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Faith sighed and laid her head on David’s chest. Her fiancé stroked her hair softly and said, “Are you okay?”

Faith smiled. “I am now.”

He chuckled. “That’s what I like to hear. Seriously, though, are you okay?”

Faith rolled her eyes and rolled off of his chest. “Can we just have normal couple pillow talk? I just got home from the case; I don’t want to talk about it.”

“That’s fine,” David said. “I just want you to know that I’m here if you need me.”

“I just got what I need from you. And it was very good. Let’s bask in that for a moment.”

“Okay.”

They fell silent for a little bit, but it was too late now. David’s well-meaning question had put Faith in a bad mood, and she couldn’t pull her thoughts free. She sighed and sat up. “I just hate that we couldn’t figure it out.”

David raised an eyebrow. “So you do want to talk about it?”

“No, but we’re talking about it now,” Faith snapped. David averted his eyes, and she softened her voice. “I’m sorry. It’s not your fault. Dr. Keraya says I shouldn’t dwell on things like this anyway.”

David smiled softly. “And that’s easier said than done.”

“Yeah,” Faith scoffed. “Much easier.” She looked out of the window at the darkening sky.

“I just… I hate that we couldn’t figure out who he was before he killed someone else.

I kind of… This is horrible to say, but I kind of got used to rushing in at the end and rescuing the last victim.

It didn’t make up for the others I lost, but it helped.

I could look at at least one person and say, ‘I saved this one.’ This time, I had to literally wait until the killer took another victim, then buried the body. ”

She looked at the bedroom door, beyond which her aging K9 slept peacefully. “I just wonder if maybe it’s time, you know? We had a good run, but Turk’s getting old, and I’m getting tired. Maybe—”

Her phone buzzed. She sighed heavily. “I swear to God, if that’s not the most important news on Earth, I’m going to kill the messenger.”

When she saw Desrouleuax’s number, she frowned. Desrouleaux didn’t usually call her.

She answered. “Yeah, this is Faith.”

Desrouleaux spoke. Faith listened. Her eyes widened. Then she grinned. “All right. I’m on my way.”

She hung up and jumped off the bed. “What is it?” David asked. “Good news?”

“They found the Messenger.”

She giggled as she thought about what she said before answering the phone. She wasn’t going to kill the Messenger, but if the state of Pennsylvania wanted to end their moratorium on capital punishment, that was just fine with her.

She gave David a kiss before leaving the house. Turk had woken immediately upon the commotion following the phone call and followed her outside.

She called Michael on the way to the address Desrouleaux had given.

Her guilt over Holbrook’s final victim and her worries about retirement were nowhere in her mind right now.

They were about to catch the bitch who had hurt her dog, and Faith was going to make sure they were both there to look her in the eye and show her that she’d lost.