Chapter 2 - The Number Beneath the Scar
Rosie forgot how to breathe.
Nobody at the Castellano estate called her Rosalind.
Her employment paperwork did.
Her brother did when he wanted to annoy her.
Everyone else called her Rosie.
Yet the person behind the locked service door had spoken her full name.
Dante immediately stepped between her and the door.
“Who is in there?”
Silence.
Titan pressed against Rosie's leg.
Dante glanced at Adrian.
“Key.”
Adrian produced a master key.
Rosie caught Dante's arm.
He looked down at her hand.
“There's blood.”
“I see it.”
“You don't know what's behind there.”
“That is why you're staying here.”
Rosie nearly laughed.
“You think I'm staying anywhere after somebody in your house whispered my name through a locked door?”
“Yes.”
“That's adorable.”
Despite the situation, Adrian looked away to hide an expression.
Dante unlocked the door.
The room beyond was empty.
It was a storage room.
Metal shelving.
Cleaning products.
Old furniture covered in sheets.
No person.
But a narrow service door stood open at the rear.
Someone had escaped.
On the floor lay a bloodied strip of gauze.
Titan approached it.
Rosie stopped him before he could sniff too closely.
“Don't.”
She examined it without touching.
“This isn't from Titan.”
Dante's eyes moved to the rear exit.
“Whoever was here was injured?”
“Probably.”
Dante's phone rang.
He answered.
Rosie couldn't hear the caller.
She watched Dante instead.
His expression became colder.
“When?”
Pause.
“Keep him there.”
He hung up.
“Elias has been found.”
“Who's Elias?”
“Titan's handler.”
Rosie looked at the dog.
“Where was he?”
“Outside the north gate.”
“Why?”
“He says Titan attacked him.”
Rosie stared at Dante.
“No.”
“You're certain?”
“Yes.”
“You've known Titan for twenty minutes.”
“And I've treated hundreds of frightened animals.”
Dante crossed his arms.
Rosie pointed toward Titan's shoulder.
“That wound is narrow and clean. Something sharp cut him. He didn't get that from running through bushes.”
Dante listened.
“And his collar?”
“Broken deliberately or during a struggle.”
“You're saying Elias hurt him?”
“I'm saying Titan's behavior doesn't match a dog that just attacked his handler.”
Dante studied her.
“What does it match?”
“A dog escaping one.”
That landed heavily.
They found Elias in a security office twenty minutes later.
His forearm was bandaged.
He was furious.
“That animal turned on me.”
Titan remained outside with Adrian.
Rosie watched Elias.
“Show me the injury.”
Elias frowned.
“Who are you?”
“The woman asking.”
Dante almost smiled.
Elias looked toward him.
Dante nodded.
Elias reluctantly unwrapped the bandage.
Two shallow punctures.
Rosie examined them.
“Titan bit you.”
“Told you.”
Rosie looked up.
“But he released immediately.”
Elias stared at her.
“A dog that size trying to seriously attack you would have caused far more damage.”
“You weren't there.”
“No. But teeth leave evidence.”
Elias's jaw tightened.
Rosie noticed something else.
His sleeve smelled faintly chemical.
She leaned closer.
Elias jerked away.
“What?”
“Your jacket.”
“What about it?”
“It smells like veterinary antiseptic.”
Dante's gaze sharpened.
Elias laughed.
“I work with a dog.”
“You work with one dog,” Rosie said. “Why would you smell like a treatment room?”
Elias said nothing.
Dante stepped closer.
“Answer her.”
“I don't know.”
Rosie thought about the tattoo.
“What's 417?”
Elias's face answered before his mouth did.
Nothing dramatic.
Just a blink.
A fraction too slow.
Dante saw it.
Rosie saw Dante see it.
“I don't know what you're talking about.”
Rosie took out her phone and showed the photograph she had taken of Titan's ear.
“Someone tried to remove this.”
Elias looked away.
Dante spoke quietly.
“You're done.”
Elias's head snapped around.
“Dante—”
“Adrian will escort you off the property.”
“You believe a maid?”
Rosie's expression didn't change.
Dante's did.
“I'm believing evidence.”
Elias pointed toward Titan outside.
“That dog killed a man.”
Rosie turned.
Dante became motionless.
Rosie looked at him.
“Is that true?”
Elias laughed bitterly.
“He didn't tell you?”
“Enough.”
“No, she should know what she's hugging.”
Dante stepped forward.
Elias stopped talking.
Rosie hated that silence more than the accusation.
She walked outside.
Titan sat beside Adrian.
The enormous dog looked at her and immediately stood.
Rosie touched his head.
“You killed someone?”
Titan leaned into her hand.
Of course he couldn't answer.
Dante appeared behind her.
“There was an incident three years ago.”
“An incident?”
“A man died.”
“And Titan?”
“Was found beside him.”
“That doesn't mean Titan killed him.”
“The medical report did.”
Rosie looked at him.
“Can I see it?”
“Why?”
“Because I don't believe you.”
Nobody spoke to Dante Castellano that way.
Apparently Rosie hadn't received that lesson either.
Dante surprised everyone.
“All right.”
His study occupied the second floor.
Rosie sat across from a desk large enough to host a diplomatic negotiation while Titan lay beside her.
Dante opened an encrypted file.
Victim: Samuel Keene.
Cause of death: catastrophic blood loss consistent with canine attack.
Photographs had been removed from the digital copy.
Rosie frowned.
“Where are the wound diagrams?”
“Not there?”
“No.”
“What should be there?”
“Measurements. Bite spacing. Tissue descriptions. Saliva testing if available.”
Dante leaned over.
“None of that is included.”
“Exactly.”
Dante searched another folder.
Nothing.
Rosie looked at the report's signature.
Dr. Malcolm Voss.
The name felt familiar.
Then she remembered.
Veterinary consultant.
Her former clinic had referred difficult behavioral cases to him.
Including Gregory Vale's animals.
Rosie went cold.
“I know this name.”
Dante looked up.
“How?”
She explained.
The falsified records.
Vale.
Her firing.
Dante listened without interruption.
When she finished, he asked, “Why would the same man be connected to you and Titan?”
“I don't know.”
Titan suddenly lifted his head.
Rosie's phone buzzed.
A message.
Unknown number.
She opened it.
There was a photograph.
No text.
Just Noah.
Her sixteen-year-old brother stood outside his high school, backpack over one shoulder.
The photograph had been taken that afternoon.
Rosie's blood turned cold.
Another message arrived.
YOU SHOULD HAVE LEFT 417 ALONE.
Dante saw it.
His entire posture changed.
“Call your brother.”
Rosie already was.
No answer.
Again.
Nothing.
Again.
Voicemail.
She stood so quickly the chair scraped backward.
“I have to go.”
“You're not going alone.”
“He's my brother.”
“And someone just used him to threaten you.”
Rosie grabbed her coat.
Titan stood.
Dante picked up his keys.
Then Rosie's phone rang.
No caller ID.
She answered.
“Hello?”
Static.
Then breathing.
A man's voice spoke.
“You always did have trouble following instructions, Rosalind.”
Rosie froze.
She knew that voice.
Six weeks earlier, it had told her to change a medical record or lose everything.
Gregory Vale.
Before Rosie could speak, another sound came through the phone.
Her brother's voice.
May you like
“Rosie?”
Then the line went dead.
