“Here! I found it.” Harper called out. She tapped the spot and a door opened big enough to fit a small vehicle.
Caleb ran inside. An Arctic Cat was parked near the entrance. He touched the engine. “It’s still warm.”
“We split up,” Novak told the others and divided them into groups. “We know what this guy is capable of.”
Novak stayed at Caleb’s side as he and Shadow moved down a long tunnel.
At the end there was a set of steps. Caleb climbed them and stood in front of another door. He reached for the handle. The rest of the team arrived.
“This is the only way in,” Harper told him.
Caleb nodded and then swung the door open.
The sight that greeted him was straight out of some old horror movie.
The team piled in and then froze at the sight.
A man who had to be Wax stood near Ava, holding what appeared to be a vat of something that steamed the cold air.
“Don’t even try it,” Novak said, training his weapon on Wax. “You’ll be dead before you can pour a single drop.”
Wax held the vat closer. Ava’s frightened eyes went to Caleb’s. Through the fear, he saw the message she wanted him to know. She loved him.
He mouthed, “I love you, too.”
“Drop it or I’ll shoot,” Novak ordered.
Wax’s panicked gaze went to the weapon in his hand before he stepped back.
Before Caleb could stop him, Shadow lunged for Wax and latched hold of his leg.
“No, Shadow,” Ava screamed.
Hot wax splashed from the vat onto the dog who yelped in pain.
“Shadow come here,” Ava called the dog to her. Ava rolled out of the danger zone with the dog close.
Wax took everyone by surprise and dumped the vat of wax over his own head. An animalistic scream ripped from him.
Caleb ran forward and scooped Ava into his arms while Shadow stood guard over his partner.
“It’s okay, I’ve got you.” He rushed her away from the horror with Shadow at his side.
Shielding her from Wax’s final moments, Caleb turned to see the man drop to the ground. Wax covering his body, he writhed on the icy floor. The hot wax melted the ice and combined to run in shimmering rivulets across the room.
Novak quickly went to free Rachel.
But Caleb couldn’t take his eyes off the final moments of a monster. A fitting end? As much as Caleb hated what Wax had done to his victims, to Ava, hate was something he couldn’t feel. Instead, he felt sorry for the man who had so much and yet it hadn’t stopped him from becoming the monster he’d died as.
Caleb held Ava tight while Shadow kept his ethereal gaze latched onto his partner. His mission was over. He’d got them safely through and he hadn’t lost a single man.
Epilogue
New Beginnings
Two months later…
Ava glanced up from her computer as Caleb and Shadow entered the soon-to-be new headquarters for the Redeemed K-9 Unit.
