Chapter 7 - FOLLOW THE DOGTitan shot down the corridor.
I followed.
Cole shouted orders behind me.
We reached the emergency stairwell.
Titan stopped.
Sniffed.
Then turned left.
We entered the service tunnel.
No lights.
Only emergency strips along the floor.
Titan moved fast but carefully.
At the end of the tunnel was a loading dock.
Fresh tire tracks.
A bloodstained medical glove.
And one of Sophie's pink shoelaces.
I picked it up.
Titan sniffed.
His body went rigid.
Then he pulled toward the parking structure.
We ran.
Two levels down, I found a vehicle.
Black SUV.
Engine warm.
Inside was Sophie's backpack.
And a printed photograph of Marcus.
The same night.
But this time, somebody had circled one detail.
A building across from the hostage scene.
An old power station.
Cole stared at it.
“That building was demolished.”
“No.”
He zoomed in.
“Not entirely.”
The old power station had an underground maintenance level.
Abandoned.
Hidden.
Exactly the kind of place nobody would search first.
We drove there.
Titan led us through a broken gate.
Inside, darkness swallowed the headlights.
Then we heard crying.
A woman's voice.
Sophie's mother.
We found her tied to a chair.
Alive.
Barely conscious.
But Sophie wasn't there.
Her mother grabbed my arm.
“They took her downstairs.”
“How many?”
“Two.”
“Who?”
She looked at Titan.
“He knew one of them.”
My blood ran cold.
“Who?”
“Chief Mercer.”
Cole swore.
We moved down.
At the bottom was an old control room.
Sophie sat in a chair.
Mercer stood behind her.
He looked almost peaceful.
Beside him was another man.
I recognized him.
The paramedic.
Mercer smiled.
“You came.”
Cole raised his weapon.
“Move away from the girl.”
Mercer laughed.
“You still don't understand.”
“Then explain.”
Mercer looked at Titan.
“Your dog found the wrong truth.”
He pulled out a small flash drive.
“The ledger isn't about money.”
I stared.
“What is it?”
Mercer smiled.
“Names.”
“Whose names?”
“People who made sure certain cases disappeared.”
Cole stepped forward.
Mercer raised a gun toward Sophie.
“Stay there.”
Titan growled.
Mercer's eyes moved to him.
“You were always the problem.”
I suddenly understood.
“This wasn't about the ledger.”
Mercer shook his head.
“No.”
“You were testing Titan.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because Marcus trusted him.”
My chest tightened.
Mercer continued.
“Marcus discovered the ledger. He was going to expose us.”
“You killed him.”
Mercer smiled.
“No.”
He pointed at me.
“You did.”
The room seemed to stop.
“What?”
Mercer took another step.
“You've spent three years believing you remember that night.”
He held up the flash drive.
“You don't.”
Then Sophie whispered something.
“Officer Mason…”
I looked at her.
She wasn't looking at Mercer.
She was looking at Titan.
And Titan was staring at the man beside Mercer.
Not Mercer.
The paramedic.
Sophie whispered:
“He was the one who pushed the tree.”
May you like
The paramedic smiled.
Then he fired.
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