Chapter 3: The Woman Who Received Buddy
For several seconds, Rene couldn't speak.
He stood in the doorway with his phone pressed against his ear, staring at Vanessa.
She had gone completely still.
Arthur looked between them.
“What did Danielle say?””
Rene raised one hand, asking his father to wait.
“Danielle, explain what you mean.””
On the other end, his sister was breathing heavily.
“I received a message yesterday afternoon saying Buddy would be arriving at my property this morning. I thought it was a joke.””
“Did you receive him?””
“No.””
“Then who did?””
“I don't know.””
Rene closed his eyes.
“Vanessa says the transport company delivered him to you.””
“That's impossible. I'm not even in town.””
“Where are you?””
“At the hospital.””
Rene frowned.
“Why?””
Danielle went quiet.
Then she said something he hadn't expected.
“Because I'm taking care of Mom's old friend, Margaret. She's been in the hospital for three days.””
Arthur suddenly looked up.
“Margaret?””
Rene nodded slowly.
His father took the phone.
“Danielle, it's Dad.””
There was a long silence.
Then Danielle began crying.
“I'm sorry, Dad.””
Arthur closed his eyes.
“Where have you been?””
“That's not important right now.””
“It is to me.””
“Dad, please. We need to find Buddy.””
Arthur's voice softened.
“Tell us what you know.””
Danielle explained that someone had contacted her through an old family email address two weeks earlier. The message claimed that Buddy was being rehomed because Rene and Vanessa were separating and could no longer care for him.
Danielle had replied immediately.
She wanted to speak to Rene.
But the sender told her that Rene was aware of the arrangement and that Vanessa was handling everything.
“I never agreed to take him without speaking to you,” Danielle said.
“I asked for a video call. They kept postponing it.””
Rene's jaw tightened.
“Who sent the message?””
“I thought it was Vanessa.””
“Was it?””
“I don't know. The email address looked familiar, but the display name was yours.””
Rene took the phone back.
“Send me everything.””
“I will.””
“Danielle, did you give anyone another address?””
“No.””
“Did you authorize another recipient?””
“Absolutely not.””
Rene looked at Vanessa.
She had moved toward the kitchen.
“Vanessa!””
She stopped.
He held out the phone.
“Danielle wants to speak to you.””
Vanessa shook her head.
“I'm busy.””
Rene's voice became cold.
“Pick up the phone.””
She looked at him, then at Arthur.
Finally, she took it.
“Hello, Danielle.””
Danielle's voice was sharp.
“Where is Buddy?””
Vanessa rubbed her forehead.
“Danielle, I can explain.””
“Then explain.””
“The transport company was supposed to deliver him to your house.””
“I told you I wasn't home!””
“You said you were arranging someone to receive him.””
“I said I would ask my neighbor to help if the timing worked. I never confirmed anything.””
Vanessa's expression tightened.
“That's not how I understood it.””
“Then you should have asked.””
Rene stepped closer.
“Who received the dog?””
Vanessa looked at the floor.
“I don't know.””
Arthur slammed his hand against the kitchen counter.
“You sent a living animal away without knowing who would receive him?””
Vanessa flinched.
“I trusted the service!””
Rene took the tablet from the coffee table.
“What's the transport company's name?””
She hesitated.
“PetWay Express.””
“Give me the booking number.””
Vanessa unlocked the application and showed him the screen.
Rene dialed the customer service number.
After several rings, a woman answered.
“Thank you for calling PetWay Express. How may I help you?””
“This is Rene Morgan. My dog was transported under booking number 7419. I need the recipient's identity and exact delivery location.””
“Certainly, sir. May I have the registered sender's name?””
“Vanessa Morgan.””
A few seconds passed.
“Thank you. I'm locating the delivery record.””
Rene waited.
He could hear keyboard clicks.
Then the woman spoke again.
“Sir, the delivery was completed at 9:42 this morning.””
“Who signed for him?””
“According to our record, the recipient was a woman named Claire Bennett.””
Rene frowned.
“Claire Bennett?””
“Yes, sir.””
“Where was he delivered?””
“I'm sorry. We can only release the complete delivery address to the registered sender.””
“I'm the dog's owner.””
“I understand, sir, but our system shows the booking was made under your wife's account.””
Rene turned toward Vanessa.
“Put her on.””
Vanessa shook her head.
“Rene—”
“Now.””
She took the phone.
“This is Vanessa Morgan.””
The customer service representative repeated the information.
Vanessa's face changed with every sentence.
“That's not possible.””
She listened again.
Then she whispered:
“Who authorized that?””
A pause.
“Can you send me the photograph?””
Another pause.
“Fine. Send it immediately.””
She ended the call.
Rene stepped toward her.
“What photograph?””
Vanessa stared at the tablet.
“The recipient signed electronically. They have a photograph of Buddy at the delivery location.””
“Show me.””
She hesitated.
“Vanessa!””
She turned the tablet toward him.
A photograph filled the screen.
Buddy was standing beside a woman wearing a red coat.
His yellow collar was still around his neck.
Behind them was a white front door with a brass number plate.
*18.*
Rene zoomed in.
The address was not Willow Lane.
It was another street entirely.
He read it aloud.
“18 Ashford Crescent.””
Arthur frowned.
“I know that street.””
Rene looked at him.
“Where?””
Arthur slowly shook his head.
“Near the old railway station.””
Vanessa's face had become pale.
Lily approached, standing on tiptoe to see the screen.
“That's Buddy!””
Her little fingers touched the photograph.
“Look, Daddy. He's wearing his yellow collar.””
Rene pulled her close.
“Yes, sweetheart. That's him.””
“Can we go get him?””
“We're going to try.””
Vanessa suddenly grabbed the tablet.
“Wait.””
Rene turned.
“What now?””
She stared at the photograph.
“I know that woman.””
Arthur stepped closer.
“Who is she?””
Vanessa swallowed.
“Claire Bennett.””
“Who is Claire Bennett?”” Rene demanded.
Vanessa looked at him.
“She used to work for your mother.””
Arthur's face went rigid.
“What?””
“She was your mother's personal assistant before she died.””
Rene stared at the screen again.
He remembered Claire vaguely.
A quiet woman who had visited their house several times during the final months of his mother's illness.
But he had never known her well.
“Why would she have Buddy?””
Vanessa shook her head.
“I don't know.””
Arthur reached for his coat.
“Then we're going there.””
Vanessa blocked the doorway again.
“Dad, please listen to me.””
Arthur stopped.
“Don't call me Dad.””
Her lips parted.
“I was trying to help.””
“You lied to my son, frightened my granddaughter, and sent an innocent animal to someone you cannot even explain.””
Vanessa's eyes filled with tears.
“I didn't know this would happen.””
Rene looked at her.
“Then tell me what you did know.””
For the first time, Vanessa appeared genuinely afraid.
She sat down slowly.
“I received a phone call three days ago.””
“From whom?””
“Claire.””
Rene felt a chill.
“What did she want?””
Vanessa looked toward Lily.
“She said she had something that belonged to your mother. Something important. She said Buddy was the only way to get it.””
Arthur gripped the back of a chair.
“What does that mean?””
Vanessa's voice dropped.
“She said your mother left instructions about Buddy before she died.””
Rene frowned.
“My mother never left instructions about a dog.””
“That's what I thought.””
“Then why did you believe her?””
Vanessa looked down.
“Because she sent me a document.””
She unlocked the tablet and opened an attachment.
It was a scanned letter.
The handwriting was unmistakable.
Rene recognized the elegant loops of his mother's signature immediately.
His fingers began to shake.
At the top of the letter was a date from six years earlier.
And beneath it, a sentence that made Arthur sink into the nearest chair.
*If anything happens to me, Buddy must be returned to the person who knows what happened that night.*
Rene read the sentence twice.
“What night?””
Vanessa didn't answer.
Arthur stared at the signature.
“That's your mother's handwriting.””
Rene looked at his father.
“Dad, what happened that night?””
Arthur's face had gone completely white.
Then he whispered:
“The night your mother died, Buddy was with her.””
Rene turned back to the tablet.
His mother had died in a hospital.
Buddy had supposedly been at home.
At least, that was what everyone had told him.
He looked at Vanessa.
“Why didn't you show me this letter before?””
She wiped her cheek.
“Because Claire told me not to.””
“Why?””
Vanessa's phone vibrated.
A new message appeared.
Unknown number.
She opened it.
Her expression collapsed.
Rene took the phone.
The message contained only one sentence:
*DO NOT LET RENE SEE THE ORIGINAL LETTER. HE DOESN'T KNOW WHAT HIS FATHER DID.*
Arthur stared at the screen.
Then, from somewhere outside, a car horn sounded.
Once.
Twice.
A vehicle had stopped directly in front of their house.
Rene moved toward the window.
A woman in a red coat stood beside the passenger door.
The same woman from the photograph.
Claire Bennett.
She was holding a small blue envelope.
May you like
And beside her stood Buddy.
*But Buddy wasn't wearing his yellow collar anymore.*
