Chapter 5 - THE REAL TARGETWe evacuated the hospital wing.
Federal agents arrived before midnight.
The story had become too large for a local case.
Someone had manipulated a police assignment.
Someone had planted chemicals into a dying tree.
Someone had infiltrated a hospital.
And someone had been waiting for Titan.
I sat outside Sophie's room.
Titan lay at my feet.
For the first time in five years, I wondered whether my dog had been placed into this situation deliberately.
Cole sat beside me.
“Why target the dog?”
“Maybe because he's K9.”
“That's not an answer.”
“No.”
I looked at Titan.
“Maybe somebody wants him discredited.”
Cole frowned.
“Why?”
“Because trained K9 evidence can destroy a case.”
Then I remembered something.
“Marcus.”
Cole looked at me.
“There was a case before Marcus died.”
I pulled up old files.
A drug trafficking investigation.
Evidence had been found by Titan.
A warehouse.
Cash.
Weapons.
A hidden ledger.
The suspect had been Elias Voss.
Marcus had been the lead handler.
The prosecution had relied heavily on Titan's alert.
But weeks before trial, the evidence disappeared.
The case collapsed.
Then Marcus died.
I hadn't thought the incidents were connected.
Now I couldn't stop seeing the pattern.
Cole read silently.
“There it is.”
“What?”
“Voss wasn't trying to escape prison.”
He turned the page.
“He was trying to find the missing ledger.”
I stared.
“What ledger?”
“Exactly.”
The case file contained one reference to it.
An encrypted notebook believed to contain payments to officials, contractors, and police personnel.
Never recovered.
Marcus had reportedly told investigators before his death:
“The ledger exists. Somebody inside wants it buried.”
The statement had been classified.
Why had I never seen it?
Because my portion of the investigation had been sealed.
Cole looked at me.
“Who sealed it?”
I found the signature.
My stomach dropped.
Chief Daniel Mercer.
The same man who had appeared at the park.
The same man Titan refused to trust.
Before I could say anything, Cole's phone rang.
He answered.
Then stood.
“We need to go.”
“Where?”
“The evidence warehouse.”
We drove in silence.
The warehouse was surrounded by police vehicles.
A broken side door hung open.
Inside, dozens of evidence boxes were scattered across the floor.
But only one section had been touched.
Old K9 cases.
Marcus's cases.
A storage officer approached us.
“Someone stole three boxes.”
“Which ones?”
He handed us the list.
I read the numbers.
My stomach tightened.
All three were connected to the Voss investigation.
Then Titan pulled toward a locked cabinet.
He sniffed.
I opened it.
Empty.
Except for a small envelope.
Inside was a photograph.
Marcus.
Alive.
Standing beside Titan.
On the back were four words.
ASK HIM ABOUT THE NIGHT.
I turned to my dog.
Titan stared at the photo.
Then he began whining.
He lowered his head.
Something was wrong.
I looked closer.
The photograph had been taken the night Marcus died.
And in the background was something I had never noticed.
A black SUV.
Parked behind the hostage building.
Its license plate was visible.
Cole took a picture.
“We can trace it.”
I shook my head.
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because I remember that vehicle.”
“How?”
“It belonged to Mercer.”
Cole went still.
Then the warehouse lights went out.
A door slammed somewhere in the darkness.
Titan barked once.
We heard footsteps running above us.
Cole drew his weapon.
I grabbed Titan's harness.
We moved toward the stairs.
At the top, a shadow disappeared around the corner.
Titan suddenly pulled toward another door.
I opened it.
Inside was an old surveillance monitor.
One screen still worked.
It showed archived footage.
Marcus.
Three years ago.
Alive.
Talking to someone.
May you like
And the person standing across from him was me.
Except I had never had that conversation.
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