Chapter 2 - The Secret Hidden Inside Brutus’s Collar
The clinic door handle moved again.
Everyone froze.
The room that had been filled with machines, footsteps, and quiet commands suddenly became completely silent.
Gabriel Costa stepped between me and the entrance.
Not because he wanted to protect himself.
Because he was protecting me.
I noticed.
And I hated that I noticed.
“Who knows this number?” I whispered.
Gabriel didn’t answer immediately.
His eyes stayed fixed on the door.
Nobody in the room moved.
Then one of his men slowly reached inside his jacket.
Gabriel stopped him.
“No weapons.”
The man looked confused.
“But boss—”
“No weapons.”
His voice was calm.
But everyone obeyed.
That told me everything I needed to know about him.
People didn’t listen to Gabriel Costa because they respected him.
They listened because they feared what happened when they didn’t.
The handle stopped moving.
For five seconds.
Ten seconds.
Then footsteps moved away from the door.
A moment later, the emergency exit alarm sounded.
Someone had escaped.
Gabriel walked toward the door and opened it.
The hallway outside was empty.
Only rainwater covered the floor near the entrance.
And sitting in the middle of the wet tiles was a small envelope.
Nobody touched it.
Gabriel stared at it.
I saw something I never expected.
Hesitation.
“You know what that is,” I said.
He looked at me.
“No.”
The answer came too quickly.
A lie.
I crossed my arms.
“You’re terrible at pretending.”
One of his men looked shocked.
I ignored him.
Gabriel picked up the envelope.
Inside was a single photograph.
His face changed the second he saw it.
Not fear.
Something worse.
Recognition.
“What is it?” I asked.
He folded the picture before I could see.
“Nothing.”
I almost laughed.
“A stranger breaks into my workplace, calls your phone, leaves a mysterious envelope, and you tell me it’s nothing?”
His jaw tightened.
“You should stay away from this.”
I looked at Brutus lying behind us.
The dog that had almost died.
The dog whose life had somehow pulled me into a world I knew nothing about.
“You brought this into my clinic.”
Gabriel didn’t respond.
Because he knew I was right.
Dr. Reynolds came out from the surgery room.
“What happened?”
Nobody answered.
He looked between us.
Then at Gabriel.
Then back at me.
“Chloe... what exactly is happening?”
I wanted to tell him I had no idea.
But that would have been another lie.
Something dangerous had followed Gabriel Costa through those doors.
And somehow, it had found me too.
An hour later, the clinic was surrounded.
Not by police.
By Gabriel’s security.
Black vehicles blocked both entrances.
Men stood outside watching the street.
I hated it.
The clinic was supposed to be the one place where people came because they needed help.
Not because someone powerful wanted control.
“You’re turning my workplace into a fortress,” I said.
Gabriel stood near Brutus’s recovery area.
“He tried to kill my dog.”
“Someone tried to kill your dog.”
His eyes moved toward me.
“You think there’s a difference?”
“Yes.”
I stepped closer.
“A dog doesn’t make enemies.”
Something in his expression shifted.
For a second, the cold businessman disappeared.
And I saw a man who was exhausted.
A man who had spent years expecting betrayal.
“You don’t know anything about my life.”
“No.”
I looked at Brutus.
“But I know animals.”
Gabriel said nothing.
“They don’t become violent without a reason.”
I pointed at the collar tag sitting on the table.
“Someone wanted something from him.”
His expression changed.
“You noticed.”
“I’m not stupid.”
“I didn’t say you were.”
“You were thinking it.”
For the first time, a small almost-smile appeared.
Almost.
Then it disappeared.
“You’re different.”
I looked away.
“I hear that a lot.”
“No.”
His voice lowered.
“You’re different because you’re not trying to get something from me.”
That sentence stayed in the air.
Because I understood something.
Everyone around Gabriel wanted something.
Money.
Protection.
Power.
A favor.
But I didn’t.
I just wanted Brutus alive.
And maybe that was the most dangerous thing of all.
By sunrise, Brutus was awake.
Barely.
But awake.
I checked his vitals while Gabriel stood nearby.
“You should sleep,” I told him.
“I don’t sleep much.”
“That’s unhealthy.”
He looked at me.
“You lecture everyone who can ruin your life?”
I adjusted Brutus’s blanket.
“Only the ones who annoy me.”
A strange silence followed.
Then Brutus lifted his head.
Gabriel immediately moved closer.
The dog looked at him.
Then at me.
And slowly placed his head against my hand.
Gabriel watched.
“You know what’s strange?”
“What?”
“He never lets strangers touch him.”
I smiled slightly.
“Maybe he knows I’m nicer.”
Gabriel looked almost offended.
Almost.
Then Brutus suddenly became alert.
His ears moved.
The dog stared at the collar tag.
I noticed.
“Wait.”
I leaned closer.
“What?”
Brutus pushed his nose against the metal.
The same tag Gabriel had found.
The same one with the scratched numbers.
07-14-22.
I took it carefully.
“Why does this date matter?”
Gabriel didn’t answer.
“Gabriel.”
His silence told me enough.
“You know.”
He looked away.
“Seven years ago, someone close to me died.”
The room became quieter.
“Who?”
“My brother.”
I froze.
He had never mentioned that before.
“He was twenty-nine.”
“What happened?”
Gabriel’s expression hardened.
“That’s the problem.”
“What?”
“Nobody knows.”
I looked at the tag.
“The date is connected to him.”
Gabriel didn’t deny it.
Before I could ask anything else, Brutus suddenly growled.
Not aggressively.
Warning.
The dog stared toward the storage cabinet near the corner.
I frowned.
“What’s in there?”
“Medical supplies.”
“Then why is he staring at it?”
Gabriel walked toward the cabinet.
He opened the door.
Inside were boxes.
Bandages.
Medicine.
Nothing unusual.
Then Brutus barked.
Once.
Loud.
Gabriel moved the boxes aside.
Behind them was a small hidden compartment built into the wall.
My heart started beating faster.
“That wasn’t there yesterday.”
Gabriel looked at me.
“It was.”
I stared.
“You knew?”
“No.”
His voice was serious.
“Someone installed it before we arrived.”
Inside the compartment was a small black case.
No name.
No label.
Only one symbol carved into the top.
Gabriel froze.
“What?”
He touched the symbol.
His face turned pale.
I had never seen him look like that.
“What does it mean?”
He didn’t answer.
Instead, he opened the case.
Inside was a folded piece of paper.
And a key.
Gabriel picked up the paper first.
His hands tightened.
I watched his eyes move across the words.
Then he handed it to me.
I read the first line.
My blood went cold.
Because the message wasn’t written to Gabriel.
It was written to me.
“Chloe Harper…”
I looked up.
Gabriel was staring at me.
“What?”
His voice was barely a whisper.
“Who told them your name?”
I looked back at the paper.
There was only one sentence underneath.
A sentence that made my entire body go still.
“Your father never died.”
The room stopped.
I couldn’t breathe.
“My father?”
Gabriel stepped closer.
“Chloe…”
I looked at him.
“What are you not telling me?”
Before he could answer, the clinic lights suddenly shut off.
Everything went black.
Brutus began growling.
Then my phone vibrated.
A new message appeared.
Unknown number.
One sentence.
“Ask Gabriel why he was the last person to see your father alive.”
I turned toward him.
But Gabriel was already looking at the darkness behind me.
Because someone inside the clinic whispered my name.
May you like
“Chloe…”
And the locked treatment room door slowly opened from the inside.
