lot, then slipped into thicker brush. Branches caught at Daniel’s sleeves.
Every few yards, the puppy stopped to make sure he was still there.
“I’m coming,” Daniel reassured him.
At a bend, the dog suddenly froze.
His ears lifted. His body lowered. Then he backed against Daniel’s boot, staring into the trees.
Daniel crouched beside him.
“What is it?”
Something glinted beneath a scattering of leaves.
He brushed them aside and found a broken metal zipper pull.
A little farther along, the ground was scuffed. Twigs had snapped underfoot. A strip of fabric hung from a thorny branch.
Daniel looked from the fabric to the makeshift band around the puppy’s neck.
The colors matched.
His expression changed.
“Show me the rest.”
The puppy pushed onward.
They reached a secluded clearing where flattened leaves and disturbed soil marked a struggle. A long groove cut across the dirt.
Near its edge lay
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