Chapter 5 - Dog First
Walter survived.
Barely.
His blood pressure crashed during questioning.
Doctors stabilized him after almost forty minutes.
We weren’t allowed near him again until morning.
By then, Seattle was waking to a story nobody fully understood.
News stations had pieced together enough to create panic.
VENOMOUS SNAKES FOUND IN POPULAR SEATTLE PARK.
POLICE INVESTIGATE POSSIBLE ILLEGAL WILDLIFE OPERATION.
HERO K9 MAY HAVE PREVENTED CHILD’S DEATH.
Titan’s image was everywhere.
The famous clip had changed.
People no longer shared the version of him hitting Sophie.
Now they shared the moment the snake struck his vest.
Slow motion.
Zoomed.
Music added.
People called him a hero.
A legend.
The bravest dog in Seattle.
I hated it almost as much as the earlier outrage.
Because strangers still didn’t know him.
Titan wasn’t heroic because millions of people said so.
He had been heroic when they wanted him dead.
That was the part that mattered.
At 7:10 a.m., I arrived at the temporary command center.
Titan walked beside me.
Technically still restricted from public duty.
Practically indispensable.
Maya had prepared scent samples using bedding from the recovered transport containers.
Titan had learned the odor quickly.
Not “snake” exactly.
A combination.
Reptile musk.
Substrate.
Transport plastics.
Cleaning compounds used by ViperLine.
If Derek moved animals in the same system, Titan had a chance of finding them.
That was why Derek wanted him gone.
Walter’s words from the hospital replayed in my mind.
She isn’t the worst thing Derek brought back.
“What’s worse than a king cobra?” I asked Maya.
She didn’t look up from her files.
“Depends what you mean by worse.”
“More dangerous.”
“Many species.”
“Give me examples.”
“Inland taipan.”
“That sounds bad.”
“It is.”
“What else?”
“Certain kraits.”
“More?”
“Highly venomous vipers.”
“Great.”
She finally looked at me.
“Some are less visually dramatic than a king cobra but medically more difficult.”
“So Derek may have animals not on Rainier’s list.”
“That’s what Walter seems to be implying.”
“How?”
“Illegal import.”
“His company.”
“Yes.”
Ramirez entered carrying coffee.
“You two look cheerful.”
“We’re ranking ways to die.”
“Before breakfast?”
“Maya started it.”
She ignored me.
Ramirez unfolded a map.
“Civic Center search starts in thirty.”
“Walter said it’s a decoy.”
“Could still contain something.”
“Agreed.”
“And flowers?”
“Conference received floral deliveries from six organizations.”
“All being searched.”
“Other flower deliveries citywide?”
“Thousands.”
We needed context.
What did “with the flowers” mean?
At 8:05, a break came from an unexpected source.
Sophie.
Rachel called again.
I answered.
“Everything okay?”
“Sophie wants to talk to you.”
“Sure.”
The girl came on.
“Officer Cole?”
“Morning.”
“Titan eat breakfast?”
“He did.”
“What?”
“Chicken.”
“That’s not breakfast.”
“Tell him that.”
She paused.
“My mom said you’re looking for flowers.”
I looked at Rachel through the phone as if that were possible.
“How do you know that?”
“Mom heard somebody on TV.”
Not ideal.
“Yes.”
“Walter had flowers.”
My entire body stilled.
“When?”
“In the park.”
“What kind?”
“I don’t know.”
“What did they look like?”
“White.”
“Bouquet?”
“No.”
She thought.
“They were in boxes.”
Maya was listening now.
“What boxes?” I asked.
“Long ones.”
Rachel came back on.
“She means florist boxes.”
“Did Walter have them when he spoke to Sophie?”
“Yes.”
“Where did he leave them?”
“I don’t know.”
Sophie shouted in the background.
“Trash!”
Rachel paused.
“She says he put them near a trash can.”
“Which trash can?”
Sophie described it.
Near the hot-chocolate vendor.
We had searched the wooded area extensively.
Nobody had paid much attention to ordinary park garbage collected before police fully locked the perimeter.
Sanitation records showed bins removed Sunday evening and transported to a municipal waste transfer station.
We shut down the station.
Titan searched.
Mountains of bagged trash.
Rotting food.
Paper.
Coffee cups.
The smell was overwhelming.
To me.
Not to him.
Fifteen minutes in, Titan stopped.
Alerted.
One black garbage bag.
Inside were crushed florist boxes.
White flowers.
And packaging foam.
Maya examined the residue.
“Transport insulation.”
“For what?”
“Something temperature-sensitive.”
No snake.
But one florist box still carried a barcode.
Delivery origin:
Emerald City Floral Supply.
Order paid cash.
Customer name:
D. Vail.
Too obvious.
Intentionally obvious.
Derek wanted us to find it.
The order contained fourteen boxes.
Fourteen.
Delivered to different locations Saturday morning.
The addresses included Centennial Park.
Civic Center.
Three hotels.
Two schools.
A hospital.
The ferry terminal.
And a private event venue.
Panic hit the command center.
Teams dispatched.
Locations evacuated.
Titan and I went to the Civic Center.
Large public-safety conference scheduled for ten.
Hundreds of people.
Television crews.
Mayor’s staff.
Police leadership.
Wildlife regulators.
Exactly the kind of target Derek would enjoy.
The building had already been cleared once.
We searched again.
Flowers.
Stage decorations.
Catering.
Planters.
Titan worked.
9:21.
Nothing.
9:34.
Nothing.
Then near the main media entrance, he froze.
A six-foot bamboo arrangement stood inside a massive wooden planter.
Titan growled.
Maya raised the thermal camera.
Something large.
Warm.
Coiled.
“Everybody out.”
The building evacuated.
Robot opened the concealed compartment.
A cobra rose.
Its hood spread.
Even on the monitor, the animal dominated the image.
Someone whispered:
“Number One.”
I looked at Maya.
She didn’t answer.
The cobra was secured after a tense containment operation.
Everyone exhaled.
We had found it.
The major threat.
Conference canceled.
Animal contained.
No bites.
No casualties.
Then Maya inspected the snake.
She crouched near the transparent containment case.
Stared at its tail.
Her face went blank.
“What?”
She stood.
“That’s not Number One.”
The relief disappeared.
“What do you mean?”
“Tail is intact.”
Walter’s photograph.
Number One was missing six inches.
“So what is this?”
“Another king cobra.”
I felt cold.
An animal we didn’t even know Derek possessed.
My phone rang.
Hospital.
Walter Pike.
I answered.
“You found a cobra?”
“How do you know?”
“Police outside my room.”
“Yes.”
“It isn’t Number One.”
“We know.”
Walter breathed painfully.
“Then Derek did it.”
“Did what?”
“He switched them.”
“Why?”
“To get Titan inside the building.”
I looked at my dog.
“What?”
Walter became urgent.
“He wanted Titan at the Civic Center.”
“Why?”
“Because he knows exactly where you’ll stand.”
My eyes moved automatically toward the glass walls overlooking Fourth Avenue.
“Get down!” I shouted.
The first shot shattered the window.
Glass exploded.
People screamed.
Titan turned.
Second shot.
He jerked violently.
Then collapsed.
“Titan!”
I hit the floor beside him.
Blood spread through the fur along his shoulder.
His eyes were open.
Confused.
He tried to stand.
“No.”
Another shot punched into the concrete column behind us.
Officers dragged us deeper into the building.
“Sniper!”
I pressed both hands against Titan’s wound.
“Stay with me.”
He breathed hard.
Too hard.
His blood soaked through my fingers.
“Come on, buddy.”
His eyes found mine.
Then he licked the heel of my hand.
My throat closed.
“You idiot.”
Tactical teams searched rooftops.
Shooter gone.
Emergency veterinarians were already nearby because of the cobra operation.
They loaded Titan.
I climbed inside.
My phone buzzed.
Unknown number.
One message.
A photograph.
Titan lying beneath my hands taken through a sniper scope.
Underneath:
ONE HERO DOWN.
Then another message arrived.
A photograph of Noah.
Not the old one.
New.
Inside the supposedly secure safe house.
My blood went cold.
Text:
YOU STILL THINK POLICE CAN PROTECT YOUR FAMILY?
Then:
PIKE IS SECONDARY.
COLE IS PRIMARY.
DOG FIRST.
I stared at Titan as the veterinary ambulance raced through Seattle.
Derek had put snakes in public places.
Kidnapped Walter.
Watched my family.
Manipulated police.
And now he had shot my partner.
But for the first time, I understood something he didn’t.
Derek believed Titan was dangerous because Titan could smell his animals.
He was wrong.
Titan was dangerous because every time Derek tried to create fear, Titan exposed the truth underneath it.
And if Titan survived—
I was going to use that.
Because Derek Vale had just made the biggest mistake of his life.
He had stopped hiding from us.
May you like
Now he wanted us to follow him.
And I intended to do exactly that.
