Chapter 5 - THE HANDLER WHO DISAPPEARED
Caleb Ward was found alive in Indiana.
Barely.
A truck driver saw him walking along Interstate 94 at three in the morning, bleeding through a bandage wrapped around his forearm.
He had no phone.
No wallet.
No shoes.
Someone had taken all three.
Federal investigators brought him to a secure hospital after Rebecca connected them to the evidence from Mateo’s drives.
Caleb refused to speak at first.
Then he learned Paul Danner’s old payment records had been found.
That changed him.
I met him under supervision.
No entourage.
No threats.
He looked embarrassed when I entered.
“Mr. Romano.”
“Caleb.”
His right arm was heavily bandaged.
“Nero?”
“Alive.”
Caleb closed his eyes.
“Good.”
“Why did he bite you?”
He looked toward the federal agent.
Then at me.
“Because I hurt him.”
My jaw tightened.
“With injections?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“I was told it was veterinary anti-anxiety medication.”
“You believed that?”
“At first.”
“How long?”
“Three weeks.”
“Who hired you?”
“Grant Hale.”
“Matteo?”
Caleb swallowed.
“I never dealt with Matteo directly until yesterday.”
“What happened?”
Caleb’s eyes filled.
“Grant told me to replace the transmitter battery.”
“Under Nero’s fur?”
“Yes.”
“Why staple it?”
“It kept coming loose.”
Anger hit.
Caleb saw it.
“I know.”
“You professionally train animals.”
“Yes.”
“And still did that.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“My daughter.”
There it was again.
Everyone had someone Matteo could use.
“What about her?”
“She owes money.”
“Drugs?”
Caleb looked away.
“Gambling.”
Grant had records.
Threatened to send them to her husband and employer.
Caleb cooperated.
First by giving Nero mild sedatives during handling.
Then by installing the transmitter.
Then replacing it.
“Yesterday?”
“I injected Nero.”
“With?”
“Same vial Grant always gave me.”
“What changed?”
“He reacted differently.”
“How?”
“Pain. Muscle trembling. Confusion.”
The bloodwork from Dr. Reyes later confirmed the newest injection had contained a stronger neuromuscular agent.
Likely test dose.
“What did Nero do?”
“Snapped.”
“And you?”
“I tried to hold him down.”
He bit.
Understandable.
“Then?”
“I ran.”
“Why didn’t you seek treatment?”
“I was driving to urgent care.”
“What happened?”
“Grant called.”
Caleb’s face tightened.
“He said Matteo wanted to see me.”
“Where?”
“Parking lot near Lincolnwood.”
“You went?”
“I was scared.”
“Then?”
“Two men got into my car.”
“Grant?”
“No.”
“Names?”
“Don’t know.”
“They beat you?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“To find out what Nero had done.”
I frowned.
“What do you mean?”
“They kept asking if he tore off the device.”
“He hadn’t.”
“No.”
“So they thought the transmitter might have been exposed.”
“Yes.”
“Why abandon you alive?”
Caleb laughed bitterly.
“They thought I was dying.”
The agents wrote.
I asked:
“What was Paul Danner’s role?”
Caleb went pale.
“You know about Paul.”
“Yes.”
“He started this.”
“How?”
“Grant approached our company two years ago.”
“About Nero?”
“About estate dogs generally.”
“What did Paul discover?”
Caleb swallowed.
“The transmitter wasn’t for dog health.”
“He objected.”
“Yes.”
“Then?”
“Paul told me we should cancel the contract.”
“And?”
“He died three days later.”
“Car accident.”
Caleb looked at me.
“He never drank.”
The report said intoxication.
Another manufactured accident.
“Did you know Grant caused it?”
“No.”
“But you suspected.”
“Yes.”
“And still worked for him.”
Shame crossed his face.
“Yes.”
I said nothing.
Caleb continued:
“Paul left me a voicemail before he died.”
“Still have it?”
“I saved it offline.”
Agents recovered it from his home.
Paul’s voice:
Caleb, the Romano job is bad. The devices are feeding outside estate security. Somebody is building private surveillance on Alessio. If anything happens, look at Grant Hale and the brother.
The brother.
Matteo.
Paul knew.
He died.
Mateo knew.
He died.
Samuel Price may have known.
He died.
My empire had become a cemetery built around one man’s inheritance plan.
Then Caleb gave us something bigger.
“Matteo asked me about dosage.”
“What dosage?”
“The injection.”
“For Nero?”
“No.”
My chest tightened.
“He wanted to know how much would weaken a two-hundred-pound animal without stopping breathing.”
Marco, listening through secure audio, swore.
I remained still.
“Why?”
“I asked.”
“What did he say?”
Caleb looked directly at me.
“He said he needed a human conversion.”
Silence.
There it was.
The dog was the test model.
“For what compound?”
Caleb gave the name.
The same class of neuromuscular suppressant found in Nero’s blood.
Enough to cause weakness.
Collapse.
Maybe temporary paralysis.
At higher doses, respiratory failure.
“Administration?”
“Injection or drink with modified formulation.”
Founders Night involved a church reception.
Wine.
Coffee.
Food.
Many opportunities.
Then Caleb added:
“Grant asked me something else.”
“What?”
“How quickly an old dog would react if he smelled the same person carrying the drug repeatedly.”
Nero.
He had learned Grant’s scent.
Maybe Matteo’s.
That explained behavior.
Nero’s aggression was not random.
He associated certain people with pain.
I asked:
“Who had Nero before the handler session?”
Caleb thought.
“Grant delivered him.”
“Personally?”
“Yes.”
“Matteo?”
“Was in the courtyard when I arrived.”
Interesting.
“Did Nero react to him?”
Caleb hesitated.
“No.”
I frowned.
“Not at all?”
“No.”
“Why?”
Caleb looked confused.
Then:
“Actually, he avoided Matteo.”
Not attack.
Avoidance.
Nero had known Matteo most of his life.
Avoidance was worse.
An animal expecting pain sometimes withdrew before fighting.
When I returned to the estate, Nero was awake.
He limped less.
Dr. Reyes said the compound was clearing.
I entered alone.
“Nero.”
He lifted his head.
I crouched.
For ten years, he had protected me.
For three weeks, I had failed to notice someone hurting him.
“I’m sorry.”
He stood slowly.
Walked toward me.
Pressed his forehead against my chest.
I closed my eyes.
Then the door opened.
Elsie.
Sienna hurried behind.
“Sweetheart, wait.”
Nero immediately left me.
Traitor.
Elsie hugged him.
“Friend better.”
“Yes.”
She looked at his shaved patch.
“Bad button gone.”
“Yes.”
Then she reached into her coat pocket.
“I found this.”
Sienna frowned.
“What?”
Elsie opened her palm.
A small silver object.
A cuff link.
Initial:
M.
My chest tightened.
“Where?”
“Dog room.”
“When?”
“Before.”
Sienna looked worried.
“She said she found it the day Nero bit Caleb. I thought it belonged to one of the staff.”
I recognized it.
Matteo wore custom silver cuff links with a black onyx M.
He had worn them at breakfast.
Both?
I tried to remember.
Maybe only one.
Elsie pointed at the cuff link.
“Bad man dropped.”
I crouched.
“You saw Matteo near Nero?”
She frowned.
Three-year-olds did not process leading questions well.
I changed.
“Who wore this?”
She thought.
“Mr. Matt.”
“When?”
“Night.”
“What was he doing?”
Elsie looked toward Nero.
“Giving sleepy.”
Sienna went pale.
I kept my voice calm.
“How did you see?”
“I wanted water.”
She had gotten up at night.
Walked through service hall.
Probably toward kitchen.
“Who else?”
“Gray man.”
Grant.
“Anyone?”
Elsie nodded.
“Lady.”
“Which lady?”
She shrugged.
“Shiny shoes.”
Too vague.
Sienna said:
“Isabella wears heels everywhere.”
Maybe.
But Isabella had admitted being present once.
Could be another night.
Elsie continued:
“Lady said no more.”
My pulse slowed.
“What exact words?”
Nora? no, Elsie.
“‘No more dog.’”
I looked at Sienna.
Someone had objected.
Maybe Isabella.
Maybe another woman.
Then Elsie said:
“Mr. Matt said, ‘Then girl goes too.’”
The room stopped.
Sienna gripped her daughter.
“What?”
Elsie looked confused by adult fear.
“He said girl goes.”
“What girl?” I asked.
She pointed at herself.
Sienna’s face drained completely.
Matteo had seen Elsie.
Or knew she had witnessed something.
A three-year-old child had become a threat simply because adults kept forgetting she was present.
I stood.
“Rebecca.”
She answered instantly.
“Move Sienna and Elsie now.”
Sienna shook her head.
“Where?”
“Federal protective location.”
“No Romano men.”
She stared.
I added:
“You choose whether to go.”
That mattered.
She looked at Elsie.
Then Nero.
Then me.
“Yes.”
They left within twenty minutes.
Before getting into Rebecca’s car, Elsie turned toward the estate.
“Nero comes.”
I almost said no.
Then stopped.
Nero was evidence.
And a target.
He was safer away from Matteo too.
I looked at Dr. Reyes.
“Can he travel?”
“Yes.”
I looked at Sienna.
“Would you take him?”
Her eyes widened.
“Are you serious?”
Nero stood beside Elsie as if he had already decided.
Sienna laughed weakly.
“I suppose I’m not the one being asked.”
Nero left with them.
For the first time in ten years, my house felt wrong without him.
But for the first time in weeks, he was somewhere the people who hurt him could not reach.
That evening Matteo called.
“Where’s Nero?”
He tried to sound casual.
“Vet.”
“Which vet?”
I smiled.
“Why?”
A pause.
“Just checking.”
“You’ve been very concerned about him lately.”
Another pause.
“He’s family.”
The lie landed strangely.
I looked at the cuff link inside an evidence bag.
“Yes.”
I said quietly.
“That’s exactly what makes betrayal expensive.”
Matteo went silent.
Then laughed.
“What does that mean?”
“Nothing.”
I ended the call.
We were no longer waiting until Founders Night.
Matteo had threatened a child.
The investigation needed to move faster.
But before agents could secure a warrant for his downtown residence, Matteo disappeared.
His car was found beneath Romano Tower.
Phone inside.
Wallet inside.
No Matteo.
On his office desk sat one envelope.
Addressed to me.
Inside:
You protected me my entire life, brother.
Now protect what belongs to me.
Attached was a photograph.
Sienna.
Elsie.
Nero.
Taken less than an hour earlier outside the federal safe property.
May you like
Matteo knew where they were.
Which meant the leak had followed us outside my estate.
