Chapter 3
Emily showed up early the next morning.
She'd changed into fresh clothes, but her face looked even paler than it had yesterday, with heavy shadows under her eyes. Anyone could tell she hadn't slept at all.
As soon as she walked in, Sunny, the golden retriever who'd been lying at my feet, suddenly sprang up like he'd gone nuts.
But he wasn't after Emily. He was all over the brand-new designer bag she was carrying.
Sunny shoved his nose right up to the bag, sniffing like crazy, a low, anxious growl rumbling in his throat.
Emily was caught off guard by Sunny's reaction. "Sunny, what's up with you?"
She glanced at the bag in her hand. "I just bought this yesterday. Is there something wrong with it?"
I walked over, and that strong, familiar perfume instantly filled my nose.
It was that sweet, almost suffocating, floral-fruity scent, bold and aggressive.
That smell...
Suddenly, it clicked.
It was the same fragrance the florist in yesterday's photo was wearing.
Emily clearly caught on, too. She started trembling all over, unable to control herself.
She said, "Y-yesterday afternoon, Daniel asked me to meet him, said he had new leads about my brother. The place he picked... was the mall where they sell this brand of bag—"
Before she could finish, the clinic door was suddenly thrown open again.
Daniel burst in, his face twisted in fake grief, waving around a stack of printed "Lost Dog" flyers.
Each flyer had a close-up of Sunny's furry face front and center.
He didn't even spare Emily a glance. He just turned to me, looking all heartbroken and accusing. "Dr. Ford! Has my sister-in-law been here again?
"My brother's missing, and now you're teaming up with her to torment his favorite dog, too?"
He was really putting on a show.
He was so convincing that if I hadn't caught that same strong perfume on him, I might've fallen for it again.
The scent was a bit fainter than the one on Emily's bag, but it was definitely the same perfume.
He must've met the florist yesterday.
"Mr. Carter, we're in the middle of examining Sunny. Please don't disturb us," I said.
Using the excuse that I needed to feed Sunny, I herded him straight into the treatment room without giving Daniel a chance to argue.
Emily caught on right away and followed me in.
Daniel was stuck outside, banging on the door, totally frantic. "Emily, open up! What are you trying to pull now?"
Inside the treatment room, Sunny totally freaked out. His mood went downhill fast.
He was circling the room in a panic, then suddenly dropped to the floor, gagging and retching in obvious pain.
"Sunny!" Emily dropped to her knees beside him, rubbing his back in a desperate attempt to comfort him.
Sunny's gagging grew more and more violent, his whole body convulsing uncontrollably.
I quickly grabbed the emergency supplies and got ready to examine him.
Right then, with a violent heave, Sunny vomited up a small, soggy ball of fur.
A sour, putrid stench instantly flooded the room.
Emily and I both leaned in to get a closer look.
It looked like there was something hidden inside that ball of fur.
I pulled on some gloves and, using tweezers, carefully started to pry the fur ball open.
Right there, smack in the middle of all that tangled dog fur and half-digested food, was a black button impossible to miss.
This wasn't an average button, either. It was made of some kind of matte-finished metal, definitely unusual.
But what really made our skin crawl was the dried, dark red, almost black patch of blood crusted in the stitching holes.
The moment Emily saw that button, it was like someone had pulled the plug on her soul. She just went completely limp.
She collapsed to the floor with a thud, her pupils blown wide, lips quivering, but she couldn't even get a word out.
A few seconds later, a scream so desperate it sounded like her soul was being ripped apart burst from her throat.
"He found it... He really found it..." Emily choked out, her voice trembling with shock and despair.
"He's going to kill Sunny... He's really going to kill him..." Emily wailed, her words breaking apart in her sobs, pure terror in her eyes.