Chapter 7 - The Mark Beneath the Collar
Elena removed the remaining rope fibers from Grace’s neck.
Beneath the wet fur, she found an old scar.
It was not caused by the roadside rope.
The mark had healed months earlier.
Grace had been restrained before.
Her paws showed signs of confinement on concrete.
Two nails were broken.
Her weight was twenty pounds below normal.
The puppies were approximately five weeks old.
That meant Grace became pregnant while missing.
Rebecca stood beside the examination table, shaking.
“Whoever took her kept her somewhere.”
Elena nodded.
“Probably indoors or inside a kennel.”
Walter noticed a small patch of pale blue paint on the rope.
He picked it up with a paper towel.
Rebecca recognized the color.
Whitmore Construction used that exact shade on equipment storage buildings.
Her father owned six sites across the county.
Walter asked whether any were near Old Mill Road.
Rebecca hesitated.
May you like
“One.”
The abandoned Whitmore gravel yard sat less than four miles from the utility pole.
