“Shoot that dog!”
I sprinted harder.
A heavyset man in flannel rushed forward with clenched fists.
Another grabbed the fallen branch.
I pulled my baton.
The thought made me sick.
Titan was my partner.
But there was a child under him.
Protecting her came first.
“BACK OFF! I’m his handler!”
The girl’s mother reached us screaming her daughter’s name.
I dropped beside Titan and grabbed his tactical collar.
“Titan! Release!”
Nothing.
His body was rigid.
I tightened my grip, ready to drag him away.
Then I saw his face.
Titan wasn’t watching the girl.
He wasn’t snapping at her.
He wasn’t even looking at the people rushing toward him.
His eyes were fixed six inches beyond her head.
On a dense mound of dead leaves beneath the oak trees.
His ears flattened.
His lips peeled back.
Every muscle in his body locked onto one point inside the pile.
I stopped pulling.
“Wait.”
The girl’s mother seized my jacket.
“Get your dog off my daughter!”
The man raised the branch.
