Chapter 16 - Under the Park Again
The tunnel smelled the same.
Wet concrete.
Mud.
Rot.
Memory.
Titan moved ahead.
Slower than before.
Still relentless.
Derek’s footsteps echoed.
I followed.
Behind us, Maya and tactical teams secured the buried chambers.
Three snakes.
One Z-3 dispersion canister.
Remote disabled.
No release.
Above ground, the danger was contained.
Below ground, Derek remained.
The tunnel split.
Titan chose left.
No hesitation.
We found Derek’s jacket.
Then blood.
He had cut his hand climbing over broken concrete.
Titan had scent.
We kept moving.
The tunnel opened into the old chamber.
Photographs removed.
Cot gone.
But one thing remained.
The words:
THE DOG SEES FIRST.
Derek stood beneath them.
Gun in hand.
“You know what I hate most?”
I stopped.
“What?”
“That sentence became true.”
Titan growled.
Derek aimed at him.
I moved between them.
“Shoot me.”
“You always say that.”
“Because you keep aiming at my dog.”
He laughed once.
Then his face broke.
Not fear.
Exhaustion.
“For years nobody saw anything.”
“Hall looked away.”
“Voss paid.”
“Regulators signed forms.”
“Buyers bought.”
“Police filed reports.”
“Nobody cared.”
“Then one dog smelled a container.”
I understood.
Not excuse.
Not sympathy.
Just the core.
Titan didn’t ruin Derek’s plan.
Titan exposed how fragile it always was.
One honest reaction against layers of corruption.
Derek lifted the gun higher.
“You should’ve controlled him.”
I looked at Titan.
“No.”
“That’s the one thing I finally learned.”
“What?”
“Partnership isn’t control.”
Titan’s eyes stayed on Derek.
Derek’s finger tightened.
Titan moved.
Gunshot.
Concrete exploded.
I tackled Derek.
We hit the floor.
Gun slid.
Titan pinned Derek’s forearm.
His teeth hovered above skin.
He waited.
One command.
“Hold.”
Titan held.
Did not bite.
Did not release.
Just held.
Tactical officers entered.
Derek Vale was arrested in the same tunnel where he had once pinned photographs of us to a wall.
As they pulled him away, he looked at Titan.
Not me.
Titan stared back.
Calm.
No growl.
No fear.
Derek whispered:
“You were supposed to be a dog.”
I answered:
“He is.”
May you like
That was the whole point.
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