Chapter 12 - ONE LAST COMMAND
The gunshot sounded deafening inside the concrete room.
Emily screamed.
Titan struck Colin at the waist.
Both crashed into the floor.
I dove toward Emily.
Ortiz grabbed her weapon.
“Drop the gun!”
Colin tried to lift it.
Titan clamped onto his forearm.
“Titan! Hold!”
Colin screamed.
The pistol fell.
Ortiz kicked it away.
Two officers rushed forward and cuffed him.
I cut Emily’s restraints.
She threw both arms around me.
“Titan!”
I turned.
He had released Colin immediately when commanded.
But he was lying down.
My stomach dropped.
I ran toward him.
“Buddy?”
Blood darkened his harness.
“No. No, no.”
I searched his body.
The bullet had entered along his shoulder.
Not center mass.
Thank God.
But there was too much blood.
Titan looked at me.
His eyes were calm.
Like this was just another day at work.
“You stubborn son of a gun.”
Emily crawled beside me.
“Is he hurt?”
“He’s going to be okay.”
I had no idea if that was true.
Titan’s tail moved when Emily touched him.
Again.
Just once.
Paramedics treated Colin.
A veterinary emergency unit was requested.
We carried Titan out on a rescue litter.
Reporters were already arriving at the park entrance.
News traveled fast.
This time I didn’t care what they filmed.
Daniel Carter pushed past officers.
“Emily!”
She ran toward him.
Daniel dropped to his knees.
He held his daughter so tightly she protested.
“Dad, I can’t breathe.”
He laughed and cried at the same time.
Then he saw Titan.
His expression changed.
The dog he had wanted removed.
The dog he had publicly called dangerous.
The dog he had threatened to sue the city over.
Titan had just saved his daughter again.
Daniel walked toward the litter.
I stood between them.
For a second, neither of us spoke.
Then Daniel said quietly, “I was wrong.”
I looked at him.
“Yes.”
He flinched.
“I’m sorry.”
“Tell him.”
Daniel crouched beside Titan.
“I’m sorry.”
Titan licked his hand.
Daniel broke.
He covered his face.
Emily wrapped her arms around his neck.
“He likes you now.”
I almost smiled.
Then Dr. Patel’s veterinary transport pulled up.
We loaded Titan.
Again.
Two emergencies in three days.
As I climbed inside, Harris stopped me.
“Jack.”
“What?”
“Colin’s talking.”
“So?”
“He confessed to hiring Vale.”
“Good.”
“There’s more.”
I waited.
Harris looked toward Emily.
“Colin says Vale wasn’t supposed to use a rattlesnake.”
My stomach tightened.
“What was he supposed to use?”
“A harmless snake.”
“Then why did he change it?”
Harris’s expression hardened.
May you like
“Because Vale decided he wanted Titan dead.”
---
