Chapter 4: What Baxter Saw
Ethan closed the tablet.
The office went silent.
“Mr. Cole,” the man outside said calmly, “open the door.””
Baxter's growl deepened.
Nora crouched beside the desk.
“How do they know about the video?””
Ethan looked at the memory card.
“Because somebody expected me to find it.””
The man knocked once.
“We don't want trouble.””
Ethan almost laughed.
“You broke into my house.””
“We entered through an unlocked service window.””
“That makes me feel much better.””
“Give us the card and the dog. We leave.””
Ethan looked at Baxter.
“Not happening.””
A pause.
Then the stranger said, “Ask your wife why she married you.””
Nora's face changed.
Ethan noticed.
So did the man outside.
“Nora?”” Ethan whispered.
“Don't listen.””
“That's interesting advice coming from you.””
“Ethan—”
“Why did you marry me?””
Her eyes filled.
The man outside answered for her.
“Because we introduced you.””
Ethan felt his chest tighten.
Memories flashed through his mind.
A charity gala eight years earlier.
Nora spilling champagne near him.
Their first conversation.
Their first date three days later.
Had even that been planned?
Nora shook her head desperately.
“They arranged the meeting. That's all.””
“You knew who I was.””
“Yes.””
“Before we met.””
“Yes.””
“Did you marry me because they told you to?””
“No.””
The answer was immediate.
Ethan stared at her.
“No,” Nora repeated.
“That part was mine.””
Outside, the man chuckled.
“How touching.””
Ethan opened the tablet again.
The video had paused on his father's face.
He pressed play.
William continued.
“Ethan, there is something you need to understand about Baxter.””
Baxter turned toward the speaker at the sound of William's voice.
William looked directly into the camera.
“The night I collapsed, Baxter was with me.””
Ethan's heartbeat accelerated.
He remembered that night.
His father had been found unconscious in his study.
Nora had discovered him.
Or claimed she had.
Baxter had been missing for almost five hours afterward.
They found him locked inside the garage.
William continued.
“Halpern believed my illness was natural until he tested my blood privately.””
A document appeared on screen.
“He found traces of a compound that shouldn't have been there.””
Nora whispered, “Oh my God.””
“The compound caused temporary neurological symptoms,” William said.
“Repeated exposure could imitate degenerative illness.””
Ethan's hands clenched.
His father hadn't been losing his mind.
Someone had been making him appear that way.
“Halpern confronted me,” William continued.
“We decided not to involve the police until we knew who had access to my medication.””
A noise came from outside the office.
The intruders were moving again.
Ethan kept watching.
“Three nights later, I pretended to take my evening medicine.””
William paused.
“What happened next was witnessed by Baxter.””
Ethan looked at his dog.
Baxter was staring at the screen.
William continued.
“I left the room. Baxter stayed beneath my desk.””
Ethan could almost see it.
His father's enormous walnut study.
Baxter curled beneath the desk.
Someone entering.
Someone believing William was gone.
“Baxter saw the person replace my medication.””
Ethan leaned closer.
“Who?””
William's face tightened.
“I didn't see them. But Baxter did.””
The office suddenly went dark.
The tablet remained glowing.
Power outage.
Nora gasped.
“They cut the electricity.””
Baxter barked sharply.
Then Ethan heard something unexpected.
Sirens.
Distant at first.
Growing louder.
The men outside the office began moving quickly.
A voice cursed.
Another shouted, “Move!””
Seconds later, footsteps rushed through the kitchen.
A door slammed.
Nora stared at Ethan.
“You called the police?””
“No signal.””
“Then who did?””
The sirens became deafening.
Red and blue lights flickered through the windows.
Someone pounded on the front door.
“Police! Mr. Cole?””
Ethan didn't move immediately.
Something about the timing felt wrong.
The intruders had known about the video.
Someone else had known they were there.
“Mr. Cole! Police!””
Baxter relaxed slightly.
Ethan unlocked the office.
Two uniformed officers entered moments later, followed by Detective Rachel Monroe.
Ethan recognized her.
She had investigated Dr. Halpern's disappearance.
Monroe looked around.
“Is everyone safe?””
Ethan held up the vial.
“You tell me.””
Her eyes immediately fixed on it.
Then on Nora.
“Nora Cole?””
Nora nodded.
Monroe's expression hardened.
“We need to talk.””
Ethan stepped between them.
“First, tell me how you knew to come here.””
Monroe hesitated.
“We received an anonymous emergency call.””
“From whom?””
“We don't know.””
“What did they say?””
Monroe looked at Baxter.
“That your dog was in danger.””
Ethan's skin prickled.
Baxter suddenly walked toward Monroe.
He sniffed her coat.
Then froze.
His ears flattened.
A low growl rolled from his chest.
Monroe stepped backward.
“What is wrong with him?””
Ethan stared.
Baxter sniffed again.
Then lunged toward Monroe's coat pocket—not biting, but pawing furiously at the fabric.
“Baxter!””
Something fell from her pocket.
A small plastic medicine bottle.
It rolled across the marble.
Baxter chased it.
Ethan picked it up before Monroe could.
There was no prescription label.
Only a handwritten code.
WC-17.
William Cole.
Monroe's face went white.
Nora whispered, “Ethan…”
He looked at the detective who had spent nine months supposedly searching for Dr. Halpern.
Then Baxter barked at her.
The same desperate bark he'd used before knocking away Ethan's tea.
Ethan tightened his grip around the bottle.
“Detective Monroe,” he said quietly, “why are you carrying something with my father's initials on it?””
Monroe didn't answer.
Instead, she looked toward the two officers behind her.
May you like
Then she said five words that made Nora recoil.
“He wasn't supposed to find that.””
