Chapter 3 - SOMEONE TRIED TO KILL REX BEFORE MIDNIGHT
I moved toward the voice.
“Who are you?”
No answer.
Metal scraped against metal outside the cell.
A key entered the lock.
The door opened three inches.
I stepped back.
Whoever stood in the dark wanted me moving.
That meant I stayed still.
“Come on, Nomad,” the voice whispered. “Your dog doesn’t have much time.”
That did it.
I drove my shoulder into the door.
The man outside cursed as it smashed into him. I caught a wrist, twisted, and heard keys hit the floor.
Emergency lights flickered on.
Red.
Dim.
Enough.
The man wore a deputy uniform.
I had never seen him before.
He swung a flashlight at my face. I blocked it, drove him into the bars, grabbed the keys, and ran.
“Rex!”
The barking came from the rear lot.
I hit the exit door and found two animal-control cages beside a white county van.
Rex was in one.
A man in coveralls stood beside him holding a syringe.
“What is that?” I shouted.
He froze.
Rex slammed against the cage door.
The man bolted.
I chased him ten yards before my training took over.
Don’t abandon the principal.
Rex came first.
I went back.
Inside the cage, a piece of raw hamburger lay near his paws.
Rex hadn’t touched it.
Good boy.
I unlocked the cage.
He came out fast, pressed his wet nose into my ribs, then turned toward the meat and sneezed.
Chemical odor.
I didn’t need a lab to know the food wasn’t safe.
The young deputy appeared in the doorway.
“Jesus, what happened?”
“You tell me.”
He looked at the open cage, then at the syringe lying near the van.
His face collapsed.
“They said they were moving him to the clinic.”
“Who?”
Before he could answer, headlights swept across the lot.
Sheriff Cole’s cruiser rolled in.
The young deputy whispered, “You need to go.”
“I’m under arrest.”
“Not anymore.”
“What changed?”
He looked terrified.
“The diner cameras.”
“What about them?”
“They’re gone.”
Cole stepped out of his cruiser.
His hand rested near his holster.
“Jack.”
“Sheriff.”
“Put the dog back in the cage.”
Rex stood beside me, completely still.
I noticed something stuck beneath the edge of his soaked service vest.
A black plastic disk no larger than a quarter.
I pulled it free.
Tiny blinking light.
Tracker.
Cole saw it.
His face changed.
That was all the confirmation I needed.
“Who put this on him?” I asked.
Cole slowly lifted both hands away from his belt.
“I didn’t.”
“Then who did?”
His eyes shifted toward the dark road behind me.
“Someone who knows exactly where you’ve been for the last three days.”
A rifle shot cracked from somewhere beyond the trees.
The young deputy dropped before he finished screaming.
May you like
--- If you enjoyed the story, bookmark my site: https://vibe.treeiq.biz New stories are posted daily, so check back for updates.
Related Stories
