The cops.

It was an easy decision for the central AI. The police were already on their way to arrest Tiffany Smith, so they could deal with her pet too.

An hour later, an unmarked black car parked in Prime Resort's underground lot and two plainclothes cops got out. The pair of animal-loving officers would have liked nothing more than to come in with blaring sirens and take down their suspect with ****, but she was already being held by resort security so there was no reason to make a scene. The mayor liked to keep police activity subtle when it came to Cancun's main source of tourist money.

Officers Rebecca and Hernandez were going in with nothing more than a photo of Tiffany Smith to make sure they were arresting the right person. The chief of police had assigned them to this case with urgency after reviewing the evidence himself, so there had been no time for them to look at any of it. The plan was to take Tiffany into custody together, after which Hernandez would question her in the car while Rebecca checked on the pet and decided what to do with it.

But when they got out of the car and a waiting robotic attendant asked them to follow it down to the kennel, they did so without question. Tiffany wasn't going anywhere, and the pet might be in too bad a shape to keep waiting.

Rebecca's concern turned into dismay when the vet's door slid open and her eyes fell on a naked woman crawling around on all fours. "What the... what the hell is this? Get up, whoever you are!"

The collared woman looked up, staring at her without recognition.

Hernandez stopped short behind her. "Fucking Americans, man. This is a fetish thing, for sure."

Rebecca couldn't look away. "Then why were we called in? Does the AI actually think she's a pet? Hey AI, what's going on here!?"

"Samantha Smith is registered as Tiffany Smith's pet. This is confirmed by airline data and the use of an airline pet collar. A report of animal **** was made by another resort guest, and urgency was requested because her species can not be determined. We do not know what to feed her."

"Well the charade's over," Hernandez said. "Miss Smith, get up and cover yourself before we charge you with wasting police time."

Samantha looked at the male officer with a mix of curiosity and confusion, but when she didn't make any move to get up or cover herself Rebecca got angry. "What the hell is wrong with you, lady? You want to be a pet so bad? AI, don't worry about feeding her. I'm calling the Humane Animal Society to pick her up, they'll take care of everything."

Hernandez quickly pulled his partner aside. "Whoa, Rebecca, what are you doing?"

"What's it look like? I'm sick of these Americans coming down here, taking their party ****, and acting like they can do whatever they want. If we take her in her parents will just buy her out again, but my friend Holly works at HAS. The shelter is almost completely automated, if Holly can get this bitch in the system without using her name it'll be a while before she's found. It's not like she'll get hurt, but it'll show her there are consequences to her actions."

Hernandez frowned. "Gee, I don't know. What about her partner and the chief?"

That took the wind out of Rebecca's sails, but only for a moment. "The chief must have known this was bullshit when he assigned us. But he also knows I know about his affair, and I haven't told his wife. That should have earned me enough favor that he'll hold her long enough for her partner to be scared straight."

"If you say so. But keep my name out of it, you hear me?"