— Mark asked, trying to keep his heart rate down. “Lily Miller,” she whispered, leaning against his leg. “Okay, Lily, you’re doing great. Tell me, who gave you that bear?” She looked down at her shoes. “A man in the airport. He said my daddy asked him to fix the stitching.”
Mark felt a knot in his stomach. “What did he look like?” “He had a blue jacket. And he smelled like… like a garage.” “Like motor oil?” Mark suggested. Davis looked at him, the realization hitting them both at once.
Someone had used the child as a mule, planting a device in her toy. The radio crackled: “EOD is three minutes out.” “Hold the line,” Mark commanded. He knelt in front of the girl. “Lily, where is your mom?”
“I don’t know,” she said quietly. “We were in the restroom. Then it got dark, and the man said he’d take me to her.” Mark gritted his teeth. This was looking more like a kidnapping attempt or worse. Suddenly, a woman’s scream echoed from the far end of the hall: “Lily!”
Mark turned to see a woman frantic, her hair disheveled, pushing through the security line. Her eyes were wild with terror until she spotted the girl. “That’s my daughter! Please, let me through!”
“Let her in!” Mark yelled. The woman collapsed onto the floor, pulling Lily into a desperate hug. “Oh thank God! Lily! I thought I lost you!” The little girl finally broke down, sobbing into her mother’s shoulder. The dogs seemed to sense the shift, their posture relaxing slightly.
They remained on guard, but the immediate tension eased. “Ma’am,” Mark said quietly. “We found something in your daughter’s toy. Something dangerous.” The woman turned white. “That’s her father’s bear.”
“He gave it to her before he passed,” she whispered. “He was a lead engineer for a defense contractor. They told me his car accident was just a mechanical failure.” Mark felt a cold shiver. “You think his death was related to his work?”
She nodded, wiping away tears. “We’ve been followed since the funeral. I saw the same men near our house, near her school. This morning, a man approached us near the gate. He said the bear’s seam was ripping and offered to fix it. I thought he was just being kind…”
Rex suddenly alerted again. He turned his head toward the large windows overlooking the drop-off zone. The other dogs followed his lead. “What now?” Davis asked, hand on his holster. Outside, a black SUV was idling at the curb.
The engine was running, but the windows were tinted dark. “Dispatch,” Mark said into his radio. “Unidentified black SUV at the North terminal exit. Check the plates, now.” “Copy that,” came the reply.
Rex let out a low growl, his eyes fixed on the vehicle. “They’re still here,” Mark said. “They’re watching us.” A moment later, the Bomb Squad arrived in their heavy protective gear, carrying specialized equipment.
One technician carefully lifted the bear with a mechanical arm and ran a high-res scan. The screen flickered with data. “It’s not an explosive,” the tech said after a tense silence. “It’s a transmitter. High-frequency, military grade.”
The room went silent. “Someone was tracking the girl,” Davis said. Mark nodded.
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