CHAPTER 2: The Secret Hidden Inside My Home
My heart pounded as I stood frozen in the dark apartment.
The ticking continued.
Slow.
Steady.
Unnatural.
Tick.
Tick.
Tick.
Max rushed past me, barking furiously.
Instead of running deeper into the apartment, he stayed near the entrance.
Almost as if he wanted me to leave.
Now.
Immediately.
The strange chemical smell burned my nose.
I suddenly remembered a news story I had watched weeks earlier.
A gas leak.
The same smell.
The same warning signs.
My stomach dropped.
I grabbed my phone and switched on the flashlight.
The apartment looked normal.
Nothing seemed out of place.
Yet the ticking continued.
Louder now.
Coming from the kitchen.
Every step felt heavier than the last.
My hands trembled.
My breathing became shallow.
When I reached the kitchen doorway, my flashlight beam landed on something I had never seen before.
A small black device.
Attached underneath the gas line.
Blinking red.
Ticking.
My brain struggled to process what I was seeing.
Then a terrifying realization struck me.
Someone had been inside my apartment.
Someone had installed that device.
And the gas valve above it was slightly open.
Just enough to slowly fill the apartment.
One spark.
One light switch.
One electrical current.
And the entire place could have exploded.
Including me.
Including Max.
My knees nearly gave out.
I backed away slowly.
Max continued barking.
Protecting me.
Warning me.
Begging me to leave.
This time I listened.
We ran outside.
I called emergency services.
Within minutes police officers and firefighters flooded the building.
Residents were evacuated.
The entire block was shut down.
Hours later, an investigator approached me.
His face was pale.
"Your dog saved your life."
I swallowed hard.
"What exactly was it?"
The investigator looked around before answering.
"It wasn't an accident."
The words hit me like a truck.
Someone had deliberately sabotaged the gas line.
Someone wanted the apartment to explode.
Someone wanted me dead.
And suddenly I realized there was only one person who might have a reason.
My ex-business partner.
Daniel Brooks.
The man I had recently reported to the police for stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars from our company.
The man who had sworn I would regret it.
The man who disappeared three days ago.
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And now...
The police were looking for him.
