Chapter 7 - THE SECOND ATTACKThe drive back felt endless.
It took twenty-six minutes.
I remember every one of them.
Marcus drove.
I sat in the passenger seat with Dr. Grant’s disconnected call still glowing on my phone.
SWAT units were closer.
Patrol was closer.
Everybody was closer than we were.
That didn’t matter.
Titan was mine.
We heard the first radio update six minutes into the drive.
“Suspect confirmed inside veterinary hospital.”
Then:
“Employees evacuating from east entrance.”
Then:
“Possible firearm.”
Then silence.
I wanted information.
I also feared it.
“Come on,” Marcus whispered.
Rain hammered the windshield.
Another transmission.
“Officer down outside rear entrance.”
I looked at Marcus.
Neither of us spoke.
A minute later came clarification.
Officer alive.
Head injury.
Suspect had apparently struck him from behind.
Caleb had taken his sidearm.
That explained the gun.
“Titan’s injured,” I said.
Marcus kept his eyes on the road.
“I know.”
“He can’t fight.”
“He doesn’t need to.”
“He will.”
That was the problem.
Titan would never understand that he had already done enough.
When we reached the hospital, police vehicles filled the street.
I jumped out before Marcus completely stopped.
Kim intercepted me.
“You’re not going inside.”
“He’s my dog.”
“And Caleb wants you.”
“Exactly.”
“That’s why you’re staying here.”
A negotiator was already trying to call.
No response.
Security cameras showed Caleb in the treatment corridor.
Titan was loose.
Dr. Grant and two technicians were locked in rooms.
No other civilians remained.
“Where’s Titan?”
Kim showed me a tablet.
Security feed.
Titan stood at the far end of a hallway.
His bandaged leg barely touched the floor.
Caleb stood twenty feet away holding the stolen pistol.
“Why hasn’t he shot?”
“Because he wants you to watch.”
Of course.
A hospital phone rang.
Kim answered.
Caleb.
“Put Cole on.”
She shook her head.
I took it anyway.
“I’m here.”
“You found the girl.”
“Yes.”
“She’s clever.”
“She beat you.”
His voice hardened.
“Come inside.”
“No.”
“You want the dog alive?”
“Yes.”
“Then come inside.”
“You shoot Titan, you lose the only leverage you have.”
Silence.
Good.
Keep him thinking.
“You wanted me to watch him die,” I continued. “You can’t do that if I’m outside.”
“I can send video.”
“That isn’t the same.”
Another pause.
“You think you know me?”
“No.”
“I know your type.”
I watched the security feed.
Caleb moved slightly.
Titan didn’t.
His head remained low.
“Then come prove it.”
“Let Titan go.”
“No.”
“Then we don’t have a deal.”
I hung up.
Kim stared at me.
“What are you doing?”
“Making him angry.”
“That’s usually not the goal in hostage negotiation.”
“He isn’t holding Titan because he wants escape. He wants a performance.”
“So?”
“So we take away the audience.”
Caleb called again.
I didn’t answer.
Again.
Nothing.
Third time.
I picked up.
“You’re scared.”
“No.”
“You won’t face me without your dog.”
“Titan’s better company.”
He shouted something and slammed the phone down.
On the security feed, Titan’s ears moved.
Caleb approached him.
Titan growled.
“Don’t,” I whispered.
Caleb raised the pistol.
Titan moved.
Not toward him.
Sideways.
Behind a rolling medical cart.
Smart dog.
The gun fired.
Everyone outside flinched.
The bullet struck the wall.
Titan disappeared from camera view.
“Entry team go!” Kim shouted.
SWAT breached.
Gunshots echoed inside.
Then radio traffic exploded.
“Suspect moving west!”
“Hallway clear!”
“Veterinary staff located!”
“Where’s K9?”
No answer.
I couldn’t wait.
Kim grabbed my arm.
“Cole!”
I pulled free and entered behind the second tactical team.
The hallway smelled like disinfectant and gunpowder.
A bullet hole marked the wall.
Blood appeared on the floor.
My heart stopped.
“Titan!”
Nothing.
Then scratching.
A treatment room.
I opened the door.
Titan lay behind an examination table.
Blood covered his bandage.
But there was no new bullet wound.
He had torn the IV line and reopened the snakebite area.
I dropped beside him.
“Hey.”
His tail hit the floor.
Once.
“You impossible animal.”
A gunshot sounded deeper inside.
Titan tried to rise.
“No.”
He ignored me.
Of course.
I put both hands on his shoulders.
“Stay.”
He looked toward the hallway.
“Titan.”
His eyes returned to mine.
“Stay.”
This time he listened.
Dr. Grant appeared with a tactical officer.
She saw Titan.
“Oh, for God’s sake.”
“He reopened it.”
“I can see that.”
She dropped beside him.
“I’ve got him. Go.”
I hesitated.
She looked at me.
“Officer Cole. Go.”
I followed the tactical team.
Caleb had barricaded himself inside the pharmacy storage area.
One exit.
No windows.
He had fired twice.
Police hadn’t returned fire because they couldn’t clearly see him.
Negotiators started again.
Ten minutes.
Twenty.
Then Caleb shouted.
“I want Cole!”
Kim looked at me.
“No.”
“I can talk from here.”
She reluctantly agreed.
I stood behind cover.
“Caleb!”
“You ruined everything!”
“No. Derek ruined his own life.”
“You took him from me!”
“Your brother trafficked poison.”
“You think that dog is a hero?”
“Yes.”
The answer came without hesitation.
“He’s an animal!”
“So why are you afraid of him?”
Silence.
Then movement.
Caleb appeared at the doorway.
Gun raised.
SWAT shouted.
“DROP THE WEAPON!”
He swung the pistol toward me.
I heard Titan bark behind us.
Caleb looked.
One second.
That was enough.
Officers tackled him before he could fire.
The gun skidded across the floor.
Caleb screamed.
Not in pain.
Rage.
Pure rage.
“You should’ve watched him die!”
I stared at him as officers cuffed his wrists.
“No.”
He fought against them.
“You think this is over?”
I looked down the hallway.
Titan was lying beside Dr. Grant.
Alive.
Lily was safe.
Caleb had lost.
“Yes,” I said.
“For you, it is.”
They took him away.
I returned to Titan.
Dr. Grant was furious.
“He needs another transfusion.”
“Will he be okay?”
“He’d be considerably better if people would stop trying to kill him.”
Fair.
I sat beside Titan.
“You heard her.”
His eyes closed.
“No more hero stuff.”
His tail moved.
“Retirement is sounding pretty good.”
One eye opened.
“We’ll discuss it.”
Three days later, Caleb was charged with kidnapping, attempted murder, assault on an officer, stalking, weapons offenses, and several other crimes.
Investigators also connected him directly to the snake placed at Centennial Park.
The case was finally clear.
But Titan’s future wasn’t.
His leg had suffered nerve damage.
Dr. Grant showed me the scans.
“He may recover substantial function.”
“May?”
“Yes.”
“Will he return to duty?”
She looked at me.
“I wouldn’t plan on it.”
I stared through the glass.
For five years, Titan’s entire life had been work.
Searching.
Tracking.
Protecting.
He didn’t understand retirement.
Neither did I.
Then Lily arrived.
She carried another drawing.
This time Titan wasn’t wearing a cape.
He was lying on a couch.
Beside him was a giant steak.
At the top she had written:
HEROES CAN REST.
May you like
I looked at Titan.
Maybe the kid was smarter than both of us.
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