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The asphalt stretch of Highway 80 cut through the barren heart of the Texas plains like a scar that refused to heal. Beneath a sky as gray as bruised iron, the road was more than just a route; it was Deputy Ryan Miller’s hunting ground. Alongside him, in the specialized kennel that replaced the rear seats of his cruiser, Duke—a seventy-pound Belgian Malinois, dark as burnt toast—shifted restlessly. The dog was bored, but Miller knew all too well that in their line of work, boredom was merely the calm before the storm.
Miller was a man molded by a singular, unshakable guilt. Five years ago, he had let a white van go with only a warning for a broken taillight, only to discover days later that it had been transporting abducted children. Since that day, he had become a master of interception.
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