Chapter 1 - THE EMPTY KENNELTwenty minutes later, I sat in Luca Moretti’s study with my shoulder bandaged and my hands clasped so tightly together that my fingernails dug into my palms.
Rain tapped against the tall windows.
The mansion felt different now.
An hour ago, it had been full of laughter, crystal glasses, expensive perfume, and Vanessa Bellini’s bright voice carrying through every room.
Now it felt like a house waiting for a funeral.
Luca stood behind his desk, staring at the euthanasia authorization.
His face had gone completely still.
Not angry.
Not confused.
Still.
That was somehow worse.
“Emma,” he said quietly, “look at me.”
I lifted my eyes.
“Did Vanessa ever ask you to sign anything?”
“No.”
“Did you hear her tell anyone that I wanted Bruno put down?”
“No.”
“Did she threaten you when you refused to let them take him?”
I hesitated.
“She said if I made trouble, she would make sure you fired me.”
Luca’s jaw tightened.
“She said anything else?”
I remembered Vanessa leaning close, the sweet perfume suddenly becoming suffocating.
She had whispered, “People like you should learn not to interfere with people who own the house.”
I told Luca.
His eyes narrowed.
“People who own the house.”
He repeated the words as though tasting something bitter.
Then his phone rang.
Daniel.
Luca answered immediately.
“What?”
There was a pause.
“Boss, we found the vehicle.”
“Where?”
“Behind St. Matthew Veterinary Clinic.”
Luca grabbed his coat.
“What happened to Bruno?”
Daniel’s voice lowered.
“We don't know yet.”
I stood.
“I'm coming with you.”
Luca looked at me.
“No.”
“I know what Bruno looks like. I can identify him.”
“You're injured.”
“I can still walk.”
For several seconds he said nothing.
Then he picked up his keys.
“Stay beside me.”
The drive took twelve minutes.
It felt like an hour.
Daniel was waiting outside the clinic with two security men.
His usually controlled expression was gone.
He looked grim.
“Boss.”
“Where's the dog?”
Daniel looked toward the clinic doors.
“They moved him.”
“Where?”
“They won't tell us.”
Luca stepped inside.
A receptionist looked up.
“Yes?”
“My dog was brought here tonight.”
The woman's expression changed immediately.
“Mr. Moretti?”
“You know who I am.”
“Yes, sir. But—”
“Where is Bruno?”
She swallowed.
“He was checked in under your name.”
“I know.”
“And then—”
“Where is he?”
She glanced nervously at the doctor standing behind her.
The doctor stepped forward.
“Mr. Moretti, there has been a misunderstanding.”
“What misunderstanding?”
“The person who brought the dog told us you had authorized emergency euthanasia.”
“I did not.”
The doctor's face paled.
“I understand that now.”
Luca took one step closer.
“What did you do to my dog?”
“Nothing permanent.”
Those two words changed the air in the room.
Luca’s voice became dangerously quiet.
“Nothing permanent?”
The doctor looked at his shoes.
“We sedated him.”
“Why?”
“Because he was resisting.”
I felt sick.
“Where is he?”
“He was transferred.”
“Transferred where?”
The doctor hesitated.
Then he gave us an address.
Luca memorized it instantly.
Daniel was already typing it into his phone.
“Was he alive when he left?”
“Yes.”
“Awake?”
“No.”
“Who took him?”
“A private transport service.”
“Name.”
The doctor handed Luca a form.
“Mercy Pet Transfer.”
Daniel looked at the paperwork.
“That's not a licensed emergency carrier.”
Luca turned toward him.
“You're sure?”
“Yes.”
A terrible silence filled the lobby.
Someone had created a fake transport company.
Someone had forged Luca’s authorization.
Someone had taken his dog while he was distracted entertaining twenty-six guests.
Luca suddenly looked toward me.
“Emma.”
“Yes?”
“What did you see when Vanessa took Bruno?”
I closed my eyes.
A flash.
Vanessa’s red dress.
A silver watch on the stranger’s wrist.
A tattoo.
I opened my eyes.
“There was something on his wrist.”
“What?”
“A tattoo.”
“What kind?”
“Three black vertical lines.”
Daniel looked at Luca.
Luca looked at Daniel.
Neither man spoke.
Then Daniel's phone rang.
He answered.
His face changed.
“What?”
A pause.
“Repeat that.”
He looked at Luca.
“The transport van was found abandoned.”
“Where?”
“Six miles from the river.”
“Bruno?”
Daniel shook his head.
“Not inside.”
Luca stared at him.
“Then where is my dog?”
Daniel swallowed.
“There was blood in the back.”
My heart dropped.
“Whose blood?” Luca asked.
Daniel looked at me.
“We don't know.”
Then his phone buzzed again.
He checked the screen.
A photograph had arrived.
The image showed a muddy roadside.
An overturned blue dog blanket.
And lying beside it was Bruno’s collar.
The tag had been removed.
But underneath where the tag had been attached, someone had scratched a message into the leather.
Three words.
HE SAW EVERYTHING.
Luca went completely motionless.
“Who,” he whispered, “is he talking about?”
Nobody answered.
Because the strangest part wasn't the message.
It was the fact that Bruno had been living in a locked kennel for fourteen years.
May you like
And as far as anyone knew...
he had never witnessed anything worth hiding.
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