Pursued and Desperate, They Found a SEAL — and His Dog Changed Everything
Footsteps approached. Heavy boots on wet leaves. The flashlight beam swept directly over their hiding spot, lighting up the branches above Elena’s head. She stopped breathing.
«Nothing here,» the voice said—male, young, frustrated. «She must have gone further downstream.»
«Keep looking. Walker wants her found before dawn.»
The footsteps moved on. The voices faded. Elena counted to sixty before she let herself breathe again.
«Good boy,» she whispered against Titan’s ear. «Good, good boy.»
The dog’s tail thumped once against her leg. She pulled out her phone and checked the screen. Still no signal. The jammer’s range was wider than Marcus had estimated. She’d have to keep moving, get further from the cabin before she could call for help.
But the pursuers were ahead of her now, between her and the logging road. The obvious path was blocked. Elena looked at Titan. The dog met her eyes with that uncanny intelligence she’d noticed from the moment they met.
«Is there another way?»
Titan rose and moved toward the opposite end of the hollow. He paused at the edge, looking back at her, waiting.
Another way. Deeper into the wilderness, away from the roads and the phones and any hope of quick rescue. Elena thought about Jack wounded and fighting back at the cabin. She thought about Marcus, a stranger who had risked everything to help them. She thought about the women in those photographs, taken from their families, shipped like cargo to whatever horrors awaited.
She followed the dog into the darkness.
The path Titan chose led Elena through terrain that no human would have found in darkness. The dog moved with absolute certainty, weaving between boulders and fallen trees, always staying close enough for her to follow the pale flash of his undercoat. Her legs screamed with exhaustion. Her lungs ached from the cold air. But she kept moving because stopping meant dying, and dying meant those women would never be found.
Titan suddenly halted. His body went rigid, head low, ears pinned back. Elena froze. She’d learned to trust his warnings.
Voices drifted through the trees. Close. Too close. She couldn’t make out words, but she recognized the cadence of men coordinating a search pattern.
Titan pressed against her leg and guided her sideways, off the faint trail and into a gap between two massive boulders. The space was barely wide enough for her shoulders. She squeezed through, feeling rock scrape against her back, and found herself in a narrow crevice that smelled of damp earth and old leaves. The dog followed, his warm bulk filling the space beside her.
Footsteps approached. Heavy. Confident. Someone who wasn’t worried about being heard.
«She’s not on the creek path.» The voice was young, impatient. «Maybe the dog took her higher.»
«Dogs don’t think like that.» An older voice, calmer. «They follow the path of least resistance. She’s somewhere between here and the ridge.»
«Walker wants her found in the next hour.»
«Walker can want whatever he wants. These mountains don’t care about his timeline.»
The footsteps paused directly outside the crevice. Elena could see the beam of a flashlight playing across the rocks above her head. One sweep lower, and they’d spot the gap.
Titan’s growl built in his chest, so low she felt it more than heard it. She pressed her hand against his side, a silent plea for silence. The growl stopped.
«Nothing here,» the younger voice said. «Let’s check the north ridge.»
The footsteps moved away. The flashlight beam disappeared. Elena counted to one hundred before she moved. Her hands shook so badly she could barely grip the rock as she squeezed back out of the crevice.
«That was too close,» she whispered.
Titan licked her hand once, then turned and continued up the slope. They had to keep moving. Every minute they stayed still was a minute the net tightened around them.
The terrain grew steeper. Elena’s boots slipped on wet rock, and twice she would have fallen if Titan hadn’t braced against her. The dog seemed tireless, but she could see him favoring his left rear leg slightly. The old shrapnel injury Marcus had mentioned. Even heroes had limits.
She checked her phone again. Still no signal. The jammer’s range was incredible. Military-grade, Marcus had said. What kind of trafficking operation had access to military-grade equipment?
The answer hit her like cold water. They weren’t just corrupt cops. This operation had connections far beyond local law enforcement. The equipment, the coordination, the way they’d known exactly where to find Jack’s tracker… Someone with serious resources was protecting this network.
Titan stopped at the crest of a small ridge and looked back at her. In the faint moonlight breaking through the clouds, she could see his eyes reflecting amber.
«Which way, boy?»
The dog turned and began descending the other side. Elena followed, and as she crested the ridge, she saw it. Far below, nestled in a valley, a cluster of lights that didn’t belong to any town she knew.
Blackwell Shaft. The abandoned mine. Except it clearly wasn’t abandoned anymore.
She counted vehicles. Four trucks. Two SUVs. A van with no windows. Her stomach turned at the sight of that van. This was it. The hub of the operation. And it was crawling with activity even in the middle of the night.
«We found it,» she breathed. «Titan, we found it.»
The dog whined softly. His attention wasn’t on the lights below. It was fixed on something behind them—back the way they’d come.
Elena turned. Three flashlight beams were moving along the ridge they’d just crossed, converging on their position. They’d been spotted.
Miles away, Marcus and Brennan pushed through Miller’s Canyon with desperate speed. The deputy was struggling. His breathing came in ragged gasps, and twice Marcus had to catch him when his legs buckled.
«We need to stop,» Brennan wheezed.
«We can’t.»
«Five minutes. Just five minutes.»
«Every minute we stop is a minute Elena doesn’t have.»
Brennan grabbed Marcus’s arm, forcing him to halt. «If I collapse out here, you’ll have to leave me. Is that what you want?»
Marcus looked at the man. Pale face, blood-soaked bandage, eyes that were starting to lose focus. Brennan was right. Pushing him to death served no one.
«Three minutes. Sit on that rock. Drink water.»
Brennan slumped onto the boulder and pulled out the water bottle Marcus had given him. His hands trembled as he raised it to his lips.
«Tell me about Elena’s sister,» Marcus said.
Brennan looked up, surprised. «What?»
«You said Elena joined the force because her sister disappeared. What happened?»
«Rosa. Her name was Rosa Reyes.» Brennan’s voice softened. «Eighteen years old. Worked at a diner near the highway. One night she didn’t come home. Nobody saw anything. No witnesses, no leads, no body.»
«When was this?»
«Eight years ago. Elena was still in high school. She watched her parents fall apart. Watched the police give up after two weeks. Something broke in her that day. And something else got forged. That’s why she took this case.»
«She didn’t take it. She made it.» Brennan shook his head. «The first disappearance happened six months ago. A waitress from a truck stop. Nobody cared. But Elena noticed. She started connecting dots nobody else was looking at. Young women, vulnerable women, all within a hundred-mile radius. All gone without a trace.»
«And the department ignored her?»
«Worse. They told her to drop it. Said she was wasting resources on runaways and drifters.» Brennan’s jaw tightened. «I should have listened to her sooner. I should have pushed back harder. Instead, I just kept my head down like a good soldier.»
«You’re not keeping your head down now.»
«No, I’m not.» Brennan stood, testing his legs. They held. «Three minutes is up. Let’s move.»
They continued through the canyon, the terrain gradually leveling out. Marcus’s internal clock told him they’d covered about four miles. The mine was still another three miles ahead, but they were making better time than expected.
A sound stopped them both. Distant, echoing off the rocks. An engine. No, multiple engines. Coming from the direction of the mine.
«They’re mobilizing,» Marcus said. «Something’s happening.»
«Elena, maybe? Or maybe they’re moving the victims before dawn.»
Brennan’s face hardened. «We have to get there. Now.»
They broke into a jog, ignoring the pain, ignoring the exhaustion. The engine sounds grew louder, then began to fade, heading in a different direction.
Marcus grabbed Brennan’s arm and pulled him behind a rock formation. «Wait.»
Headlights appeared on the old logging road below them. A convoy of three vehicles moving fast, heading east, away from the mine.
«They’re running,» Brennan said. «They’re abandoning the operation.»
«No.» Marcus watched the vehicles disappear around a bend. «Those are pursuit vehicles. They’re going after Elena.»
«How do you know?»
«Because that van in the middle… that’s a mobile command unit. They’re coordinating the hunt from there.»
Brennan stared at the empty road. «She led them away. She drew them off.»
«She’s smart. She knows the evidence on her phone is the priority. As long as they’re chasing her, they’re not protecting the mine. But she’s… she’s giving us a window.»
Marcus started moving again. «We can’t waste it.»
Elena ran. Gone was any pretense of stealth. The flashlight beams behind her were gaining, and her only advantage was the head start Titan had given her. The dog ran beside her, occasionally darting ahead to check the path, then falling back to guide her around obstacles she couldn’t see.
Her lungs burned. Her legs felt like they were filled with sand. But she kept running because somewhere behind those lights were men who would kill her without hesitation.
A shot cracked through the air. Then another. The bullets went wide, but the message was clear. They weren’t trying to capture her anymore. They were trying to stop her any way they could.
«Titan, faster!»
The dog surged ahead, leading her down a steep embankment that her rational mind would have refused in daylight. She half-ran, half-slid, grabbing at roots and branches to control her descent. At the bottom, a creek. Shallow, maybe knee-deep, but the current was strong with runoff from the storm.
Titan splashed through without hesitation. Elena followed, gasping at the cold that stabbed through her boots and up her legs. On the far bank, the terrain opened slightly. She could move faster here, but so could her pursuers.
Another shot. Closer this time. Bark exploded from a tree trunk two feet to her left.
«Stop running!» a voice bellowed behind her. «You’re only making this harder!»
She didn’t stop. Couldn’t stop. The evidence on her phone was the only thing that mattered now.
Titan suddenly veered left, away from the path she’d been following. She trusted him and followed. Twenty yards later, she understood why. The ground ahead dropped away into a ravine. If she’d kept running straight, she would have gone over the edge in the darkness. The dog had just saved her life. Again.
But the detour cost her time. The flashlight beams were closer now. Close enough that she could hear individual footsteps. Individual voices.
«There! I see her!»
Elena pushed harder, drawing on reserves she didn’t know she had. Titan ran beside her, his breathing heavy, his limp now more pronounced. Even he was reaching his limits.
The forest thinned. Through the trees, she could see open ground ahead. A meadow. A clearing. Either way, it was a death trap. Open ground meant no cover. She skidded to a stop at the treeline. Titan stopped beside her, pressing against her leg. His whine was urgent, conflicted.
Behind her, the pursuers closed in. Ahead, nothing but empty space and the mountains beyond.
«I don’t know what to do,» she whispered to the dog. «I don’t know where to go.»
Titan looked at her. Then he looked at the meadow. Then back at her. And he started walking forward. Not running. Walking. Calm and deliberate into the open ground.
Elena’s heart nearly stopped. «Titan, no! Come back!»
The dog paused at the edge of the clearing and looked back at her. His eyes seemed to say, Trust me.
She stepped out of the trees. Nothing happened. No shots. No shouts. Just the wind and the distant rumble of thunder.
Then she saw why. At the far end of the clearing, barely visible against the dark sky, stood a structure. A building. And beside it, the angular shape of what could only be a radio tower.
A ranger station. An abandoned ranger station with a communications tower.
«Oh my god.» Elena started running again, fresh hope flooding her exhausted body. «Titan, you genius. You absolute genius.»
They crossed the meadow together. Behind them, the first pursuer broke from the treeline and shouted in fury. Elena reached the station and threw herself against the door. Locked. Rusted shut. She slammed her shoulder into it once, twice, three times. The door held.
«Come on, come on, come on!»
Titan circled the building at a run. A moment later, she heard the crash of breaking glass from the back. She followed the sound and found a shattered window. Titan stood inside, waiting for her. Elena climbed through, ignoring the glass that cut her palms.
The station was dusty, abandoned for years, but the equipment was still there. Radio consoles, emergency transmitters, backup power systems.
«Please work,» she prayed. «Please, please work.»
She found the main power switch and threw it. Nothing. She tried again. Still nothing.
«No, no, no, no.»
Titan barked sharply. He was standing near a generator in the corner, pawing at the fuel tank. Elena rushed over. The tank was empty, but beside it sat two jerry cans of emergency fuel. She grabbed one, nearly dropping it with her bleeding hands, and poured fuel into the generator’s tank.
Footsteps outside. Getting closer.
She finished pouring and grabbed the generator’s pull cord. One yank. Nothing. Two yanks. A cough and sputter. The door rattled. Someone was trying to force it open. Third yank.
The generator roared to life. Lights flickered throughout the station. Equipment hummed. A red light on the radio console turned green.
Elena threw herself at the console and grabbed the microphone.
«Mayday. Mayday. This is Officer Elena Reyes, Colorado State Police Badge Number 7429. I am at the Old Ranger Station on Miller’s Ridge, under pursuit by armed suspects. Request immediate assistance. I have evidence of a human trafficking operation involving corrupt law enforcement. Repeat, corrupt law enforcement. I need help. Please, someone, answer.»
Static. Endless static.
Then: «Officer Reyes, this is Colorado State Patrol Dispatch. We copy your transmission. Confirm your location and situation.»
The front door burst open. A man stood silhouetted in the doorway. Behind him, two others. They raised their weapons.
«Step away from that radio.»
Elena keyed the microphone one more time. «Blackwell Shaft mine. That’s where they’re keeping the victims. Blackwell Shaft. Send everyone.»
She released the mic just as the first man crossed the room and knocked her to the ground.
At the Blackwell Shaft mine, Marcus and Brennan watched from the ridgeline as chaos erupted below. The convoy had left only a skeleton crew: four men, maybe five, guarding a dozen vehicles and whatever lay inside the mine itself.
«That radio transmission,» Brennan whispered. «You heard it.»
Marcus nodded. He’d tuned his handheld to emergency frequencies, hoping the jammer’s range had limits. Elena’s voice had come through scratchy but clear. She’d done it. She’d gotten the message out.
«State Patrol will respond,» Brennan said. «But it’ll take time. An hour, maybe more.»
«We don’t have an hour.» Marcus pointed toward the mine entrance. «Look.»
Men were emerging with boxes—heavy boxes that two people struggled to carry. They were loading them into the remaining vehicles.
«They’re destroying evidence,» Brennan realized. «Or moving it. Either way, once those vehicles leave, we lose everything.»
«There’s five of them and two of us. You said yourself we can’t win a direct fight.»
Marcus studied the layout below. The guards were focused on the loading, not perimeter security. They thought the threat was chasing Elena through the forest, not standing on the ridge above them.
«We don’t need to win,» Marcus said slowly. «We just need to delay.»
«How?»
«You see that fuel truck by the main building?»
Brennan looked. His eyes widened. «Cole, that’s insane.»
«Probably.» Marcus was already moving down the slope. «Stay here. When things get loud, circle to the mine entrance. If there are victims inside, get them out.»
«What are you going to do?»
Marcus didn’t answer. He melted into the darkness, moving with the silent efficiency of a predator who had hunted in far more dangerous places than this. Brennan watched him go, his heart pounding against his ribs. Then he started his own descent toward the mine, praying that Elena’s message had been heard and that help would come before they all died on this mountain.
