Chapter 4 - THE REAL TARGETI read the message three times.
The words didn’t change.
The snake wasn’t for the girl.
Marcus took the phone from my hand.
“Don’t touch anything else.”
“It’s my phone.”
“It’s evidence now.”
He called Major Crimes.
Within twenty minutes, two detectives arrived at the veterinary hospital.
Detective Sarah Kim had worked with me before. She was small, calm, and had the unsettling ability to ask questions as if she already knew the answers.
Her partner, Detective Owen Price, photographed the messages.
“Who knew you’d be at Centennial Park?” Kim asked.
“Department scheduling.”
“Anyone else?”
“Community outreach was public.”
“So anybody.”
“Yes.”
“Any recent threats?”
“I’m a cop.”
“Specific threats.”
I thought.
Eight years of arrests created enemies.
Five years with Titan created more.
But one case immediately surfaced in my mind.
“Derek Voss.”
Marcus looked at me.
Kim noticed.
“Who is Derek Voss?”
“Narcotics distributor. Titan found thirty-two kilos of fentanyl and cocaine in a warehouse eighteen months ago.”
“Convicted?”
“Awaiting federal sentencing.”
Kim wrote it down.
“Anyone connected to him threaten you?”
“His brother did.”
“When?”
“After the arrest.”
“What did he say?”
I remembered it perfectly.
Caleb Voss had stood outside the courthouse while reporters surrounded us.
He didn’t threaten me directly.
He smiled at Titan.
Then he said, “Dogs run into things they shouldn’t.”
At the time, I’d dismissed it as anger.
Now it sounded different.
Kim didn’t dismiss it.
“Where’s Caleb now?”
“No idea.”
She looked at Price.
“Find him.”
The veterinarian came through the doors.
I stood immediately.
Her expression was serious.
“Titan’s blood pressure has dropped.”
Everything else disappeared.
“What do you need?”
“We’re increasing fluids and monitoring his coagulation. The antivenom is working, but his reaction is severe.”
“Can I see him?”
“Not right now.”
I hated those words.
Kim touched my shoulder.
“We can continue later.”
“No. Continue.”
“Cole.”
“If someone did this intentionally, I need to know.”
She studied me.
Then nodded.
“Who would know Titan’s habits?”
“A lot of people.”
“Would Titan normally investigate a concealed snake?”
“No.”
“Then how would someone guarantee he encountered it?”
That stopped me.
They couldn’t.
Unless…
I replayed the afternoon.
Titan had been relaxed.
Then suddenly rigid.
He hadn’t wandered toward the bushes.
He had reacted only after Lily approached them.
Maybe the snake wasn’t bait.
Maybe the location was.
“What if they expected me to walk near those trees?”
Kim nodded.
“Exactly.”
Centennial Park had a standard outreach route.
We followed the paved path.
Passed the picnic area.
Crossed the open lawn.
Then circled the tree line.
Every time.
Someone who watched us before would know.
Lily had simply reached the danger first.
A seven-year-old chasing a frisbee had accidentally stepped into a trap intended for a police officer and his K9.
The thought made me sick.
Price returned from the hallway.
“Caleb Voss has a registered address in Tacoma. Patrol checked it. He moved out four months ago.”
“Employment?”
“None listed.”
“Vehicle?”
“Gray Ford F-150.”
I remembered something.
“At the park.”
Kim looked at me.
“What?”
“There was a gray pickup.”
“Where?”
“North parking lot.”
“You see the driver?”
“No.”
“Plate?”
“No.”
Price was already typing.
“We’ll pull traffic cameras.”
At 11:17 p.m., Titan crashed.
A technician ran through the waiting room.
Then another.
An alarm sounded behind the treatment doors.
I stood.
Nobody told me anything.
That was worse.
I watched through the small window as four people surrounded Titan.
A veterinarian pushed medication through his IV.
Another technician adjusted equipment.
“Come on,” I whispered.
Marcus stood beside me.
“Come on, Titan.”
Minutes stretched.
Finally, the alarm stopped.
The veterinarian came out.
“He’s stable.”
I nearly collapsed.
“What happened?”
“Acute hypotensive episode.”
“English.”
“His blood pressure fell dangerously low.”
“Is he going to die?”
She didn’t hide behind comforting words.
“He could.”
I looked through the window.
“But he’s fighting.”
“Yes.”
I nodded.
“Then so am I.”
At two in the morning, Kim returned with news.
Traffic cameras had found the gray truck.
The plate belonged to Caleb Voss.
And the truck had entered the park twenty-six minutes before Titan and I arrived.
It left seven minutes after the snakebite.
That was enough for a warrant.
Not enough to find Caleb.
His phone was off.
His apartment was empty.
But investigators found something else.
A storage unit.
Inside were snake-handling hooks.
Plastic transport containers.
Photographs of Titan.
Photographs of me.
Copies of our public outreach schedules.
And one handwritten sheet of paper.
Kim showed me a photograph.
At the top were two words.
K9 REVENGE.
Underneath were dates.
Locations.
My name.
Titan’s name.
And beside the date of the park incident:
Make Cole watch.
My hands tightened.
“He wanted Titan dead.”
Kim nodded.
“Looks that way.”
“And he wanted me there.”
“Yes.”
I looked through the window.
Titan had taken the bite.
Exactly as Caleb apparently intended.
Except Caleb hadn’t anticipated Lily.
He hadn’t anticipated cameras.
And he hadn’t anticipated Titan surviving.
“Find him.”
“We will.”
The next morning, Lily returned.
She carried a handmade card.
The front showed a badly drawn black-and-tan dog wearing a blue cape.
Above it she had written:
GET BETTER TITAN. HEROES NEED REST TOO.
I laughed for the first time in nearly twenty-four hours.
Then Lily asked the question I’d been avoiding.
“Can I see him?”
The veterinarian allowed her to stand at the window.
Titan was awake.
Barely.
Lily pressed her palm against the glass.
Titan lifted his head.
His ears moved.
Then his tail tapped the blanket.
Once.
Lily smiled.
“He remembers me.”
“Yeah,” I said.
“He does.”
Rachel stood behind us.
“You know what she asked me last night?”
“What?”
“She asked whether police dogs get medals.”
I smiled.
“Sometimes.”
“She says Titan deserves the biggest one.”
Lily turned around.
“He does.”
“I’ll mention it to the chief.”
That satisfied her.
For about three seconds.
Then she pointed at me.
“And you have to give him steak.”
Rachel sighed.
“Lily.”
“What? He got bitten by a snake.”
“Fair argument,” I said.
My phone rang.
Detective Kim.
I stepped into the hallway.
“Tell me you found Caleb.”
“No.”
Her voice was tense.
“But we found his truck.”
“Where?”
“Abandoned near the waterfront.”
“Anything inside?”
“Yes.”
“What?”
“A second snake container.”
Empty.
My skin went cold.
“You think he has another snake?”
“I think we should assume he does.”
Then she added something worse.
“There was also a photograph inside the truck.”
“Of what?”
“Lily.”
I looked through the glass.
The little girl was still smiling at Titan.
Kim continued.
“It was taken this morning.”
I turned toward the hospital entrance.
“What do you mean this morning?”
“Cole, listen carefully.”
I was already moving.
“Where are Rachel and Lily right now?”
“With me.”
“Get them away from the windows.”
I reached the waiting room.
“Rachel.”
She saw my expression.
“What?”
“Take Lily into the treatment area.”
“Why?”
“Now.”
Marcus stood immediately.
Then I saw movement outside.
Across the street.
A man in a dark jacket stood beside a parked car.
Watching the hospital.
The moment our eyes met, he turned.
“Marcus!”
I ran for the doors.
The man sprinted.
I crossed the street after him.
He disappeared between two buildings.
I rounded the corner.
Empty alley.
Then something landed on the pavement beside my boot.
A photograph.
I looked down.
It showed Titan lying inside the veterinary hospital.
Taken through the window less than an hour earlier.
May you like
On the back, written in black marker, were four words.
I’m not finished yet.
Related Stories
