Part 1
Sergeant Dylan Cross had searched almost every room in the abandoned mountain cabin when he noticed one loose floorboard beside the collapsed fireplace.
Dust covered everything around it.
But the board had been moved recently.
Dylan crouched and reached for the edge.
Before he could lift it completely, Shadow attacked from behind.
Not Dylan.
His vest.
The Belgian Malinois locked onto the heavy rear strap of Dylan's plate carrier and pulled with everything he had.
Dylan fell backward onto the dusty floor.
“Hey! Let me go! I have orders to clear this building!”
Shadow released him immediately.
Then the dog stepped between Dylan and the floorboard.
Dylan stared at him.
“Move.”
Shadow didn't.
Dylan tried stepping around him.
The dog blocked him.
Dylan changed direction.
Shadow crossed his path again.
A third attempt brought the same response.
The Malinois planted himself directly in front of the opening and growled.
Dylan's confusion turned to suspicion.
Shadow had been trained to search buildings with him.
He had never deliberately prevented Dylan from checking a hiding place.
Then Dylan saw something move beneath the floor.
He froze.
A tiny hand appeared through the narrow gap.
Dirty fingers trembled against the wood.
Then disappeared.
Dylan slowly leaned closer.
Shadow immediately moved sideways and blocked him again.
A pair of frightened eyes appeared in the darkness.
Then part of a child's face.
A little girl was hiding beneath the cabin.
She couldn't have been older than eight.
Her copper-red hair was tangled with dirt, and tears covered her cheeks.
“Please… don't shoot me.”
Dylan stared down at her.
His rifle remained hanging toward the floor.
Shadow stood rigidly between them.
Dylan took one cautious step closer.
The dog refused to move.
Then Dylan's expression changed.
“Gotcha, you little mouse!”
The girl recoiled deeper into the darkness.
Shadow immediately squared his body across the opening.
But before Dylan could do anything else, another sound came from beneath the cabin.
A faint knock.
Then another.
Dylan stopped.
Shadow's ears snapped toward the opening.
The girl looked behind herself.
Her fear suddenly became worse.
Dylan had thought he'd discovered one frightened child hiding beneath an abandoned building.
Then she whispered:
“Please don't open the other door.”
Dylan's eyes narrowed.
“What other door?”
The girl said nothing.
Shadow lowered his head and began sniffing along the floor.
He moved away from the girl's opening and followed a scent toward the far wall.
Dylan watched.
The dog stopped beside an overturned cabinet.
Then scratched once at the floor.
Dylan moved closer.
Under the cabinet was another wooden panel.
Much larger than the first.
And unlike the loose board hiding Maya, this one had been secured from above.
Dylan looked back at the girl.
“Who's under there?”
Maya pressed both hands over her mouth.
A muffled sound suddenly came from beneath the second panel.
Not an animal.
Someone was crying.
Dylan's expression changed.
Shadow immediately began pawing beside the panel.
Maya finally forced out the words.
“They took the others down there.”
Dylan went still.
“Who did?”
Maya's eyes moved toward the shattered cabin window.
Then her face drained of color.
Shadow heard it too.
Footsteps.
Outside.
Slowly approaching the cabin.
Maya disappeared deeper beneath the floor.
Dylan turned toward the doorway.
Shadow abandoned the second panel and positioned himself protectively over Maya's hiding place.
Then a man's shadow passed across the broken window.
Dylan had entered the cabin believing he was clearing an abandoned building.
Now he knew at least one frightened child was beneath the floor, another hidden space was secured nearby, and whoever had put them there might already be coming back.
The footsteps stopped directly outside the door.
And Shadow began growling.
Dylan raised one hand.
Shadow became silent.
The transformation was immediate.
One second the Malinois had been warning him.
The next, he was motionless.
Listening.
Dylan reached for his radio.
Static.
The mountain had been interfering with communications since his team entered the valley.
He tried again.
“Cross to command.”
Nothing.
Outside, the porch board creaked.
Maya whimpered beneath the floor.
Dylan lowered his voice.
“Stay quiet.”
The front doorknob moved.
Once.
Then stopped.
Dylan positioned himself where he could see the entrance without exposing the hidden floorboards.
Shadow remained beside Maya.
The door opened.
A man stepped inside.
Mid-forties.
Brown work coat.
Mud-covered boots.
Gray knit cap.
He stopped when he saw Dylan.
Neither moved.
The stranger's eyes shifted toward Shadow.
Then toward the overturned cabinet.
“You lost?”
Dylan didn't answer the question.
“Who are you?”
“Cabin belongs to my brother.”
“What's his name?”
The man hesitated.
Only slightly.
Dylan noticed.
“So you are lost.”
Shadow growled again.
The man's eyes moved toward the loose floorboard.
Maya was invisible beneath it.
But something in his expression changed.
Recognition.
Dylan saw it.
The stranger took one step backward.
“Stay where you are.”
The man stopped.
Dylan tried his radio again.
Still static.
The stranger looked toward the shattered window.
Calculating.
Dylan recognized that look too.
“You know what's under this floor.”
“No idea what you're talking about.”
A small sound came from beneath the secured panel.
The man's face tightened.
Dylan watched him.
“You want to try that answer again?”
The stranger turned.
He ran.
Dylan moved toward the door.
Then Shadow barked once.
Sharp.
Urgent.
Dylan stopped.
The dog wasn't looking toward the fleeing man.
He was staring at the second floor panel.
