Page 31
Story: Ferocity
"He's got ties to some intense people," Marcus answered. "I'll do a little digging there too. It would be great if you knew when they started dating or got together."
Scarlett snorted. “My sister has a baby by a man she’d never tell us about and has now gotten married to another man I didn’t know existed until the night of the auction. Plus, according to our vet, she’s sleeping with one of his techs.”
He frowned. “Right, the auction.” Three thumb drives sat on the desk in front of his laptop. “Have you seen the facilities these cubs are going to?”
“Some,” she replied. “My parents would have known them longer. They were all in the rescuing business together.”
He handed Scarlett the original will she’d had since her parents passed away. “Can you show me the clause about not selling or no reproduction of the animals at the sanctuary.”
“It’s not in the will. It’s in the by-laws of the sanctuary—something my grandfather insisted on. All big cats must be neutered or spayed when they are brought to the refuge.”
“And this just started happening?”
She nodded. Scarlett had done a little investigating on her own when no one was paying attention. “Yes, Fabien our veterinarian was going to spay one of our oldest female tigers, but Maisie put her plan in place and with the new arrival of a male, well... Nature took its course.”
“The lion?”
“Maisie claims the lion was already pregnant when she arrived atHearts and Paws.” It still rubbed her the wrong way. If what Maisie said was true, that meant the organization that rescued the lion had also lied about the animal’s status—something Scarlett had a hard time believing since they’d worked together for more years than she could remember.
“You’re not convinced,” he said. “Why?”
Scarlett explained her theory. “If I were to believe my sister, the company would have had to have known the tiger was pregnant and deliberately not told us. In all the years my family worked with them, they never lied. Why all of a sudden would they start now?”
"All right," Marcus stated. "So, without doing any more digging and going by what you've both said and what we have evidence for, we have two cases here. One for embezzlement and fraud and the other for the illegal sale of exotic animals, which might be a bit harder to prove. Since you've agreed these sanctuaries also taken in big cats who need to be rehabilitated and live free lives and, since they are preserves dedicated to taking care of the exotic animals, they have permits to do so."
“But—”
Marcus held up his hand. “We could go after each refuge if you’d like, however all of the animals would be confiscated. Where would we put all of them to be sure they were safe?”
She knew of some places offhand who would take the cats, no questions asked, but not the hundreds in all of their care. "So, what do we do?"
“Go with the embezzlement and fraud. We should be able to prove it without a reasonable doubt.”
“Should?” Scarlett cocked a brow.
“We never deal in absolutes, Miss Leon,” Marcus said. “Telling someone they’ll win is a big no-no. It opens us up to lawsuits. I’d rather be cautiously optimistic than completely pessimistic.”
It seemed reasonable, considering the situation they were in. "Fine. We'll do it your way then."
“It doesn’t mean the charges are any less heinous, Scarlett,” Dave said, trying to reassure her. “It means, giving the other animals a chance at having fulfilling lives from here on out. I know you couldn’t deal with their neglect on your hands if something was to go down.”
She would too. She'd take all of the guilt and suffering upon her. She always had. It made her empathetic to the plight of the big cats. If they investigated the individual sanctuaries and found wrongdoing, who knew where the animals would end up or worse, euthanized. Yet, on the other hand, she felt ganged up on, like she had to consider everyone else before she thought about herself or her cats. She had to make sure others were still taken care of first and wasn't that some shit? Why couldn't she be selfish for a while? Why couldn't she come first?
“What’s the look for?” Dave peered up at her from the paperwork in front of him.
“What do you mean?”
He laughed. “It’s like you want to kick our ass and cry at the same time.”
“Maybe I do.” She shrugged. “Maybe I want to rage at everyone about the injustice of it all.”
Dave sighed. “I know, Scar. I’m sorry. I wish we could fix all of it.”
“We can,” Marcus said. “I know you have someone who has connections. If you put a bug in their ear, I am sure CITES and Wildlife would be there checking out each of the facilities. I’m not sure what would happen, but at least you’d have peace of mind.”
A sense of relief washed over her. She realized sometimes her emotions got the better of her and since all of the shit started with Maisie, she’d been a wreck. It was as if Scarlett had been swimming upstream her whole life. When she got to where she thought she should be, something else would happen, pushing her back down to the inlet. Now, she was impatient to get back to where she needed to be—caring for her beloved cats.
“Thank you,” she whispered. “I appreciate it.”
Table of Contents
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- Page 31 (Reading here)
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