CHAPTER 2 — A SECRET FROM EIGHT YEARS AGO
Nobody dared move.
The officers watched in disbelief.
Rex lowered his head toward the elderly man's hands.
Instead of biting...
He gently licked them.
The old man closed his eyes.
Tears rolled down his weathered face.
"I knew it..."
Sarah stared.
"What is going on?"
The man slowly pulled something from his pocket.
Not a weapon.
An old photograph.
Its corners were faded.
Inside the picture stood a younger version of the same man...
Holding a tiny German Shepherd puppy.
Sarah felt her heartbeat stop.
"No..."
The old man smiled sadly.
"I raised him."
The room became silent.
Eight years earlier...
Officer Daniel Brooks had found an abandoned puppy during a flood rescue.
Official records stated the puppy had no owner.
The police adopted him.
That puppy became Rex.
But the elderly man shook his head.
"He wasn't abandoned."
"I was."
Years earlier, Harold Bennett had suffered a stroke while walking Rex near the river.
He collapsed.
The frightened puppy disappeared into the woods.
Harold searched for months.
His wife died shortly afterward.
His home was taken.
His health deteriorated.
He never found Rex again.
Until today.
Sarah slowly lowered her weapon.
Then another officer shouted—
"Wait!"
The security office had recovered new surveillance footage.
Everyone turned toward the monitor.
The video showed four masked robbers.
They had quietly removed their disguises.
Then...
They changed into police uniforms.
Every officer in the lobby stared at each other.
Someone whispered—
"They never escaped."
"They're still here."
The real criminals were standing among the responding officers.
And suddenly...
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One policeman reached for his pistol.
To Be Continued...
