Chapter 2 - The Poisoned Blood
The siren of my police cruiser wailed loudly as I tore through the city streets.
I ran every red light and swerved violently through the heavy afternoon traffic.
In the backseat Brutus was breathing in shallow and ragged gasps.
His eyes were half-closed and a thick white foam was gathering at the corners of his mouth.
I kept reaching back to rub his head and begging him to stay awake.
We finally skidded into the parking lot of the emergency veterinary clinic.
I kicked my door open and carried my dying partner into the brightly lit lobby.
The receptionist took one look at my police badge and the bleeding K9 before shouting for the trauma team.
A group of technicians rushed out and loaded Brutus onto a stainless steel gurney.
They wheeled him through double doors leaving me alone in the waiting room with my hands covered in his blood.
I paced the floor while feeling like the walls were closing in on me.
My phone vibrated in my pocket with a call from my precinct captain.
I ignored it because the only thing that mattered was the dog fighting for his life.
An hour later the lead veterinarian finally pushed through the swinging doors.
Dr. Aris was an older man with gray hair and a usually calm demeanor.
But right now his face was pale and his hands were physically shaking.
I rushed forward and desperately asked if Brutus was going to survive.
He nodded slowly and said they managed to stabilize his heart rate with a massive dose of antivenom.
I let out a heavy breath of relief and leaned against the wall.
But the doctor did not smile or offer any comforting words.
He pulled me into a private consultation room and locked the door behind us.
He told me that he had analyzed the venom extracted from Brutus's bloodstream.
He said it was not a naturally occurring biological substance.
The venom contained synthetic neurotoxins engineered specifically to paralyze the central nervous system within minutes.
He asked me where the hell my dog got bitten by a military-grade biological weapon.
I felt a cold chill run down my spine as I remembered the metallic tag on the snake.
I told the doctor to keep Brutus under absolute lockdown and admit no visitors under any circumstances.
I pulled out my phone and finally listened to the voicemail my captain had left.
The captain ordered me to return to the station immediately because federal agents were waiting in his office.
He said they were looking for a little girl in a pink jacket who had just been abducted from the park.
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I realized with absolute horror that the snake was not meant to kill the child.
It was a highly calculated distraction meant to separate her from the crowd.
