He thought he was stopping for a stray dog in the snow-until he saw what she was hiding beneath her body

apart. Color, sex, buyer, price—depends on the person.”

Cal felt the cabin sharpen around him.

“Family pets don’t usually come with inventory marks,” Claire said.

“No,” he said. “They don’t.”

They photographed every mark under the lamp, with dates, times, and the county case number written on an index card beside each pup. Claire added the findings to continue reading …