Chapter 3 - THE DOG THAT REMEMBERED TOO MUCH
Dr. Eleanor Price examined Brutus the following morning.
Mave wasn't present.
She had a double shift.
But Declan called her that afternoon.
“The doctor found something.”
Mave stepped into the restaurant's supply closet.
“What?”
“Old injuries.”
Her stomach tightened.
“From what?”
“Repeated punishment. The scars beneath his collar aren't recent.”
Mave closed her eyes.
She had suspected it.
Still, hearing the confirmation hurt.
“Does she think he can recover?”
“She says he needs a full behavioral assessment, treatment, and a controlled environment. She won't promise he'll ever be safe in crowded public places.”
“That's fair.”
Declan was silent.
Then he asked:
“Why did you recognize the scars?”
Mave leaned against a shelf.
“My mother used to run a rescue.”
He waited.
“She took in dogs nobody wanted. Aggressive dogs. Frightened dogs. Dogs people had hurt.”
“Where is she now?”
Mave swallowed.
“In a care facility.”
Declan's voice softened.
“I'm sorry.”
“She has a neurological condition. Some days she recognizes me. Some days she doesn't.”
He said nothing.
Mave appreciated that.
Most people rushed to offer comforting phrases.
Declan simply listened.
That evening, Declan received the first photograph.
It arrived in an unmarked envelope.
A younger Brutus stood inside a concrete training enclosure.
Around his neck was a thick electronic collar.
Beside him stood a man with a ponytail.
The same man who had entered the Copper Anchor.
On the back of the photograph were five words.
HE STILL REMEMBERS WHAT YOU DID.
Declan stared.
He had never seen the enclosure.
Never met the trainer.
Brutus had been given to him eighteen months earlier by his former security chief, Patrick Voss.
Voss had claimed the dog came from a reputable protection program.
Declan had trusted him.
That trust now felt like a loaded weapon pointed at his own chest.
He called Patrick.
No answer.
Again.
Nothing.
Then a text appeared.
Stop asking about the dog.
Declan's expression hardened.
A second message followed.
Or the waitress pays for your curiosity.
Declan was already reaching for his keys when the third message arrived.
May you like
It was a photograph of Mave leaving the Copper Anchor.
Taken less than ten minutes earlier.
