Chapter 17 - A Good Dog Doesn't Quit
The shot sounded like a hammer striking a steel drum. I felt glass scatter across my cheek. Atlas hit the attacker in the chest and knocked him sideways into the gravel.
An officer tackled the man and secured his weapon. It felt longer than the eleven months I had spent trying to forget Kharif Pass.
"Atlas!" I screamed.
He limped toward me, his left front paw bleeding from broken glass. I dropped beside him, checking his chest and ribs, certain I'd find a bullet wound.
He had escaped the shot. The glass had cut his paw, and his breath came fast, but he was alive.
"You don't get to scare me like that," I sobbed into his fur.
He licked my face once.
The veterinary team bandaged him while federal agents confirmed both attackers were in custody. The man from the side hatch was Sloane. The other was a Cinderline security guard who had slipped past the outer cordon.
Dr. Becca Lane was exhausted and bruised but able to speak. In the ambulance she gripped Maya's hand.
"The firmware failed our security test," she said. "I sent a written warning before deployment. Voss ordered it withdrawn. Sloane told me the convoy incident would make the problem disappear."
"Will you testify?" Maya asked.
"I should have spoken sooner. Yes."
Later, in the quiet of the veterinary room, Rourke sat beside me while Atlas slept under a blanket.
"I owe you an apology," he said.
"You owe Eli and Ben more than that."
"I know. I'm putting my signature on the full record this time. No shortcuts."
Maya entered carrying a printed forensic report. "They authenticated the card from the harness. It contains a second recording Eli made before the convoy departed."
May you like
My mouth went dry. "What does he say?"
"He names the person who told him to keep quiet."
