“What’s interesting is not that I matched your sample to a Labrador, what’s interesting is that the computer didn’t. It should have, if the DNA was the same. But it isn’t. I pulled up the DNA records for the breed-standard Labrador. Obviously, even though the DNA won’t be identical unless they’re twins, members of the same species will have more than 99.9 percent match on their DNA sequences. But when I compared the Labrador DNA to your sample, there was a 97.8 percent similarity. That’s a huge difference. For comparison, humans and chimps have a 96 percent similarity.”

Nate’s eyes widened. “So is the sample a Labrador or not?”

The tech turned to him with a concerned expression. “Honestly, I don’t know what it is. This hair is a Labrador hair—or at worst, something very, very similar to a Labrador. But the DNA is radically different. I had to look it up, but the difference between dogs and wolves is only about 0.2 percent in their mitochondrial DNA. This is ten times that. How can what is clearly a very dog-like creature have massively non-dog-like DNA?”

Nate frowned. “So we’ve got a high-tech tracking device. Someone’s using Napalm B to destroy evidence. And a dog that isn’t a dog.”

“It’s not just ‘not a dog,’ Nate. It’s an animal that doesn’t match anything in our databases. What the hell did you find out there?”

A chill raced up Nate’s spine. “I don’t know.”

Chapter Five

--- Three years later ---

Kathy O’Reilly licked the salty spray of the Pacific from her lips. As she leaned forward in the tall swivel chair bolted to the deck, the fifty-foot sailboat rocked gently on the warm waters.

She glanced back at Brad, who was busily poring over a map. “Do you think we can outrun the storm?” She nodded toward a line of gray storm clouds spanning the horizon.

Brad shook his head. “I wouldn’t chance it. But there’s a small island not too far away, and it has a lagoon where we can shelter until this blows over.”

As if to emphasize the point, the wind grew stronger, pitching the boat wildly.

Kathy tapped on the touchscreen for the navigation console and yelled, “What are the coordinates? I’ll set the autopilot.”

“The lagoon is on the west side of the island. Let’s shoot for that. Put in 11 degrees, 25 minutes, 19.2 seconds south, and 151 degrees, 49 minutes, 22.7 seconds west.”

Kathy plugged in the coordinates and hit “go” on the boat’s navigation system. The sailboat tacked slightly to the left.