FULL STORY: The Shepherd's Mark
CHAPTER 1: The Shepherd's Mark
The police dog stopped barking the moment he saw the tattoo on the dead man's arm.
Rain hammered the bridge like the sky was tearing open.
In the middle of the slick road, an old white-haired man lay bleeding, one hand clutching his ribs. Max, the German shepherd, stood over him, barking at the armed officers closing in.
"Stay down!" one officer shouted.
Then the old man's sleeve slipped back.
A tattoo showed on his arm.
A shepherd's head.
Max's bark died instantly.
He lowered his nose, sniffed the tattoo, then stared at the old man like he had seen a ghost.
The old man lifted a shaking hand.
"Max... it's me. Easy, boy."
For one frozen second, the storm was the only sound.
Then Max whimpered and threw himself onto the old man's chest.
Officer Lena Brooks went still.
Max had never done that before.
"How do you know this dog?" she asked.
The old man looked up through the rain.
"Because he was mine."
Lena's stomach dropped.
Only one missing K9 officer had ever had a partner named Max.
Arthur Hale.
But Arthur Hale had vanished seven years ago after being accused of taking bribes. Everyone thought he was dead.
Arthur grabbed Lena's sleeve.
"Don't call Chief Mercer."
Max suddenly growled.
Not at Arthur.
At the road behind them.
Headlights cut through the rain.
A black car was speeding onto the bridge.
May you like
Arthur's face went white.
"They found me," he whispered
