Chapter 2

Elm Street was a blur of traffic.

My eyes scanned every corner, every pedestrian.

"The Feed" was silent now, leaving me with the sickening knot of fear.

Then I saw it.

The intersection of Elm and 7th.

A red light holding back a line of cars.

And a flash of gold fur near the crosswalk.

Max.

A woman was with him, her hand tight on his collar.

She wore dark glasses, a white cane tapping hesitantly.

Clara.

It had to be. Mark had mentioned a new patient he was "helping."

She looked disoriented, pulling Max towards the street, not away from it.

Max was resisting, digging his paws in, looking terrified.

And then I saw the truck.

A massive big rig, barreling down 7th, its horn blaring.

It wasn't going to stop.

Clara was stepping off the curb, pulling Max directly into its path.

"No!" I screamed, though no one could hear me.

There was no time to think.

I wrenched the steering wheel hard to the right.

My car jumped the curb, tires screeching, and skidded to a halt, partially blocking the truck's lane.

A deafening blast from the truck's air horn.

The driver was yelling, his face red.

I was already out of my car, sprinting.

"Max!"

He barked, a sound of pure relief.

I reached them just as Clara stumbled, her grip on Max loosening.

I scooped Max into my arms, his body trembling violently against mine.

Clara shrieked, falling back onto the sidewalk.

"What's happening? Who are you?"

The truck driver was out of his cab, storming towards us.

"Are you crazy, lady? You could have gotten us all killed!"

Sirens wailed in the distance.

Then Mark's car pulled up.

He rushed to Clara, not to me, not to Max.

"Clara! Are you okay? What happened?" he cooed, helping her up.

Clara clung to him, sobbing.

"This woman... she came out of nowhere! And this dog... he just pulled me..."

Mark looked at me, his eyes cold.

"Sarah, what the hell were you doing? You almost caused a major accident! And Max, he clearly can't be controlled."

My blood boiled.

"He can't be controlled? Mark, you told me he ran away! You said he nipped you!"

I held Max tighter.

"He was scared because she was pulling him into traffic!"

"The Feed" chose that moment to deliver another blow, clear in my vision:

"He gave Max to her. She wanted 'a companion like him'."

The words hit me harder than the near-miss with the truck.

He gave Max away.

My Max.

To this woman.

And then lied about it.