name, proving someone had been monitoring the family long before Scout ever scratched behind Walter’s freezer.
