what was going on?”
Hunter shrugged. “Jim’s got a lot of acreage and only uses a small portion for the house and his breeding kennels. The rest of it he just lets grow wild, having no interest in it other than to give him privacy. Especially the back acres that border on the inlet near Maryland. His entire focus was centered on his legitimate breeding business, and he cared little for anything else.”
“Tell me more about Tom. That’s what I’m interested in,” Samantha said. “I worked with him. I knew him.” She threw her hands up into the air and huffed. “Of course, I also worked with Annette. This makes me wonder if I know anything!”
“Whenever Paula needed medication or vaccinations for her wolf-hybrid pups, she turned to Tom. It was easy for him to get them and provide them to her. For this, she paid him and he made extra money on the side.”
“But Annette?”
“She discovered the discrepancies in what she’d ordered and what was being used. Tom confessed everything to her, but because she liked him, she remained quiet. When he left to return to his family, Paula offered Annette the same deal. Provide medications and she’d earn extra money.”
“But the rabies vaccination isn’t proven to work for wolf-hybrids, much less on wolves,” she continued to protest.
“That was a chance Paula was willing to take. She had a middleman that was making private arrangements to sell the pups, and she just claimed that they had been vaccinated.”
“What about Lionel and Alejandro? How do they fit in?” Joseph asked.
At that question, Samantha watched as Hunter shared a look with Colt and Liam before turning his attention back to them.
Clearing his throat, Hunter continued. “One of the places the middleman was selling pups to was a drug dealer in Norfolk that was running high-end dogfighting. Not the kind where people made cheap bets, but the kind where people with real money bet huge sums on the dogs. He’d found out about the wolf-hybrids and figured they’d make the best fighters.”
Gasping, Samantha shook her head. “That’s not necessarily true. Even if it was, that’s horrible!”
“Whether it’s true or not didn’t really matter. If people thought they had wolf in them, the betting odds were higher. A fuck ton of money could be made on these fights.”
She slumped against Joseph. “I swear this makes me feel sick.”
“I want to know what’s gonna happen to the fuckers because they took Samantha—”
A knock on the door interrupted, and she looked up in surprise as Alejandro walked in. Joseph shot to his feet, his fists raised as he started toward the newcomer.
Alejandro also raised his arms, but his hands were not in fists. Instead, his palms were out, placating. “I came to apologize, Doctor Collins. I never meant for you to be taken and that’s why I tried to let you know that I’d come back for you. Once I heard there was a commotion going on up at the house, I knew I needed to keep up with Lionel so that he couldn’t escape.”
“But… I don’t…” she stammered, her hand resting on Joseph’s back as her gaze never left Alejandro.
He glanced toward the side of the table where Liam, Colt, and Hunter sat before reaching into his pocket and pulling out a badge, hooking it onto his belt.
She gasped. “You’re…”
“I’m undercover for the state police, Doctor Collins. I’ve been in Norfolk, infiltrating the gang running the dogfights and managed to get hired by Jim Bender. At first, he was on my radar, but I was gathering evidence that Paula was the one in charge. My case was almost complete with Annette and Paula and Lionel. I had planned on turning in evidence against Annette today and then having Paula and Lionel arrested. But then you showed up, and Lionel went rogue.”
Alejandro nodded toward the others before leaving the room. Samantha kept her hand on Joseph’s back as he looked down at her, and she chuckled. “I don’t know about you, Joseph, but I feel like my head is spinning!”
The rest of them stood as well, and she leaned her weight against Joseph as Frodo took to his feet and stayed right next to her legs.
“I’ll come by the clinic in a couple of days to get any pharmaceutical discrepancies you uncover,” Hunter said.
“Can I ask what will happen to Annette?”
Colt replied, “The thefts of the pharmaceuticals took place in North Heron, and that’s where she’s being charged. Right now, she’s in the Eastern Shore Regional