Chapter 7 - The Man Wearing a Badge
The man who had worn Deputy Briggs’s uniform abandoned the patrol car two miles away.
Sheriff Cole found it beside a logging road with the driver’s door open and the engine running.
Inside were no fingerprints except the real deputy’s.
No hair.
No blood.
No identification.
The dash camera had been removed.
Daniel stood beneath the rotating red lights while Rex sniffed the front seat.
The dog focused on the steering wheel, then moved toward the trees.
Cole blocked the path.
“Not tonight.”
Daniel looked at him.
“That man entered my house.”
“He entered your shed.”
“He knew my name. He knew Emily was inside.”
“And he wanted you to follow him into the woods.”
Daniel glanced toward the dark tree line.
Cole was right.
The abandoned vehicle was bait.
Rex had already been used once to draw Daniel away from Lily.
Someone understood how both of them responded.
Daniel rested a hand on the dog’s collar.
“What did Briggs remember?”
“Nothing after leaving his house for work. His wife found him in the garage with an injection mark on his neck.”
“Same sedative?”
“We’ll know after toxicology.”
Emily stood beside Cole’s SUV, wrapped in a blanket despite insisting she was not cold. She held the black case from Daniel’s shed against her chest.
The sheriff had wanted it placed in evidence.
Daniel refused until he copied every page.
Cole had allowed it because trust was disappearing faster than procedure could contain it.
Back at the school, Lily had been taken to the hospital under guard. Her mother went with her.
Principal Keene remained in custody.
The hidden room had been sealed.
The three additional medical bracelets were gone.
Someone had removed them during the confusion following the lockdown.
Only the one Daniel carried remained.
That meant the conspiracy included someone with access to the scene after deputies arrived.
Cole rubbed both hands across his face.
“I have twenty-six officers in this county, Mercer. Tonight I’m not sure how many I can trust.”
Daniel studied him.
“You?”
The sheriff met his gaze.
“That’s fair.”
“Answer it.”
“I’ve known Keene since high school. I’ve known Briggs since he was twelve. I attended the fundraiser that brought Blue Ridge Child Wellness into the district.”
Emily looked up.
“You supported the program?”
“It was presented as a missing-child prevention system.”
Daniel held out the bracelet.
“This program tracks more than location.”
“We don’t know that.”
“I do.”
He opened the black case and showed Cole the observation logs.
Rex’s behavior had been measured against Daniel’s stress responses. Heart rate. Sleep disruption. Social avoidance.
Someone had tried to map the bond between handler and dog.
Emily pointed to one page.
“These times match when Daniel had panic attacks.”
Daniel’s jaw tightened.
He disliked the word.
Not because it was wrong.
Because it made the experiences sound smaller than they were.
Cole read the page.
“How would they know?”
“Cameras,” Daniel said. “Sensors. Maybe the bracelet can detect physiological changes in nearby people.”
Emily looked at the device.
“Nearby people?”
“Or paired subjects.”
Cole frowned.
“Paired how?”
Daniel remembered the Orion program.
Dogs wore one sensor.
Handlers wore another.
The system compared breathing, movement, temperature, and location to predict danger before a human recognized it.
“What if the bracelet wasn’t meant for Lily?” Emily asked.
“It wasn’t,” Daniel said.
“The other girl gave it to her.”
“Maybe she wanted Rex to find it.”
Cole looked toward the dog.
“You think a child in a hidden room knew Rex would be at the stadium?”
Daniel looked at the invitation photograph in the case.
“Someone did.”
His phone rang.
Unknown number.
Cole gestured for him to answer on speaker.
Daniel did.
No voice came through.
Only breathing.
Slow.
Mechanical.
Then a girl whispered, “Mr. Mercer?”
Daniel straightened.
“Who is this?”
“My name is Nora.”
Emily’s eyes widened.
The yellow sweater.
The girl in the photograph.
“Where are you?” Daniel asked.
“I don’t know.”
“Can you see anything?”
“A blue light. A metal door.”
“Are you alone?”
A pause.
“No.”
Daniel glanced at Cole.
“How many others?”
“Two.”
“Children?”
“One is.”
The line crackled.
Nora inhaled sharply.
“He’s coming back.”
“Who?”
“The man who makes us listen to the dogs.”
Daniel’s grip tightened around the phone.
“What does that mean?”
“He plays recordings. Barking. Growling. Commands. He wants to know which ones scare us.”
Emily covered her mouth.
Daniel kept his voice calm.
“Nora, listen to me. Is there anything near you that can help us locate you?”
“A train.”
“What kind?”
“I hear it every hour.”
A metallic clang sounded on the line.
Nora whispered faster.
“Lily wasn’t supposed to be taken. She saw me through the nurse’s door. I gave her the bracelet because the dog was coming.”
“How did you know Rex was coming?”
“Dr. Voss told us.”
Daniel closed his eyes for one second.
Silas Voss was alive.
“Why would he tell you?”
“He said Rex would choose.”
“Choose what?”
The girl began crying silently.
“Which child was worth saving.”
Footsteps approached on her end.
Daniel leaned toward the phone.
“Nora, hide it.”
“I can’t.”
“Then drop the phone and leave the line open.”
“He’ll see.”
“Do it now.”
A man spoke behind her.
Calm.
Gentle.
“Nora, who are you talking to?”
The phone struck the floor.
Daniel heard the girl gasp.
Then Silas Voss’s voice came clearly through the speaker.
“Daniel, you should have followed Rex into the drain.”
The call ended.
A second later, an explosion of light rose beyond the trees.
May you like
Cole turned.
Orange flames climbed above the direction of Daniel’s house.
