Page 5

“Michael—” her phone buzzed, interrupting her.It was Tabitha Gardner.

She raised an eyebrow.ASAC Tabitha Gardner—the interim head of the Philadelphia Field Office after the murder of SAC Grant Monroe by the very same prick to whom Michael referred—did not like Faith.In her last case—an unassigned and unauthorized assistance of a killing spree in Indianapolis—Gardner had stopped just short of saying that she was trying to get Faith fired.

Maybe she had finally succeeded.

Faith answered.“Hello?

In a clipped voice, Tabitha said, “Special Agent Bold, you and your K9 are assigned to a case in Duluth, Minnesota.I’ll send you the files.”

She hung up before Faith could respond, leaving her to digest what had just happened.A case?She was back on duty?

She unmuted Michael.“Hey, Michael.I got a case.”

“A case?Really?”

“Really, really.Just talked to the ASAC.”

“That’s wonderful!”

“It’s good news,” she agreed.“And very surprising.And I suspect that she was pressured to do this by Smythe.She hung up before I could say anything, and all she said was that she was sending me the files.”

“Well, good news loves company.See?There’s nothing to worry about.We’re both making progress.Give us enough time, and we’ll have the whole country cleaned up.”

“Michael, stay away from this.You will lose your career.Look, I’m grateful for your help, but…”

“You’re my partner,” he interrupted.“And I’m going to help you.You’ve risked losing your career many times, and if our positions were reversed, this wouldn’t even be a conversation.You’d tell me you were going to do this, and you wouldn’t listen to any protests from me.”

“Yes, but Michael—”

“Goodbye, Faith.I’ll call you when I have something new to report.”In a softer voice, he added, “Don’t worry about me, okay?I’m a lot more sly than you give me credit for.”

He also hung up without waiting for Faith’s response.She looked at Turk, who wagged his tail and looked up at her with big brown eyes.“Looks like we’ll have to take a rain check on that party, Turk.”

Eddie raised his eyebrows.“Got your job back?”

“Seems that way,” Faith said.

“Well, congratulations!”

That might be a bit premature.

She didn’t share that thought.She only smiled and thanked her cousin, then left to pack her bags.

CHAPTER TWO

Faith reviewed the files on the flight to Duluth.The M.O.was fairly straightforward.Intravenous sedation via a tranquilizer dart, murder by slitting the carotid arteries.Nothing to jump out of the page at her.

The connections between the victims definitely jumped out at her.The victims were two military K9 handlers, Master Sergeant Thomas Reeves, USMC and Staff Sergeant Kevin Walsh, US Army.Both of them were found dead, but interestingly, their dogs were alive, sedated using the same tranquilizer as the victims but not harmed in any other way.

Two K9 handlers murdered, their dogs sedated but alive.That was a cause for concern.Faith wasn’t a K9 handler when she was in the Marine Corps, but she was a K9 handler now, and she relied on Turk for a lot of things, not the least of which was apprehending suspects and providing her with a level of protection.This killer was apparently competent at disabling K9s and killing their handlers.

She wished Michael were here with her.Despite a slight softening around his middle since marrying Ellie, he was damned good in a fight both armed and unarmed.

She smiled slightly, imagining a phone call where she told Michael that she needed him to come protect her.She wouldneverlive that down.

That smile faded when she remembered their phone call earlier.Michael was putting himself in serious danger, pursuing the Messenger case.Not only was he putting his career at risk, but he was also putting his life at risk.Grant Monroe might have been older, but he was still a dangerous son of a bitch, and this killer had taken him out almost effortlessly.

It was a little ironic that only a minute earlier, she had wanted Michael here to protect her.Now, she wanted to be back home to protect him.