Chapter 1 - The Thing Behind Roman Calder)
The growl came from so deep inside Titan's chest that Emma Reed felt it through the floor before she fully heard it.
One moment, the enormous black Cane Corso had been moving cautiously toward Roman Calder.
The next, he stopped.
Every muscle in his one hundred and thirty pound body locked.
His ears flattened.
His tail disappeared between his legs.
And his eyes fixed on something behind Roman.
Rain hammered the tall glass windows of Emma's Boston pet store. Water streaked across the streetlights outside, turning the night into silver lines and blurred headlights.
Roman stood ten feet away in a charcoal overcoat over a black suit.
Behind him stood four men in black.
Men who had entered Emma's store like they owned every square inch of it.
Men who had moved toward Titan without asking permission.
Emma had stepped in front of the dog before she even knew who Roman Calder was.
Now Titan's growl grew louder.
Roman slowly began to turn.
Emma saw something.
A movement.
A hand.
One of the bodyguards directly behind Roman had slipped two fingers beneath his suit jacket.
Emma's voice fell to a whisper.
"Roman... don't turn around."
Roman stopped.
The entire store seemed to stop with him.
A squeaky rubber duck rolled slowly from a shelf where one of the men had knocked it loose.
It crossed the polished floor and came to rest against Titan's paw.
Roman's eyes never left Emma.
"What do you see?"
"The man behind your right shoulder."
Roman did not move.
The bodyguard smiled faintly.
His name, Emma would later learn, was Victor Hale.
Roman Calder's head of personal security.
His employee for nine years.
The man who had been standing within six feet of Roman through business wars, protests, lawsuits, threats, funerals, and family tragedies.
At that moment Emma knew none of that.
She knew only what Titan was telling her.
Fear.
Recognition.
And danger.
Victor's hand came another inch out of his jacket.
Titan recoiled.
Emma glanced down.
A tiny red light flickered through a gap in the torn leather of Titan's harness.
Once.
Twice.
Titan whimpered.
Emma's stomach tightened.
"Your dog isn't growling because he's angry," she said.
Roman's eyes sharpened.
"Then why?"
"Because he's terrified."
Victor laughed quietly.
"Mr. Calder, this woman has had your dog for twenty minutes. She doesn't know what she's talking about."
Titan's growl turned into a strangled sound.
Emma looked directly at Victor.
"Take your hand out of your jacket."
Victor's smile vanished.
One of the other guards shifted.
Roman spoke without raising his voice.
"Victor."
"Sir?"
"Do what she said."
Victor hesitated.
Only for a fraction of a second.
But Roman noticed.
So did Emma.
Slowly, Victor removed his hand.
He was holding a small black device.
It was no larger than a garage door remote.
Roman stared at it.
"What is that?"
Victor answered immediately.
"Vehicle gate control."
Emma shook her head.
"No."
Victor's eyes snapped toward her.
Emma crouched beside Titan.
She did not touch the torn section of his harness yet.
She only pointed.
"Press the button."
Victor's face changed.
Roman noticed that too.
Emma repeated herself.
"Press it."
"That's enough."
Victor started toward her.
Titan lunged backward so hard his claws scraped across the tile.
Emma stood instantly.
"Stay away from him."
Roman raised one hand.
Victor stopped.
Roman looked at another bodyguard.
"Elias."
The tallest of the remaining men stepped forward.
"Sir."
"Take the device."
Victor gave a short laugh.
"This is ridiculous."
"Then you won't mind."
For several seconds nobody moved.
Then Victor tossed the black device toward Elias.
Elias caught it.
Emma pointed toward Titan's harness.
"Press the upper button once."
Victor's voice turned hard.
"Do not."
Roman looked at him.
That was the moment the room changed.
Until then, Victor had been an employee defending himself.
Now he sounded like a man giving orders.
Roman's expression became colder.
"Elias."
Elias pressed the button.
A tiny electronic chirp came from inside Titan's harness.
Titan collapsed against Emma's legs.
Not from pain.
From terror.
He dropped so fast that Emma barely managed to kneel beside him before his chest struck the floor.
"It's okay," she whispered. "It's okay. Nobody's touching you."
Roman's face lost all color.
Victor stepped backward.
Elias looked from the remote to Titan.
"What the hell is this?"
Emma carefully lifted the torn edge of the harness.
Something metallic had been sewn beneath the leather lining.
It was not part of a normal tracking system.
Roman stared at Victor.
"You told me his training collar was removed six months ago."
"It was."
"Then what's inside his harness?"
"I don't know."
Emma looked up.
"He's lying."
Victor's jaw tightened.
"You have no idea who you're speaking to."
Emma rose.
"I know exactly who I'm speaking to. I'm speaking to the person this dog is afraid of."
Thunder rolled over Boston.
For one long second Victor and Emma stared at each other.
Then Victor moved.
Not toward Titan.
Toward the light switch panel near the entrance.
The store went black.
Someone shouted.
Glass shattered.
Titan barked once.
Emma felt a hand catch her shoulder and pull her down.
Roman.
"Stay low."
Emergency lights flickered red along the floor.
A side door slammed.
Elias shouted into the darkness.
"Victor!"
When the main lights came back thirty seconds later, Victor Hale was gone.
The back service door stood open.
Rain blew across the floor.
Roman stood beside Emma, breathing hard.
The three remaining bodyguards had spread through the store.
Titan still lay pressed against Emma's legs.
Roman looked toward the open door.
Then at the device in Elias's hand.
Finally, he looked down at Titan.
For the first time since entering the store, the billionaire did not look dangerous.
He looked betrayed.
Emma carefully reached beneath the torn leather of Titan's harness.
Her fingers touched something hard.
Not just the metal contact she had seen.
Something else.
A thin plastic rectangle.
She pulled gently.
A tiny memory card slid free.
Roman stared at it.
Emma held it between two fingers.
"Whatever happened to your dog," she said, "someone wanted to record it."
Roman looked toward the door Victor had escaped through.
"No."
His voice was almost too quiet to hear.
"Someone wanted to record me."
May you like
Titan lifted his head.
And outside, somewhere in the storm, a black SUV pulled away from the curb.
