Chapter 3 - SOMEONE WHO LOOKED LIKE METhe camera footage lasted eleven seconds.
A man in a dark K9 jacket walked across the edge of the frame.
Baseball cap.
Black gloves.
Head lowered.
He was carrying a long equipment case.
Cole paused the video.
“You know him?”
I stared at the screen.
“Not from the face.”
“Look again.”
I did.
Then I noticed the way the man walked.
Left shoulder slightly lower.
Right leg swinging outward.
A stiff movement through the hips.
My breathing stopped.
“That could be…”
“Who?”
I swallowed.
“My old partner.”
Cole stared at me.
“Your human partner?”
“Marcus Vale.”
“Isn't he dead?”
“Yes.”
Marcus had died three years earlier during a hostage rescue.
Officially, he had been killed by the suspect.
I had been there.
I had held Marcus in my arms while Titan barked beside us.
There were images I still couldn't forget.
Images I never talked about.
But there was something wrong with the footage.
Marcus had worn a brace on his right wrist after a training accident.
The man on screen moved both hands normally.
It wasn't Marcus.
But he had his walk.
Someone had studied him.
Then I noticed something else.
The jacket.
There was a unit patch sewn onto the sleeve.
Mine.
Not current.
Old.
It was the exact K9 insignia used by my department four years ago.
My pulse climbed.
Someone had access to retired uniforms.
Someone who knew my movements.
Someone who knew Titan.
Someone who knew how Marcus walked.
Cole rewound the footage.
“Can you enhance the face?”
“We'll try.”
He sent it to digital forensics.
Then he called the police chief.
The answer came quickly.
Only six people were authorized to access archived K9 equipment.
The list included me.
Cole.
Two retired handlers.
A storage officer.
And Chief Daniel Mercer.
Mercer arrived twenty minutes later.
Tall.
Silver-haired.
Calm.
He looked at the footage.
“Could be anybody.”
Cole didn't respond.
Mercer turned toward me.
“How's the dog?”
“Fine.”
“Good.”
He walked over to Titan.
Titan immediately stepped behind me.
Mercer stopped.
His expression barely moved.
“Still doesn't trust me.”
“You shouldn't take it personally.”
Mercer gave a faint smile.
“I trained him for six months.”
“No.”
I felt the temperature drop between us.
“You trained him before I took over.”
Mercer looked at Titan.
“Same difference.”
Titan showed his teeth.
Not barking.
Just warning.
Mercer stepped back.
“Interesting.”
Then he left.
Cole waited until the chief was gone.
“Your dog just told me more than the department did.”
I looked at him.
“What are you thinking?”
“That somebody inside the department is involved.”
Before I could answer, my phone buzzed.
Unknown number.
One message.
YOU SHOULD HAVE LET THE TREE FALL.
I showed Cole.
His face hardened.
Another message appeared.
NEXT TIME, TITAN WON'T BE THERE.
I stared at the words.
Then Titan suddenly turned toward the ambulance.
Sophie was being moved.
She looked directly at him.
And screamed.
“STOP!”
Everyone froze.
Her mother turned.
“What?”
Sophie pointed toward a paramedic.
“He's not the real one.”
The paramedic stopped.
“What?”
Sophie began crying.
“That man was in the tree.”
Two officers grabbed him.
He resisted.
Then ran.
Titan exploded forward.
He tore from my grip.
The chase lasted eight seconds.
Titan caught the man by the sleeve.
The suspect fell.
Officers tackled him.
We searched him.
No gun.
No knife.
No drugs.
Only one thing.
A folded photograph.
I opened it.
It showed Sophie.
Taken from across the park.
Taken that morning.
On the back was a single sentence.
SHE REMEMBERS EVERYTHING.
I looked at the little girl.
“What did you see?”
Sophie stared at the photograph.
Then at me.
May you like
Her voice became almost impossible to hear.
“I saw who pushed the tree.”
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